AV News 191 - February 2013
They had, until recently limited themselves to a maximum length of 3 minutes,
but at a recent congress it was agreed to remove any limits to length, style,
video inclusion, etc. And they can produce lovely AVs, you may have seen
Adri van Oudheusden's sequence 'The Memory of Trees' at the RPS
International or in the 321 competition (where Adri's entries came 8th and
10th).
It had been our first trip to Africa and it was all so very different. National
Parks such as the Kruger, Pilanesberg and Addo were a delight, with the
opportunity to self-drive through the herds of wildlife. There had been rains,
so it was greener than I expected and it was amazing to see how a herd of
elephants could disappear or appear only yards into the bush. The landscape
throughout the country is often magnificent and we particularly loved the
barren, semi-dessert areas such as the Karoo.
I did three other evening talks,
at Port Elizabeth, Knysna and
Cape Town. In every case the
audience were enthusiastic and
attentive, a mix of AV workers
and photographers. I loved the
meeting at Port Elizabeth, they
lubricated the evening with
local red wine for all, a practice
we ought to adopt, so civilised!
In Knysna we were at the golf
club, no blackouts, just wait for
the sun to set, which it does
very quickly, while at Cape
Town Camera Club we had the biggest audience, and probably the most
knowledgeable.
In each venue we were 'put up' for 2 or 3 nights by local photographers.
Their hospitality was incredible, they
showed us the local area in the day
and, in the evenings, we met up with
other
photographers,
to
talk
photography and AV.
For example, in Port Elizabeth,
Adri and Roel took us to the
Missionvale Care Centre, where their
daughter Linda works.
The centre operates in the
extremely poor, black, informal
shackland township of Missionvale
and was founded by Sister Ethel
Normoyle,
a
charismatic
and
charming Irish nun.
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