Retzer Nature Center
Camera Club
October 2014 Newsletter
October Meeting – Wednesday October 1st, 2014, 7:00 PM
Program: Internet Resources for Photographers – Tom Wright will discuss how to find the most helpful photographic resources on the internet and how to get them to feed automatically to your computer. If you have some favorite internet resources, please send them to Tom (thomas657@centurytel.net) so he can include them in his presentation.
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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. 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
Since we did not have enough time at last month’s meeting to view member images, we will start with those images this month. In addition, members who participated in our August 19th photo outing in downtown Milwaukee and the September 11th Denis Sullivan photo outings should submit up to five images from those outing. We would like to show the club some of the images we shot on our outings.
Please email your images to Tom Wright at thomas657@centurytel.net by next Tuesday. This will help to streamline the process of viewing member images. We look forward to seeing your images
2014 Club Programs:
Our 2014 programs are listed below.
November 5, 2014 – Presenting your Images Part II – Rick Vollbrecht will demonstrate how to cut mats and frame your photos. There will also be a presentation on creating canvas prints.
December 3, 2014 – Holiday Party! – We will wrap up the year with a gathering including your spouse or guest. We will view the results of our scavenger hunt. A program will show our guests some of our best images from the year. More details will follow as we get closer to the end of the year.
We will soon be working on our program schedule for 2015. If you have suggestions for programs you would like to see presented, have a speaker you could recommend, or have a program you would like to present, please forward the information to Rick Vollbrecht.
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 coordinate field trips for the club.
At this time we have no further trips planned for the year. If anyone has an idea for a Fall outing, please let us know. Any good ideas for fall colors?
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.
PSA - Nature Division Competition:
PSA offers member clubs a variety of opportunities to compete with other PSA member clubs around the country and the world. Our club has decided to participate in the PSA – Nature Division. What this involves is submitting six images, three times a year. Images are submitted in October, January and April. Images from approximately 60 clubs will be judged and results returned to the clubs, with regular club standings being reports so we can see how we compare. Elizabeth Whitcomb has agreed to coordinate this for us.
We will soon be submitting our images for the October judging. Thanks to everyone who submitted images The next Nature images will be due in January. It is not too early to start looking for your best nature images and have them ready when we call for entries.
Wisconsin Print Circuit Competition: This year we are also participating in the Wisconsin Print Circuit. Each member is encouraged to enter one color and/or one black & white image. This is an “open” division, so any subject is eligible and digital manipulation is allowed. Images must be on 8.5 x 11 paper, with the image being between 8 x 10 and 8.5 x 11. Do not mount or mat the pictures. Your name and our club name must be on the back, as well as an arrow to indicate the top. Prints are due to Elizabeth Whitcomb by October 15th. Why not submit your images to Elizabeth at the October meeting? Again, please submit some of your great images!
Scavenger Hunt:
Following on the success of last year’s scavenger hunt, we are announcing the 2014 scavenger hunt topics. Photo scavenger hunts are a fun and challenging way to get your imagination and creative juices flowing! The rules are simple:
1. Capture one image of each topic.
2. Be creative - think of a unique way to express the topic.
3. Images should be taken between now and December 1st. We will review them at our December meeting
4. Have fun.
Thanks to Elizabeth Whitcomb for coming up with the following topics:
1. On the waterfront
2. Repetition
3. Unique
4. Celebrate
5. Time
6. Reckless
7. LOCAL (day trip) landscape
8. Challenges
9. Framed
10. Next to something
Start shooting and be creative! We will be viewing images at the December meeting.
Future Events of Interest:
If you are aware of any events of general interest, please let us know so we can share them with the club.
Photo Contests and Exhibits:
Old World Wisconsin Photo Contest – Deadline October 17th, 2014
This contest is for photos taken on the grounds of Old World Wisconsin between August 31, 2013 and October 12, 2014. Categories include Pioneer Life, People, Agriculture, Nature and Historic Structures. For more information go to: www.friendsoww.org/photo_contest.
Friends of Retzer Photo Contest – Deadline October 29th, 2014
Images for this contest must be taken on the Retzer Nature center property. Please go to www.FriendsofRetzer.org for contest details and entry information. This is a good competition for members to enter and help support the Friends of Retzer. There is a reception on November 2, 1:00 – 3:30 where all entries will be on display and winners will be announced.
If you are aware of other photo contests, please forward the information to Rick Vollbrecht at Rvollb@wi.rr.com
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 those 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.
Saturday, November 8th – Xtreme Raptor Day. Sponsored by Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. This is a day of activities and learning experiences with raptors. While not an actual photo shoot, there may be some interesting photo opportunities.
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
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/
