Club Picnic

Contributed by Pamela Brandt

Ron, Laura, and Jennifer at the club picnic.
©2016 General Bob Photography

About 30 people attended the Dubuque Camera Club picnic on June 6, 2016.  We enjoyed a terrific variety of good food – thanks to everybody who contributed to the potluck. Ron and Laura handled the grilling of burgers and brats, and Jennifer did a great job organizing this successful event.

This picnic marked the end of the N4C season. Our next official meeting will happen on the Tuesday after Labor Day (September 6), and the $20 annual dues will be payable then. However, there will be a couple informal  get-togethers over the summer.

Club president Ron Tigges summed up the club’s current status: “We’re doing really well. We just had another three honorable mentions in the N4C competition,” he said.

Mississippi River Photo Shootout

“Autumn Barge Traffic” by club president Ronald Tigges won the River Commerce Purchase Award in the Mississippi River Photo Shootout. The photos were exhibited at the Jacoby Arts Center and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Great Rivers Museum in Alton, Illinois from April 20 through June 19. You can also view the photos on their website.

Dubuque Museum of Art exhibit

Opening reception for our exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art is tentatively scheduled for Friday, August 5. This will be a good opportunity to take your friends and family to see the exhibit.  The theme is Dubuque Architecture from a New Perspective, and the exhibit will be in the balcony gallery until October 23.

Night photography

There was some discussion of night photography ideas. Lori pointed out that a smartphone app can tell you what direction to look in the sky for the Milky Way. Ron suggested doing night photography during a new moon, in a location that is high up and far from city lights, possibly at Balltown.

Perseid meteor showers will be August 12-13.  The Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation will be hosting a Perseid Meteor Shower event at Horseshoe Mound Preserve, just outside Galena.

Contributed by Pamela Brandt

Twenty people attended the May 16, 2016 meeting. Our club judged the Travel category of the N4C competition. Thank you to our volunteer judges: Bob Felderman, Rich Bugalski, and Lois Pancratz.

Photos were judged for Technique, Composition, and Interest, with a maximum of 45 points awarded (5/5/5 from each judge).

There were 89 photos to judge, and the meeting lasted until about 8:20 p.m., or about 1 hour and 50 minutes. That is just over one minute per photo,  including the opening chitchat and our preliminary look through the submissions.  (At the prior meeting we judged 132 photos, and the meeting lasted two hours and 15 minutes).

Comments from the judges about the judging process:

“I’ve done it before – I enjoy it,” said Bob.

“It’s always a good learning experience,” said Rich.

“Men don’t like flowers and they don’t like fluff,” said Lois. “It’s good to have a mix of genders.”

“Some of the photos looked so similar,” added Bob. “Everybody shoots that. For Travel, you should look for something unique.”

Other News and Updates

Photo book. There has been some discussion of creating a photo book in connection with the Dubuque Museum of Art exhibition. By now, everybody should have submitted their photos for consideration.

July 3rd fireworks. Some Camera Club members will be gathering at the big airshow and fireworks in Dubuque on Sunday, July 3. This is a good opportunity to take high speed photos of airplanes, or timed exposures of the fireworks. If you are interested in joining this group, John Leicht is the contact person.

Summer meeting ideas:

• A night photography sessions led by Ron Tigges.
• Bellevue butterfly gardens.
• Dubuque Arboretum (Music in the Gardens on Sunday evenings).

If you are interested in any of these events – or if you would like to host others — send an email to Ron or add a post to our Facebook group.

Important: If you have not yet submitted an RSVP for the picnic, do it now! Let Jennifer know how many people you’ll be bringing and/or log in to Volunteer Spot to sign up for a dish to bring. The picnic is on Monday, June 6. The club will provide brats and burgers — you bring the rest!

Contributed by Pamela Brandt

The first order of business at the May 2 meeting of the Dubuque Camera Club was to go through submissions and returns for the monthly N4C photo competition. The meeting was attended by 16 people.

We also looked at the Pictorial photos that our club judged during the last meeting.  “I got three notes back from three different clubs,” said Cara. “They liked our comments.”

Interestingly, out of the 14 photos rated highest by our judges, there were five landscapes, three human figures, and three hummingbirds.

Upcoming Competitions

We briefly went through the submissions received by the time of the meeting. This was our  final chance to submit until the N4C year starts up again next fall. There is no N4C competition during the summer months.

In future competitions, always use .JPG filename extension (not .JPEG).  In the Journalism category, it’s very important to use a descriptive file name. “Make sure you say something in the title that leads to the photo,” said club president Ron Tigges. There is a 256 character limit, which could be an entire sentence.

One of the most interesting submissions was a trio of young foxes by Ken Kiss. He took the photo in the company of a renowned wildlife photographer from our area, Herb Lange, now retired. Mr. Lange has been featured in many news stories, so Google him if you want to see his photos or read about his long career.

N4C Convention

The 2016 60th Annual N4C Photography Convention will be held in Fargo, North Dakota, September 29 to October 1. It is hosted by the Fargo-Moorhead Camera Club. Here is the convention webpage

According to the N4C rules, “At the end of the contest season all photographs awarded First, Second, Third, or Honorable Mention will be eligible for the Council annual competition.”  Merit winners are not eligible.

