P H O T O N E W S
May 2008

Special Events You Won't Want to Miss...

IN THIS ISSUE:
April Activities....Special Article...What's Ahead....Member Notices.... About Our Club....Parting Shot

Visit our club web site — www.WoodlandsPhoto.org for the latest in activity, images, galleries, and other things of interest to those who love photography.

Photo at the top: Jeff Rohling, WPC member and tireless volunteer in the most of our activities, recently was published at Houston Chronicle with this beautiful image of a Bluebonnet with bee in perfect action. Congrats, Jeff! This is an excellent shot.

April Activities
At our regular meeting in April, Matthew White, Sports Photography, he showed us how to take action pictures. He addressed some of the issues faced by professional sports photographers and related them to those faced by day to day photographers forced to shoot outside their comfort zone in high action / low light action photography. WPC thanks Matt for his great educational presentation. Take a look at Matthew's photography here

TURNING POINT PHOTO SHOOT & PICNIC -- This unique photo event was a blast at Shadowbend Park. Thanks to the collaboration of photographers, the event  was significant and memorable for all. It is amazing what can be accomplished and learned through teamwork.  Models, photographers and volunteers,  all did a great job.

Zoo Field trip, this exceptional photo opportunity to photograph the animals in a special guided tour has been very interesting for our nature photographers members. Click here to see the gallery

FotoFest Exhibit, Wendy Watriss, Artistic Director & Co-founder of FotoFest, gave us an excellent guided tour of the exhibitions Zhuang Xueben, The Border Regions and Wu Jialin, The People of Yunnan Province.

NEW MEMBERS CORNER: We welcome Robin Brown, Rich Gross, Bob and Holly Henry as new members to Woodlands Photography Club.

Special thanks go to Stephen Andreas, Nicole Friedman and Nancy Olson for supplying snacks, cookies and drinks for our April meeting.

PHOTO TIPS: TELEPHOTO LENSES IN NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
When shooting nature shots, getting close to your subject can be very tricky. Using a telephoto lens can bring your subject closer with great result.
However, there are a couple of issues when using telephoto lenses that need to be considered: camera stability and shutter speed.
The role of a tripod is of primary importance when using telephoto lenses. No matter how stable you can handhold a camera, you will never match the stability of a tripod.
The shutter speed should also be set fast enough to freeze any motion. Generally, the shutter speed on the camera should be set to one over the focal length of the lens for any hope at a sharp shot. In other words, if you have a 250mm lens the minimum shutter speed you can hand hold the camera is 1/250 of a second. Using this formula will get you close but adding the tripod will get you there.(Extracted from Porter's Camera)

Saturday, May 10 -- 1-3 PM
SPRING 2008 PHOTO SHOW & COMPETITION Submission and Set up Time to submit your pictures for the Spring Contest at the South Branch Library in The Woodlands. Please notice the time 1 PM until 3 PM. Late entries cannot be accepted. Please review the rules and have your entry fees and forms available when you arrive. We need volunteers, please sign in for helping to set up exhibit

MONTHLY MEETING

Monday, May 12-- 6:30 - 9 P.M.

PROGRAM: Spring 2008 Photo Show and Competition Award Ceremony and Photographic Critique with Wendy Watriss, FotoFest Curator and Co-founder, and Marty Carden, HCP's Exhibitions Committee Chair and well known photographer.

MINI CONTEST: NO Mini Contest

SLIDE SHOW: Please, email couple of your recent best images, if you want to share for the slide show to Jim Kelly 5-8 of your favorite photos that you would like to share at the meeting

FIELD TRIPS

Saturday, May 17, from 9 AM-2PM -- Heritage Village is a living museum of pioneer history, with a main street that is right out of the mid 1800's to early 1900's. Walk through an old-time blacksmith shop. Check out a railroad depot. Visit a livery stable or any one of the community's log cabins. Or just stroll through the East Texas forest. See demonstrations of the old ways from people who have either studied the art or lived it. Heritage Village is an outstanding insight into what pioneer life in East Texas was like. More info and Sign in

Saturday, May 24, from 8 AM to 4 PM -- St Andrews, Bryan. We have a guide for the St. Andrews Church tour and will be able to use tripods, flash and also have other historical, architectural and landscape areas and attractions in Bryan. We have a couple of recommended dining spots or members could pack a lunch. We should plan to be there by 10 a.m. for the tour. Carpooling from the library should be about an 8 a.m. departure more info and sign in

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES

May 3rd --Houston Dragon Boat Festival. Becoming an internationally popular sport, dragon boat racing has hit the waters of downtown Houston! more info http://www.buffalobayou.org/dragonboat.html

May 8 -- 15th annual City of Houston WaterFest from 10 am to 2 pm at the Downtown Aquarium, 410 Bagby Street. The festival site is steps away from the original Houston Water Works Company building that opened on the banks of Buffalo Bayou in 1879 to pump drinking water to Houston homes and businesses.

