Discusson Group Notes May 15, 2009
We matched our all-time high of 13 participants. The trend is that the meeting seems to be getting bigger.
First, a correction. I was told at Tuesday's general meeting that the model railroad club car is actually at the Gramercy Farms on the east side of 20th East, south of K.
Cheryl started it off by saying that she had ordered five of the Digital Quick Guide books from Amazon. These seem to be very popular.
I talked about the Canon A480 that I bought for the neighbor's 14-yr old. Jo said that Steve had bought her a snapshot printer for Christmas.
Jim reminded us that Mojave has an air show the third Saturday of each month.
Terri showed us her latest birthday present, a loupe that goes over the LCD display on the back of her camera so she can see it in the daytime. This one was by Hoodman. It looked like you would almost need a tripod to use it but when I looked at the web site http://www.hoodmanusa.com/products.asp?dept=1017 it looks like they do make an attaching band to keep it in place.
Don gave us an update on the LPA T-shirts. Then he described his 10-day trip to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. He took 1300 shots and had a great time. He said it was beautiful and showed us some brochures. He said that he got many shots of river kayaks, including some really neat ones of a guy going down the river without a kayak. I guess that's better than up the creek without a paddle. He was disappointed when he came back from all the lush greenery into the desert brown. Don recommended using an external battery pack so you don't have to keep changing/charging batteries. Bonnie recommended that he write up his adventure for the club newsletter.
Terri demonstrated her shoulder harness for Deborah and some of the other folks. She asked for a recommendation for an archival printer that will do 13 x 19. Deborah and I recommended our Epson R2400. It's a bit on the pricey side but does a great job, has the wide carriage, and (as I recall) has the long-life ink. Someone mentioned that Staples now takes in the used cartridges for this printer and gives $3 each for them (up to 10/month).
Tylene talked about her trip to Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. It wasn't a photo trip, per se, but she did get some good snapshots with her point and shoot.
There was some discussion on the club use of the Senior Center, what we pay them, and some of the changes that will occur once we incorporate.
Sue brought in one of her "white notebooks" that she has on lots of stuff. This book was related to Carol Leigh's http://www.calphoto.com California wildflower CD http://www.calphoto.com/clcwl/wflcd.htm. These CDs describe (and show photos of) the various wildflowers, their locations complete with directions, when they're out, and tips on photographing them. This would be a good resource if you're serious about photographing lots of different wildflowers or looking for a specific one.
Sue presented a screen show of an action workshop presented two years ago. She covered getting everything sharp, the subject or background blurry, panning, and such. She showed photos of motorcycles, horses, people, kayaks, and more. It was a very good preparation for the field trip to Willow Springs the following Sunday. She mentioned that her camera can get more/faster multiple shots using JPGs instead of Raw. Tylene reminded everyone to check their histograms for exposure.
Art got himself a new Nikon D5000 with a flip out screen http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-SLR/25452/D5000.html.
Deborah and Terri talked a little about scrapbooking. Terri recommended Linda Sattgast digital scrapbooking software.
It was suggested that we might be able to find a better location to have our meetings. One suggestion was Camilles on 15th W. and J-8. Since that meeting I visited Camilles and it is a nice place with counter service so we wouldn't have to wait so long for service. They have a main area plus a conference room. The conference room seems a bit boxy and large but between the two is a foyer that might do us well. Terri, at the Tueday club meeting, said that she would contact the owner and see what they can offer us. For now we're still at Denny's.
If you can, please join us each Friday evening at Denny's at the corner of Ave K and 20th West. We begin at 6:30 PM and usually go to at least 8:30 PM. You can drop by at anytime and stay for as long as you like (you don't even have to buy anything).
Glenn Olson
Coordinator and Moderator
glenn@glenn-olson.com
816-8278