2009 Club dues

We feel that a small increase in Yearly dues is in order to help keep the Club running smoothly.
Student. %25.00
Individual. $30.00
Family. $40.00
New members joining during the year will be pro-rated
Current members dues for 2009 need to be in by end of January to retain membership

January 8th Meeting, Alyce Clegg Studio

Our January 8th meeting will be at Alyce Clegg's Portrait Studio.
3160E. 17th St. Idaho Falls. (Strip Mall south of Kmart)
7:00pm Bring your cameras. We will do as much as time allows.

2009 Photo Critique Subjects

Jan. Frame in a Frame
Establish a composition that uses one element to frame another, such as looking through a doorway or window. Anything can be used as a frame, branches, angles, arches, rooflines, tunnels....
This assignment can also be used as an excercise in exposure as the lighting in front and beyond can be drastically different.
Feb. Photographers choice
Mar. Leading Lines
Leading lines are a set of lines (either physical, or formed by elements of the image's composition) that lead your eye into something, or nothing at all, such as a road going into the distance. This assignment is meant as a creative tool to practice your composition skill.
Apr. Photographers choice
May. Portraits
June. Photographers choice
July. Patterns
Patterns are all around us, either man made or in nature. Capture an existing patter, or create your own.
Aug. Photographers choice(With a Twist!) "No" Photoshop work. Image must be straight from the camera.
Sept. Animals,
Wild, or Domestic
Oct. Photographers choice
Nov. Candid
People or animals that are not aware that they are being photographed
Dec. Photographers choice

Call for Nominations and Food ;-)

Our December meeting will be an end of the year social as well as a shortened photo critique. Spouses and family members are welcome. See the previous post for information about the critique part of the meeting.

We will be having election of club officers this night. If you have nominations or would like to serve yourself please email them to Pat Neeley (jpat@srv.net) by Wednesday evening.

For refreshments to the meeting on Thursday please bring either a salad or desert dish to share. Hope to see you there!

Perfect Light Photography located next to Verizon in the Teton Plaza Mall
at 2169 E 17th St. in Idaho Falls, 7:00 p.m. Thursday Dec. 11th.

Next Meeting - Thursday 12/11/08

We will be having one meeting in December, this coming Thursday 12/11/08. We will be having a photo critique with the subject "weather." Please only bring 2 images for the critique and then a third image which you consider your best of the year. This image will not be critiqued but each person can explain the image and why they like it.

We will also have elections for officers and refreshments so be sure to attend. You may email your three images to Steve Ridges at the_ridges@hotmail.com. Please make sure Steve knows which are to be critiqued and which is your best image.

Hope to see you there!

October Photo Critique

This Thursday Nov. 20th - Photo Critique - Photographers Choice -

We will be meeting this week at Perfect Light Camera & Supply. (7:00 pm)
2169 East 17th Street. (In the Teton Village Mall, across from Garcia's Mexican Restaurant)

We are meeting 1 week earlier than normal because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.

You may submit 3 images of your choice. Images should be maximum size of 1920 x 1080
@ 300 dpi

E-mail images to Steve Ridges by 5:00 pm Thursday evening at the_ridges@hotmail.com.
If you choose to bring your images to the meeting, please be there 20-30 minutes early so Steve can get them loaded into the program.

See you there.

Another Great Meeting

A big thanks to Travis Gugelman for speaking last Thursday! We had a good turn out and I know I learned a few tips. I'm impressed at the skill and success he has achieved in less than 10 years.

He spoke a bit about composition, business sense, posing and lighting. During his presentation Travis shared photos from recent travel in Europe and discussed composition and post processing of images. I really want to travel now - thanks a lot! After the presentation he stayed and discussed portrait posing tips in more detail.

Meetings like this always leave me wanting to be a better photographer so I went out 2 days later and took pictures of my kids!

Lisa

Travis Gugelman to speak!

Travis Gugelman of Gugelman Photography will be the speaker at our next club meeting on Thurday Nov. 13th, 2008. Mark the date on your calendar and join us for what should be an interesting and informative meeting. Visitors are always welcome.

We will meet in the usual place (Rocky Mountain Middle School, Library) at 7:00 p.m.

