CACTUS POINTS SAGUARO CAMERA CLUB. May 2010 Vol. 55 No. 2

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1 4 CACTUS POINTS SAGUARO CAMERA CLUB May 2010 Vol. 55 No. 2 Meets 2 nd and 4 th Thursday of each month Dinner 5:pm COCO S RESTAURANT 1862 W. Baseline Rd. Mesa, Arizona Meeting 6:45 PM Mesa Fire Station: NW Corner 1 st St. & Mesa Dr. Fire Station Community Room E. First St, Mesa, AZ Co-Presidents: Phyllis Picardi and Jim Kronlokken The newsletter of the Saguaro Camera Club (Digital Images) and the Arizona Photographic Society (Prints) APS meets at the same place, third Thursday of the month at 6:30. AFFILIATIONS Photographic Society of America Arizona Camera Club Council 1

2 SAGUARO CAMERA CLUB OFFICERS Co-Presidents Phyllis Picardi Jim Kronlokken Past President Larry Durbin Secretary Linda Fries Treasurer and Membership Chair Floyd Rockwell Additional Board of Directors Members Dick Lund Larry McDonald John Tworek Sandy Kwas ACCC Representatives Nancy Sams (APS) Doris McCrossin (SCC) Interclub Chairpersons Carol McDonald - Photo Travel Lynn Thompson - CPID Barbara Trainor - Photojournalism Linda Fries - Nature Bill Dart - Prints MAY AND JUNE EVENTS5 SAGUARO CAMERA CLUB & APS Note: We are still on Mondays through May, then back to our regular Thursdays. May 10 - Saguaro CC - Monday Competition - Nautical See page 7 for definition May 17 - APS - Monday May 24- Saguaro CC- Monday AZ Republic Photojournalist Michael Chow: See note on page 7. Please Note June changes: June 10 - APS - Thursday June 17 - EOY Party & Awards - Thursday June 24 - No meeting For future meetings, check our website. Jim David Webmaster Lynn Thompson Print Co-Chair ACCC Mary and Herman Dirks Saguaro Print Rep for ACCC Bill Dart Competition Chair John Tworek Program Chair Sandy Kwas Sunshine Welcome Person Trish Mammino Newsletter Editor Shirley Anne Ramaley 2

3 NEWS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS From Jean Higgins: I just had some slides scanned by a local outfit and I was very impressed with their service. They are in Gilbert. web DigMyPics for anyone who wants to check out their very impressive website. Photojournalism Information: I sent an to the PSA PJ division chairman, asking for clarification on straightening photos for PJ. Here is his reply: Shirley - Unless you intend for a picture to be crooked, there's no problem in straightening a photo, since that's not what the original subject looked like. It would be crooked because of camera error. In my view, correcting a camera error by straightening a picture in photo shop is not a problem. Keith Gillett PPSA Chairman Photojournalism Division PSA Region 20 Carol and Larry McDonald are the Region Directors for region 20 of PSA, which includes Arizona and New Mexico. Larry says that PSA has much to offer and he tries to get that message across when he's talking to people. He hopes that once people join they will get involved because those are the people who stay in PSA. Larry attends local photo club meetings in the Phoenix area and around the state, and talks to people about PSA. Check this link for more information. PSA Region 20 Bill Lewis From the editor: Thanks to the many members who sent wildflower photographs. If you don't see yours here, it may appear in a future edition of Cactus Points. All of the photos were excellent and show what a talented group of photographers we have in this club. I will feature more wildflower photos in a special section in the June issue. 3

