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).

Cabbage White 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

The Peregrine Falcon’s Geometry of Arrival

This morning, the Peregrine Falcon returned.

 

Peregrine Falcon : Milnerton, Cape Town

Not once. Not twice. But many times. From the front, the left, the right. A geometry of arrival. A choreography of presence.

I’ve seen this behaviour before. My neighbour. But today, it wasn’t just a sighting. It was a visitation. A ritual. A reminder.

The Peregrine does not linger. It arrives with velocity, with precision, with no need for permission. It does not ask to be seen. It simply is.

And I stood still. I did not reach for the lens. Not at first. I received the moment before I captured it. I let the presence arrive before I named it.

This is the shift. From striving to stillness. From performance to presence. From the need to prove, to the grace of being.

The images re not trophies, but as thresholds. Each one a portal into a different dimension of becoming.

This is not about birds. This is about being.

Peregrine Falcon : Milnerton, Cape Town

Peregrine Falcon : Milnerton, Cape Town

Peregrine Falcon : Milnerton, Cape Town

Peregrine Falcon : Milnerton, Cape Town

Location: Diep River, Woodbridge Island, Table Bay Nature Reserve

Canon Camera / Lens for Bird Photography

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II (APS-C)
• Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
• SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB 200 MB/s

Exposure / Focus Settings for Bird Photography

• Autofocus On
• Manual Mode
• Aperture f/5.6
• Auto ISO 200 - 320
• Shutter Speed 1/2500s
• No Image Stabilisation
• Handheld

Image Post-Processing: Lightroom Classic (Ver 14.5)

• Minor Adjustments (Crop / Exposure / Contrast)
• Noise and Spot Removal
• RAW to JPEG Conversion
  
  

Birds and Butterfly with Canon EOS 6D Mark II

All Images: Copyright Vernon Chalmers Photography

Vernon Chalmers’ Butterfly Photography

A Phenomenology of Light, Form, and Fragility: Perhaps the most striking in Vernon Chalmers’ butterfly photography is its evocation of silence

African Monarch Butterfly : Kirstenbosch Garden, Cape Town

Abstract

Vernon Chalmers’ butterfly photography represents an intricate dialogue between nature’s ephemerality and the philosophical depth of visual enquiry. Through his lens, the butterfly becomes both subject and metaphor - signifying transformation, temporal awareness, and the delicate relationship between perception and existence. This essay examines Chalmers’ butterfly photography through phenomenological, aesthetic, and ecological perspectives, situating it within the broader discourse of contemporary photographic philosophy. Drawing on theories of perception, embodiment, and environmental aesthetics, the paper argues that Chalmers’ butterfly imagery transcends documentation, functioning as a visual meditation on impermanence, consciousness, and the poetic resonance of colour and form in nature.

Introduction

Photography as an art form often oscillates between documentation and interpretation. Within this spectrum, Vernon Chalmers’ butterfly photography occupies a unique position that merges scientific curiosity with philosophical reflection. His work, captured primarily in the coastal and botanical ecosystems of South Africa’s Western Cape, documents butterflies with precision while simultaneously invoking a contemplative engagement with their fleeting existence (Chalmers, 2023). More than mere natural history, Chalmers’ imagery explores the ontological and phenomenological dimensions of presence - an exploration of being through the movement, light, and colour embodied by the butterfly.

The butterfly has long been a symbol of transformation, fragility, and rebirth across cultures and philosophical traditions (Hillman, 1992). Chalmers’ photography, while grounded in ecological awareness, also resonates with existential motifs that align with Merleau-Ponty’s (1964) notion of perception as a lived, embodied encounter with the world. Through this lens, the butterfly becomes a visual metaphor for consciousness itself: transient, radiant, and perpetually becoming. This essay therefore examines how Chalmers’ butterfly photography articulates a phenomenology of beauty, temporality, and intersubjectivity - revealing the profound in the seemingly delicate.

