Discusson Group Notes January 8, 2010
This night we had 8 photographers, with Linda being a first-timer.
Linda told us of a cropping workshop in Palmdale which is part of their Parks and Recreation program. They have two dates listed, January 30 and March 27. The fee for each is $15 plus $5 for materials. They also have workshops on borders, cards, and other interesting stuff under "Educational/More choices." Under "Visual/Performing Arts" they have workshops on art and language. Under "Bus Excursions" they list trips to the Norton Simon Museum, Calico Ghost Town, the Farmer's Market Mardi Gras (Feb 13-15), and many other interesting places. Last summer they even had bus trips to the beach. Don't forget to take your camera.
http://www.cityofpalmdale.org/departments/parks/activity_guide/more_choices.pdf
http://www.cityofpalmdale.org/departments/parks/activity_guide/index.asp
http://www.farmersmarketla.com/newsandevents/events/mardigras/index.asp
Speaking of which, the Lancaster Museum and Art Gallery (LMAG) has closed its entries for the 25th Annual Juried All-Media Art Exhibition and will open for the artists' reception on January 22nd and public viewing on January 23rd. Also, Lyle Trusty and others will be giving "Artist Demonstrations on Saturday, January 30th, at 1 PM. http://www.cityoflancasterca.org/Index.aspx?page=67
And if you're looking to fill your calendar this spring I've posted a list of places to go and events to see under "Opportunities by Season" at: http://www.glenn-olson.com/photos/blogs/sites.htm
Linda showed us a photo she had taken at Lego Land and asked us to give her some ideas on how to improve it. I liked the composition which included trees, water grass and sky but thought it could have used a little more of the Lego Land structures to show location.
Cheryl reminded us of the AV Press competition which Arley had posted on the Forum. Somehow we got onto the subject of what businesses can and can't do with photos that are submitted but I'm not sure we came to any great conclusions.
I asked Linda what she does with her photos and she said that she had 3,000 to 5,000 photos on her computer but didn't have an overall plan for them. So we talked about scrapbooking and all the other ways of displaying photos. Cheryl mentioned SnapFish which is one of the many companies producing prints and gifts with your photos. Linda said that she had created a photo CD at CVS Pharmacy of a garden party complete with music. She also recommended Smug Mug where you can show and sell your photos online. Cheryl added that the radio station KFI talk show "The Tech Guy" recommends Smug Mug. I guess he has a web site and gives help with computer related problems. Jim said that he takes photos of aircraft and sells them on the internet.
- http://www.snapfish.com/welcome?s_kwcid=TC|11894|snapfish||S|e|3649299263
- http://www.smugmug.com/
- http://techguylabs.com/radio/pmwiki.php
Linda said that the local Toastmasters clubs will be having an open house Saturday, January 23rd, 10-12, at the Palmdale Cultural Center. Among other things, they have speakers talking about photography and art.
Jim brought up Skype, a Voice-Over-Internet_Protocol provider which does phone calls and video teleconferencing. They also appear to have links to MySpace. Speaking of MySpace, my neighbor has finally found a use for the Canon A480 Point and Shoot (P&S) camera I gave her for her birthday last year. Yes, she's an avid MySpacer and I've seen some of her photos. She started with the camera covering part of her face (in the mirror) and has progressed to getting some very nice photos without the camera showing. This is an interesting way to learn portraiture. http://www.skype.com/getconnected/?c=101
Cheryl had a question on submitting photos to S4C competitions and the strictness of "Reality Based." Terri provided a very complete answer. Cheryl then showed us a photo she had taken of one of the buildings at the Tropico Gold Mine that I found very interesting. As part of her S4C class she framed the building with out-of-focus near-field bushes to draw the viewer to the building itself.
Terry brought up the Yahoo forum on Photoshop Elements. I couldn't find any Yahoo forums but I used Yahoo to find forums on Photoshop Elements and found several, including one with tutorials for beginners. From there we went into an eclectic discussion of Elements, S4C, PSA, Windows 7, and more. http://www.essential-photoshop-elements.com/learn-photoshop-elements.html
Lee said that he had played photographer at a party so I asked him about his techniques and what he took photos of. True to form, he was brief, but he did say that he kind of did what the photographers on the cruise ships do. That is, he took photos of individuals, couples, and groups. He stayed back and gave people room. These were great ideas to start with so I Googled "tutorials photographing parties" and one of the sites that came up was the Digital Photography School which listed "16 Digital Photography Tips for Christmas." They also have many lessons for beginners and advanced photographers alike. http://digital-photography-school.com/16-christmas-photography-tips
It was a relaxing, informative evening and a good start for the new year.
If you can, please join us each Friday evening at Denny's at the corner of Ave K and 20th West. We begin about 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). Denny's has graciously provided us a section to ourselves and the service is great.
All photography related subjects are fair game and there's never a planned agenda. You can bring in your questions, your stories, your equipment, your photos (paper or digital), or even just yourself to sit, listen, and/or talk.
I would again like to extend a special invitation to both new members and the more expert members who would like to participate in these informal discussions. You are welcome to visit the LPA forum and leave your comments......
Glenn Olson, Coordinator and Moderator
glenn@glenn-olson.com
816-8278
