Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Wildlife Photography Is Focus of May Meeting


Retzer Nature Center
Camera Club
May 4, 2016 Newsletter

May Meeting  Wednesday, May 4th, 2016, 7:00 PM  

If you have wondered how wildlife photographers get those wonderful images of birds and other wildlife, this is the meeting for you.  Our member Tom Wright will share his techniques and equipment for getting great wildlife photos.  Tom will also share some of his images to inspire and motivate you to go out and try your hand at wildlife photography.

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
The following members will be featured this month: Robert Beitz, Mark Blackman, Deb Bloede, Craig Brown, Shane Carlton

Please email your images to Rick VollbrechtRvollb@wi.rr.com ) by TuesdayMay 3rd. This will help to streamline theprocess of viewing member images. We look forward to seeing your images.


2016 Club Programs:

Our 2016 programs and meeting dates are listed below:  
 
June 1, 2016 – Seeing in Black & White presented by Carl Hartt
July 6, 2016 – Macro shooting and focus stacking presented by Bob Wickland
August 3, 2016 – Selecting images for the PSA WI Club Showcase
September 7, 2016 – Zoo photography presented by Bob Wickland
October 5, 2016 – Image correction and enhancement presented by Tom Wright.  Members will receive images in advance and given an opportunity to show how they would improve them.
November 2, 2016 – Table-top hands on shooting opportunity
December 7, 2016 – Holiday Party with spouses invited.  Review of Scavenger Hunt images.  Member “Best of 2016” show

If you have any topics you would like to see presented at future meetings, please let Program Chair Elizabeth Whitcomb know. 


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.  Our Outings Chairperson, Randy Scherkenbach, is working on some outings for this year.  Sure to return are our popular wildflower shoot at Retzer and the downtown Milwaukee at night shoot.  If you have some ideas of where you would like to see us go, please let Randy know.  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.

We have the following outing scheduled for the remainder of the year:

May 14 - Spring Vintage Classics at Road America 
May 14-15 - Wild & Woolly Weekend at Old World Wisconsin 
June 20 - Lifestriders Therapeutic Riding Center
August 20 - Wausau Kayak Races (Midwest Freestyle Championships) 
August 28 - Milwaukee Concours d'Elegance car show
September 17-18 - Doors Open Milwaukee October 15-16 - Open House Chicago
The following are additional outings for which we have not yet set dates:
Spring – Frame Park Flowers
Spring – Horicon Marsh
Spring – Starved Rock in Illinois
Spring / Summer - Chicago Botanic Garden 
Summer - Night Sky and Milky Way at Retzer 
Summer - Wildflowers at Retzer 
Summer - Downtown Milwaukee at Night 
Summer - Wind Point Lighthouse Tower Climb and Tour 
Fall - Milwaukee County Zoo 
Fall - Tiffany Bridge and Beckman Mill near Beloit 
Fall - Barns and Rural Landscapes of Manitowoc County 
Photo Scavenger Hunt:

Our Photo Scavenger Hunt has become a popular annual event which we will be doing again this year.  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 Jill Arth for providing us with these topics for our 2016 Scavenger Hunt:
1. Music
2. Happiness
3. Flavor
4. Wind
5. America
6. Backlit
7. Geometric
8. Contrast
9. Sparkle
10. Texture


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:

WACCO Spring Competition – Saturday, May 7, 2016.  Members may enter images in a number of categories.  Please go to the WACCO web site ( www.wicameraclubs.org ) for more information and entry forms.  

If you are aware of any 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.

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/  

Club Organization:

Our club officers are:
PresidentRick Vollbrecht
Vice PresidentTom Wright
TreasurerJim Edlhuber
Program ChairElizabeth Whitcomb
Outings ChairRandy Scherkenbach

Members should feel free to contact the officers with any questions and suggestions they may have for the club.

Club dues for the 2016 club year are:
Individual - $15.00
Couple / Family - $25.00
Student (16-25) - $10.00
Please see our Treasurer, Jim Edlhuber, to pay your dues if you have not yet paid.