This is to confirm the next club meeting date of Thursday, January 25. On the agenda: 2010 Challenge Series (monthly photo contest), and Fund Raising Possibilities (calendar, coffee table book, etc). Please "comment" to this post if you have an idea for an agenda item.
This month, the meeting will be held in the break area at Max Train (there was a mix-up in room scheduling). Next month, we return to our training room.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Second Eagle Trip in the Planning Stage
By Larry Rogers
Club members who particpated in the eagle trip this month (Ken, Larry, Eric) are already planning a return trip. Our undestanding of the migration habits of the birds is that mid-February is the beginning of attrition in total numbers of birds. Based on that understanding, we are thinking that the weekends of January 29, 30 and 31, or February 5, 6 and 7 are best. February 7 is Super Bowl Sunday, just in case that is a factor in your decision to particpate.
Please contact me, Eric, or Ken, if you would like to join us. As of now, the most likely weekend will be January 29-31. The preferred hotel is the Super 8 in Le Claire, Iowa. We will not reserve a block of rooms in advance for this trip - please call the hotel to book your room in advance.
We hope to see you there!
Club members who particpated in the eagle trip this month (Ken, Larry, Eric) are already planning a return trip. Our undestanding of the migration habits of the birds is that mid-February is the beginning of attrition in total numbers of birds. Based on that understanding, we are thinking that the weekends of January 29, 30 and 31, or February 5, 6 and 7 are best. February 7 is Super Bowl Sunday, just in case that is a factor in your decision to particpate.
Please contact me, Eric, or Ken, if you would like to join us. As of now, the most likely weekend will be January 29-31. The preferred hotel is the Super 8 in Le Claire, Iowa. We will not reserve a block of rooms in advance for this trip - please call the hotel to book your room in advance.
We hope to see you there!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Eagles on the Mississippi: Day 2 Report
By Larry Rogers
My alarm was set for 6:30 am CST. Last night, while dining at Sneeky Pete's in downtown LeClaire, we had all agreed to meet at 7:30 am for breakfast, and be ready to put the cars in "drive" at 8:00 am sharp. For some unknown reason (could it be the Bald Eagles awaiting us?) my internal bat-signal went off early. I used the extra time to make sure my batteries had completely re-charged overnight, double-check my camera settings, and just make sure I was ready.
Good thing I did all that. What a day we were about to begin! Why is it the sky is so much bluer in the winter? One of you physics or astronomy buffs, please weigh in on that - I really do wonder about it.
I don't recall a prettier day - or a colder one, for that matter. As I discussed in yesterday's post, the temperatures would lead a normal person to presume that it's simply too cold outside to get good photos. But, to the contrary, cold weather also means no humidity to cloud the air and far smaller numbers of people at the Lock & Dam.
We only had about two and a half hours to shoot. Checkout time was 11:00 am, and I still had to pack a few things, then load up the car for the drive back to Ohio. The outside air temperature indicator read -13 degrees F. When I say "I was not cold," I really mean it. The key is preparation - and I was prepared. My PolarTek thermals, Weatherproof outer coat, and air-activated heat pack in each shoe (just under the toes) and in each glove, really did the trick. I did not even return to the car to warm up during the entire two and a half hours.
Eric found some discarded fish off to the side at the boat ramp - all of which were frozen solid. At one point, Eric wondered if those frozen fish would attract any eagles. The birds had all gone into the trees for rest, we guessed. Eric tossed the first frozen treat into the river. Suddenly, like black helicopters in a spy film, two eagles popped up from nowhere and took up the attack on the new target. Dropping down to an altitude of about 10 (inches) just above the water, the first one suddenly went into a full stall with landing gear outstretched in front. He sank his talons into the frozen filet and up he went - but no filet. It must be difficult to grab. Not far behind, the wing man takes aim, and "pow!" Water droplets spray from the impact. Liftoff! And, this time, success!
Success can be short-lived for the bird that makes the catch. With his wing man nowhere in sight, this bird was under-equipped to defend his catch. A few skillful maneuvers, though, and he was safely on his way to the tree line. I watched him dine for a while on his delicacy. It is not often that an Eagle finds fresh-frozen shad hand-served by the poparazzi.
Like moths to a flame, Bald Eagles everywhere! I can't say for certain the number of birds overhead during the feeding frenzy - but I was able to count 12 right above me at one point. Adding the 5 or six in the trees behind the parking lot, two more in the trees near the lock - I'd estimate at least twenty at once. It was quite a show, and I am certain I will go back again some day soon.
