Vernon Chalmers Photography

06 October 2025

Canon Photography Training Milnerton, Cape Town

Photography Training / Skills Development Milnerton, Cape Town and Cape Peninsula

Personalised Canon EOS / Canon EOS R Training for Different Learner Levels

Fast Shutter Speed / Action Photography Training Woodbridge Island, Cape Town

Vernon Chalmers Photography Approach

Vernon Canon Photography Training Cape Town / Cape Peninsula

"If you’re looking for Canon photography training in Milnerton, Cape Town, Vernon Chalmers Photography offers a variety of cost-effective courses tailored to different skill levels and interests. They provide one-on-one training sessions for Canon EOS DSLR and EOS R mirrorless cameras, covering topics such as:

Introduction to Photography
Bird and Flower Photography
Macro and Close-Up Photography
Landscape and Long Exposure Photography
Canon Speedlite Flash Photography

Training sessions can be held at various locations, including Woodbridge Island and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, or even in the comfort of your own home or garden. (Microsoft Copilot)

Canon EOS / EOS R Camera and Photography

Cost-Effective Private Canon EOS / EOS R Camera and Photography tutoring / training courses in Milnerton, Cape Town - or in the comfort of your home / garden anywhere in the Cape Peninsula.

Tailor-made (individual) learning programmes are prepared for specific Canon EOS / EOS R camera and photography requirements with the following objectives:

Individual Needs / Gear analysis
Canon EOS camera menus / settings
Exposure settings and options
Specific genre applications and skills development
Practical shooting sessions (where applicable)
DPP / Lightroom Post-processing overview
Ongoing support

Canon Camera / Lens Requirements
Any Canon EOS / EOS R body / lens combination is suitable for most of the training sessions. During initial contact I will determine the learner's current skills, Canon EOS system and other learning / photographic requirements. Many Canon PowerShot camera models are also suitable for creative photography skills development.

Camera and Photgraphy Training Documentation
All Vernon Chalmers Photography Training delegates are issued with a folder with all relevant printed documentation in terms of camera and personal photography requirements. Documents may be added (if required) to every follow-up session (should the delegate decide to have two or more sessions).

Small Butterfly Woodbridge Island - Canon EF 100-400mm Lens

Learning Photography from the comfort of your Own Cape Town Home / Garden More Information

Bird / Flower Photography Training Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden More Information

Photography Private Training Classes Milnerton, Cape Town

Introduction to Photography / Canon Cameras More
Bird / Flower Photography Training Kirstenbosch More
Birds in Flight / Bird Photography Training More
Canon Speedlite Flash Photography Training More
Macro / Close-Up Photography More
Landscape / Long Exposure Photography More

Training / demonstrations are done on the client's own Canon EOS bodies attached to various Canon EF / other brand lenses covering wide-angle to zoom focal lengths.

Canon EOS System / Menu Setup and Training Cape Town

2025 Individual Photography Training Session Cost / Rates

From R850-00 per four hour session for Introductory Canon EOS / EOS R photography in Milnerton, Cape Town. Practical shooting sessions can be worked into the training. A typical training programme of three training sessions is R2 450-00.

From R900-00 per four hour session for developing . more advanced Canon EOS / EOS R photography in Milnerton, Cape Town. Practical shooting sessions can be worked into the training. A typical training programme of three training sessions is R2 600-00.

Three sessions of training to be up to 12 hours+ theory / settings training (inclusive: a three hours practical shoot around Woodbridge Island if required) and an Adobe Lightroom informal assessment / of images taken - irrespective of genre.

Canon EOS Cameras / Lenses / Speedlite Flash Training
All Canon EOS cameras from the EOS 1100D to advanced AF training on the Canon EOS 80D to Canon EOS-1D X Mark III. All Canon EOS R Cameras. All Canon EF / EF-S / RF / RF-S and other Canon-compatible brand lenses. All Canon Speedlite flash units from Canon Speedlite 270EX to Canon Speedlite 600EX II-RT (including Macro Ring Lite flash models).

