Retzer Camera Club: August 2021

Retzer Nature Center

Camera Club

September 2021 Newsletter

September Meeting – Wednesday, September 1, 2021, 7:00 PM

Club Meeting Covid Safety Procedures UPDATE: With more people getting vaccinated and the CDC changing Covid guidelines, masks are now optional at our meetings. Chairs will continue to be spread out to allow for social distancing. The room is large enough that if you feel uncomfortable being too close to others there is room to spread out and wear a mask as you feel necessary. And, as always, if you are not feeling well or are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19, please stay home. We will miss you, but it is better to remain safe.

We encourage you to come to the in-person meeting as that is the best way for us to get to know each other better and to get the most out of the meetings. We will however continue to offer Zoom as an option for those who cannot attend in person.

Program – Flash Photography – John Koster

John Koster is a street photographer who has been working on a street portrait project for nine years. He has spent many hours on the streets of Milwaukee, around the USA and even the Caribbean seeking out faces that have character, faces that tell a story. John is a father of two, a retired police officer who now does sales at an international Milwaukee-based company, and a guy who's happiest on the street with his camera in hand.

John will be presenting a program on flash photography, sharing some techniques and examples on using flash to improve your photography.

John will be presenting his program in person and will be best seen if you are also at the meeting in person. The meeting will also be on Zoom, but we can not be sure how well it will be viewed.

2021-22 Club Programs:

We need your help! Our Program Chair, Randy Scherkenbach, has done a great job finding interesting and informative speakers for our monthly meetings. But he can use your help. We want to provide programs that are interesting to you! Please let Randy know what topics would interest you for future meetings. If you are aware of any speakers that might be of general interest to club members, let Randy know that too. Any input you can provide to Randy will help our future meetings be interesting for all members. Please forward your ideas to Randy (rscherkenbach@gmail.com).

Our future programs and meeting dates are listed below.

2021 Program Schedule:

· October 6, 2021 – Tim Holte, Randy Scherkenbach – Shooting with Action Cameras (GoPro) and 360 Cameras (still and video).

· November 3, 2021

· December 1, 2021

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. 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 also be featured this month: Mary Krajak, Jim Kurovsky, Ramona Lenger, Kathy Lillegren, Pete Lillegren.

Please email your images to Jim Hobbick ( jim-dawn-hobbick@wi.rr.com ) by Tuesday, August 31st. This will help to streamline the process of viewing member images. We look forward to seeing your images.

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 Co-chairs, Elizabeth Whitcomb, and Caryl Sedushak are working on a schedule that will include some of our traditional outings plus a few new ones. They are always looking for your ideas of some places you would find interesting for a club outing. If you have any ideas of places you would like to have us shoot, please send your ideas to our Outings Chairperson, Elizabeth Whitcomb (lizannwhit@gmail.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. Perhaps you have a favorite place for fall colors or winter scenery.

2021 Field Trips: None scheduled at this time

Member Opportunities:

Retzer Nature Center Science Fest - November 6, 2021 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM: The theme will be “Under the Lens”. The Camera Club has been asked to lead a 1-hour photo walk allowing participants to see nature through the camera lens. We need several volunteers to lead this photo walk. We envision this to be an informal walk, perhaps looking at close-ups of trees, leaves, insects…whatever can be found. Please let Jim Hobbick know if you are interested.

Camera Club Officers: The term of our current club officers will end at the end of the year. We will need to elect new officers for two-year terms beginning in January. Our club has been successful because members have stepped up to plan our meetings and outings. Here is your chance to volunteer! Please consider offering your talents to help lead our club. If you have are willing to volunteer or have questions, please contact Jim Hobbick.

Future Events of Interest:

Birds of Prey Photo Workshop - September 11, 2021, 9:00 - noon: WACCO is hosting a Birds of Prey photo workshop at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. This workshop will give you an excellent opportunity to get some close-up shots of birds of prey. For more information go to the WACCO website: www.wicameraclubs.org/programs.

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 Fall Competition - November 6, 2021. (Entry deadline October 9, 2021) The special categories for the WACCO fall competition are Birds (nature) and Portraits (open). There are many changes to the format of the WACCO competitions, starting with the competition in November. For more information, go to the WACCO website: www.wicameraclubs.org . On the home page, select “Competition”, then “Competition Info – Uploader”. Here you will find all the information you will need to submit your images. Pay special attention to the “Competition Announcement” which will give you information on some changes to the categories. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth at lizannwhit@gmail.com

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

Facebook:

Our camera club has a Facebook page! If you are on Facebook, simply put Retzer Nature Center Camera Club in the search box and you will find us. Click on the Join button and Elizabeth or Randy will approve you. This is a Closed Group and open only to club members. This means that anything posted here can only be seen by members of the group. You can feel free to share your work here without fear that someone outside the club will have access to it. Anything posted here is private, so feel free to ask questions – don’t be embarrassed or shy about it. The monthly Newsletter, meeting topics and outings will also be posted here. Check it out!

Photographic Society of America (PSA): PSA is an international organization providing abundant resources for photographers, from the novice to the professional. PSA offers on-line learning, webinars, study groups, competitions, mentors, and consultants. Membership is open to individual members and camera clubs. Our club and many of our members are members of PSA. There is also a Wisconsin chapter which has quarterly meetings and an annual weekend outing.

PSA membership is available for $45/year. There is a small additional dues charge for the Wisconsin Chapter. You can check out the PSA at www.psa-photo.org. Contact Linnea Matthiesen

(trekkielaw@aol.com) for additional information

Retzer Club Page on WACCO Website: The WACCO website (www.wicameraclubs.org) has pages for each member club to display photographs from club members. Check it out to see what our members and other clubs are shooting. If you would like to see some of your images on our club page, please send several of your images to Caryl Sedushak ( caryl.sedushak@me.com ). The images should be 2100 pixels on the long side and no larger than 1 mb. Let’s see some of our great member photos on the WACCO site!

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 (Rvollb@wi.rr.com) 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:

Art’s Cameras Plus and Mike Crivellos Cameras have 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 sites: www.Artscameras.com and www.MikeCrivellos.com for updated lists of available classes.

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:

President Jim Hobbick jim-dawn-hobbick@wi.rr.com

Vice President Elizabeth Whitcomb Lizannwhit@gmail.com