My alarm was set for 6:30 am CST. Last night, while dining at Sneeky Pete's in downtown LeClaire, we had all agreed to meet at 7:30 am for breakfast, and be ready to put the cars in "drive" at 8:00 am sharp. For some unknown reason (could it be the Bald Eagles awaiting us?) my internal bat-signal went off early. I used the extra time to make sure my batteries had completely re-charged overnight, double-check my camera settings, and just make sure I was ready.Good thing I did all that. What a day we were about to begin! Why is it the sky is so much bluer in the winter? One of you physics or astronomy buffs, please weigh in on that - I really do wonder about it.
I don't recall a prettier day - or a colder one, for that matter. As I discussed in yesterday's post, the temperatures would lead a normal person to presume that it's simply too cold outside to get good photos. But, to the contrary, cold weather also means no humidity to cloud the air and far smaller numbers of people at the Lock & Dam.We only had about two and a half hours to shoot. Checkout time was 11:00 am, and I still had to pack a few things, then load up the car for the drive back to Ohio. The outside air temperature indicator read -13 degrees F. When I say "I was not cold," I really mean it. The key is preparation - and I was prepared. My PolarTek thermals, Weatherproof outer coat, and air-activated heat pack in each shoe (just under the toes) and in each glove, really did the trick. I did not even return to the car to warm up during the entire two and a half hours.
Eric found some discarded fish off to the side at the boat ramp - all of which were frozen solid. At one point, Eric wondered if those frozen fish would attract any eagles. The birds had all gone into the trees for rest, we guessed. Eric tossed the first frozen treat into the river. Suddenly, like black helicopters in a spy film, two eagles popped up from nowhere and took up the attack on the new target. Dropping down to an altitude of about 10 (inches) just above the water, the first one suddenly went into a full stall with landing gear outstretched in front. He sank his talons into the frozen filet and up he went - but no filet. It must be difficult to grab. Not far behind, the wing man takes aim, and "pow!" Water droplets spray from the impact. Liftoff! And, this time, success!
Success can be short-lived for the bird that makes the catch. With his wing man nowhere in sight, this bird was under-equipped to defend his catch. A few skillful maneuvers, though, and he was safely on his way to the tree line. I watched him dine for a while on his delicacy. It is not often that an Eagle finds fresh-frozen shad hand-served by the poparazzi.Like moths to a flame, Bald Eagles everywhere! I can't say for certain the number of birds overhead during the feeding frenzy - but I was able to count 12 right above me at one point. Adding the 5 or six in the trees behind the parking lot, two more in the trees near the lock - I'd estimate at least twenty at once. It was quite a show, and I am certain I will go back again some day soon.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Eagles on the Mississippi: Day 1 Report
By Larry Rogers
LeClaire, Iowa, is a cold place in January. That fact is one of the factors that brings large numbers of bald eagles to the area. When we left the hotel this morning, the temperature gauge in my car read "-10 F." We had agreed in advance that we would not stay out in the cold for more than 30-45 minutes at a stretch. After all, none of us wanted to be a hero.
A dense fog lay over the water, like an eery scene from a horror film. When we reached the parking area, I fully expected to be back in the car in a relatively short time. That is, until I looked up. The tree line that forms a boundary around the parking area had at least six large adult bald eagles in it. Instead of parking at the end closest to the dam, I decided to drive down to the opposite end, where several of the eagles were perched in trees right at the edge.
We stopped and stepped out of the cars. The eagles were screeching at each other in their unmistakable tone. Looking through the trees, I could spot 4-5 more eagles in flight just around the bend in the river to the right. About that time, one of those came around to parking lot side, soared overhead, obviously checking us out. I knew at that point, today would be a good day for eagle viewing.
Photos in this article are courtesy of Eric Curby (Nikon D-80 DSLR, Nikkor 70-200 VR f2.8 lens).
A dense fog lay over the water, like an eery scene from a horror film. When we reached the parking area, I fully expected to be back in the car in a relatively short time. That is, until I looked up. The tree line that forms a boundary around the parking area had at least six large adult bald eagles in it. Instead of parking at the end closest to the dam, I decided to drive down to the opposite end, where several of the eagles were perched in trees right at the edge.
Photos in this article are courtesy of Eric Curby (Nikon D-80 DSLR, Nikkor 70-200 VR f2.8 lens).
