Retzer Camera Club: September 2021

Retzer Nature Center

Camera Club

October 2021 Newsletter

October Meeting – Wednesday, October 6, 2021, 7:00 PM

Club Meeting Covid Safety Procedures: 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 – Shooting with Action Cameras (GoPro) and 360 Cameras – Tim Holte and Randy Scherkenbach:

Guest speaker Tim Holte will talk about shooting action with GoPro cameras. Tim gives us this background information about himself: I take photos to fulfill some kind of subconscious need to document time and memory. I am concerned about beauty and how it can be found all around us. I keep things simple and enjoy the process more and more as I get older. Nice light, an interesting subject and basic compositional elements are what I look for and try to capture. I have had the opportunity to have studied with some of the best photographers Wisconsin has to offer over the years by taking many continuing education classes at MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design) and Cardinal Stritch University here in Milwaukee. Paul Calhoun, Francis Ford, Steven Sellars and JP Atterberry all have been a big influence on me.

Randy will follow with a presentation on using an Insta 360 camera that can shoot a 360 degree image.

Tim and Randy’s presentations will give you some ideas on how you can expand your photography.

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:

· November 3, 2021

· December 1, 2021

· January 5, 2022

· February 2, 2022

· March 2, 2022

· April 6, 2022

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: John Marrari, Linnea Matthiesen, Jonelle Nelson, Walt Panasiuk, Jocelyn Ritger.

Please email your images to Jim Hobbick ( jim-dawn-hobbick@wi.rr.com ) by Tuesday, October 5th. This will help to streamline the process of viewing member images. We look forward to seeing your images.

Field Trips:

Carly Sedushak is looking at some places that would give us an opportunity to shoot some Fall colors as well as other late blooming prairie plants like asters and milkweed. Watch for an email with additional details if we can organize and outing. If any members have any locations that would provide us some good photo opportunities, please let Caryl (Caryl.Sedushak@me.com) know.

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:

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 10, 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