Our photo critique for the month of November will be 1 week earlier because of Thanksgiving. The subject is "Photographer's Choice." We will be trying out a new location for this meeting (not the Gugelman meeting) at the new "Perfect Light" store. Check here for details.

New Camera Store Coming Soon! Perfect Light Camera & Supply

(Click flyer to enlarge)

Overclocking Your Flash Sync Speed

This is a cool video on how to overclock your flash sync speed to get more power out of your flash unit. Check out the link in the article about the diagnostic mode also. Very interesting.
If you try it, let us know about your results.
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/10/great-video-on-overclocking-your-sync.html

Rangefinder Magazine

Here is the link to Rangefinder Magazine. It is a very good Professional Photography Magazine. The best thing about it is you can sign up for a free subscription.
Give it a try. www.rangefindermag.com

Next Meeting Oct. 23, 2008

This will be a Photo Critique, subject; "Body Parts, hands, eyes, feet, etc." This should be interesting!

As always please email your images to Steve Ridges in advance at the_ridges@hotmail.com. Please only submit 3 images and you may bring them early the evening of the meeting if you are unable to send them in advance.

The Meeting will be at the usual time (7:00 p.m.) and usual place (Rocky Mountain Middle School library).

September Photo Critique - Photographers Choice

Meeting Announcement for Thursday, Oct. 9th, 2008

Our meeting on Thursday will include travel tips, locations, and times for photography in Monument Valley, Antelope slot canyons, Page, Arches, and Canyonlands. We will also visit Death Valley, Owens Valley, and Mono Lake.

In addition Pat Neeley will report on some techniques learned at a Creative Photoshop workshop he attended at Santa Fe Workshops earlier this year.

We will meet at the ususal place at the Rocky Mountain Middle School Library at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you there!

August 2008 - Photo Critique - Action and Sports

Meeting Announcement for Thursday Sept. 11th, 2008

Don't miss our next meeting! Our speaker will be Astrophotographer, Jim Edlin. Jim will be talking about the challenges of modern low light photography. The same principles of noise reduction strategies, obtaining perfect focus, stitching, color channels, and motion reduction apply to all areas of photography but are magnified in Astrophotography. Come and enjoy an interesting and informative evening!

We will start at 7:00 p.m. in the usual place, the Rocky Mountain Middle School library. Hope to see you there.

Next Meeting - August 28th, 7:00 p.m.

This will be a Photo Critique, subject; Action and Sports. As always please email your images to Steve Ridges in advance at the_ridges@hotmail.com. Please only submit 3 images and you may bring them the evening of the meeting if you are unable to send them in advance.

Eastern Idaho State Fair!

For those of you interested, submissions to the Eastern Idaho State Fair Photography Exhibit are due this Friday and Saturday, August 22nd, and 23rd. Click here to get the Photography portion of the Exhibitors guide for the rules.

Orton Effect

Here is a Web address that offers a great tutorial, and a set of free actions on the digital Orton effect processing for images.
http://mosa.unity.ncsu.edu/photos/orton/

Here are a couple of Flickr groups that specialize in Orton images
http://www.flickr.com/groups/orton/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/orton_addicts/

Have fun!

July 2008 Photo Critique - Photographers Choice

Club Photo Exhibit Opportunity

We have the opportunity as a Club, to put on a photo show for the month of September
at the Coffee Cabin in Alpine, Wyoming.

Christopher Balmer has been displaying his work there for about 1 year, and has sold 28 images.

I need to know if you are interested by Aug 12th. (This will be the absolute deadline)

There is room for 30 images. The images need to be ready to display. Image sizes must be bigger than 8x10 and no larger than 16x24

If you have images ready, bring them to the meeting next Thursday night.

We will determine how many images per photographer by the number of people that reply to me by the deadline.

There will be a $20.00 exibition fee per photographer to cover the cost of advertising, flyers, and gas to get the images to Alpine and
maintain the show.

Please feel free to call Christopher if you have any questions.
681-4617

Express your interest by e-mailing me at msw@highdesertphotographers.com

Mike W.

June Photo Critique - Macro and Closeups

Upcoming Meeting - Stock Photography

Our next meeting will be on Stock Photography by our local expert, Kriss Russell. It will be held on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at Rocky Mountain Middle School - 4434 N. Ammon Rd. Idaho Falls (Main entrance on east side of building in the Library). If there are any aspects of Stock Photography you would like Kriss to address please make a comment on this post. Otherwise we hope to see you there on Thursday.