Friday, January 8, 2010
Here we Go! Eagle Trip 2010 is Under Way!
By Larry Rogers
This year's Eagle Trip story begins on Thursday morning, January 7th. I met up with Ken Crites at his house at around 11:00, but that is only part of the story. The legendary "white death of winter" rolled into the Tri-state over night. The first inch was on the ground, and there was a lot more on the way, according to local weather sources.
"Much ado about nothing," was my description as we packed Ken's items and closed the rear hatch door on the Yukon. We stopped for a burger, then headed down to I-275 West at state road 747. I tuned the radio to WLW for their "news and traffic together" every ten minutes on the "tens," as they say. A few minutes later, we got this news... "We have one car off on the right shoulder on 275 westbound at Colerain, and we just got a report of a jack-knifed semi on westbound I-74 at the Indiana state line."
My heart sank. "What are our options?" I wondered. We could have driven north, up to Dayton on I-75, then taken I-70 across to Indy, and pick up I-74 West there. But, there is still a lot of construction along that route, and who is to say we won't run into the same thing up there. I will cut to the chase - it was Friday morning before this year's Eagle Trip really got under way. But, we are here! We arrived late afternoon today - a little bit late to see much flying. But, there were two adults in a tree near Lock 14, two more in the air, and five more in a tree along the road back to the Super 8. A total of nine adult sightings late in the afternoon - I'll take it...and hope for more tomorrow. Stay tuned for an update.
Eric and his Mom (we call her Mrs. Curby) will be here real soon, and then we are off to the Bierstube (a local German restaurant) for dinner. More tomorrow!
This year's Eagle Trip story begins on Thursday morning, January 7th. I met up with Ken Crites at his house at around 11:00, but that is only part of the story. The legendary "white death of winter" rolled into the Tri-state over night. The first inch was on the ground, and there was a lot more on the way, according to local weather sources.
"Much ado about nothing," was my description as we packed Ken's items and closed the rear hatch door on the Yukon. We stopped for a burger, then headed down to I-275 West at state road 747. I tuned the radio to WLW for their "news and traffic together" every ten minutes on the "tens," as they say. A few minutes later, we got this news... "We have one car off on the right shoulder on 275 westbound at Colerain, and we just got a report of a jack-knifed semi on westbound I-74 at the Indiana state line."
My heart sank. "What are our options?" I wondered. We could have driven north, up to Dayton on I-75, then taken I-70 across to Indy, and pick up I-74 West there. But, there is still a lot of construction along that route, and who is to say we won't run into the same thing up there. I will cut to the chase - it was Friday morning before this year's Eagle Trip really got under way. But, we are here! We arrived late afternoon today - a little bit late to see much flying. But, there were two adults in a tree near Lock 14, two more in the air, and five more in a tree along the road back to the Super 8. A total of nine adult sightings late in the afternoon - I'll take it...and hope for more tomorrow. Stay tuned for an update.
Eric and his Mom (we call her Mrs. Curby) will be here real soon, and then we are off to the Bierstube (a local German restaurant) for dinner. More tomorrow!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Photo Shoot Checklist
As I prepare for the club's Bald Eagle field trip, once again I will make use of a personal equipment checklist that I have been using for the past ten years or so. My checklist is created in Microsoft Excel, and I have three "worksheets" in one file - one is for camera gear, one is for clothing items, and one is for things that I need to get done before I leave, such as making the house payment, or stopping by the ATM for some cash.
Another thing I do before a traveling shoot is to make sure my plastic parts trays are stocked up with such things as extra AA batteries, extra lens caps, and so forth. I have found that carrying along these parts trays pretty much assures me that I won't forget anything that is really critical. Most other things can be purchased at a local Wal Mart store.
Want to take a look at my checklist? Please post a reply to this message, or send me an email message and I will gladly send it to you.
Another thing I do before a traveling shoot is to make sure my plastic parts trays are stocked up with such things as extra AA batteries, extra lens caps, and so forth. I have found that carrying along these parts trays pretty much assures me that I won't forget anything that is really critical. Most other things can be purchased at a local Wal Mart store.
Want to take a look at my checklist? Please post a reply to this message, or send me an email message and I will gladly send it to you.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Bald Eagle Trip is Just Around the Corner
Wow - how time flies - and, so are those Bald Eagles! Eagle migration should be under way, as temperatures have been falling over the past month. Several club members will be making the 2010 trip to LeClaire, Iowa. This post will explain a little more about what to expect.