Intaka Island Photography Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens

Advanced Canon EOS Autofocus Training (Canon EOS / EOS R)
For advanced Autofocus (AF) training have a look at the Birds in Flight Photography workshop options. Advanced AF training is available from the Canon EOS 7D Mark II / Canon EOS 5D Mark III / Canon EOS 5D Mark IV up to the Canon EOS 1-DX Mark II / III. Most Canon EOS R bodies (i.e. EOS R7, EOS R6, EOS R6 Mark II, EOS R5, EOS R5 Mark II, EOS R3, EOS R1) will have similar or more advanced Dual Pixel CMOS AF Systems. Contact me for more information about a specific Canon EOS / EOS R AF System.

Cape Town Photography Training Schedules / Availability
From Tuesdays - during the day / evening and / or over weekends.

Canon EOS / Close-Up Lens Accessories Training Cape Town

Core Canon Camera / Photography Learning Areas

Overview & Specific Canon Camera / Lens Settings
Exposure Settings for M / Av / Tv Modes
Autofocus / Manual Focus Options
General Photography / Lens Selection / Settings
Transition from JPG to RAW (Reasons why)
Landscape Photography / Settings / Filters
Close-Up / Macro Photography / Settings
Speedlite Flash / Flash Modes / Flash Settings
Digital Image Management

Practical Photography / Application

Inter-relationship of ISO / Aperture / Shutter Speed
Aperture and Depth of Field demonstration
Low light / Long Exposure demonstration
Landscape sessions / Manual focusing
Speedlite Flash application / technique
Introduction to Post-Processing

Tailor-made Canon Camera / Photography training to be facilitated on specific requirements after a thorough needs-analysis with individual photographer / or small group.

Typical Learning Areas Agenda
General Photography Challenges / Fundamentals
Exposure Overview (ISO / Aperture / Shutter Speed)
Canon EOS 70D Menus / Settings (in relation to exposure)
Camera / Lens Settings (in relation to application / genres)
Lens Selection / Technique (in relation to application / genres)
Introduction to Canon Flash / Low Light Photography
Still Photography Only

Above Learning Areas are facilitated over two three sessions of four hours+ each. Any additional practical photography sessions (if required) will be at an additional pro-rata cost.

Fireworks Display Photography with Canon EOS 6D : Cape Town

From Woodbridge Island : Canon EOS 6D / 16-35mm Lens

Existential Photo-Creativity : Slow Shutter Speed Abstract Application

Perched Pied Kingfisher : Canon EOS 7D Mark II / 400mm Lens

Long Exposure Photography: Canon EOS 700D / Wide-Angle Lens

Birds in Flight (Swift Tern) : Canon EOS 7D Mark II / 400mm lens

Persian Cat Portrait : Canon EOS 6D / 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM Lens

Fashion Photography Canon Speedlite flash : Canon EOS 6D @ 70mm

Long Exposure Photography Canon EOS 6D : Milnerton

Close-Up & Macro Photography Cape Town : Canon EOS 6D

Panning / Slow Shutter Speed: Canon EOS 70D EF 70-300mm Lens

Long Exposure Photography Cape Town Canon EOS 6D @ f/16

Canon Photography Training Session at Spier Wine Farm

Canon Photography Training Courses Milnerton Woodbridge Island | Kirstenbosch Garden

New Canon EOS R6 Mark III Announcement Updates

Latest Canon EOS R6 Mark III Rumors and Release Date Information

For Illustration Purpose Only : The Rumored Canon EOS R6 Mark III

Possible Canon EOS R6 Mark III Mirrorless Rumor Update / Announcement Date

Latest Updates: Canon EOS R6 Mark III Rumors / Update Links from Online Sources

Canon EOS R6 Mark III - Latest Announcement Insights

"The Canon EOS R6 Mark III is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated full-frame mirrorless releases in Canon’s line-up, but its journey to announcement has been anything but straightforward.

Here's the latest:

Announcement Timeline

Originally expected: Late May 2025
Current status: Delayed, with no confirmed reschedule
Rumored release window: Possibly late 2025 or early 2026

Reasons for Delay

Geopolitical and economic factors: Speculation suggests Canon may be navigating global trade uncertainties, including potential U.S. tariffs on electronics
Strategic timing: Canon may be prioritizing flagship models like the EOS R1, and adjusting its roadmap accordingly

Expected Features

Sensor upgrade: Likely a newly developed 24MP–30MP full-frame sensor for improved detail and low-light performance
Video enhancements: Internal 6K or even 8K recording, better heat management, and advanced codecs for pro workflows
AI autofocus: Further improvements in subject tracking and recognition
Design tweaks: Ergonomic refinements and possibly a higher-resolution EVF

Industry Buzz

Despite the delay, the R6 Mark III is still expected to be a major launch. Its predecessor, the R6 Mark II, remains Canon’s most popular full-frame mirrorless body, making this upgrade highly anticipated.