4 SAGUARO CAMERA CLUB COMPETITION - April, 2010 MASTERS Thanks to our judges: Sandy Kwas, Jim Kronlokken, Shirley Rockwell There were 112 images submitted, the highest in two years. Assigned Subject: Architectural Details ASSIGNED Church Dome Nancy Sams TOP Church Ceiling Carol McDonald HM Stone Work 3 Dick Lund HM St. Petersburg, Russia Jean Higgins HM Academy Chapel Inside Larry Durbin HM OPEN Ice On My Leg Dick Lund TOP Winter, Snake River Country Lynn Thompson HM El Capitan in Winter Jean Romain HM Indian Woman Sweeps Jean Higgins HM GENERAL ASSIGNED Ice On Bourbon Street Joe Mammino TOP Salt River Bridge Bob Simms HM Chollerford Bridge Jim David HM St. Ignatius Bill Dart HM OPEN Up, Up and Away! Shirley Anne Ramaley TOP Down to Earth Shirley Anne Ramaley HM White Pocket Reflection Bill Lewis HM Acorn Woodpecker Sandy Kwas HM Weather Worn Jim David HM Green Swallowtail Reflections Barbara Trainor VC 4

5 PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY Jim David "Wheat Country" TOP Joe Mammino "Bushkill Falls #1" HM Lynn Thompson "Ride The Big Wave" Lou Romain "Bells in Autumn" TOP 5

6 SPRING 2010 ARIZONA WILDFLOWER and CACTUS PHOTOS BY OUR MEMBERS Sandy Kwas Dick Lund George Keller "Night Blooming Cereus" HM Bill Lewis Barbara Trainor Mary and Herman Dirks Background photo by Dick Lund 6

7 CLUB NEWS NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS Co-Presidents - Carol and Larry McDonald Vice President - Herman Dirks Secretary - Shirley Anne Ramaley Treasurer - Linda Baxter Board Member - Bob McMillin END OF YEAR COMPETITION Submit four images that were entered in club competition from September 2009 through May Whether or not the images won awards, they may be submitted. Send what you consider to be your four best, whether from Assigned or Open or any combination. Use the regular online form, ignore the "assigned" and "open" and enter the images. Please do so by May 11th. Judging will be done by the Lafayette Camera Club in Lafayette, LA. MAY 24th MEETING Michael Chow said he will NOT make our meeting if the Coyotes or Suns are in the playoffs. The Coyotes were just eliminated, but, as of this writing, the Suns are still in the playoffs. If Chow has to cancel, John Tworek will present the Saguaro Nature Salon. MAY COMPETITION - NAUTICAL Competition is May 10th. Images are due Thursday, May 6th. Nautical includes ships, shipping, sailors, navigation in water, lighthouses, cruise boats, buoys, and if in doubt about a subject, John Tworek. SPRING SOCIAL HOUR On MONDAY, MAY 24 we will have a Spring Social hour prior to the meeting. This will be a great time to visit with everyone, and snack on the wonderful items each person brings. So mark your calendars! WELCOME to new member, Candy ( Diane ) Carriagan 7

8 GETTING TO KNOW OUR MEMBERS Barbara Trainor Barbara Trainor "Hand on Guitar" TOP When our co-president, Phyllis Picardi, recently asked if someone would take over Interclub Photojournalism competition, Barbara Trainer stepped forward and volunteered. Barbara has lived in Arizona since she was five and always liked photography but only "started to get serious" about a year ago. She has always enjoyed taking photos of family and friends. Last spring she took an Arizona Highways photo workshop on wildflowers. Saguaro is her first and only camera club. Phyllis reports that "..the Saguaro monthly competitions stretch me beyond my comfort zone into subject areas I am less familiar with." She feels the SCC members are "all so willing to share." Last December one of her photographs of bluebirds was selected by a local photographer in a contest, to be displayed in his gallery. Recently she entered again and five of her photographs have been selected to display in the gallery. (I'm looking forward to visiting this gallery and seeing her pictures.) Barbara's photography has centered around birds and flowers and, of course, her ten grandchildren. She has limited experience in photojournalism and accepted the position from Phyllis in order to learn more from other's photos. This is a new and exciting area for her and she says she's "excited to have the opportunity to take this position and grow more in this area." Barbara Trainor "Quadruple Cereus" HM 8

