Through the Lens

` Through The Lens

Cheyenne Camera Club Cheyenne Wyoming

www.cheyennecameraclub.org

January 2017

President – Paul Bobenmoyer Vice President – Judy Myers Secretary – Judy Berkley Treasurer – Gerry Lancaster Program/Contest – Judy Berkley and Pete Arnold

Edwin Carlson, TTL Editor

Happy New Year Club Meetings As we enter the new year of 2017, this would be a good time to think about what you would like to do with your Camera Club meetings are held the first and third photography this year. Your list could include several Thursdays of each month at 6:00 PM in the Pub Room broad directions such as new equipment, more (second floor above the east entrance) at the Primrose knowledge, or a photographic excursion. Retirement Center on Dorothy Lane at Powderhouse Road in The Point Subdivision. Take the plunge for that new camera, lens, or computer. Learn new techniques, enhance your current techniques, change the direction of your current photography, buy Thu Jan 5 Critique Session new software, or learn more about your current software. Thu Jan 19 Contest: Bird(s) (BD) Take a photography specific trip or photo seminar. Thu Feb 2 Contest: Night Skies (NS) These endeavors do not need to be extensive Thu Feb 16 Annual Awards Dinner experiences. They can be simple steps taken as the year Wed Feb 1 Parks and Rec Show Reception Hosts progresses. Sit down, think about what you would like to do, make your list, and do it. Photography can be an Thu Mar 2 Critique Program exciting hobby if you make it exciting to do. Thu Mar 16 Contest: Food (FD) The CAG Annual Membership Show was held in December. Chuck Carpenter, Stephen Johansen, Kim Sharples, Don Edington, Diane Egge, Edwin Carlson, Upcoming Events and Vanda Edington (pastels) all entered the show.

Cheyenne Parks and Rec Photography Show Marilyn Linda and Friends Art The theme for the Cheyenne Parks and Recreation Annual Photography Show for 2017 is Earth and Sky, Show showcasing the earth’s landscape and vast sky. Landscapes paired with unique skyscapes should be the The Marilyn Linda and Friends Art Show including focus of the photograph. photography will be held in the Civic Center during March. More information will be available later. Registration will be January 23 – 27 at the Neighborhood Facility at 610 W 7th Street. Entries are to be delivered to the Civic Center on January 30. Entry CAG Artist of the Month fee is $5 for one and $10 for three entries. The first 150 entries will be accepted. The show is limited to Laramie County residents only. Photos are to be picked up Tamara Rodgers is the Cheyenne Artists Guild Artist of the Month for January. Stop in at the Art Guild in March 1. Holiday Park to see her exhibit. Congratulations. Information and the entry form to download (PDF) are available at www.cheyennecity.org/index.aspx?nic=202. Go to the left column to Special Events and click on Annual Photo Contest. What’s Happening

The reception will be held Wednesday, February 1, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. The camera club will host the Nebraska Book and Exhibit reception. Kim Sharples has four images in a recently released book titled “Nebraska, 150 Years Told Through 93 Artists Guild Shows Counties”. Her images are also included in a photography exhibit titled “Bridges: Sharing Our Past to Enrich the Future. The exhibit has six stops while The Cheyenne Artists Guild “Tony James Memorial All touring the state of Nebraska in 2017. The exhibit has Photography Show” is currently being shown during ninety-three images, one from each county in the state. January. The reception is Saturday, January 7, at 1 to 3 Kim’s four images were of Banner, Cheyenne, Deuel, pm in the Guild in Holiday Park. Lon Pfau, Tamara and Kimball counties. Congratulations Kim for this Rodgers, Dianne Egge, and Edwin Carlson entered this accomplishment. show.

The CAG “Hearts and Flowers” Show will be held during February. Entries are to be turned in at the Guild 365 Days Photo Challenge in Holiday Park January 26-28. The entry fee is $20 for three entries. Jan Barhite undertook a 365 Challenge during 2016. The challenge was to photograph and post one image each day for the year to her blog. She said that she did Kim Sharples was the featured artist for November and learn and do several new techniques for the blog that she December at the Sandcreek Library in Colorado Springs would not otherwise have done. It helped her to open up Colorado. Congratulations Kim. her eyes to always being aware of her surroundings and how to take the best possible photo of it. She was able to post a photo most days, missing a few days when she didn’t have wifi when camping. She encourages other Club Christmas Party camera club members to undertake a 365 photo challenge for the excitement and learning experience. The Camera Club’s annual Christmas Party was held December 15 as a pot luck dinner. We had about thirty members and their families enjoy all the food. Everyone enjoyed the company of fellow photographers and their families. Pete Arnold provided a slide show of the 2016 Wyoming Wildlife Magazine 2017 annual award eligible images complete with musical background. Thanks to everyone for the food and to Calendar Pete for the photo show.