If you're considering how this might align with your training modules or symbolic visual series, Vernon, we could explore a speculative visual concept - perhaps a “Lens of Anticipation” motif that captures the tension between readiness and delay. Let me know if you'd like to sketch that out." (Microsoft Copilot)

Latest Updates: Canon EOS R6 Mark III Rumors / Update Links from Online Sources

Canon R6 Mark III Announcement in November 2025

Canon R6 Mark III Announcement in November 2025

The Canon EOS R6 Mark III is Canon’s Next Full-Frame Release
The Canon EOS R6 Mark III is Canon’s Next Full-Frame Release

R6 Mark III Rumors – Announcement Very Soon?
R6 Mark III Rumors – Announcement Very Soon?

Canon EOS R7 Mark II & EOS R6 Mark III Announcement Delays?

Canon EOS R7 Mark II & EOS R6 Mark III Announcement Delays?

Canon EOS R6 Mark III Resolution Increase?

Canon EOS R6 Mark III Resolution Increase?

Canon EOS R6 Mark III won’t be announced ahead of CP+

Canon EOS R6 Mark III won’t be announced ahead of CP+

Canon R6 Mark III Spotted, is an Announcement on the Way?
Canon R6 Mark III Spotted, is an Announcement on the Way?

Canon EOS R6 Mark III prototypes are in the wild

04 October 2025

Modern Colour Photography and Existential Being

Post-2020 Visual Existentialism: Technology, Isolation, and the Digital Self.

Abstract

"This essay explores the relationship between modern colour photography and existential being, situating colour as both an aesthetic and ontological phenomenon that mediates how humans experience the world. Through a phenomenological and existential lens, it examines how colour operates not only as visual information but as an emotional and philosophical language through which being discloses itself. Drawing on thinkers such as Sartre, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Barthes, the discussion extends to the photographic practices of Vernon Chalmers, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rinko Kawauchi, and Nan Goldin, whose works articulate different modes of colour’s existential significance. The essay further integrates the post-2020 context - marked by pandemic isolation, environmental precarity, and digital mediation - to trace how the meaning of colour and being in photography has evolved. The concluding reflection speculates on the future of colour perception and existential authenticity in the age of artificial intelligence and image automation.

Keywords: colour photography, existentialism, phenomenology, digital being, post-2020, visual culture, Chalmers, Tillmans, Kawauchi, Goldin

Introduction: Colour, Consciousness, and the Modern Image

Modern colour photography has become an arena in which being is revealed through light, hue, and atmosphere. In the twenty-first century, colour functions not merely as aesthetic pleasure but as an existential language - an interface between perception and meaning (Barthes, 1981). The post-2020 era has amplified this relationship. Isolation, digital saturation, and environmental anxiety have transformed how individuals perceive the world, with colour becoming an affective register of consciousness itself.

Existentialism situates the human being as a project of becoming - rooted in freedom, choice, and awareness of finitude (Sartre, 1943/1992). Within the photographic act, colour thus participates in the drama of existence: to photograph in colour is to assert presence, to recognise temporality, and to encounter the world as a field of possibilities. Photographers such as Vernon Chalmers, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rinko Kawauchi, and Nan Goldin work within this horizon, using colour to articulate states of awareness and authenticity. Their works are less about representation than revelation - about how colour discloses being.

Embodied Seeing: Phenomenology and Existential Being

Phenomenology, especially as developed by Merleau-Ponty (1945/2012), posits that perception is embodied; we see the world not as detached observers but as participants within it. The photographer’s eye is an extension of lived consciousness, and colour is the vibratory medium through which this participation becomes visible. Heidegger’s (1927/1962) notion of being-in-the-world similarly positions vision as a mode of dwelling, suggesting that photography, particularly in colour, enacts a dialogue between self and world.

Colour has historically been treated as secondary to form - an embellishment rather than an essence. Yet in existential terms, colour constitutes the mood of being. It modulates experience and carries ontological weight. The blues of twilight or the ochres of dusk are not merely wavelengths but existential tones that mirror human temporality. In photography, these tones can transform ordinary perception into disclosure: the world shows itself as lived and finite.