9 USING 16 BIT IN CAMERA RAW The following is used with permission from Tim Grey. Learn more at Tim's website: Tim Grey Today's Question: I do not understand how to work in 16 bit in Camera Raw. How do I do this? Where do I go to work in 16 bit, and will this cause me trouble when I open the photo in Photoshop if I choose the wrong working space or profile? Tim's Answer: The bit depth and color space are not factors while you're actually working in Adobe Camera Raw. Rather, these are settings you apply within Adobe Camera Raw so those settings will be applied (along with the various adjustments you have set) to the image upon conversion from a RAW capture to an actual image file. To adjust the output settings (including bit depth and color space) simply click on the summary text below the preview image. This text shows you the current output settings, and clicking on the text will bring up the Workflow Options dialog box where you can make changes to these settings. I do encourage you to set this to 16-bit per channel to retain the smoothest gradations of tone and color even if you apply strong adjustments after the RAW conversion. For the color space you should use whatever you've determined to be the best option for your workflow within Photoshop, and that you have therefore established as your working space in the Color Settings dialog box in Photoshop. If you're working exclusively in 16-bit per channel mode and want to ensure the widest range of possible colors possible, you should use ProPhoto RGB. Otherwise, or if you're at all unsure about what to use, I suggest Adobe RGB. When you've established the desired settings in the Workflow Options dialog box click OK, and the settings you have established will become the new defaults for all images you open with Adobe Camera Raw moving forward. As for "trouble", I wouldn't worry too much. As much as working in 16-bit per channel can be advantageous, provided you're not making particularly strong adjustments you shouldn't have too much risk of posterization. The color space can be important in certain situations and with certain printed output, but in most cases if you're using the "wrong" color space (which really means a less than ideal color space for your particular workflow) it isn't something I would lose any sleep over. 9

10 LATE BREAKING NEWS FROM AN AZ GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT Attention, wildlife photographers! Our annual wildlife photo contest is now open. Winners will earn a coveted spot in the 2011 Arizona Wildlife Calendar, plus courtesy copies of the calendar and cash prizes. To make the contest super-easy to enter, this year we ve gone completely digital. No need to make prints, and we don t accept slides! We are looking for high-quality photographs, so we encourage people to use a digital camera that is 6 megapixels or larger. Images must be horizontal format, 300 dpi or better, jpeg or tiff format, 8 bit and at least 9x12 inches. If you ve sent us a wonderful wildlife photo in the past, but it hasn t won, please don t be discouraged. That won t hurt its chances if you want to enter it again. All pictures must be of Arizona wildlife and must be taken in Arizona. We re looking for images of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and mammals; no insects (including butterflies), please! The deadline for submissions to this year s wildlife photo contest is July 9 at 5 p.m. MST. There is no fee to enter. For complete contest rules and an entry form, visit: Arizona Wildlife Photography Contest for Calendar I was in the calendar last year and if I can do it, so can you. I received a check for $250 and a full page photo for the month of March. The person whose photo is on the cover earns $400. Watch the slide show on the website for the HMs, including a couple of mine. I'm sure you might have even better Arizona wildlife pictures. Send them in! VENUS AND MOON After sunset on May 15, 2010, Saturday, Venus and a Crescent Moon will be seen together. Get your long lens out that evening. FOR SALE: I have changed my tripod and head set-up and would like to sell my Mongoose head. While it is an excellent piece of equipment, and I still think it's the best for birds, it is difficult for me to use with the large lens, simply because I'm small and not that strong. It's been used but is in excellent condition. Art Morris has it for $515 and I think that's what I paid. I'll consider any reasonable offer. To see it click on the link: Mongoose If interested, or any questions, please Shirley Anne STATE PARKS NEWS: Some of the state parks that closed will reopen at least for a time. Others will work on a shorter week, all due to Arizona budget problems. To check the status of our parks, check the link. Arizona State Parks 10