Two club members were honored to be included in the 2017 Wyoming Wildlife Calendar. Don Edington had his image of pronghorn fawns as the June image. Tamara Rodgers had her photograph of a raccoon as the Photographer’s Forum Book April image. Congratulations to these two members. Tamara Rodgers received word that one of her most popular images has been printed in Photographer’s Forum’s “Best of Photography 2016” book. The image New CCC Name Tags was a semi-finalist for the year. Way to go Tamara.

Randy Miller is checking into new plastic name tags for club members. He will have a couple of examples at the next meeting so we can decide on the design for the City of Cheyenne Art Show name tags. The cost will be about $10. If you would like a name tag, send Randy an email at The City of Cheyenne Art Show was held in December. [email protected]. The following club members entered this show; Chuck White, Tim Leberman, Don Edington, Fern White, and Vanda Edington. Congratulations to them. 2017 Club Dues

The club membership dues for 2017 are due now. Dues Cheyenne Camera Club Facebook can be paid to Gerry Lancaster. Club dues must be current before you can enter the contests in 2017. If you Page plan to enter the January 16 contest, your dues must be paid before you can send your entries to Pete. Dues are The Cheyenne Camera Club has a Facebook page. Log $20 for an individual and $25 for a family. in to your Facebook and do a search in Groups for Cheyenne Camera Club. It should pop right up. After you enter the site, you can join the group or post your images. Featured Photographer In Colorado Springs Library N4C Website The North Central Camera Club Council (N4C) has a field. In Shutter Priority Mode you select the shutter website at www.n4c.us. As a member of N4C, CCC speed to use and the camera selects the correct aperture club members are encouraged to explore the N4C setting. In this mode you control the sharpness or website. There are photography resources on the site to blurriness of the image. further one's photography experiences to include links to numerous tutorials and educational videos such as If you want more from your camera shooting than Adobe Photoshop tutorials, Adobe Lightroom tutorials, always shooting Automatic Mode but are not ready to and Apple iPad and iPhone Photography applications. shoot in Manual Mode, shooting in either Aperture or The site is well worth checking out and utilizing for Shutter Speed Auto Mode is a step in the right direction. educational purposes: http://n4c.us/ A link to their It is a good learning process to improve your website has been added to the main page of the CCC photography and have the image that you want, not the website. image that the Automatic Mode determines for you.

Holding The Camera The Exposure Triad It is important to hold your camera correctly in order to minimize camera movement as you are taking the A term which seems to have come into use lately is photograph. Always hold the camera with both hands. Exposure Triad. The term references the three elements Grip the right side of the camera with your right hand. involved in exposing for a photograph; aperture, shutter Place the left hand beneath the lens to support the weight speed, and ISO. of the camera.

The closer you hold the camera to your body, the more All three elements are equal in their importance in stable it will be. Additionally, leaning against a wall or correctly exposing a photograph. Which element to something solid will help improve steadying the camera. emphasize as the primary element in exposing your Crouching down to your knees will also help. Spread image depends on what the image is all about and how your feet further apart for a wider steadier stanch. you want to photograph it. In an action related image, the shutter speed will determine whether the action is Vibration reduction systems in cameras now help to frozen (fast shutter speed) or if your subject is blurred reduce camera shake but good camera holding technique (slow shutter speed). If the important factor in your still goes a long ways toward accomplishing sharp photograph is selective focus or depth of field, then the photographs. aperture will be the primary element to use (a small aperture for more focus in the image or a large aperture to defocus the background). If lighting is the main consideration then setting the ISO higher (with less Aperture and Shutter Automatic light) or lower (with more light) will adjust for the Modes lighting conditions.

