Volume 43. Club Meeting Photo Contest April 5th Fisher Community Center 7:00 pm. Statement of Purpose

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1 Page 1 Volume 43 Marshalltown, Iowa Issue Club Meeting Photo Contest April 5th Fisher Community Center 7:00 pm Statement of Purpose The Central Iowa Camera Club exists to promote the understanding and practice of photography in Central Iowa. Membership is open to persons without regard to their photographic knowledge, experience, sex, age, race, or creed. Meetings are held at Fisher Community Center at 7:00 p.m., the first Thursday of the month - September through June. Programs are planned to be of interest to beginning through advanced photographers and to those who enjoy viewing the photographic art. Student Membership $10.00 Single Membership $20.00 Family Membership $27.00

2 Page 2 NORTH CENTRAL CAMERA CLUB COUNCIL Club Winners February N4C Digital Contests Nature Bill Williamson 2nd Place 106 Entries Pictorial Bill Williamson Honorable Mention 114 Entries

3 Page 3 Altered Reality Bill Williamson Honorable Mention 96 Entries Altered Reality Wilbur Hutchens Merit Award 96 Entries

4 Contest Picture Judges Scores 44 News: Two laptops Needed We have a new contest print chairman for next year CICC will not be judging digital N4C contests Currently, we do not have a N4C digital representative from our club for next year. The judging of the digital contest is complicated and time consuming. David Giese did not want to make a commitment to judge them for the next fiscal year. We are still looking for a member or two to take the digital contest chairpersons role for the CICC club contests next year. Not only will you operate the technology during the meeting but the chairperson will also oversee storing the equipment. It s essential to be at contests and regular meetings when a laptop, cables, etc. are required. You will be the person members send their pictures to Entry forms need to be completed prior to a contest Arrive to the meeting minutes prior for setup Set up for what is needed at a regular program Two laptops needed for contests could be provided by club Cables which the club owns. Stand & projector Software is free to download. Monitor club does own an older model I remember first meeting Dee and Zola at the 1992 N4C Convention in Marshalltown. The next time during the 1997 N4C Convention here in Marshalltown, Linda and I took Dee & Zola on the flower garden field trips around the area. In his late 70s at the time Dee would lay down on the ground to get the best angle for the shots. Over the years Zola and Linda kept in touch through Christmas cards. They were the nicest two people you d ever want to meet. Page 4

5 Things to consider when buying a tripod and tripod head How fast do the legs telescope? How fast does the ball head adjust? It s also important to get a ball head that allows you to quickly switch between landscape and portrait aspect. A lot of cheapo tripods have those flippable mounts that you have to loosen first then tighten once in place. These are usually abysmal as you struggle to get just the right position and then the flimsy flippable part wobbles from the impact of just your breathing. Easy quick release Mounting the camera on the tripod head should be quick and easy. When shopping for a tripod, get the store clerk to demonstrate and then try it out yourself multiple times until you feel if it s right for you. Page 5

6 How heavy should my tripod be? This is a personal choice based on your exact needs, and how much you can carry. There s always a trade-off between portability and sturdiness. Heavier tripods will laugh in the face of a strong wind, while super lightweight carbon fiber tripods will vibrate. You can always attach a rock filled bag to the central stem of your tripod to give it more stability in high winds. A bubble level? Although not essential, it s nice to have an accurate bubble level on the tripod stand itself, and one on the tripod head. If you re lucky enough to have a digital level inside your camera you probably won t use a bubble level much. If you have neither, you can always attach a bubble level to your cameras hot shoe attachment as pictured here (see photo). Do we even need a tripod? If you want tack sharp images with the best possible image quality, accept that a tripod will become a part of your anatomy. For long exposures, a tripod is essential. If you shoot weddings, portraits, action and events, a tripod may just get in your way. Page 6

7 Page 7 Standard/Normal Lens The standard lens has a fixed focal length (50mm, 85mm, 100mm), and reproduces fairly accurately what the human eye sees in terms of perspective and angle of view. For a 35mm film camera or a full-frame DSLR, the 50mm lens is considered standard. At higher focal lengths (85mm or 100mm) you have an ideal lens for portraiture, because when coupled with a wide aperture they thoroughly soften any background detail, thus making it less likely to distract from the main subject. Wide Angle Lens A wide-angle has a shorter focal length (10 thru 42mm) when compared to a standard lens. This enables you to capture a comparatively wider angle of view. A wide-angle lens is a natural choice for capturing outdoor landscapes and group portraits. In fact, wide angle can be the only way to capture the complete setting without omitting any important elements in the image. In this manner, you can use wide-angle lenses to capture a deep DOF.

8 Page 8 Telephoto Lens Telephoto lenses (100mm 800mm) can provide you with a narrow field of view. These long lenses enable you to compress a distance (and compress the sense of depth, as well) and pick out specific objects from far off. They have a strong resolving power and an inherent shallow DOF, where the slightest lateral moment can take a subject out of view. Telephoto lenses are great for wildlife, portrait, sports, and documentary types of photography. They enable you to capture subjects from hundreds of feet away. Zoom Lens Zoom lenses have variable focal lengths, and are extremely useful. Some can range between a wide-angle and a telephoto (i.e. 24 to 300mm) so you have extensive versatility for composition. The trade off with zoom lenses is the aperture. Because of the number of elements required in constructing these lenses, they have a limited ability to open up and allow in light. So unless you re prepared to outlay a lot of money, you will give up lens speed.

9 Page 9 Macro Lens Macro lenses are used for close-up or macro photography. They range in focal lengths of between mm. These lenses obtain razor-sharp focus for subjects within the macro focus distance, but lose their ability for sharp focus at other distances. These lenses enable the photographer to obtain life-size or larger images of subjects like wasps, butterflies, and flowers. Fisheye Lens A fisheye lens is a specialized, wide-angle lens that provides extremely wide images by changing straight lines into curves. It can sometimes produce circular, convex, or oval images by distorting the perspective and creating a 180 image. The range of focal length varies between 7~16mm in a fish-eye lens.

10 CICC On The Web President David Giese Vice-President Beth Murtha Secretary Amy Snyder Treasurer Teresa Vokoun Assistant Kay Aiken N4C Representative David Giese Linda Eastman Club Contests - Yearly Awards Jim Davis N4C Digital & Club Contests Jim Svec Assistants Wilbur Hutchens Duane Freese Club Photography Exhibits Mary Giese David Giese Club Program Book Mary Giese Sharp Focus Editor Jim Svec October December February April June Club Contests Any Thing Goes City- and Town-Scapes Shadows and Silhouettes People Flora and Fauna Impact Originality, imagination interpretation, subject, interest, mood, humor, etc. Composition Arrangement of all elements within the picture area so that the subject matter is presented as a harmonious well balanced photograph. Technique Focus, Lighting, color rendition, exposure, print quality, mounting. Webmaster Jim Svec Danny Barker Eric Dobbs Caralee Hutchens Linda Svec Ed Siems Sharp Focus articles are due to the Editor no later than 10th of every month! jlsvec@gmail.com Page 10