Retzer Nature Center
Camera Club
October 2016 Newsletter
October Meeting – Wednesday, October 5th, 2016, 7:00 PM
At this month’s meeting we will be selecting images to represent our club in the annual Wisconsin PSA Club Showcase. This is an annual competition between seventeen clubs in Wisconsin. Each club submits seven images which are then judged by all participating clubs to determine the winning clubs and top individual images. We will be selecting seven images to represent our club. Note: We had originally scheduled to do this at our August meeting but needed to postpone it due to problems with our meeting room. All interested members have already submitted their images so there is no need for you to submit any images at this time.
Following the selection of our club’s seven images, we will spend some time using the member images to discuss what makes a good image. Look forward to a night of viewing some of our member’s best images.
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: Pam Gruettner, John Hasse, Rick Heinze, Kurt Heubner
Please email your images to Rick Vollbrecht (Rvollb@wi.rr.com) by Tuesday, October 4th. This will help to streamline the process of viewing member images. We look forward to seeing your images.
2016 Club Programs:
Our 2016-17 programs and meeting dates are listed below. We have started to add some 2017 programs to the schedule. More will be added as we firm up the speakers.
November 2, 2016 – Table-top hands on shooting opportunity
December 7, 2016 – Wisconsin Print Circuit judging. How to shoot fireworks.
January 4, 2017 – Holiday Party with spouses invited. Review of Scavenger Hunt images. Member “Best of 2016” show.
February 1, 2017 – Judging PSA Wisconsin Club Showcase.
March 1, 2017 – Image editing - correction and enhancement presented by Tom Wright. Members will receive images in advance and given an opportunity to show how they would improve them.
April 5, 2017 – Landscape Photography
May 3, 2017 – Marketing Photographs
June 7, 2017 – Architecture Photography (inside and outside)
July 5, 2017 –
August 2, 2017 –
September 6, 2017 –
October 4, 2017 –
November 1, 2017 –
December 6, 2017 -
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, has scheduled a number of outings for this year. Please consider attending as many outings as possible. The more people attending, the more fun and the more you will learn! 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:
October 15-16 - Open House Chicago
Photographing Retzer Nature Center:
Caryl Sedushak has organized a group of club members who meet periodically to shoot at Retzer. In addition to getting some great images, we will be putting up a display of some of the images as well as providing them to Retzer to use in their educational programs. If you are interested in joining the group, please see Caryl, or call her at 262-349-4592.
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:
Wisconsin Print Circuit: Deadline: October 5th. This is an individual competition. If you are a member of more than one club, you may only enter through one club. Of course, we hope you do it through Retzer! Prints should be given to Elizabeth Whitcomb by October 5th. For more information please go to www.wicameraclubs.org/wisconsin-print-circuit/.
Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office – Deadline: October 7th. The contest is looking for photos of historic Wisconsin places including buildings, barns, historic sites, mounds, parks, etc. For more information go to www.wisconsinhistory.org/photocontest
WACCO Fall Competition – Deadline: October 15th. This a competition for individual members. There are several categories in both digital and prints. Many of our members enter this competition on a regular basis. If you have not entered before, please give it a try! For more information on the categories, registration and uploading instructions, go to www.wicameraclubs.org/competition-2/ .
Friends of Retzer Annual Photo Contest: Deadline: November 2nd . This contest has several categories including People, Activities & Events, Plants, Flowers & Trees, Scenery and Wildlife Outdoors. All images must be taken at Retzer. Our club has always supported this contest and many of our members have placed well. Please give strong consideration to entering your images in this contest.
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
Friends of Retzer Nature Center: www.FriendsofRetzer.org
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.