The first thing to understand is the weather. While it will most likely be very cold there during the first week of January, we are not going to try to be heroes by staying out in it for extended periods of time. Last year, I made the trip in February. I recall my first thoughts, upon arriving at the site (Corps of Engineers Lock #14 on the Mississippi River), as something like "Holy cow, there isn't this much camera gear in the end zone at the Super Bowl!" There were more 500mm and 600mm lenses there at one time than I had seen collectively in a life time. One guy I met there had flown in the night before from Maryland.
But, I digress...back to the topic of weather. I recommend that you bring along a comfortable winter coat with a hood, if possible. That way, even if we have some wind, you will stay warm longer. I also like to put one of those little disposable heat packs in each glove and each shoe or boot. A head sock is also recommended. I'm not a real cold-weather endurance person - so, my average stay at the site was about 45 minutes to an hour. That's enough time to capture 400-500 shots of the raptors swooping down for a fish, frequently followed by an aerial dogfight and sometimes even a mugging in the trees by a jealous female (those are the really biiiiig ones).
As far as preparations are concerned, the eagle trip is just like most photo shoot outings. Bring every data card you own, a back-up hard drive, and your post-processing laptop. If you have a strong flash unit and "better beamer" bring those along also. A flash unit is not absolutely necessary, but those really impressive eagle shots you see in magazines are almost all shot with a flash + better beamer combination. Bring the longest lens you own and your teleconverters, too. We will be closer to the birds than most have ever been, but nonetheless, size does matter when shooting birds. I will have my 500 f4 and my 200-400 f4, and you Nikon shooters are welcome to put your camera bodies on them and see if you can track an eagle in flight with a long lens - it's a hoot when you first start out. I have lots of shots with nothing but sky.
Feel free to post your questions as responses to this post. I'll check back every couple of days and answer what I can.
The first thing to understand is the weather. While it will most likely be very cold there during the first week of January, we are not going to try to be heroes by staying out in it for extended periods of time. Last year, I made the trip in February. I recall my first thoughts, upon arriving at the site (Corps of Engineers Lock #14 on the Mississippi River), as something like "Holy cow, there isn't this much camera gear in the end zone at the Super Bowl!" There were more 500mm and 600mm lenses there at one time than I had seen collectively in a life time. One guy I met there had flown in the night before from Maryland.
But, I digress...back to the topic of weather. I recommend that you bring along a comfortable winter coat with a hood, if possible. That way, even if we have some wind, you will stay warm longer. I also like to put one of those little disposable heat packs in each glove and each shoe or boot. A head sock is also recommended. I'm not a real cold-weather endurance person - so, my average stay at the site was about 45 minutes to an hour. That's enough time to capture 400-500 shots of the raptors swooping down for a fish, frequently followed by an aerial dogfight and sometimes even a mugging in the trees by a jealous female (those are the really biiiiig ones).
As far as preparations are concerned, the eagle trip is just like most photo shoot outings. Bring every data card you own, a back-up hard drive, and your post-processing laptop. If you have a strong flash unit and "better beamer" bring those along also. A flash unit is not absolutely necessary, but those really impressive eagle shots you see in magazines are almost all shot with a flash + better beamer combination. Bring the longest lens you own and your teleconverters, too. We will be closer to the birds than most have ever been, but nonetheless, size does matter when shooting birds. I will have my 500 f4 and my 200-400 f4, and you Nikon shooters are welcome to put your camera bodies on them and see if you can track an eagle in flight with a long lens - it's a hoot when you first start out. I have lots of shots with nothing but sky.
Feel free to post your questions as responses to this post. I'll check back every couple of days and answer what I can.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Utah Trip Daily Photos are on my Apogee Site
Hi everyone, from sunny Utah! Actually, it has been a bit overcast so far, but very pleasant. Because of the issue I referenced in my prior post (faded colors in photos posted to this site), please check out my Apogee Imaging webiste for a Photo-of-the-day from the trip. When you mouse over a photo, note the flyout menu with options to view the image at a larger size.
To view the gallery, click here.
To view the gallery, click here.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Utah Trip - Day 1: Valley of Fire
The outbound trip began today at 5:30 EDT with a wake-up call. A quick shower, a drive to the airport, and we were in the air. We arrived at Las Vegas McCarran Airport on schedule at around 9 am local time, picked up the rental car (a Ford Escape 4WD), and then drove about 40 miles northeast, to one of the most interesting, most ancient sites I have ever photographed.
The Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada contains artifacts from civilizations dating back to 2,000 AD. In fact, visitors who are very lucky may find sites there with petroglyphs, pictograms, and even footprints from civilations as much as 1,000 years apart - all in the same space. Let me explain one site (not the site pictured). I have one photo in which you will see an ancient footprint from around 2,000 AD along with carved petroglyphs from around 900 AD. I have to ask myself, what would bring people to an area, over such a long period of time.
We are told the answer is that hunting was (at one time) good in the area where Valley of Fire is located. As you can see in photo above, there is also ample shelter from weather in the many rock formations, overhangs, and cave-like structures in the sandstone. I wish web publishing did not wash out the colors in photos so badly - the posted photo simply does not do justice to the site. Valley of Fire is composed of fiery red sandstone cliffs and outcroppings in an otherwise bland landscape of gray sandstone. Driving in the from the highway, you will come up over a rise, and all at once - wow!
Tomorrow, Escalante, Utah, where I am writing this summary from today. Escalante is the region of southern Utah where you will find Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase National Monument, and many natural slot canyons. Time permitting, I will try to post a photo-a-day from the trip.
The outbound trip began today at 5:30 EDT with a wake-up call. A quick shower, a drive to the airport, and we were in the air. We arrived at Las Vegas McCarran Airport on schedule at around 9 am local time, picked up the rental car (a Ford Escape 4WD), and then drove about 40 miles northeast, to one of the most interesting, most ancient sites I have ever photographed.
The Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada contains artifacts from civilizations dating back to 2,000 AD. In fact, visitors who are very lucky may find sites there with petroglyphs, pictograms, and even footprints from civilations as much as 1,000 years apart - all in the same space. Let me explain one site (not the site pictured). I have one photo in which you will see an ancient footprint from around 2,000 AD along with carved petroglyphs from around 900 AD. I have to ask myself, what would bring people to an area, over such a long period of time.
We are told the answer is that hunting was (at one time) good in the area where Valley of Fire is located. As you can see in photo above, there is also ample shelter from weather in the many rock formations, overhangs, and cave-like structures in the sandstone. I wish web publishing did not wash out the colors in photos so badly - the posted photo simply does not do justice to the site. Valley of Fire is composed of fiery red sandstone cliffs and outcroppings in an otherwise bland landscape of gray sandstone. Driving in the from the highway, you will come up over a rise, and all at once - wow!
Tomorrow, Escalante, Utah, where I am writing this summary from today. Escalante is the region of southern Utah where you will find Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase National Monument, and many natural slot canyons. Time permitting, I will try to post a photo-a-day from the trip.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Flickr is OPEN for business
OK, the Flickr photo group is open.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/the-photography-club/
I've posted one picture to get us started. Not sure if it will be my final entry in the contest for November.
If you have any questions about using Flickr, I'm no expert, but I can sure get you started.
It's a beautiful day here in Ohio, wonder how Larry's doing on his photo shoot out in Utah??
Regards, Karl
http://www.flickr.com/groups/the-photography-club/
I've posted one picture to get us started. Not sure if it will be my final entry in the contest for November.
If you have any questions about using Flickr, I'm no expert, but I can sure get you started.
It's a beautiful day here in Ohio, wonder how Larry's doing on his photo shoot out in Utah??
Regards, Karl
Friday, October 23, 2009
Photo Club pictures
Today I set up an account on FLICKR and sent invites to Larry and Ken. Based upon their response we will complete the FLICKR site and publish more info for all.
October Meeting Highlights (22 October 2009)
Welcome New Members
We are pleased to welcome Earl King, Rob Dreyer, and Dennis McGrath to the club. Earl is an avid photographer recently converted to digital; Rob is an artist and photographer, currently shooting with a point-n-shoot but thinking about moving into a digital SLR camera; Dennis just recently moved from a Nikon D70 to D700 full-frame digital SLR. Welcome guys!
We had a really great session, with some great ideas about re-formatting the club by engaging members via contests, outings, and guest speakers. A full set of meeting notes will be sent to members soon.
November Challenge
The first of our photo contests will be on the theme of "Fall Colors." A valid entry will be any photo that you take with a digital camera, between now and November 16th, that meets the criteria of "fall colors." In order to have your photo reviewed and voted upon, please post it to the club's new photo sharing site on Flickr. The name of the sharing site on Flickr is "the-photography-club." If you do not already have a free Flickr account, please click here to register and obtain access. There is no requirement to make a print of your entry, but we encourage you to bring a print to the November meeting. We will vote on the entries at the meeting, and the winning photo will be featured here in the blog. Good Luck, everyone!
