This day we had seven of the usual suspects and one guest. Because most of us were getting up early the next morning we only stayed until about 8 p.m. Bill brought in a book on Photoshop and we talked about that for a while as well as other books. Terri and I used clear plastic sheets and stacks of pancakes to explain layers.
This day we had eight of the usual suspects.
Deborah, Julia, and I missed the May 26 meeting because we made a short-notice trip to Oregon and Washington looking for greener pastures. Most of the pastures we saw were green alright, and the cows were standing in water up to their ankles. We saw lots of rain, some periods with just cloudy skies, and an occasional ray of sunshine. Everywhere we went I saw something interesting to photograph and remembered Noella talking about staying in one place and photographing all day. But we didn't have that much time so we only brought back a few photos to show the group.
We had one new person, one fairly new person, and ten of the usual suspects for an even dozen avid photographers.
Julia started her first portfolio this week and had to show it around, as well as several other people's portfolios.
We sort of had seven this night. Five of us sat around one table while Bob and his guest sat at another and discussed topics of their own interest.
Mary told us of a park in Bakersfield with a field of beautiful lavender flowers. She couldn't remember the correct name of the park, something like Wolfson, and I couldn't find anything similar on the internet. She said that she also likes taking photos at a pond near St Abbeys and the Devil's Punch Bowl. She said that when she went by Littlerock dam there was water going over the spillway and, given the right light, it could make a very interesting photo.
Deborah showed off her teddy bear, cat, and kitten photos (no basket though) so I showed off my wildflower photos from last spring. I mentioned that the wildflowers are blooming in the valley. Mary said that it was too cold in Acton yet.
http://www.glenn-olson.com/photos/nature/flowers/flowers.htm
Bryan, a new LPA member, joined us. When asked what he likes to photograph he said he likes portraits and scenery and just about everything (like most of us). He's been photographing since 1984, starting with film. He currently has a Kodak camera but is looking to upgrade to a DSLR. We did intros around the table then I showed him my portfolio and Julia showed him Deborah's.
Lucky number seven was the count for this evening.
Art recited the quote "If I had a million dollars I'd have a million babies," though he didn't claim ownership of it. But he did show us a picture (he didn't take it) of a well-dressed woman with six kids around her. This was an example of the photo following the title.
We had six fantastically well informed photographers this evening.
Lee had sent me an e-mail earlier asking me to bring in my "spinning thingy" which I took to mean my Arctic Butterfly. Using his camera I showed everyone what the sensor looked like (without the mirror in the way) with both room light and with my LED flashlight, which is more eye-catching. I then demonstrated how to clean dust and debris off a sensor. I was mostly successful but there was one speck that must have had something sticky on it. For this I suggested a q-tip and 99% alcohol, though there are other ways available. My Arctic Butterfly is a couple of years old and cost about $70 at the time. You can still buy that model at that price but the company has other models for more. It's expensive and I only use it 3-4 times a year but, with my older camera and frequent lens changes, I find it well worth it to get a good cleaning in a very short amount of time, even in the field.
http://www.visibledust.com/
Four of us started out with Vivian showing us two photos of a flower with slightly different post-processing. We talked about the differences and how to subdue a relatively bright spot in one corner. Then we went into depth of field (DOF) with Bill and I trying to remember the correct relationship between F-stop and DOF. I think we were both right but saying it slightly differently. All I could remember clearly was Tylene saying to think of it as "The greater the F number the greater the depth of field." Terri and Lee arrived and helped us sort out our linguistics problem. Then I had Julia get my camera and I verified it all by taking photos of little cream pitchers on the table. It helps to review the basics once in a while.
