Retzer Camera Club

Thursday, March 27, 2014

April Meeting to Feature Close-Up Photography Techniques

Retzer Nature Center
Camera Club
April 2014 Newsletter
April Meeting – Wednesday April 2, 2014, 7:00 PM
Program: Portraits – Macro and Close-up Photography.
Terry Molter will discuss the equipment and techniques used for successful close-up photography. He will also talk about a technique called focus-stacking which allows for greater depth-of-field. This will be a good program to get us ready for Spring wildflower and other close-up photos.
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 this month:
Debby & Jim Donner, Jim Edlhuber, Elizabeth Filippo, Foat Family
We have also challenged members to use some of the portrait techniques we learned in March to shoot some portraits. If you have some interesting portraits, please send them in so we can review them at the meeting.
2014 Club Programs:
We have developed a tentative program schedule for the rest of the year. Additional information will be provided as speakers and program details are confirmed.
May 7, 2014 – Architectural photography – Photographer Paul Bialas will discuss his experiences shooting architecture, especially old building. He will include the process he used to publish books of his works.
June 4, 2014 – Favorite Places – Tom Wright will talk about some of our member’s favorite places to shoot locally and throughout the state. You don’t have to go on long trips to get some of your best shots. Members are requested to send Tom some of their favorite local locations, including photos of what they shoot. This will serves as a resources for club members.
July 2, 2014 – Presenting your Images Part I– Rick Vollbrecht will demonstrate how to create dynamic “slide” shows from your images.
August 6, 2014 – PSA Wisconsin Showcase Image Selection - Members will select images for the 2014 PSA Wisconsin Showcase. We will also spend some time critiquing member images.
September 3, 2014 – Composition – What makes a great image? The elements of composition will be discussed.
October 1, 2014 – 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.
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.
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.
The following field trips are being planned with specific dates and details to be announced later:
May – Parfey’s Glen, Pewitt’s Nest and the International Crane Foundation. Elizabeth Whicomb will coordinate.
June – Downtown Milwaukee at night including the rooftop garden at the MSOE Museum, downtown building details and the Milwaukee skyline from Lakeshore State Park (Summerfest Island). Rick Vollbrecht will coordinate.
July – Wildflowers at Retzer nature Center. Jim Edlhuber will coordinate.
Summer – Chicago including Millennium Park (The “Bean”) and Navy Pier. Rick Vollbrecht will coordinate.
Summer – Chicago Botanical Park – Elizabeth Whitcomb will coordinate.
Summer – Frame Park Gardens – Frank Remfrey will coordinate.
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.
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!
Future Events of Interest:
May 17th, 2014 (Saturday) – Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Birds of Prey Shoot
This photo shoot will run from 9:00 AM – Noon at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Brown Deer. It will give you a great opportunity to get close-up shots of birds of Prey. The fee is $45.00 for adults and $20.00 for students. (Save $5.00 if you are a Schlitz Audubon member). For more information go to www.sanc.org and check the calendar.
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.
July 31st – August 3rd – Southwestern Michigan Council of Camera Clubs (SWMCCC) Annual Weekend of Photography and Digital Imaging.
This annual event provides an extended weekend (Thursday – Sunday) of programs, workshops and tours. It is based at Hope College in Holland MI and provides some good educational opportunities at a reasonable price. For more information visit their web site and www.SWMCCC.org
September 27th – October 3rd, 2014 – PSA 76th Annual Conference of Photography
The annual conference in Albuquerque NM provides a full schedule of programs, photo tours and workshops. It is also the week before the annual Albuquerque Balloon Festival, so why not extend your trip! For more details, go to the PSA web site: www.PSA-photo.org
Photo Contests and Exhibits:
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.
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.
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 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
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/

Thursday, February 27, 2014

March Meeting to Focus on Portraits

Retzer Nature Center

Camera Club

March 2014 Newsletter

March Meeting – Wednesday March 5, 2014, 7:00 PM

Program: Portraits – How to pose and shoot great portraits.

Professional portrait photographer Noelle Youakim will gives us tips on shooting portraits, including how to pose people for the most interesting shots. Noelle uses primarily natural light in outdoor settings to achieve her most interesting portraits, so her tips will help us all to get the portraits we want without having to invest in studio lighting equipment.

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 this month:

Robert Beitz, Mark Blackman, Craig Brown, Shane Carlton, Wayne Christensen

2014 Club Programs:

We have developed a tentative program schedule for the rest of the year. Additional information will be provided as speakers and program details are confirmed.

April 2, 2014 – Macro and close up photography - Terry Molter will discuss techniques and equipment for shooting close-up images. He will include the use of focus stacking to get better depth of field.

May 7, 2014 – Architectural photography – Photographer Paul Bialas will discuss his experiences shooting architecture, especially old building. He will include the process he used to publish books of his works.

June 4, 2014 – Favorite Places – Tom Wright will talk about some of our member’s favorite places to shoot locally and throughout the state. You don’t have to go on long trips to get some of your best shots. Members are requested to send Tom some of their favorite local locations, including photos of what they shoot. This will serves as a resources for club members.

July 2, 2014 – Presenting your Images Part I– Rick Vollbrecht will demonstrate how to create dynamic “slide” shows from your images.

August 6, 2014 – PSA Wisconsin Showcase Image Selection - Members will select images for the 2014 PSA Wisconsin Showcase. We will also spend some time critiquing member images.

September 3, 2014 – Composition – What makes a great image? The elements of composition will be discussed.

October 1, 2014 – 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.

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.

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.

The following field trips are being planned with specific dates and details to be announced later:

May – Parfey’s Glen, Pewitt’s Nest and the International Crane Foundation. Elizabeth Whicomb will coordinate.

June – Downtown Milwaukee at night including the rooftop garden at the MSOE Museum, downtown building details and the Milwaukee skyline from Lakeshore State Park (Summerfest Island). Rick Vollbrecht will coordinate.

July – Wildflowers at Retzer nature Center. Jim Edlhuber will coordinate.

Summer – Chicago including Millennium Park (The “Bean”) and Navy Pier. Rick Vollbrecht will coordinate.

Summer – Chicago Botanical Park – Elizabeth Whitcomb will coordinate.

Summer – Frame Park Gardens – Frank Remfrey will coordinate.

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.

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:

Capture one image of each topic.
Be creative - think of a unique way to express the topic.
Images should be taken between now and December 1st. We will review them at our December meeting
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 landscape

8. Challenges

9. Framed

10. Next to something

Start shooting and be creative!

Future Events of Interest:

March 15, 2014 (Saturday) – Calumet Regional Photo Club 2014 Photography Clinic

The 5^th 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 22^nd ($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 14^th, 2014 (Saturday) - Wehr Nature Center Camera Club 2^nd 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 Contests and Exhibits:

Monona Terrace Photography Contest – Deadline September 1^st, 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.

Old World Wisconsin Photo Contest – Deadline October 17^th, 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.

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 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

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/

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:

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