Six of us showed up this last Friday and it was a great night. Most of us showed up by 6:30 and we went til 8:50, just before closing. Bonnie was still not up to joining
us.

Terri started us off with a view of her new laptop and their (Terri and Lee) pictures from the Zoo trip. The laptop was nice and they got some real nice pictures of animals. My favorite was of two deer, composed with one above the other on a hillside, facing opposite directions, with the head of the lower one nestled between the legs of the upper one like a jigsaw puzzle. Terri said she meant to do that. This picture looks like it belongs in a magazine.

I missed last October 31st to take Julia around for Halloween. It turns out that Bianco's closed at 7 PM for the day leaving Terri, Lee, and John out in the cold. I'll have to be more aware of the holidays and try to get the word out in advance.

This Friday it was just Terri, Lee, and me. John was traveling and Bonnie was not feeling well.

Finally, a break so I can write up the minutes of last Friday.

This time we had 13 folks in attendance, which I believe is a record. So much for the idea of a summer slowdown.
 

Well, I survived my week at the Survivalist Conference where we learned to make fire by rubbing sticks together. I haven't shaved in 11 days (but I have bathed), but more on that later. The waiter at Bianco's said that two or three showed up last week.

Tonight ten us gathered for some very lively discussions. Two potential new members joined us, Paul and Vincent, as well as a Bianco's regular. It's difficult to keep track of who's discussing what when several conversations are going on at the same time, but everyone joined in. We went till almost closing time and everyone left with a smile.

Tonight there were only three of us and I can only guess that summer activities are beginning to take their toll.

One lengthy topic of discussion, which appears to be timely, was the definition of "Classes" for the fair. Photography for the purists is probably quite simple but for those of us who like to experiment with their photos the classification scheme becomes uncertain. For example, Marilyn and I both have used some of the artistic filters in Photoshop to create pictures that look like they might have been painted. It's uncertain whether these would come under "Computer Imaging" or "Abstract." It's also uncertain whether those taking in our pictures at the Fair would agree with our assessment, which could prevent us from entering all of our selected pictures.

Corrections from last week's notes:

• The art walk coming up on Sunday the 8th is not sponsored by the Lakes and Valley's Art Guild (LVAG) but rather by Suzie Richey and the owner of Schooner's. This art walk will take place at four locations on 15th West between K and J8, West side. You can start behind the High Desert Medical building.
• While not a correction but a clarification, the AV Fair is accepting "Entry Forms" through July 12th. The actual photographs don't have to be delivered to the fair until August 13. John Shedrick will be making a recommendation to have this clarified in next year's entry guide.

I would have to say that this was one of the more interesting meetings to date.

We had most of the usual suspects plus Evie Cook.

The upcoming fair competition is getting more airtime as the event comes closer. I for one will be bringing in prints I hope to enter into the fair to get opinions and suggestions from folks. According to John entries are being accepted from now through July 12.

First, I was corrected on last week's notes about John's experience with Oak Color. The $6 was for the mounting only.

For this meeting I had hoped for more people to bring in their photos from the LPA competition and some experts to discuss those photos. We didn't get the photos but Dennis Goodno joined us and provided his expert opinions on everything from digital formats to sizing photos to the benefits of joining LPA. Besides Dennis we had four members and three future members. In all we discussed different types of cameras, lenses, Photoshop and Elements (of course), tutoring, the AV Fair, and abstract photos.