November Meeting Topic: Low Light Photography - basic settings to get you started
Several members shared experiences, mostly bad, with situations where the lighting was too low to get good focus and proper exposure. The discussion next month will feature the experience of Karl Monk and other members who have developed effective techniques in challening lighting situations. The objective of the discussion is to provide members with some of the basic settings for point-n-shoot as well as digital SLR cameras, to start out with when encountering this situation.
Sponsorship Drive
We are actively seeking sponsors for our club meetings. We would like to be able to offer a light dinner prior to the meeting in the Max Training lunch room - pizza or sandwiches, and a drink. Also, we would like to be able to offer a door prize to attending members at each meeting. In exchange, we will feature the sponsor's business prominently in our Blog, meetings, brochures or any materials that we distribute. Please let a member know of anyone who may be interested.
We are pleased to welcome Earl King, Rob Dreyer, and Dennis McGrath to the club. Earl is an avid photographer recently converted to digital; Rob is an artist and photographer, currently shooting with a point-n-shoot but thinking about moving into a digital SLR camera; Dennis just recently moved from a Nikon D70 to D700 full-frame digital SLR. Welcome guys!
We had a really great session, with some great ideas about re-formatting the club by engaging members via contests, outings, and guest speakers. A full set of meeting notes will be sent to members soon.
November Challenge
The first of our photo contests will be on the theme of "Fall Colors." A valid entry will be any photo that you take with a digital camera, between now and November 16th, that meets the criteria of "fall colors." In order to have your photo reviewed and voted upon, please post it to the club's new photo sharing site on Flickr. The name of the sharing site on Flickr is "the-photography-club." If you do not already have a free Flickr account, please click here to register and obtain access. There is no requirement to make a print of your entry, but we encourage you to bring a print to the November meeting. We will vote on the entries at the meeting, and the winning photo will be featured here in the blog. Good Luck, everyone!
November Meeting Topic: Low Light Photography - basic settings to get you started
Several members shared experiences, mostly bad, with situations where the lighting was too low to get good focus and proper exposure. The discussion next month will feature the experience of Karl Monk and other members who have developed effective techniques in challening lighting situations. The objective of the discussion is to provide members with some of the basic settings for point-n-shoot as well as digital SLR cameras, to start out with when encountering this situation.
Sponsorship Drive
We are actively seeking sponsors for our club meetings. We would like to be able to offer a light dinner prior to the meeting in the Max Training lunch room - pizza or sandwiches, and a drink. Also, we would like to be able to offer a door prize to attending members at each meeting. In exchange, we will feature the sponsor's business prominently in our Blog, meetings, brochures or any materials that we distribute. Please let a member know of anyone who may be interested.
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Photography Club Joins the Max Family
We are pleased to announce that we have joined the Max Technical Training family! Max, a premier provider of on-site instructor-led technical training, will begin hosting our monthly meetings in Mason, Ohio, on Thursday evening, October 22, 2009. Our first meeting at Max will begin at 6:00 pm, at 4900 Parkway Dr Suite 160, Mason OH 45040-8429.
For more information about the location, including driving instructions from just about any direction, please click here.
Max has a wonderful setup for club meetings. I'll start with their convenient location, which is less than one mile north of I-275 at the Fields-Ertel exit. Max has a break room with drink machines and snacks, and classrooms with high resolution overhead projection. We'll be able to share tips and tricks in Lightroom, Photoshop, and all of your personal favorite photo processing software.
The October meeting will be a formation meeting, in the sense that our partnership with Max opens up new opportunities for the group. We will talk about what our members most want to do in the coming months - field trips, contests, workshops, street walks - every idea is a good one. We look forward to seeing you at our first Max meeting, on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 6:00 pm. We will continue to meet monthly, on the fourth Thursday of each month. See you there!
For more information about the location, including driving instructions from just about any direction, please click here.
Max has a wonderful setup for club meetings. I'll start with their convenient location, which is less than one mile north of I-275 at the Fields-Ertel exit. Max has a break room with drink machines and snacks, and classrooms with high resolution overhead projection. We'll be able to share tips and tricks in Lightroom, Photoshop, and all of your personal favorite photo processing software.
