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Thursday, March 30, 2017

March 2017 Meeting Notes

The March meeting was chaired by President Geri Fenton. 

A big Welcome! to:
  •       Baby Henry!!
  •       Luann – from East Bethel “found” by John Anderson.  Luann likes to photograph nature, landscape, birds, etc.  
  •       Jane – Mark’s wife.  Jane is big help to Mark’s photography because she is a good spotter and understands animal behaviors


March Presenter:  Judy’s friend, Steve Schmalowsky gave a lively, entertaining, and informative presentation and showed some great local nature images.  Steve tries to MAKE (vs take) pictures, getting it correct in camera because he’s not a big fan of post-processing.  He got into digital 6-7 years ago and loves that it is so much less expensive.  He relies on the histogram on the back of the camera to ensure good exposure in camera.  He usually shoots alone, and loves nothing better than a good landscape to photograph, especially if there is mist or fog present.  Steve shoots in jpg on manual settings.  For his lovely eagle images, he keeps the shutter speed at 1000 and then constantly adjusts the aperture.

Steve advised us to shoot the photograph we think we want, and then take a step to the left and then right to get a different perspective, which means a different image.  He also recommends going back to the same location several times in order to learn the best time of day for shooting – weather it is to get the best light or get the best animal activity.

Steve suggested several local sites for nature photos, including Moyer Park, Richardson Nature Center, Cedar Avenue Bridge, and Black Dog Road.  He showed many photos, including:
  •  Juvenile Bald Eagle and crow series with the crow steeling a fish
  •  Beautiful landscape scenes from Banff, Jasper, Glacier, Waterton, and the Grand Canyon.
  • A bull moose!
  • Eagles ad egrets in flight
  • Dew-covered spider web
  • Deer silhouette running in a field
  • White deer from Father Hennepin
Steve credits God for the beauty in nature that let’s Steve take such great images, and tries to keep out people or anything that would show a human touch. 

Challenge topic for February was “Current Cityscapes”.  Many great photos as well as several from the Broadway Bridge outing in February.  The April topic is “Step Out of your Comfort Zone” – any subject is fine, but make it something different than what you usually do.  To upload your photos to Google Photos albums, click on the link you received in your email, then click the box with the plus sign on the upper right side, then click "select from computer".  Please re-size files to 500kb or smaller before uploading.  There is a limit of 5 photos per person.

UPCOMING EVENTS
  •        Saturday, April 1st – monthly club meeting.  Janos will be showing us his photos from PERU!
  •        Saturday, May 6th – monthly club meeting.  Planning for Dave Anderson from National Camera to present on Macro.
  •        South Dakota Trip May 20th for 2 nights in Wall, then to Rapid City until you want to leave.
  •        TBD – Geri to tally up the next field trip survey responses and will let us know at the meeting.
  •        TBD July 2017 – Lake Shetek State Park.  See Geri’s review of the park on our blog.


Please use our blog!  If you weren’t aware, FSSPCC has a blog – see it here and take a look at some of the recent posts.  You are all invited to post photos or stories, especially flora, fauna or events from the park, club events, travelogues, or just nature in general.  The blog is easy to use, but you first need to be granted access by emailing the club (email address below).  You can set it so you automatically get notified whenever there is a new posting.  Meeting notes are posted on the blog, too.

Join our Facebook group page!  Search for FSSP Camera Club or click the link below.  Once you are approved to join the group, you are welcome to start posting!

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-Submitted by Patti Deters, FSSP Camera Club 2017 Secretary
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2017 Executive Committee
-Geri Fenton – President
-Endel Kallas – Vice President
-Judy Collopy – Treasurer
-Rose Shea – Twin Cities Area Council of Camera Clubs (TCACCC) Representative
-Patti Deters – Secretary
-John Plut – Event Planner
-Deb Johnson – Webmaster
-János McGhie – IT Guru / Help Desk