Wednesday, January 29, 2014

February Meeting: Judging!

Retzer Nature Center
Camera Club
February 2014 Newsletter


February Meeting – Wednesday February 5, 2014, 7:00 PM
 
Program: PSA Wisconsin Club Showcase Judging

This month we will be judging the annual PSA Wisconsin Club Showcase.  Thirteen clubs from Wisconsin have submitted seven images each, and all clubs are now in the process of judging those images.  This will be an opportunity to see some great images from photographers around Wisconsin.  Our club has consistently finished in the top five and last year we were third!  Please bring a pen to record your scores and a small flashlight to help you see your score sheet.

Following the judging we will spend some time critiquing images using some of the competition images as a starting point.   We should have plenty of time for critiquing member images, so please submit some of your images.  See the following item for more information.

Member Image Sharing:

Members are encouraged to submit several (up to five) images to share with the club for gentle critique.  This is a great way to get suggestions for improving your images and developing your photographic skills.  We would like to encourage members to submit images for sharing in advance by email to Rick Vollbrecht at Rvollb@wi.rr.com.  This will help to streamline the process of viewing member images. We look forward to seeing your images. In order to give everyone a chance to share their images during the year, we will select several individuals who will be featured at each meeting.  Other individuals may also provide images which will be shared as time permits
The following members will be featured the February 5th meeting:
            Rudy Willis, Milt Wilson, Tom Wright, Bob Zastrow
           

2014 Club Programs:

We will be meeting soon to develop the program schedule for the reminder of 2014.  If you have any additional suggestions for topics or speakers you would like to see, please forward your ideas to Rick Vollbrecht.
Confirmed programs for 2014 are as follows:

March 5, 2014 – Portrait Photography – Posing and shooting portraits presented by professional photographer Noelle Youakim.
April 2, 2014 – TBA
May 7, 2014 – TBA
June 4, 2014 – TBA
July 2, 2014 – TBA
August 6, 2014 – TBA
September 3, 2014 – TBA
October 1, 2014 – TBA
November 5, 2014 – TBA
December 3, 2014 – TBA

Field Trips:

Photo field trips are a great way for us to share our common enjoyment of photography, learn some new techniques and share in camaraderie while getting to know our fellow club members.  Frank Remfrey has agreed to again coordinate some field trips for the club.

At this time we do not have any scheduled field trips. 

We could use some volunteers to coordinate future trips.  If you are interested please let Frank know.  If you have some additional ideas of where you would like to see us go, please let Frank know (FRemfrey@wi.rr.com).  Better yet, why not offer to coordinate a field trip.  It's not hard - find a place you would like to go, pick a date and we can announce it to the club. 

Future Events of Interest:

March 15, 2014 (Saturday) – Calumet Regional Photo Club 2014 Photography Clinic
The 5th annual clinic will be in Munster IN, from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.  The program features three speakers – James Cook, Dean Pennala and Ralph Velasco. The $60 registration fee include a continental breakfast and lunch.   For more information see the attached registration form or visit the Calumet Photo Club web site: www.CalRegionPhoto.org


March 22, 2014 (Saturday) – WACCO Nature Photography Seminar with Joe LeFevre.
This seminar will be at the Midway Hotel, Brookfield from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Joe is a landscape photographer from upstate New York.  His program will cover making dynamic landscape images from conception to capture to computer optimization.  The registration fee is $50.00 if you register by February 22nd ($75.00 after 2/22), including lunch.  Please see the attached brochure or visit the WACCO website www.wicameraclubs.org for more information.   WACCO has annually brought us some great speakers at a very reasonable price.  This should be one you should strongly consider attending, not only to further your own knowledge, but to support WACCO!


June 14th, 2014 (Saturday) - Wehr Nature Center Camera Club 2nd Annual Seminar 

Jennifer Wu, a Canon Explorer of Light, will present “Nature’s Elusive Beauty” at the Milwaukee Art Museum from 12:00 Noon – 5:00 PM.  The fee is $15.00 for the first 100 registrants, $25.00 after the first 100.  Jennifer will cover composition and share her techniques for getting great shots.  She will also share some of her night sky time lapse photography.  Jennifer is a very dynamic and energetic presenter.  Please see the attached information or go to www.wnccccevents.com for more information.


Photo Ops:

As a club, our members have a wide variety of subjects that we enjoy photographing.  This newsletter can serve as an excellent way to share various photo opportunities with club members.  If you know of interesting subjects or events that may interest other club members, please forward them to Rick Vollbrecht so they can be included in future newsletters.  If you are interested in having others join you, that information can also be included.  It is fun to shoot with a group!



Photography Classes:

A variety of non-credit, reasonably priced classes on photography and Photoshop are available at Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) and UW Waukesha.  Check their web sites for more information.

WCTC:  www.wctc.edu
UW Waukesha:  www.waukesha.uwc.edu

Art’s Cameras Plus has an extensive list of classes covering everything from camera basics to photographing in a variety of situations and use of Photoshop Elements.  Check out their web site:  www.Artscameras.com .  If you are aware of other photography classes or seminars, please forward the information to Rick Vollbrecht

Photo Contests and Exhibits:

Focus on Wildlife Photography Contest – Deadline February 8th, 2014
Sponsored by the Dane County Humane Society, this contest features wildlife.  There are two categories – Wisconsin Wildlife and Global Wildlife.  For more information go to:   www.360photocontest.com/237   

Monona Terrace Photography Contest – Deadline September 1st, 2014
Sponsored by the Monona Terrace in Madison.  The contest includes photos taken on the grounds of the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison. Please see the attached information flyer.

If you are aware of other photo contests, please forward the information to Rick Vollbrecht at Rvollb@wi.rr.com

Websites of Interest:

Retzer Camera Club blog: www.RetzerCameraClub.blogspot.com
WACCO (Wisconsin Area Camera Clubs Organization): www.wicameraclubs.org   
PSA (Photographic Association of America): www.PSA-photo.org
PSA Wisconsin:  www.PSA.wisconsin.org
Friends of Retzer Nature Center: www.FriendsofRetzer.org
Jim Edlhuber’s blog: http://www.windowtowildlife.com/