After the holiday potluck I went for a walk around Picnic Island (without a camera). I'm use to seeing small trees taken down by beavers, but this dude must of been huge. Feeling that the tree was not not going to fall anytime soon (at least that day), I continued my walk then went back for a camera.

A fine group indeed!

Playing with PSE

 

Snelling Lake a week or so ago - today it was ice.

JustResizeIt

Following is a video with a general overview of JustResizeIt and how to use it to resize images. This application is free of charge and available for download online at http://www.justresizeit.com. Here is additional explanation about differences between print and screen resolution as well as step-by-step instructions for how to use JustResizeIt.

Painted Photos From the Park

Digital Painting

     The following are from the last half of the Summer at Ft. Snelling State Park.
They were done in Photoshop by painting over the original photos with mixer brushes.

     Remember to click on the photos to see a larger version.

Picnic Island Fishing

White Snakeroot

Sneezeweed

Sunflowers

Racoon Rescue

These two racoons were in the trash dumpster on Picnic by shelter A. The blonde one is really cute. This is the third time I have found a racoon in that dumpster in the last month or so. If you are walking/driving around and happen to pass a dumpster take a quick look inside, not always pretty. If one of our furry friends is stuck inside get your camera ready and flip the lid back. Find a long stick to put inside and they will climb out. I have a feeling the darker one is the same one I've let out of that same dumpster twice before.
Doug Schurr

Fall is Coming

The deer have started their change over for the Fall.
The fawns are loosing their spots and the bucks their velvet.
They are all starting to grow their browner winter coats.

Only a few spots left.

Just lost his velvet a week ago.

Getting browner.

Wild Rose Photo

American Lotus Painted Photo Composite

American Lotus Duo-tone

Woodland Sunflower Painted Photo

White Water Lily with some Detail Removed

Here are some Ft Snelling wild flowers from this summer.

Jerry Barnett

Tutorial website

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

Covers use of shutter speed, iso, aperture, depth of field, post processing etc... Think most of this appplies to DSLR and advanced point and shoots...but it gives a clue on what is going on with all cameras.

Just an FYI for those of you that like to enter photo contests.  Friends of Maplewood Nature sponsors an annual photography/calendar contest.  Pictures must be taken in one of the Maplewood preserves or the Maplewood Nature Center.  The deadline for submission isn't until next April, but they need photos from all seasons for the calendar. Although I know this is the Fort Snelling State Park Camera Club, I imagine that some of you take pictures in other locations on rare occasions...  :)  You can find out more information about the contest at the Friends Group blog : www.maplewoodnature.blogspot.com/ and more information about the Maplewood preserves and where they are located at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/nc. Feel free to spread the word to other photo enthusiasts!

Thanks - Christa R.

Deer, Horse or Mutant Fly

After looking through my reference books and a quick search on the net, I couldn't find anything that resembled this insect.  Doug sent a few more photos with a little better look at the wings.  Finally I sent the photos to Kao asking if anyone down at the visitor center knew what it was.

Here is what Kao said: The insect is a species of Deer Flies.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/biting_bugs/index.html

One of the things that bothers me is the size, the deer fly is a little larger than a house fly but we'll let Doug comment on that since he's the one that saw it in action.

Lotus at the Beach

Thanks to Endel for mentioning the Lotus' are back. Great to see one blooming.

If I didn't know better, I might think I was reading the Onion

DC police chief announces shockingly reasonable cell camera policy
She bans DC cops from confiscating cell cameras or harassing their owners

Deb, this is the way your butterfly should look.  It is a called Question Mark because on the underside of the wings is a little mark that looks like .... You guessed it a question mark.  The book I have shows a butterfly with pieces of it's wing missing.  If it is a v-shaped tear out of the wing it most likely a bird attempting to get lunch.  Yours doesn't look v-shaped so it could have been another animal or a near miss with a car.  We will never know.  We will just have to live with mysteries of life.

what happened here?

Found this butterfly before the last meeting. Actually I thought the leaf was diseased, but after zooming in I found different. I have never seen a butterfly this beat up before...is this normal?

Open House

I didn't take a photo of the booth we had at the park yesterday so you will have to read it instead of just looking at the pictures. I want to thank everyone that donated things to sell.  I was only there in the afternoon and we didn't have much action at the booth but I haven't had such a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon in a long, long time.

A few of us sat in the shade, drinking iced beverages and discussing many topics.  John Anderson was able to give some insight into how other clubs operate.  We also covered the topic of histograms, birds, cameras, deer, hunting and many more.  A good time was had by all.

Thanks again to everyone the helped with the Open House event.

Geri

Venus Transit

I might have taken the "Big Sky" challenge a little too far.  This was shot June 5th, of the transit of Venus across the face of the sun.  The largest dot is Venus (top right).  The other specks are sunspots.  I shot the image with my 500mm with a 1.4X teleconverter.  A welding filter was used to protect the camera and my eyes.   - John Anderson

My parents have just decided to be buried at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery.  I was surprised since whenever we visit the cemetery in Iowa they always point out their headstone.


Luckily, I have never had an occasion to visit Ft. Snelling Cemetery so I decided go through it this weekend.  It was roller coster of emotions for me. To see all the headstones, and be relieved to see all those that lived a full life and to be sadden by those that died in war, living too short a life.