Meeting Thursday 6/12/08

Thursday nights meeting will be held in the vocational building behind the regular School buikding. They are doing some asbestos removal in the main building and it is closed. See you tommorow night at 7:00pm

May Critique - Photographers Choice

Nikon Rep at Farrs Jewelry Friday May 30th

The Nikon Rep will be at Farrs Jewelry tommorow, Friday May 30th.
If you have any questions,or would like to talk about any equipment,
plan on stopping by the store.

Farrs Jewelry
2026 E. 17th.
(Corner of Hoopes & 17th)
Idaho Falls.
523-3755

April 2008 Critique - Shapes, Patterns, and Geometry

Club Outing

About 9 of us attended yesterday's photo outing by the river. It was clear that this car stole the show! The paint was perfect and the details meticulous.

Quote of the day: "Are you guys in some kind of photo club or something?"

I was photographing my ring in a plant and Ken decided I needed some more light. "I'm going to get you some light over there" he says and Kriss grabbed their huge reflector.

I wasn't convinced but WOW a huge difference! I didn't adjust anything - all of the wonderful warmth is from the reflector about 8 feet away. Ignore the poor focus, Ken helped me fix that too - Thanks!

Before:

After:



I learned several new things and appreciate the camera tips and help from everyone. This Thursday is the Photo Critique - Photographers Choice - email your 3 images to Steve at the_ridges@hotmail.com

-Lisa

Market Lake Wildlife Refuge

Photo opportunitiea abound at Market Lake Wildlfie Refuge.
Roger Spillman and myself went out Friday night for several hours. We saw and photographed many different species of birds.
It is a great opportunity as the Refuge is loaded with birds.

Mike

Camas Work Day Reminder May 10th

I want to remind everyone about the work day at Camas Wildlife Refuge on May 10th
They can use all the volunteer help we can provide.
They plan to start at 9:30 am
Please respond here or to the e-mail sent out if you plan to come help out.
-Mike

PicLens Image Viewer Plugin

I have been enjoying this new, free, 3D browser plugin for viewing images, and video on the Web. Go check it out. I think you will enjoy it. -Mike
http://www.piclens.com/site/ie/

Macro Photography - 8 May 2008

Be sure to mark your calendars for our next meeting May 8th, 2008. Club member Krista Soderquist will be doing a presentation on Macro Photography including natural light, controlling depth of field and maximizing focus, gear for macro.

The presentation will also include tips on taking flower images such as composing creatively, keeping it simple, and backgrounds.

The meeting will begin as always at 7:00 p.m. at Rocky Mountain Middle School library. Hope to see you there!

Next Meeting - April 24th, 7:00 p.m.

This will be a Photo Critique, subject; Shapes, Patterns, and Geometry. As always please email your images to Steve Ridges in advance at the_ridges@hotmail.com. Please only submit 3 images and you may bring them the evening of the meeting if you are unable to send them in advance.

Suggestions Needed!

Our June 12th meeting will be on Photoshop techniques led by Scott Adams. Scott would like to know what you would like him to discuss...layers?, masks?, curves? or what ever. Please leave a comment on this post to let us know your suggestions.

Also, Brian Brown will be leading our May Photo shoot. We plan on a "One lens only" shoot late afternoon or early evening May 10th. If you have any suggestions or ideas for Brian you can also leave a comment here.

Many Thanks!

A big thank you goes to Kristi Sheriff for being our speaker this month. It was an enjoyable evening listening to Kristi and for the tips and expertise she shared.

CULTRAL DISTRICT WALK

CULTRAL DISTRICT WALK
April 12, 2008
Starting at 10:00 am

Club member Ramona Murdock had an exibit at the Curtral District Walk. Check with Ramona for info on how it went or future possibilities. Click the image above for her website.

March Photo Critique - Photographers Choice

Opportunity to Give Back

We have an opportunity to "give back" as a Club or individuals.
Rob Laranaga, the Director of the Camas Wildlife Refuge contacted me as a result of Chris Balmer and Myself volunteering to help when possible at the Refuge.

They will be doing a Riparian weeding on May 10th at the Refuge.
Start time will be 9:30 a.m.