In Automatic Mode, the camera selects all the settings. While all three parts of the triad are important in A number of photographers use the Manual Mode only exposing the photograph, which one to use as the for optimal control. In between the Automatic Mode primary element depends on the image you want. and Manual Mode extremes on cameras are the Aperture Priority Mode and Shutter Priority Mode. These two modes are an improvement in your control of the Contest Winners resulting photograph. December 1 - Ruins Aperture Priority Mode lets you select the aperture you want to use and the camera selects the shutter speed for 1st – Don Edington – CY Ranch Homesterad the correct exposure. Thus you can control the depth of 2nd – Allen Bird – Sutros Baths One 3rd – Allen Bird – Sutros Baths Two 3rd – Carol Sutherland – Forgotten 3rd – Judy Myers – Fort Pickens 3rd – Linda Williams - Forgotten HM – Don Edington – Ephesus HM – Fern White – Gila Ruins HM – Lynn Gurnee – Ephesus HM – Lynn Gurnee – Nepal Temple HM – Pete Arnold – Chulpa HM – Scott Hughes – Ephesus HM – Scott Hughes – Xegar Zong HM – Kim Sharples – Abandoned

Parting Shot

There are no mistakes in photography, only learning opportunities.

Happy New Year

Edwin Carlson – TTL Editor 2016 CHEYENNE CAMERA CLUB 2017 Beginner - Amateur - Advanced Amateur Meeting Nights: 1st and 3rd Thursday each month at 6:00 pm in “The Pub”, Primrose Retirement Center at Dues: $20.00 individual; $25.00 family 1530 Dorothy Lane Contest Entry: Deliver to Pete Arnold by the Sunday preceding the contest at [email protected] www.cheyennecameraclub.org Facebook group: Cheyenne Camera Club N4C: http://n4c.us/

September 1 Contest: Fish (FH) September 15 Contest: Water Droplets (WD)

October 6 Contest: Macro (MR) October 20 Critique Session October 23 Scavenger Hunt deadline

November 3 Scavenger Hunt judging November 17 Meeting Cancelled

December 1 Contest: Ruin(s) (RN) December 15 Christmas party

January 5 Critique Session January 19 Contest: Bird(s) (BD)

February 2 Contest: Night Skies (NS) February 16 Annual Awards Dinner February 1 (?) Parks & Rec photo contest reception - CCC hosting

March 2 Critique Session March 16 Contest: Food (FD)

April 6 Critique Session April 20 Judging N4C color prints

May 4 Contest: Recreation (RC) Election of Officers May 18 Contest: Exotic Animal(s) (EA)

June 1 Planning meeting

President: Paul Bobenmoyer (638-9266 or 256-6695 Program/Contest: Judy Berkley (634-0357) Vice President: Judy Myers (421-0018) Pete Arnold (634-8077) Secretary: Judy Berkley (634-0357) Treasurer: Gerry Lancaster (634-5320) Member of: North Central Camera Club Council http://n4c.us/ N4C Contact: Judy Berkley

Education on judging: On contest nights, there will be a short educational segment on one component of judging: composition, technique, etc. before the contest begins. Following the contest and break, there will be a “fixit” discussion on the images shown.

Critique Sessions: The exact format of these sessions will be shared two weeks before the critique meeting. Possible formats include: longer educational topics, bring photos to discuss and suggest ways for improvement, online educational videos, demos using PhotoShop, etc.

Educational topics: The following educational topics were chosen at the planning meeting. They will be worked into the schedule either at a contest or critique session meeting. Topics: Beginning Photography 101, Macro, Use of light and /or LED lighting in portraits, PhotoShop, Black & White techniques, Panning, What to look for via camera viewer, Focus, Shoot set-up; When and how to use filters, Relationship between shutter speed, ISO, aperture and how to use them. Cheyenne Camera Club Contest Rules, June 2016

The purpose of contests is to promote active interest in better photography among members of Cheyenne Camera Club.

A. BASIC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS 1. The contests are open to all members in good standing. (i.e. dues paid up to date.) 2. Submit an index card with entries listing maker, entry titles and categories.

B. TYPES OF CONTESTS 1. Nature: Nature photography embraces the entire physical natural world, a field that extends from a single drop of water to an entire landscape, from sea to sky. Nature photographs are restricted to nature in all its forms including the many facets of botany, geology, and zoology. All acts of nature are included. There must be no evidence of the influence of man in the image. The influence of man is considered to be present in subject matter such as a cultivated flowers and domestic animals. Nature contests are divided into two categories: Nature Wildlife (animals) and Nature Scenic. 2. Pictorial: Pictorial can be anything including nature as long as it meets the basic entry requirements. 3. Photo-journalism: Photo-journalism can be considered as picturing “life in our world.” The predominant theme is “people and their environment.” The subjects may include spot news, sports, dramatic events, or commonplace human- interest happenings – items that would be seen in a newspaper, for instance. The photographs must tell a story. Good titles or captions are mandatory and are part of the judging process. 4. Assigned subject: From time to time special subjects or topics will be assigned for a given contest.