I have WWII, WWI, Civil War and Revolutionary War veterans in my family.  So to all veterans -  dead and alive - thanks to all of you!

New Member Link

Welcome to today's first time attendees! John Anderson shared a link to his web site that is now listed on our Member Links page. Please check it out. http://powderhorn.us/

Photographic Manipulation

Israel requires advertisers to disclose Photoshopping of models

Regardless of your views, after one has snapped the shutter button, about whether you feel manipulation of a photograph is right or wrong, you may find the following article about Israel's new laws passed in March of this year, now dubbed the "Photoshop Laws" an interesting read.

Computer editing sees regulation, and models must be certifiably not underweight

Shorebirds Galore

Minnesota River NWR - Old Cedar - Much variety and much activity including sora, yellowlegs, virginia rail, + more. If anyone wants to join me on a walk around let me know.

clean up day at the park

This is to prove that we are not just a bunch of pretty faces behind the cameras. Judy, Doug, Deb and i had a fun filled day on Picnic Island getting down and dirty with the garbage.

The Secret life of the Park

This video provides a "how to" glimpse into catching some of the park's often unnoticed visitors. Like so many things in nature, to the uninitiated, warblers  may remain invisible until one learns to start "seeing them". Every warbler in this video will pass through on our Minnesota flyways and are likely Fort Snelling visitors this spring. Birding Warblers

Project Noah

At our last meeting, I brought up Project Noah. Project Noah is a citizen-science program that allows people to report their "spottings" of plant and animal life to the Project Noah website. Spottings include common and scientific names, a photo, a map location, and a description of the animal or plant and its habitat, plus any other notes that the photographer would like to add. Other users across the world can comment on and "favorite" spottings.

Each photographer has their own page that consists of their "collection" of spottings. You can see my page by going to "Organisms" and searching on "Gordon Dietzman" (yeah, I'm an organism....) and then clicking on my name where it pops up.

Spottings can be added through the website itself or through the Project Noah app, available on iTunes.

The PN website also has a mission feature. A user can create and manage a mission for a specific subject, such as "The Life of Fort Snelling State Park". Others can add their pertinent subjects to that mission.

It's a great way to share with others what you've found and, in the case of a mission, to create an inventory of life within a specific area. Learn more at the Project Noah (www.projectnoah.org) website.

Using a PN mission might be a fun project for the club and also a way to share our photos in an easy to use format. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.

Useful iPad photography applications

Here are the links to the iPad applications that I demonstrated at today's meeting as well as some others which I didn't have a chance to show:

• Chased by the Light: Jim Brandenburg's app - $9.99
• Stuck on Earth: Trey Ratcliff's app - Free
• 500px - Free
• Yosemite Photographer's Guide Michael Frye's app - $6.99 (here is a video by Frye giving a demo of the app).
• Michael Nichol's App - $3.99
• Camera Awesome! (SmugMug)  - Geared to toward the iPhone, but can be used on the iPad - Free (here is a video discussing SmugMug's motivation behind the creation of the application as well as a demo - 39 mins long but interesting points).
• National Geographic - 50 Greatest Photographs  - $4.99
• National Geographic - 50 Greatest Places - $1.99
• Craft & Vision: educational photography ebooks - app is free and one can purchase ebooks inside the app.
• Life digital photography guide - definitely on the high side at $14.99, but a very nice portable reference to have.

I would also be interested in hearing about other helpful applications that other people have found.

As was noted in the meeting, the iPad3 will probably be announced on March 7th and will probably be released by the end of March, which will drive down the prices of both the iPad2 and iPad.

(minor note: here is the link to Project Noah that was discussed at today's meeting as well). 

Enjoy!

Is technology a menace to photography

A podcast from the February 2012 round-table discussion at Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Conference in Las Vegas (Episode 46 from http://twit.tv/photo)

Topic: Is Technology a Menace to Photography?

Digital Bridge - Dragonfly Workshop

I found this workshop of interest given our recent exposure to some exceptional dragonfly photos.  The host of these workshops did a digital bridge presentation at one of our past meetings.    Dragonflies at MnSTA

"Chased by the Light" on TPT in March

TPT Scheduled Airings
For a quick look at the program's theme....Preview of Chased by the Light: A Photographic Journey with Jim Brandenberg

Spring Migration

The next meeting, March 3,  Judy will be showing some photos of birds you might see in the Spring migration.  Geri recently sent an email to club members with an article on when we can start to see the birds that pass through noting that Sandhill cranes were already spotted Feb. 12,  a month early! The Jan-Febr. 2012 Volunteer also has an excellent article by Carrol Henderson about where the returning birds have spent the winter (click here for an abbreviated on-line version).
 (Common Merganser this week on MN River by Picnic Island)

Presentation by photographer Trey Ratcliff

Following is a one 1 hour presentation that took place at Google featuring photographer Trey Ratcliff. As if the photos aren’t proof of how good this guy is with a camera or his perspective on photography (regardless whether you agree with him or not), there is a small surprise near the end of the video about this photographer’s view of the world. Be warned that the host at the beginning of the video is kind of a geek and not the most fluent on stage (and it shows), but once you get past this and Trey is on stage, Trey brings up some very interesting topics. I think it is worth sharing with the group. Enjoy

January Club Outing

Today several Club members took photos for the Great River National Park. This was a visually stimulating site with a variety of shapes, lines, and lighting variations for the eye to work with.

river otters in the pond today