Our guest speaker this month was Juan Gonzalez, from the Professional Photographers Association and he gave a presentation on Wedding Photography.
Juan has photographed 100’s of weddings, and brought beautiful framed photos, albums, and a very creative digital slide show. The group seemed to be quite impressed with his work, his enthusiasm, and teaching skills. Check out his website at www.mydreamcatcher.info.
Our program this month was a digital slide presentation about “Bodie”, by photographer Dwight Goode. Special access arrangements were made, and Dwight was able to spend several days photographing sunsrises/sunsets, and the insides of buildings. Lighting often was a challenge, but Dwight overcame that with flash, reflectors, and his Photoshop skills. Many before/after shots were shared, demonstrating just a few of the things that can be done with Photoshop.
Part of this month’s program was a Member’s Choice Photo Competition. Christine Brady-Rubio, our Competition Chair, and Vice President thought it would be fun to have an additional opportunity for a 4th chance (normally we only have 3) to qualify for the year end competition.
Our “Open Competition” evening was well attended with over 50 people present. We had 3 visitors and 2 brand new members. New member Linda Swanson even walked away with a ribbon at her very first meeting. Congratulations Linda!
Numerous prints and slides were entered, and it was great to see some of our newer members competing and getting ribbons.
Our March meeting was well attended with 45 people present, including 4 guests. By the end of the evening, we gained 6 new members! Welcome Woody & Kathy Munich, Ken and Arlene Moeller, Val Freeman, and our 100th member, Jim Cherry. Ted Ayers, a former LPA member, traveled here all the way from Rapid City Iowa, just to visit, and check out the wildflowers. Ted loves to drive, and covered 700 miles in one day, to check out the flowers in and around Death Valley.
Our February meeting was well attended with over 40 people present, and 4 new visitors. It’s exciting to see our club grow, as we just gained two new members, and are now up to 90 members.
Many exciting events are coming up soon. Next up is our big trip to Death Valley on March 9-11. Dean Webb and Lou Hoffman will be leading us to some of the unique places in the northern part of Death Valley. Ubehebe Crater, Scotty’s Castle, the Dunes, and an old ghost town await us!
As members made their way into the building, most seem to gravitate towards the HUGE 10 foot long, beautiful, panoramic photos that Rene Caro brought in to share with the group. Multiple photos were stitched together, and then printed on an Epson 9600, which can handle paper 44” wide! Oooohs, and ahhhs were plenty, and Rene managed to keep up with all the questions that flew his way.