Sartre’s theory of consciousness as intentional - always directed toward something - finds visual resonance in photography’s framing act. The choice of a particular chromatic balance, saturation, or warmth expresses a mode of being-toward-the-world. In the works of Chalmers, Kawauchi, Tillmans, and Goldin, colour becomes the grammar through which intention, emotion, and temporality converge.

Chromatic Narratives: The Emotional and Ontological Weight of Colour

Colour photography, particularly since the late twentieth century, has evolved from technical novelty to existential practice. The shift from monochrome modernism to colour realism signalled not merely aesthetic liberation but an ontological one: a return of lived experience to representation (Shore, 2010). Colour’s immediacy invites empathy; it collapses the distance between subject and spectator.

In phenomenological terms, colour is affect made visible. The warmth of morning light conveys serenity; the cyan of an overexposed sea may suggest melancholy. These associations are culturally conditioned yet experientially grounded. Kawauchi’s tender pastel hues evoke the sacred within the mundane, while Goldin’s saturated reds and yellows immerse the viewer in emotional intensity. Tillmans employs colour’s ambiguity - its capacity to oscillate between abstraction and presence - to mirror the fragility of contemporary existence.

Chalmers, meanwhile, situates colour as a mode of being-with-nature. His contemplative photographs of birds and coastal light, often composed within the subtle palette of the Cape shoreline, articulate what Heidegger might call dwelling - an attunement to the world’s presencing. In each artist, colour becomes the existential bridge between perception and meaning.

Four Voices in Modern Colour Photography
Vernon Chalmers: Presence and the Lived Colour of the Moment

Chalmers’ photography, emerging from the landscapes and wildlife of South Africa’s Western Cape, embodies a meditative engagement with presence. His practice reflects an existential attentiveness to the immediate - the heron lifting through mist, the blue shimmer of early morning water. Chalmers’ colours are rarely exaggerated; they exist within the subtle register of natural light, situating being as continuity between observer and environment (Chalmers, 2025).

From a phenomenological view, Chalmers’ work enacts what Merleau-Ponty termed the flesh of the world - the intertwining of self and nature through perception. Each photograph becomes a testimony to what is fleeting yet infinite. In this way, Chalmers’ colour is not decorative but ontological: it affirms existence through attention. Vernon Chalmers Website

Wolfgang Tillmans: Fragility, Light, and Modern Contingency

Wolfgang Tillmans operates at the intersection of abstraction and documentary, exploring how colour articulates the precarity of modern being. His abstract series - Freischwimmer (2003–2009) and Silver (2008) - transform chemical reactions and digital distortions into luminous meditations on impermanence. For Tillmans, light and colour are unstable yet revealing; they visualise the tension between order and entropy (Tillmans, 2017).
In existential terms, Tillmans’ work captures what Sartre (1943/1992) described as nausea - the confrontation with contingency. Yet his chromatic openness also evokes transcendence: light as the promise of renewal. His portraits and still-lifes, often infused with ambient hues, humanise the contemporary moment, showing that even within flux, being persists. Wolfgang Tillmans Website

Rinko Kawauchi: Ephemeral Wonder and the Everyday Sublime

Rinko Kawauchi’s colour palette is one of translucence - soft blues, pale pinks, and milky whites. Her photographs invite contemplation of the everyday as a site of transcendence. In Illuminance (2011), moments such as sunlight filtering through curtains or a droplet catching light become epiphanies of being. Kawauchi’s use of colour expresses an existential tenderness, aligning with the Japanese aesthetic of mono no aware, the pathos of impermanence.
Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception illuminates Kawauchi’s vision: her camera perceives not objects but atmospheres. The colour field in her work dissolves subject-object duality; it is being-in-the-moment made visible. Through this, she renders the ordinary as sacre - an ethics of seeing grounded in wonder (Kawauchi, 2011). Rinko Kawauchi Website

Nan Goldin: Memory, Intimacy, and the Colour of Survival

Nan Goldin’s colour is visceral. In The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986), the deep reds, yellows, and shadows evoke the emotional intensity of intimacy, addiction, and loss. Goldin’s photographs confront being through vulnerability. Colour here operates as confession - embodied memory inscribed in light.
Barthes’ (1981) notion of the punctum - the detail that wounds - finds its chromatic expression in Goldin’s saturated tones. Each frame bleeds emotion; colour becomes the trace of survival. Her work also prefigures the post-2020 condition: the entanglement of identity, trauma, and visual documentation in a mediated world. Nan Golding Website

Post-2020 Visual Existentialism: Technology, Isolation, and the Digital Self

The post-2020 period introduced new dimensions of existential colour. Pandemic isolation, environmental anxiety, and technological immersion altered how individuals perceived reality. The screen became both mirror and membrane - an interface through which being encountered itself.