The October meeting will be a formation meeting, in the sense that our partnership with Max opens up new opportunities for the group. We will talk about what our members most want to do in the coming months - field trips, contests, workshops, street walks - every idea is a good one. We look forward to seeing you at our first Max meeting, on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 6:00 pm. We will continue to meet monthly, on the fourth Thursday of each month. See you there!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Nikon Announces New Products for Fall 2009
Several long-expected and at least one long-awaited product announcements came out today. Posted with thanks to Thom Hogan, www.bythom.com:
- D3000. This new entry level DSLR basically is an updated D60, not a cut-down D5000 (it uses the D60's 10mp sensor). It does get the D5000's focus system, though, but not the video or Live View. Available August 28th, US$599 with kit lens.
- D300s. A modest update to the venerable D300, adding video, 7 fps, and an SD slot (in addition to the CompactFlash slot) to the mix. Available August 28th, US$1799 (but dealer margins were cut!).
- 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR AF-S II. This revised version of the popular Nikon superzoom gets a fix for zoom creep and a zoom lock switch and improved coating. Available September 4th for US$849 ($60 increase).
- 70-200mm f/2.8G VR AF-S II. The long-expected update to the mainstay pro telephoto zoom. Surprisingly slightly heavier, yet slightly shorter and simpler in optic design, we get Nano coating and better FX edge performance. Available in November for US$2399 (also an increase).
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Capture Cincinnati 09
In case you haven't seen it yet, Capture Cincinnati 09 has a web site where you can post your photos of local subjects and potentially make it into the book that is published each year. I have a couple from the zoo that I have posted already.
Here is the link to get started
Here is the link to get started
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Understanding Histograms
Just when I thought I knew a thing or two about histograms, along comes a post on dpreview that opens my eyes to new possibilities. To read the post, click here. I think I will print this out and put a copy in my bag for future reference.
What is a histogram? It's that graph thing that is overlaid on your photo in playback mode (depending on your playback settings). On the Nikon system, the histogram is one of several options in the playback menu. On my D3, I can display a single histogram, or separate red-green-blue channel histograms. Before reading this post, I knew it was good to avoid hitting either end of the spectrum, to avoid loss of detail in the blacks (left end) and highlights (right end), but that was about it. Now, when I look at a histogram, I see much more information. Check it out.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
June Meeting Summary and July Meeting Date
Thanks to everyone who attended the June meeting at Barnes & Noble on June 17th. We had a good discussion about support systems - monopods, tripods, ball heads, connection systems such as the Arca-Swiss standard, and techniques for connecting to a monopod.
I also demonstrated the blog to those who had not seen it yet.
The July meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, at 7:30 pm. The location is Barnes & Noble on Union Center Blvd in Butler County. I need a volunteer to stand in for me on that night, as I am scheduled to be on call for a work-related project event that evening, and I may not make it there on time. Please post a reply if you can do that for me.
Thanks!
Before You Take a Camera to a Reds Game - What you Need to Know
It seemed like such a great idea at the time - let's take out the toys and see an inter-league game at Great American Ball Park (GABP). So, let's check the Reds website in advance to learn about any potential issues with a camera in the ballpark. Click here to go there now. My problem was that I read the policies, but I forgot one small part - camera support systems are not allowed - no tripods, no monopods, no support systems of any kind. As far as the camera itself, as long as it is within these dimensional restrictions, it should be allowed inside: 16x16x8 inches.
Now, here comes the fun part. Eric Curby and I bring the toys to the game. Eric has his D80 with 70-200 mm zoom (well within the size limts), and bring my D300 with 200-400 mm zoom, which is, let's say, subject to interpretation at best. If I were to disassemble it, the component parts would fall within those size limits. Also, I am bringing in my monopod, which I had forgotten was against the policy. But, hey, we got in and no one at the ticket or admission area said anything.
We get to our seats in the Blue section. I am sitting in an aisle seat, and there is no one in front of me or behind me. There were some people next to Eric, who was seated to my left, but they were illegal, and we knew this because we had to ask them to move when we arrived (they were sitting in our seats). After about twenty minutes, a security guy approaches. "Sir, you cannot use that camera. It is against the regulations," he tells me. "Which regulation?" I ask. "Tripods are not allowed," he tells me. So, now that I have re-read the policy, I know that he was technically correct, but he didn't explain it correctly to me. He motions to one of the other security guys to come over. He tells the second guy, "The customer here tells me this gear is allowed according to the web site." To which his buddy replies, "Yes, monopods are allowed." He very graciously tells me he is sorry for the inconvenience, and goes back to protecting the public from terrorists with cameras.