C. ENTRY RULES 1. The contest season will be from January 1 through December 31 to be eligible for the annual awards. 2. Entrants must be current members of the Cheyenne Camera Club. 3. Each entrant may enter two images in each contest category unless otherwise announced. 4. Award-winning images from previous camera club contests may not be re-submitted for intra-club competition at any time. Ribbons or certificates will be awarded for the annual awards only. 5. Images must have been taken by the entrant within the previous three years before the competition submission. 6. The above rules governing classes and eligibility will apply in the annual awards contest, except that an entry must have “placed” First, Second, Third or Honorable Mention in a regular intra-club contest or scavenger hunt during the contest season. The annual awards contest will be held at the second meeting in February. 7. The following descriptions were adopted by the club members by ballot vote: Pictorial, and assigned topics: Adjustments allowed are in the list under digital guidelines. Creative: Anything goes – any alterations allowed. All other photos (Nature and PJ): should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared in the viewfinder. Nothing should be added to an image and aside from minor dust spots, nothing can be taken away. Cropping and minor adjustments to color and contrast are acceptable. Nature: No computer manipulations or enhancements are allowed in Nature. Elements in the picture cannot be moved, cloned, added, deleted, rearranged or combined. The following adjustments are permitted: resizing, cropping, selective lightening or darkening, and restoration of original color of the scene. Photojournalism: In the interest of credibility, photos should represent the truth, with no manipulation to alter the subject matter or situations which are set up for the purpose of photography (as is published in newspapers).

D. JUDGING RULES 1. On the night of each contest, the Presiding Officer will choose three persons from among the members and guests that they feel will be qualified to judge. 2. Each judge will award points (from 1 to 9), giving consideration to each of the following three categories: a. TECHNIQUE – clear subject, proper exposure, focus, and lighting. b. COMPOSITION – pleasing arrangement of the elements within the picture area, proper placement and harmony of color and camera angle, and absence of distracting elements. c. INTEREST – impact, originality, imagination, interpretation, and subject matter. 3. If one of the judges has a picture in the contest, they enter a score of 0 for their picture. An average of the other two judges’ scores will then be added to the sum of those two scores for a total score. 4. Altered and unaltered pictures will be judged together. Guidelines for Digital Category 2015

1. The use of filters on the camera to correct color balance or exposure are acceptable, as is the correction of these variables in the computer. 2. Removing dust spots, sensor dust, or other minor unwanted elements such as power lines, vapor trails or tree branches is acceptable as long as this is not detectable. 3. Adding, moving, or combining elements or altering the reality of the subject by any digital or manual means is not acceptable except in the creative category. 4. In the creative category all options are open.

Acceptable adjustments for competition are as follows.

Cropping Color correction Overall brightness correction White balance correction Flare reduction or removal Saturation Recovering shadow detail Resizing Straightening Contrast control Flipping or reversing the image Noise reduction Sharpening (must look natural)

Follow these steps for creating your files. The below sequence is with PhotoShop.

1. Open your file and use the Save As option and save as a copy. This step is not absolutely necessary if you are familiar with this process, but it will protect your original file from a mistake on your part. 2. If you did not do step one, open your image now. 3. From Image in the menu bar select Image Size. 4. In the Image Size pallet make sure Resample is not selected. 5. Change resolution to 72. 6. Now click on Resample. 7. In the pixel dimension box for a Horizontal Image change the width to 1024. If the height is 768 or less click OK. If the height is greater than 768, change it to 768 (this will cause the width to be less than 1024, that’s OK). For a vertical format start with the height of 768 and accept whatever width you get. At the bottom of the Image Size pallet scroll to Bicubic Sharper for reductions (in PS). Click OK. 8. Go to File and select Save As. Under Format, select the jpg file option. Under File Name, name the file as in the naming convention below. Click Save 9. You should get the JPEG options pallet (in PhotoShop). Select Quality level to be 12, click OK. Other programs may call this superfine or something else. It is the level that does the least compressing. File size is not a problem; your file size will probably be between 500K and 1.5 Mb. 10. Do this for each picture you plan to enter; pay attention to the state of the Resample box as you go through the process. 11. You may send Pete Arnold the pictures via email ([email protected]) by attaching them to an email.

Naming Convention is as follows:

Image Title_Your Name_X.jpg where X is the letter(s) of the category. Example: Bright Winter Day_Photographer Name_N.jpg where “N” stands for Nature. Use the underscore between the title and your name and between your name and the category. This is to make it easier for the coordinator to read.