Cabbage White Butterfly in Flight : Woodbridge Island, Cape Town

The Phenomenology of Seeing: Light and Perception in Chalmers’ Photography

For Chalmers, photography is a mode of seeing that fuses technical mastery with experiential awareness. His butterfly images demonstrate a sensitivity to natural light that transforms ordinary observation into phenomenological engagement. Merleau-Ponty (1962) argued that perception is not a detached act but a bodily immersion in the visible world. Chalmers’ photographs embody this principle through his careful attention to light’s interplay on the butterfly’s wings, the surrounding flora, and the atmospheric textures of the habitat.

In Photography and the Poetics of Time, Chalmers (2024) describes his visual enquiry as a form of attentiveness - an ethical and aesthetic discipline of presence. This orientation allows him to perceive and record subtle transitions in colour, movement, and shadow. The butterflies are not static specimens but fleeting gestures of nature in motion. His use of high shutter speeds and telephoto lenses - often the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM and Canon EF 400mm f/5.6.L USM lens - serves as an extension of perception itself, allowing for the articulation of minute details invisible to the naked eye (Chalmers, 2022).

Light, in Chalmers’ visual philosophy, functions not merely as an illumination tool but as a metaphysical medium. It is through light that the butterfly becomes manifest as both material and immaterial—an ephemeral figure suspended between being and disappearance. Heidegger (1971) conceptualized the work of art as a site where truth is unconcealed. Similarly, Chalmers’ butterfly photography reveals truth not through abstraction but through the clarity of light - a truth of fragility and transformation intrinsic to the natural order.

Temporality and the Aesthetic of the Moment

Butterfly photography necessitates an acute sensitivity to time. The ephemeral nature of the butterfly’s movement and lifespan mirrors photography’s own temporal paradox: the attempt to arrest a moment that cannot be held. For Chalmers, this temporal awareness is central to both his technical and philosophical approach. Each image is the culmination of patience, presence, and the acceptance of chance - what Cartier-Bresson (1952) called the decisive moment.

However, Chalmers’ decisive moments are not predicated on human mastery over time but rather on a respectful coexistence with the rhythms of the natural world. His process aligns with Bergson’s (1911) idea of duration - time as lived and continuous rather than segmented. In waiting for a butterfly to settle, Chalmers practices an embodied temporality that dissolves the distinction between photographer and subject.

This aesthetic of waiting and witnessing transforms the act of photography into a meditative practice. The butterfly’s transient rest on a flower, captured in a fraction of a second, symbolizes the impossibility of permanence. As Chalmers (2023) notes, “Every image is an act of empathy toward the transient.” This philosophical underpinning situates his work within a broader tradition of contemplative photography, where seeing becomes an ethical engagement with impermanence (Elkins, 2011).

Common Dotted Butterfly : Kirstenbosch Garden, Cape Town

Colour, Fragility, and Form: A Visual Semiotics of Transformation

Butterflies epitomize colour as nature’s language of vitality and fragility. In Chalmers’ work, colour becomes a semiotic system through which transformation is made visible. The vivid hues of butterfly wings—often captured in natural morning or late-afternoon light - exemplify what Barthes (1981) described as photography’s punctum: that element which pierces the viewer, evoking emotion beyond the representational.

Chalmers’ use of natural colour is deliberate. He avoids artificial enhancement, allowing the organic palette to communicate the authenticity of the encounter. This fidelity to the natural world resonates with his belief that “beauty resides not in the manipulation of the scene but in its recognition” (Chalmers, 2024). The butterfly, thus, is not objectified but honoured as a participant in a shared visual moment.

The fragility of the butterfly’s form also embodies the existential tension between life and decay. Sontag (1977) argued that photography is inherently melancholic, for every captured image is already a relic of what has passed. In Chalmers’ butterfly photography, this melancholia is tempered by awe—the awareness that beauty and mortality coexist. The wings’ intricate textures, illuminated by natural light, serve as metaphors for the fragility of consciousness and the continuous unfolding of being (Abrams, 2012).

Ecological Consciousness and the Ethics of Representation

Beyond its aesthetic and phenomenological dimensions, Chalmers’ butterfly photography also engages ecological consciousness. By documenting species within their natural habitats- often in Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden or Woodbridge Island  - his images function as both art and environmental record (Chalmers, 2023). This dual function reflects a growing awareness of photography’s role in fostering ecological sensitivity (Brady, 2016).

