Discusson Group Notes July 2, 2010
Last week, June 26th, we had seven attendees. This was the first time for Aaron, a friend of Rodger, who just bought a Nikon D3000 kit. We talked about many things including Facebook, Flikr, the San Fernando Mission, and Topaz software, which does High Dynamic Range (HDR) and more.
This week, July 2nd, we had 10 of our usual suspects.
We talked about the latest LPA newsletter which went to 14 pages and a lot of great content. Dave Wilkins has been doing a great job but he's becoming too busy and must pass on the editorship.
Rodger talked about his trip to Disneyland but didn't get much with his P&S. We talked about the difficulties of taking trips where the priority is other than photography.
Rodger showed us an article on the Sony NEX-5 digital camera which looks like the future of digital photography. This camera has no viewfinder and no mirror. This means that it has no moving parts, no shaking from the mirror movement, and no delay for the mirror. It also means that the camera can be made cheaper, lighter, quieter, and operate faster. This camera sports 14.2 MP, interchangeable E-series lenses, 200-12,800 ISO, and costs only $700. It makes you wonder why we still have mirrors in our Canons and Nikons.
Donna reminded us of the days of developing our own film and that chemicals are now too expensive to use, though I noticed that King's still sells some of them.
Cheryl described her use of her IPOD Touch to show photos to people.
It was mentioned that the Nursery at Ave E and Q is building a 1/2 (or 1/2"
scale railroad. This would be great for Larry's fish eye lens.
It was also announced that Lake Hughes was holding it's Mayberry Parade on Sunday. I mentioned my semi-weekly posting on the forum of news and photo ops and am looking for inputs. Rodger said that Lancaster Cemetery was holding a Pancake Breakfast on Monday. He also told us that that cemetery had replaced many of their large tombstones with flat gravestones to make it easier for grounds maintenance. Good for them but not so good for photographers.
Rodger described his work with the Topaz software. He says that it is much faster than the Photomatix software.
I mentioned that I had read about Easter Eggs in the Windows 7 software. One of these will turn the view on your monitor upside down. Another is God Mode which is supposed to give you all kinds of cool tools to personalize your Windows 7.
We talked about the junk yard outing and Lee and my practice run. One idea brought up was to have several guys leaning into the engine compartment with rags hanging out of their back pockets, maybe as ghosts. Maybe even have someone on a creeper under the car. I would like to bring along a smoke generator if I can find one. After the meeting I saw a commercial on TV where they showed an old railroad engine undercarriage with, apparently, green lights shining on the wheels. Here's another photo op for night lights.
We talked about Larry's photography and, besides the many photos he has posted in different places on the internet, he's also had several in the AV Press including a recent one of the NASA B-52.
Rodger showed us a series of prints using different paper finishes from glossy to satin. The paper does make a difference in look of the photo.
Julia showed off her new laptop and will now be able to show her photos digitally without having to print them out.
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
