February 15th meeting

Minutes from the February 15^th meeting.

Jerry brought the meeting to order with 8 present.

Our challenges were: Macro, Tired and Sleep.

Jerry reminded everyone that we will be having David Eslick as a guest speaker on our March 1^st meeting.

We went on to our show and tell.  Rosalie had a photo of a Bluebird, John Pruitt had a photo of a squirrel and a purple finch. Larry had a female cardinal that he had found out walking. Yes he was walking not the bird. 

Samples of Deconstructing Light:

Katie – Night scene with the snow.

Rosalie – Sunset and the snow.

John -  Amaryllis. Up close and personal.

Jerry – Pathway in the Evening.

All great interpretations of the challenge as usual.

Jerry reminded everyone of the challenge to take a photo from the same place during the four seasons of the year.

Next we went on to our Macro challenge:

Katie – had a photo of heart shaped cookie cutters on a mirror.

Rosalie – had a photo of a Robin, the first sign that spring is just around the corner.

Jerry – had a photo of an ant face, very close up.

Our next challenge was tired:

Debbie – cat laying upside down

Katie – a self-portrait – very funny by the way, and she worked very hard to get this picture.

John – resting cat, nearly asleep.

Jerry – sleeping horse, which by the way you don’t find laying down very much.

Last challenge was Sleep, which was very close to the tired challenge:

Katie – her husband and dog curled up together.

Rosalie – Man dressed in Mexican attire and a Sombrero.

All the pictures we great to look at and share.

Jerry passed out the February calendar with the next challenges:

Body Parts, Romance, Spirit and Vegetables.

An additional challenge was – Dutch Angle Shot

A Dutch angle is achieved by tilting the camera off to the side so that the shots are static shots at an obscure angle. It can be a tricky one to achieve, not all subjects lend themselves to this disorienting look and it is often criticized when it is overdone. The purpose of this assignment is to understand how different shooting angles can create mood.

We also watched three segments of the DVD – Perfect Composition for digital cameras.

The meeting was adjourned for the night.

Meeting cancelation

Due to the weather forecast, we are going to cancel the February 1st meeting.

We will hope to resume our meetings on February 15th.

Deconstructing Light

Deconstructing Light

by Darren Rowse

Light is fundamental to our existence as human beings. Light – electromagnetic radiation, is also fundamental to photography and the creation of the image.

Learning to visually deconstruct light, its qualities, its temperature and direction can help you to better develop your photography skills. As light makes up such a fundamental part of our lives we tend to become used to it as it becomes part our subconscious understanding of the world. To develop your photography skills and your ability to identify suitable photographic situations, settings and composition, begin to deconstruct the light you see around you, and the light in other peoples photographs.

What is the light like in the morning?

What is the light like as a thunderstorm rolls in?

What unusual and creative light sources do you have around the house that could be used in creating interesting and unusual portraits?

Take a look at your favorite photographs – where is the light in relation to the subject and the photographer?

What kind of mood has been created by the light in the photograph?

One of my all time favorite examples of an unrivalled understanding of this fundamental aspect of photography is Elliot Erwitt. Erwitt is heralded as a photographer whose skill extended beyond the ability to expose a perfect silhouette or window lit photograph, to being able to capture the decisive moment as it happened before his eyes.

Erwitt’s photographs served as a great influence when I first began to engage with photography, and continue as a great source of inspiration both technically, and in his ability to capture the essence of his subject. In the fraction of the second his images were taken, Erwitt had the ability to compose his images with a great sophistication and elegance.

Erwitt’s photographs were shot on black and white film; While the technology that we use to capture light has changed, the nature of light itself has not. The same rules apply when deconstructing and analysing light.

Consider some of these lighting and textural characteristics next time you head out with a camera. Hopefully you will uncover something that had previously existed simply as part of your subconscious that suddenly becomes part of your conscious considerations of the world.

Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/deconstructing-light#ixzz1BVIWSxxy

January 18th meeting notes

Hi all!!!

Judd called the meeting to order this evening with 14 members present. He talked about our field trip to Branson to the Ice Sculpture Event that 9 of us went to. There were some really good pictures taken there and we had a good time. Jerry brought a DVD of some of the pictures that he took there for all of us to view.

Next we had Show & Tell with Marty, Katie, John and Judd showing us what they had been doing of late. The picture that Katie showed us is one that she entered in a contest with Digital Photography Challenge online and placed in the top 10. The catagory was to take a picture facing into the light (backlight). GOOD JOB KATIE!!!! If you would like to check that site out go to Digital Photography Challenge online. You don't have to be a member to enter some challenges but can join for $25.00 a year and be able to join in on the challenges for members only.

Next we showed our pictures for the Light Trails challenge. Judd is 'challenging' us to use our cameras. (and for some of us, and we know who we are, we need that challenge) Katie, Larry, Rosalie, Connie, Wade, Marcia, Jerry, Judd and John all had pictures to share. This was really cool to see all the different interpretations that we came up with. Some of you really went 'out of the box'.

We have a weekly challenge going on also for every week of the month. (I told you Judd is really going to 'challenge' us to use our cameras.)
Our first subject was 'COLD' and John, Katie, Marty, Rosalie, Connie, Wade, Marcia and Judd all had pictures to share.

Our next weeks challenge subject was 'BREAKFAST' and John, Katie, Marty, Rosalie, Connie, Wade, Marcia, Jerry and Judd shared in this catagory. This one really made you hungry! Good job to all who participated in these challenges!!!!! Keep up the good work! Like Judd says, to become a really good photographer you have to use your camera!

Our next meeting will be February 1st. Our challenge for this meeting is DECONSTRUCTING LIGHT. Judd had a handout for everyone on this subject to help us out. This one should be fun. Also our weekly challenges for this meeting are 'MACRO' and 'TIRED'. If you don't have a macro lens as a lot of us don't, just do a close up for this one. We will also be starting a DVD on Composition.

Next we had Q&A time. Toni posed a question on Depth of Field. She has been having trouble with this with her camera, a Canon Powershot G11. Some of the group suggested she put her F stop down as low as it would go, F2 or thereabout, get her telephoto lens out as far as it would go, set the camera to Manual and pick her ISO, 100 or 200, suggested she use her flash, and focus up close and far away and see if any of these suggestions help. She is going to play around with this and let us know at the next meeting how she is doing.

Judd also talked about using the Dioptic adjustment knob on our cameras to clear up our vision. He showed us where to find it on our cameras and how to use it. I know from experience that this really works. When I did it on my camera what a difference it made in what I was viewing through that eyepiece! If you have any questions on this please feel free to talk to Judd or anyone else that was at the meeting tonight.

The meeting closed a little early tonight as the Steering Committee met after the meeting.

Well until next time; use those cameras and most of all - Have fun with it!
Marcia

Their phone number is 883-8300