P H O T O N E W S
October 2008

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

CALL FOR 2009 BOARD OFFICERS NOMINATIONS, TIME FOR ELECTIONS Please contact us

IN THIS ISSUE:
September 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: GLENN SIEGERT won the mini contest with this TEXTURE image.The photo is a macro of a bullfrog that he found in his yard.  It was missing part of his front leg, probably was about to be dinner for one of the many raccoons that invade our yard every night.  Since he was wounded and dying, it was easy to get close enough for the shot. Taken with a Nikon D80 camera with a Sigma 105mm macro lens using the camera's built in flash.  The exposure was set to manual at f32 (to increase depth of field) and 1/100 second exposure.  The camera automatically set the ISO to 500.  The photo was not edited. Congratulations Glenn, this is an excellent macro!

NEW MEMBERS CORNER: We welcome Mark Bonney, Debi Corbett, Angela Godfrey, Mary Kennedy, Jack Patton, Glenn Siegert, Louis Solana, Tom Spruill and Ben Young. WPC welcomes you and hope that you find it to be a place where you can learn and grow in your hobby. 

Helicopter - aerial photo tour - These tours have been very exciting and different kind of photo adventure. Let us know if you want to be schedule in one of our flights. More info

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.

Back Up Reminder!  
It’s time to download your memory cards to your computer and burn your back up CD’s or store them in your external hard disk. Once you have confirmed your new images are safely backed up, format your memory cards. Memory cards must be downloaded and formatted regularly to prevent card failure!

FALL 2008 PORTFOLIO SHOW & COMPETITION Submission and Set up

Saturday, October 11 from 9:30 -11:30 AM -- Time to submit your pictures for the Fall Contest at the South Branch Library in The Woodlands. Please notice the time 9:30 AM until 11:30 AM. Late entries cannot be accepted. Please review the rules and entry form 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

SPECIAL NOTE : our regular meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, October 15-- 6:30 - 9 P.M.

PROGRAM: Fall 2008 Portfolio Show and Competition Award Ceremony and Photographic Critique with Kathy Adams Clark, Kathy has been a nature professional photographer since 1995, she runs a stock agency that represents outstanding nature photographers, she has been published in many nature magazines, she is a photo instructor and leads photo tours. Kathy is a 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

Sunday, October 12, from 8 AM- 2 PM --
Bird Dog Field Competition -- Katy Trial Grounds, Katy TX, there are two fields. They plant 5 birds in each field and send out 2 dogs and handlers in each field. They have 30 min to find as many birds as they can. You will be able to tack photos from the gallery area so bring a good lens. More info http://www.nstra.org If you are interested please sign in

Sunday, October 19, from 5 PM to dusk -- Exotic Animals farm --
www.tgrexotics.com This is a great opportunity to take pictures of great exotic animals and even be able to interact and touch some! And, will have all the fall and pumpkin stuff. There is a big open area as well as some in cages. They will be able to open some cages. This is a 10 acre ranch/farm with a huge variety of animals: tiger, kangaroos, pigs, llamas, tucan, porcupines, lemurs, anteaters, chicken house, hyena, etc, etc Most of the animals are nocturnal and really come alive after 5!! Tripods are allowed. $15 per person. More info and sign in

Saturday, October 25, from 8:30 AM - 2 PM --
Chinatown tour -- Departing from The Woodlands to Chinese Community Center, 9800 Town Park and will take you shopping at the Hong Kong City Mall, Includes dining on dim-sum at Ocean Palace Restaurant a visit to the Jade Buddhist Temple and back to CCC for tea and heading back to The Woodlands. INFO

WORKSHOPS
Saturday, October 18, from 9-11 AM --
WPC Manual 101 Workshop, with Pam Moore. Come and learn how to use your camera. Starting from the very basics in Photography. Class from 9-11 AM at the Montgomery South Branch Library, Lake Robbins, The Woodlands. Following class there is a photo field trip around the library. SIGN IN

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES

October 25-26, 2008 -- WINGS OVER HOUSTON AIRSHOW, Ellington Field Houston TX, more information

October 31 - November 2 -- BALLUNAR FESTIVAL -- The Festival is one of the largest national balloon navigational and maneuvering competitions. The Ballunar Liftoff Festival at Johnson Space Center More Info

MONTHLY MEETING

SPECIAL NOTE -- OUR REGULAR MEETING WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5.

SPEAKER: Pam Moore-- Current WPC Vice-President, will share how you can sell your images in the micro-stock photography business.  Don't miss this opportunity to learn how to purchase and sell images for use in advertising, brochures, magazines, school projects and on the internet.  There will be door prizes for photographers and free credits for businesses that are interested in joining the thousands that already know the secret of buying and selling images in the micro-stock industry. Pam's web site

FALL 2008 PORTFOLIO SHOW & COMPETITION PICK UP YOUR ENTRIES -- Wednesday, November 5, 2008 during our regular meeting, at the South Branch Library in The Woodlands. If you cannot be there, please make arrangements with somebody to pick up your entries.