I guess it was about ten minutes later (the game had not started yet), when he came back. "Sir, the Chief of Security just informed me that you cannot use that camera. A customer has complained." So, I ask, "What was the complaint? No one has complained to me," "I think someone complained that the guy next to you bumped into them," he said. The guy next to me is Club member Eric Curby. "You can take your camera up to the "top deck" if you want to use it," he continued. So, I look back to see what he means and I notice the last 10 rows or so of the Blue section are empty. "How about we move back a few rows in this section?" I asked. "Yeah, OK, do that and I think that will be fine," he said.
My point in writing this post is that, even when an organization such as the Reds posts a policy about cameras, it is not certain that their security staff will have a consistent understanding of that policy. Next time, I will do two things differently. First, I won't take my monopod, which means I also won't take my 200-400 zoom. Second, I will print out the policy statement from the Reds web site and have that with me. This is also a good idea for any public event. Good luck and good shooting!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Ottawa NWR Trip?
I was wondering if we should start thinking about a trip up to Ottawa NWR this summer? I spent a couple of hours there back in the spring during a family trip to Sandusky and got some of the best juvenile eagles pictures I have even taken.
Since the best time seems to be early morning and late afternoon, I was thinking of a drive up in the evening, staying over at a local Hampton Inn or something, and then spending the next day chasing birds. Maybe coming back that evening.
What do you guys think?
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/ottawa/
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Art of Art
For those of us that are into nature/wildlife/outdoor photography, there are a couple of resource that I have been using that are targeted right at us. I could spend a large portion of the day reading posts, looking at photos, and trying to understand how these experts got "the shot", but since I have to work too I target the most informative and useful sites to return to on a regular basis. I would like to share a couple with you.
My first recommendation is to look through Arthur Morris' web site Birds as Art and his new blog http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/. This guy tells it like it is and gives you so much information about how he did what he did that you really start to understand the process. He sells some guides for Photoshop, books on bird photography that are excellent, and location guides for some pretty great locations. I find his advise to be first rate and his willingness to share the amount of information that he does amazing!
He also supports a web site that I have been going back to again and again. It is birdphotographers.net which is a forum based site for Bird and other types of photography. The posts are typically very good and there is a lot of good information for those beginning to post-process their photos. I have been doing this for a little while now and still have learned a ton from this site. Arthur and others give critiques that are fair and honest, and I have yet to see anyone provide any "abusive" comments. They also have an e-zine with good articles on a variety of nature photography topics.
Finally, I wanted to mention NatureScapes.net which is a forum/store/information site on nature photography. The person who runs the site is a former student of Arthur's and has collected a great set of articles on topics from night photography to printing at home. I am planning to take a trip with these guys in early December to Bosque del Apache. I can't wait for that!
These are just a couple of the resources that I have been using to enhance my skills in wildlife photography. I hope you find these sites as useful as I have and can use them to get the most out of your photography. The "other" way to do this is to get out and shoot, which is why we are planning these club trips and events!
My first recommendation is to look through Arthur Morris' web site Birds as Art and his new blog http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/. This guy tells it like it is and gives you so much information about how he did what he did that you really start to understand the process. He sells some guides for Photoshop, books on bird photography that are excellent, and location guides for some pretty great locations. I find his advise to be first rate and his willingness to share the amount of information that he does amazing!
He also supports a web site that I have been going back to again and again. It is birdphotographers.net which is a forum based site for Bird and other types of photography. The posts are typically very good and there is a lot of good information for those beginning to post-process their photos. I have been doing this for a little while now and still have learned a ton from this site. Arthur and others give critiques that are fair and honest, and I have yet to see anyone provide any "abusive" comments. They also have an e-zine with good articles on a variety of nature photography topics.
Finally, I wanted to mention NatureScapes.net which is a forum/store/information site on nature photography. The person who runs the site is a former student of Arthur's and has collected a great set of articles on topics from night photography to printing at home. I am planning to take a trip with these guys in early December to Bosque del Apache. I can't wait for that!
These are just a couple of the resources that I have been using to enhance my skills in wildlife photography. I hope you find these sites as useful as I have and can use them to get the most out of your photography. The "other" way to do this is to get out and shoot, which is why we are planning these club trips and events!
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