A riparian zone is the interface between land and a flowing surface water body. Plant communities along the river margins are called riparian vegetation, characterized by hydrophilic plants. Riparian zones are significant in ecology, environmental management, and civil engineering due to their role in soil conservation, their biodiversity, and the influence they have on aquatic ecosystems. Riparian zones occur in many forms including grassland, woodland, wetland or even non-vegetative. In some regions the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone or riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word "riparian" is derived from Latin ripa, meaning river bank.

I think this would be a excellent opportunity to give back as an expression of thanks for the opportunities Camas gives to us as Photographers and Residents.

April 10th Meeting

You are not going to want to miss our next meeting! Kristi Sheriff, PPI Photographer of the Year 2007, will be our guest speaker. Be sure to check our Kristi's website at spgx.com.

The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Rocky Mountain Middle School library. Hope to see you there!

Next Meeting March 27, 2008

Just a reminder to everyone, our next meeting will be March 27, 2008, 7:00 p.m. at Rocky Mountain Middle School. We will be having the March Critique which is Photographer's Choice. Each person may submit up to 3 photos. Please email your images in advance to Steve Ridges at the_ridges@hotmail.com. See you there!

February 2008 Photo Critique - Winter Landscapes and Wildlife

Next Meeting March 13, 2008

Chris Balmer will lead our next meeting at his studio. We will talk about studio lighting and portrait work. We hope to have one or two models so be sure to bring your own camera and flashes.

Time: 7:00 p.m. sharp!
Location: Teton Open MRI
2060 South Woodruff Avenue
Idaho Falls, ID 83404

The studio is downstairs so we will enter on the side door on the south east corner of the building. Please be on time since we will lock the door after everyone is in.

2008 Photo Critique Subjects

January - Photographers Choice
February - Winter Landscapes and Wildlife
March - Photographers Choice
April - Shapes, Patterns, and Geometry
May - Photographers Choice
June - Close Ups and Macro Photography
July - Photographers Choice
August - Action and Sports
September - Photographers Choice
October - Body Parts, Hands, feet, eyes, etc.
November - Photographers Choice
December - Weather

Time Catcher Website

Here is the link to the Time Catcher website mentioned by Chris Balmer at our last meeting.

Logo Winner

Congratulations to Greg Langely whose winning entry received 60% of the votes! By the way, the photographer on the hill in the logo is our own Bob Siedel. Thank you to all who participated in the logo contest and also last nights photo critique. We will have the results posted soon on the website and here.

Logo Contest

Here are the entries so far for the HDP logo Contest. Check them out and we will vote on Thursday night. You can click on the entry and then hit all sizes to view large or just click here.

Composition Lecture

Many thanks to Brian Brown, our featured speaker for February, who gave an excellent talk on Composition. He layed out the rules and why they were important. He then suggested we not be completely bound by them but intelligently use our creativity to break them when needed. Check out his website at BrownForImages.Com.



Check out these articles on the web about Composition.

Pump up the Color using LAB mode

Here is another quick tutorial on using Lab mode to "Pump up the Color".
This works much better that just increasing saturation.

January 2008 Photo Critique

Brief HDR Tutorial

Here is an HDR image I took on a recent trip to southern Utah. I post it here because if you click on the image there is a short HDR tutorial on the settings used. There are also a number of links to a set of quick tutorials I learned at a course I took through Santa Fe Workshops. I hope they are helpful.

Welcome

Welcome to the "Official" Blog for the High Desert Photographers photo club in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Come here for up to date information about club meetings, outings, and announcements.

Our next meeting will be at Rocky Mountain Middle School, February 28th at 7:00 p.m. Please note the time change from 7:30 to 7:00. The meeting will be a Photo Critique - subject is Winter Landscapes and Wildlife. Each member may submit 3 photos. Please email your entries to Steve Ridges at the_ridges@hotmail.com.

Be sure to sign up for the club mailing list by sending an email to news@highdesertphotographers.org with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the subject line. You will receive an acknowledgement email back within an hour if the registration was successful.

The club now has an "Official" Group on Flickr. This will be a great place to post images, have discussions, and contests. The address is http://www.flickr.com/groups/highdesertphotographers. You must join Flickr (the free account will do) and then request membership in the group to post images.

Finally, remember out website http://highdesertphotographers.org where you will find critique results, links, membership and other important information.