MINI CONTEST: MINI CONTEST THEME BRIDGES bring any two images showing BRIDGES to participate in this mini contest.

SLIDE SHOW: SLIDE SHOW: Please, email 5-8 of your favorite recent images that you would like to share at the meeting to Jim Kelly. Let's see all those wonderful images from all over around.

FIELD TRIPS

Saturday, November 8, from 9 AM - 2 PM --
WPC Scavenger Hunt at Pow Wow Fest. 7979 N. Eldridge Rd • Houston, TX 77041. More info and sign in and for further details visit


Saturday, November 15, from 9-11 AM --
Battleship Texas Museum at Porte Texas, Hard Hats Tour, just for WPC members. We will take this tour to public restricted areas and will be able to take pictures there. Limited room. More info and sign in

Photo Opportunities

Saturday, November 15 through January 3, 2009 -- Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens photo opportunity Festival of Lights! The holiday magic will glisten with more than a million lights and dozens of festive scenes. (800) 582-4673; www.moodygardens.com

DECEMBER

MONTHLY MEETING
Monday, December 8-- 6:30 - 9 P.M.

We’re having our Christmas Party and ask all members to bring a dessert, a salad, or a casserole to share. Time to renew your 2009 membership. Membership evaluation of this year events. Bring your fresh ideas to the table though we will have a lot of success with our next year events. Meet the new board officers for 2009. Share with them your ideas.

MINI CONTEST: CLOCKS Bring any two images containing CLOCKS for the mini-contest.

SLIDE SHOW: Please, email 5-8 of your favorite recent images that you would like to share at the meeting to Jim Kelly. Let's see all those wonderful images from all over around.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:

Through January 3, 2009 - Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens photo opportunity Festival of Lights! The holiday magic will glisten with more than a million lights and dozens of festive scenes. (800) 582-4673; www.moodygardens.com

December 6-7 - 35th. annual Dickens on the Strand festival. Taking their cue from the characters of 'A Christmas Carol', hundreds of performers dressed in authentic Victorian attire mingle with the holiday crowd. Even Scrooge would be happy with six stages providing continuous entertainment and wandering minstrels singing on every corner. Three parades. 2100 Strand St., Galveston, TX 77550, ph 409 763 5326

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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 · Web site 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 October 11 -- DeSantos Gallery Presents : Drifting Away Photographs by Erika Diettes VICTIMS OF COLOMBIAN ARMED CONFLICT MEMORIALIZED AT DE SANTOS GALLERY. Location DeSantos Gallery 1724 Richmond Ave, Houston, Texas 77098

Through October 19 -- The Museum of Fine Art in Houston has an exhibit titled "In the Forest of Fontainebleau; Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet." With works by Corot, Monet, and others, the exhibit charts the dual evolution of landscape painting with landscape photography. More info

Through October 19 -- FotoFest Presents Mechanical Perception photo exhibit. New Photographic Work by Mei-Mei Dillard, Eileen Maxson, Brian Piana, Soody Sharifi, and Anderson Wrangle. 1113 Vine Street, Suite 101, Houston, TX 77002, Ph (713) 223-5522 More info

October 18-19 -- Bayou City Art Festival Downtown from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days http://www.bayoucityartfestival.com/


CLASSES, CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS:

The 1960 Digital Photography Special Interest Group will have Jerry Ward as our guest speaker on Thursday November 6.  Jerry is the Texas representative for Canon Cameras.  Jerry attended the summer Olympics for Canon and will be showing some of the photos he took while he was there.  He will also have some of Canon’s new equipment to show off and answer all your question about Canon.  More info

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) Leica M7 Rangefinder with Leica lenses: 24 mm lens 2.8, 35 mm lens 2.0, 50 mm lens 2.0, 75 mm lens 1.4, Leica motordrive. All equipment is approximately 2 years old and in mint condition. All for $8,499.95 Contact Don Griffin 281 221 2688

2) Nikonous V underwater camera with: 35 mm Nikon lens, 15 mm Nikon lens and 15 mm viewfinder (Magnificent lens for underwater), Nikon close up macro outfit for reefs and smaller tropical fish, SB 103 Nikon flash, Pelikan hard carrying case. All gear was used about 5 times, all for $2,499.95. Contact Don Griffin 281 221 2688

3) Leica V-Lux 1 digital camera w/ Leica all-weather case, 35-420 mm zoom lens, Built in flash, Auto focus with manual override + anti-shake, Large fold-down display + viewfinder display, Record sound, sunshade, battery charger, software, etc. I am the only owner, camera is about one year old. Will sell for $649.95. Contact Don Griffin 281 221 2688

4) 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 PRICE REDUCED - Asking $400 for everything. Contact Bob at robertholler@sbcglobal.net

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

6) 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

7) 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

8) 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

9) 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. JUST REDUCED will sell for $2000. 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