May 10 -- Houston Art Car Parade at Orange Show More info at http://www.orangeshow.org Click this link for Volunteer photographers needed

May 10 -- Buffalo Bayou Pontoon Boat. These 30-minute bayou cruises are a great way to spend the afternoon with your family. Escape from the city and enjoy the cool breeze as you glide along the bayou's waters. Look for graceful herons, jumping fish, and even the occasional alligator sunning on the bayou's banks. 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

May 17 -- Pasadena Strawberry Festival more info http://www.strawberryfest.org/

May 17-18 -- Annual Houston Highland Games & Celtic Festival
Enjoy the sights & sounds of Scotland. Events include men's athletic competitions, highland dancing competitions, solo bagpipe & drumming, pipe band competitions & children's games. Enjoy shopping with Celtic vendors, sampling Scottish foods and exploring genealogy, Gaelic and Robert Burns through workshops. Houston Farm & Ranch Club, Bear Creek Park, Houston, TX more info meldouglass@yahoo.com

May 31st -- Sand Castle Competition in Galveston more info please contact the AIA Houston office at 713-520-0155 http://www.aiasandcastle.com/index.html

MONTHLY MEETING

Monday, June 9 -- 6:30 - 9 P.M.

PROGRAM: TBA
SPRING 2008 PHOTO SHOW AND COMPETITION TAKE DOWN,

MINI CONTEST: SHADOWS, bring any two SHADOWS images for the mini contest.

SLIDE SHOW: Please, email couple of your recent best images, if you want to share for the slide show to Jim Kelly 5-8 of your favorite photos that you would like to share at the meeting

WORKSHOPS

Saturday, June 21 from 9 AM to 1 PM-- Adobe Lightroom Workshop with Mark Barbieri, just for WPC Members at the Woodlands Library on Lake Robbins. More info & sign in

FIELD TRIPS
Saturday, June 14 from 6 PM - 9 PM -- Market Square Downtown guided tour. WPC Members only. $10 FEE Join us in exploring Houston's birthplace and original commercial district as part of the American Institute of Architects Houston's Architecture Month celebration. More info and sign in

JULY

MONTHLY MEETING

Monday, July 14 -- 6:30 - 9 P.M.

WPC 10th ANNIVERSARY
This year we are celebrating our 10th anniversary. What an accomplishment! We are very thankful to all that have made this possible, from the 13 pioneers that started this group to all WPC board officers past and present, but especially to the continued support of all members.

Special Program: Special recognition to our club founders, Members Photographic Critique, WPC members that submitted their pictures will be critiqued by our panel of WPC co-founders and celebrating party.

MINI CONTEST: NONE, there is no mini contest this month.

SLIDE SHOW: Please, email couple of your recent best images, if you want to share for the slide show to Jim Kelly 5-8 of your favorite photos that you would like to share at the meeting

WORKSHOPS

Saturday, July 19 from 9 AM to 4 PM-- Adobe Photoshop with Janice Braud, just for WPC Members, morning for begginers and afternoon for advanced.
1. Workflow using Bridge and Photoshop
2. Using Adobe Camera Raw in Bridge (implies at least CS2 or CS3 versions of Photoshop)
(this one might be of interest if more people are starting to shoot in Raw format)
3. Photoshop Basic Tools and procedures
4. More advanced techniques, such as using Layers and Channels in Photoshop.
You can sign on both More info & sign in

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES
July 4 -- The Woodlands to celebrate 4th of July with Concert in The Park, the Star Spangled Salute, 4th of July Parade, Splash Days at community pools, Red, Hot and Blue Festival and Fireworks Extravaganza. This year will be action packed from start to finish. Celebrating 4th of July in The Woodlands promises something for everyone! More info

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PHOTO INFO

Visit WPC resources to ask our Consulting Photographers
Basic Photography · Digital Photography · Matting & Framing · Nikon Capture · PC Questions · Photoshop · Underwater Photography · Website Design

LOCAL EXHIBITS: Seeing the work of other artists and photographers can give new insights and ideas for our own work. Check out the following local exhibits:

Through May 11-- Contemporary Arts Museum , Since 1992 Chicago-based photographer Dawoud Bey has been working exclusively on large-scale portraits of American teenagers. These photographs reveal the individual character of members of this age group.

Through August 17 -- Holocaust Museum of Houston presents eight photographers who have witnessed the atrocities firsthand as a backdrop of a new world premiere exhibit "Darfur: Photojournalists Respond" at 5401 Caroline St., 713 942 8000

Through June 21 -- Photographs by Frazier King at Museum of Printing History, 1324 W Clay St.

CLASSES, CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS:

HCP and LLU are offering photo classes on regular basis, take a look at our calendar

SPECIAL REQUEST
Joe Cusack, a member of The Woodlands Photography Club, teaches middle school students about photography and is requesting the donation of non-functioning cameras and camera lens. He would like to use these broken cameras to show the students different parts of a camera during his lecture. Email Joe Cusack if you can help.