During global lockdowns, photography became an act of affirmation. Colour mediated the confinement of space: the glow of a laptop light, the artificial warmth of digital filters, or the deep saturation of virtual sunsets shared on social media. These images were not escapist but ontological; they testified to a collective attempt to sustain presence in absence (Sontag, 2020).

For photographers like Chalmers and Tillmans, the period deepened attention to fragility and presence. Chalmers’ localised practice - working within limited physical radii - re-anchored being in proximity and repetition. Tillmans’ COVID-era projects, exploring empty spaces and suspended light, expressed a shared vulnerability.

The digital turn also invited philosophical questioning. Heidegger warned that technology risks enframing the world as resource (Gestell), reducing being to function (Heidegger, 1954/1977). Yet post-2020 digital colour also enabled renewal: virtual exhibitions, smartphone photography, and online collectivity expanded the horizon of visibility. Kawauchi’s luminous minimalism found resonance in digital calmness, while Goldin’s activism against exploitation in the opioid and art industries (Memory Lost, 2019–2021) transformed colour into protest - existence as ethical presence.

Thus, post-2020 colour photography reveals a paradox: technology distances and discloses simultaneously. Within its glow, being seeks authenticity amid simulation.

Conclusion: The Future of Colour and Being in AI-Mediated Visual Culture

As artificial intelligence begins to generate and curate images autonomously, the relationship between colour and existential being enters a new epoch. AI models reproduce hue, contrast, and atmosphere with mathematical precision, yet they lack what Sartre called intentional consciousness - the directedness that gives meaning to perception. The human photographer’s act remains an existential declaration: I see, therefore I am engaged with being.

However, AI’s capacity to simulate perception challenges this authenticity. The question emerges: can colour still bear ontological truth when detached from embodied seeing? Perhaps the answer lies not in opposition but dialogue. AI-assisted creation may invite photographers to reconsider what authenticity means - to return to presence as affect, not algorithm.

Environmental awareness and post-human perspectives also redefine the chromatic field. As climate change alters light quality, atmosphere, and ecological tone, colour becomes an index of planetary being. Photographers increasingly respond to these transformations, using hue to express mourning and renewal. The future of colour photography may thus merge existential aesthetics with ecological consciousness - a new ethos of light that acknowledges both fragility and connection.

In this evolving landscape, Chalmers’ contemplative realism, Tillmans’ experimentalism, Kawauchi’s quiet transcendence, and Goldin’s emotional candour converge as four responses to the same question: how can colour still make us feel real? The answer, perhaps, is that colour endures as the last analogue of being - an embodied resonance in an increasingly artificial world." (Source: ChatGPT 2025)

References

Barthes, R. (1981). Camera lucida: Reflections on photography (R. Howard, Trans.). Hill and Wang.

Chalmers, V. (2025). Vernon Chalmers Existential Photographic Practice, accessed October 04, 2025, Vernon Chalmers Photography.

Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). Harper & Row. (Original work published 1927)
Heidegger, M. (1977). The question concerning technology (W. Lovitt, Trans.). Harper & Row. (Original work published 1954)

Kawauchi, R. (2011). Illuminance. Aperture.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2012). Phenomenology of perception (D. A. Landes, Trans.). Routledge. (Original work published 1945)

Sartre, J.-P. (1992). Being and nothingness (H. E. Barnes, Trans.). Washington Square Press. (Original work published 1943)

Shore, S. (2010). The nature of photographs: A primer. Phaidon.

Sontag, S. (2020). On photography. Penguin Modern Classics. (Original work published 1977)

Tillmans, W. (2017). What’s wrong with redistribution? David Zwirner Books.

Image: Created by ChatGPT