In an era of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, Chalmers’ practice embodies an ethics of care. His patient fieldwork and respect for habitat preservation align with what Brady (2018) describes as aesthetic environmentalism - the belief that aesthetic engagement with nature can cultivate moral responsibility. Through his imagery, viewers are invited to contemplate the fragility of ecosystems and their interconnectedness with human existence.

Furthermore, Chalmers’ local focus highlights the ecological specificity of the Western Cape, a region renowned for its endemic butterfly species and rich biodiversity (Mecenero et al., 2013). His photography thereby contributes to a visual archive of ecological identity - one that situates human perception within the broader web of life. By capturing butterflies in situ rather than in isolation, Chalmers resists the anthropocentric tendency to separate nature from culture, instead visualizing an integrated ontology of being (Latour, 2004).

The Reflective Practice: Photography as Meditative Enquiry

Vernon Chalmers often describes his photography as a “reflective practice of seeing” (Chalmers, 2024). This reflective dimension situates his butterfly imagery within a lineage of artistic meditations on perception and awareness. His methodology resonates with Zen and phenomenological traditions that view observation as an act of mindfulness (Freeman, 2010).

In engaging with the butterfly, Chalmers engages with impermanence itself. The act of photographing becomes a form of philosophical inquiry - a search for meaning in the transient. The butterfly, with its delicate flight and brief lifespan, mirrors the temporal nature of human consciousness. Each photograph thus becomes a visual koan: a paradox that reveals the unity of form and emptiness.

This meditative approach aligns with what Varela, Thompson, and Rosch (1991) termed embodied cognition - the idea that knowing arises through lived experience rather than abstract reasoning. By positioning himself within the environment, Chalmers practices an embodied awareness that transforms observation into participation. His work suggests that to truly see is to become part of what is seen - a mutual unfolding of subject and world.

Common Dotted Butterfly : Kirstenbosch Garden, Cape Town

Butterfly Photography within the Continuum of Nature Imagery

Within the broader tradition of nature photography, Chalmers’ butterfly studies recall the sensibility of photographers such as Eliot Porter and Freeman Patterson, who emphasized emotional connection over mere representation (Patterson, 2000). Yet, Chalmers’ philosophical grounding distinguishes his work as more than aesthetic documentation. His imagery reveals an intellectual and poetic continuity that aligns photography with phenomenological and existential thought.

The butterfly, as visual motif, occupies a liminal space between stillness and motion, surface and depth. Chalmers’ framing often emphasizes this duality - juxtaposing the minute precision of close-up detail against the expansive blur of natural surroundings. This compositional strategy enacts what Bachelard (1958) termed the poetics of space: the dynamic relationship between the intimate and the infinite.

Furthermore, Chalmers’ butterfly photography can be viewed as part of his broader exploration of “visual enquiry,” a term he employs to describe the integration of technical, aesthetic, and philosophical reflection (Chalmers, 2022). Through this lens, his butterfly images contribute to a continuum of visual research into perception, consciousness, and meaning. The photograph, therefore, becomes both artefact and inquiry—an epistemic and existential record of encounter.

The Metaphor of Transformation: From Caterpillar to Consciousness

The butterfly’s metamorphosis has long symbolized transformation - a process of becoming that parallels human consciousness and creativity. In Chalmers’ photography, this metaphor operates both visually and conceptually. Each image of a butterfly in flight or repose alludes to the unseen journey of metamorphosis that precedes it. This unseen process echoes the philosophical notion that being is not static but emergent (Deleuze, 1994).

Chalmers’ approach to the butterfly as metaphor resonates with Jungian and existential readings of transformation. Jung (1964) viewed the butterfly as a symbol of the psyche’s evolution toward individuation. Likewise, in photographing butterflies, Chalmers externalizes an inner process of awareness—the transformation of perception into insight. His camera, therefore, functions as a medium of consciousness, translating ephemeral phenomena into enduring reflection.

This transformative symbolism also aligns with the ecological cycle of renewal. In his attention to butterflies’ seasonal patterns, Chalmers implicitly acknowledges the cyclical temporality of life and decay. Each photograph becomes a testament to continuity within change - a visual affirmation of the world’s ongoing creation.