CLASSIFIED ADS

BOOKS
1) Unused, new work book for $10.00:The Artist's Marketing and Action Plan Workbook (Paperback) by Jonathan Talbot, Geoffrey Howard ( $16.95 on Amazon.com) If you are interested please email Barbara at pix-shooter@att.net

CAMERA EQUIPMENT

1) DARKROOM FOR SALE Besseler Cadet II enlarger, speed-ez-el,  lens, supplies, lots of 8x10 and 5x7 papers, some dry chemicals, timer, even notes!  Asking $200 Phone 281-251-0000 Barbara Edmondson

2) For Sale  Arax 60 MLU kit including sport viewfinder; metered prism viewfinder;  80mm 2.8 Arax lens, 120mm MC Vega lens; 65mm 3.5 MC Mir lens; various Bronica, Hoya, Tiffen filters; Underwater Kinetics hard case. Camera and lenses were brought back from Ukraine.  All equipment (except filters) has never been used.  Incredible inexpensive way to get into 120 6x6 photography. Arax is a small Ukrainian company that buys hand-picked parts from Arsenal (the manufacturers of the infamous Kiev cameras) modifies them and hand assembles what the Kiev 60 should have been. For more information on the company and the camera, see:  www.araxphoto.com Asking $600 for everything. Contact Bob at robertholler@sbcglobal.net

3) Bogen 3021 tripod with a 3D head  anyone interested? Price it at $110. Contact Jim Stoner 936-273-4388

4) Nikon D70 with the D70S software upgrades, the battery charger with two batteries, excellent condition for $350. And, a Sigma 20-40 2.8 wide angle Lens, Nikon compatible for $250, with Lens hood and lens case   also excellent condition. Inquiries Bobby Green at (832)651-0091
or email address eliteimages@msn.com

5) EPSON 1280 printer $200.00. The 1280 prints up to 13x19 paper which you probably already know comes with an extra ink cartridge for it. Contact  Jim Kelly

6) CANON EOS 1N RS - professional 35mm film camera. This is the rare one built with a pellicle mirror which means that there is no blackout during exposure since light travels through the mirror to the film and the mirror does not need to flip up during the exposure. This allows the camera to have an incredibly fast shooting rate of 10 frames per second when set on continuous high, great for sports and action shots. This camera is no lightweight since the body and motor drive are built as one unit. Camera body is in great shape but is missing the rubber eyecup. This camera sold new for $2700.00. It has been a great camera but I don't use it now that I have my digital bodies. Best offer gets it but I would like to get $250. Contact Jim Stoner 936-273-4388

7) CANON EOS 1D-Mark 2, professional Digital SLR. This camera is a great one for sports shooting, portraits, weddings, nature etc. and is in excellent shape. It's 1.3 crop factor will allow wider angle shooting with your lenses than most DSLR's. A fast shooting speed of 8.5 fps made it the fastest DSLR for the past 3 years. With 8 megapixels I have made 30x40" prints with no problem. Will sell for $2300. Contact Jim Stoner at 936-273-4388.

STUDIO FOR RENT Clark Lara has a full studio with Norman Lights, High Key white wall, as well as 3 different muslins. No props you would have to supply your own. SPECIAL PRICE $50 an hour. The high key is great for everything from product shots to high fashion.

CAMERA CLUBS:

The Woodlands United Methodist Church Camera Club TWUMC for all skill levels gathers the first Monday of every month, except holidays from 7 PM to 8:30 PM at 2200 Lake Woodlands Dr. More info

The 1960 Digital Photography Special Interest Group meets the first Thursday every month at the Cypress Creek Christian Church on 6823 Cypresswood Drive, a diverse group of photographers seeking to improve photography skills with a motto of “members helping members” More info

The Kingwood Photo Club gathers photographers, who share a love for the capture, preservation and sharing of God's creations through
photography. Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of every month at the Kingwood United Methodist Church, 6:30 pm. More information

HELP US SHOOT OUR ACTIVITIES

We need club members who have digital cameras to volunteer to document our field trips and special events. Our friends Nolan Braud, Susan Long and Cesar Vargas have been providing digital images of our meeting presenters and other activities but could use some help.  If you are willing to help, please e-mail to our newsletter editor.

YOUR GALLERY AWAITS YOU

Each member of our club gets a free online gallery of your favorite images. For details on how to get yours set up, contact Nolan Braud (njbraud@hotmail.com) or read the procedures

WE WANT YOUR IDEAS!

Help us continue to have the most interesting and informative activities by sharing your ideas for the best experiences you've had. E-mail your ideas for each activity below to the club officer in charge of that activity:

Presentations - Autumn Teesdale
Other Activities - Pam Moore
Web Site, Newsletter - editor