African Monarch Butterfly : Kirstenbosch Garden, Cape Town

The Moment The Wings Stirred

The Poetic of Silence: Presence Beyond Representation

Perhaps most striking in Chalmers’ butterfly photography is its evocation of silence. The stillness that permeates his images invites viewers into a contemplative state, where the boundaries between viewer and image begin to dissolve. Barthes (1981) noted that the photograph’s stillness induces a kind of “deathlike” silence. Yet in Chalmers’ case, silence signifies vitality - a quiet resonance of being.

His compositions often isolate the butterfly within softly blurred backgrounds, emphasizing the spatial harmony between subject and void. This aesthetic minimalism recalls the visual poetry of Japanese wabi-sabi - the beauty of impermanence and imperfection (Juniper, 2003). In embracing silence and simplicity, Chalmers gestures toward a metaphysics of presence: an awareness of life’s subtleties that exceed representation.

Through this poetics of silence, Chalmers’ butterfly photography transcends the literal and enters the symbolic. The viewer encounters not merely an image of a butterfly but a visual meditation on existence itself - an invitation to perceive the invisible rhythm that connects all living forms.

Vernon Chalmers Kirstenbosch Butterfly Photography

Conclusion

Vernon Chalmers’ butterfly photography is far more than a collection of aesthetically pleasing images. It is a sustained philosophical enquiry into the nature of perception, time, and transformation. Through his attentive engagement with light, colour, and movement, Chalmers translates the ephemeral beauty of butterflies into a phenomenological experience of being.

His work synthesizes aesthetic sensibility with ecological awareness, situating the butterfly as both subject and symbol within a wider discourse of environmental and existential reflection. By merging technical precision with contemplative depth, Chalmers demonstrates how photography can function as both artistic creation and philosophical meditation.

Ultimately, Chalmers’ butterfly photography articulates a vision of unity between observer and world - a harmony grounded in presence, compassion, and the recognition of transience. In doing so, it reminds us that to photograph the butterfly is to encounter the fragility of all things and, in that recognition, to glimpse the beauty of being itself." (ChatGPT 2025)

Cabbage White Butterfly : Woodbridge Island. Cape Town

References

Abrams, D. (2012). Becoming animal: An earthly cosmology. Vintage.

Bachelard, G. (1958). The poetics of space. Beacon Press.

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

Bergson, H. (1911). Creative evolution. Macmillan.

Brady, E. (2016). The sublime in modern philosophy: Aesthetic responses to nature. Cambridge University Press.

Brady, E. (2018). Aesthetic value, ethics and ecology. Environmental Values, 27(1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.3197/096327118X15144698637500

Cartier-Bresson, H. (1952). The decisive moment. Simon and Schuster.

Chalmers, V. (2022). Visual enquiry and the practice of photographic awareness. Vernon Chalmers Photography.

Chalmers, V. (2023). Butterfly photography: Observing nature’s fragile transformations. Vernon Chalmers Photography.

Chalmers, V. (2024). Photography and the poetics of time. Vernon Chalmers Photography.

Deleuze, G. (1994). Difference and repetition. Columbia University Press.

Elkins, J. (2011). What photography is. Routledge.

Freeman, M. (2010). The photographer’s mind: Creative thinking for better digital photos. Focal Press.

Heidegger, M. (1971). Poetry, language, thought. Harper & Row.

Hillman, J. (1992). The thought of the heart and the soul of the world. Spring Publications.

Jung, C. G. (1964). Man and his symbols. Doubleday.

Juniper, A. (2003). Wabi sabi: The Japanese art of impermanence. Tuttle.

Latour, B. (2004). Politics of nature: How to bring the sciences into democracy. Harvard University Press.

Mecenero, S., Ball, J. B., Edge, D. A., Hamer, M. L., Henning, G. A., Krüger, M., ... & Woodhall, S. E. (2013). Conservation assessment of butterflies of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Saftronics.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. Routledge.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964). The primacy of perception. Northwestern University Press.

Patterson, F. (2000). Photography and the art of seeing. Key Porter Books.

Sontag, S. (1977). On photography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Varela, F. J., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human experience. MIT Press.

Images: Copyright Vernon Chalmers Photography