Dubuque Museum of Art Show

Email your 2:3 black and white photos for the Dubuque Museum of Art show to Ron Tigges before the next meeting (May 16). You can submit four, and the museum curator will pick up to two from each member. Be prepared to pay $60 per print unless a financial sponsor comes forward. Opening night for the exhibit is scheduled for Friday, August 5.

• Here’s more details about submitting images to the show.

May 2 meeting | Photo by Bob Felderman

Upcoming Meetings

Monday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. We will judge the Travel category.

Monday, June 6. Club picnic. Grilling will start at 6:00 p.m. with dinner at 6:30. Jennifer sent out an RSVP, so please look for it in your email and respond. Officers will be (re-)elected.

The club will provide brats and burgers. The rest of the food is up to you! Bring kids and family! (Be sure to put the number of people you’re bringing on the RSVP so they know how much food to grill).

Summer meetings. Over the summer, the club will probably meet 2-3 times. Ron would like to organize a night photography session.  More details forthcoming. Attend the next meeting to contribute ideas!

Other Opportunities

Dubuque County Fair, July 26-31. Deadline: July 12.
Iowa State Fair,  August 11-21, 2016. Photography Theme class “Fog.”

Contributed by Pamela Brandt

The April 18 meeting was attended by only 13 club members.  We were going to be an even dozen but then Laura Schuster came in late as the lucky number.  Shhh, don’t tell her.

The top item on the agenda was judging the Pictorial category of the N4C competition.  Ron Tigges launched the tedious process as quickly as possible, trying in vain to fend off preliminary questions.

Three courageous people — Lori Burrows, Kenneth Kiss, and Kevin McTague — stepped forward to act as unwillingly judges.

Cara Pusateri and Eleanor Schueller operated the technology, while Lois Pancratz provided encouragement.

Wayne Beecher pitched in with constructive criticism at appropriate moments. His keynote speech of the evening: “That hurts my eyes.”

New member Chris Ross brought in her new Canon and shared a few of her recent architectural photos to a few disruptive individuals in the back row who were asked to move away from the judging area.

Gretchen Lee was the only serious photographer in the crowd. She was contemplating the best use of her secret stash of DSLR lenses and wondering if we were all for real.

Somebody snuck out early and didn’t get their name in the minutes. It’s also possible I just forgot to count myself.

With 132 images, active judging lasted until 8:45 p.m., which is far, far, far too far past bedtime on a Monday night for those who declined to join the fun.

Lori made it through the whole ordeal even though the humpback whale in her smartphone kept texting.

I’m not sure which images won, but I think there’s a general consensus that over-sharpening is an undesirable technique, and if you must photograph a sunset, at least crop out the culvert in the foreground. Other, more professional photographers may have other thoughts.

DAWG Gallery

Dubuque Area Writers Guild 2016 Gallery anthology

Congratulations to Laura Schuster, Bob Felderman, and Ron Tigges for having photos selected for the Dubuque Area Writers Guild annual anthology, Gallery. The cover photo is from club member Mark Dierker. Pamela Brandt also had a fictional story selected for inclusion.

The release party and reading is scheduled during the DubuqueFest kickoff on Friday, May 20 at 6 p.m. at the Dubuque Museum of Art.

Social Media Means You Too

If you are one of those social media holdouts without a Facebook account, you are missing out! In the Dubuque Camera Club Facebook group, you can see photos from camera club members and enjoy ongoing discussion about photography and club activities.

Yes, everything you’ve heard about Facebook has a grainy element of truth to it, sort of like a Lightroom preset. Believe it or not (if you can stop yourself from being sucked into the time-wasting social media vortex), Facebook is also a wonderful venue for photo sharing and for passing along useful and interesting community information.

Members only discussion group of the Dubuque Camera Club on Facebook

Public page of the Dubuque Camera Club on Facebook

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Be sure to have your N4C submissions emailed to Cara before the meeting. See your member folder for instructions on how to do this. There will be no judging at the next meeting, just submissions and returns, so all you ostriches can safely come on out.

Anybody who wants to enter the Dubuque Museum of Art show needs to have their pictures emailed to Ron by May 16. Sooner would be even better. Be aware that there is no financial sponsor yet so each print chosen (up to two per member) will cost about $60.  If you can recommend a financial sponsor, please speak up pronto. Thank you!

Contributed by Pamela Brandt

Dubuque architecture… from a new perspective. An upcoming exhibit by the Dubuque Camera Club at the Dubuque Museum of Art.

Club members have been photographing local architecture for the upcoming exhibition at the Dubuque Museum of Art. During the April 4 meeting, we looked at the black and white photos submitted so far.

Each club member may submit up to four shots for consideration. Museum staff will make the final selection, and up to two images per member may be selected.

We’ll be going with metal prints, which cost about $60 each. At this point, the cost is to be paid by the member, although financial sponsorship is still a possibility.

A couple of changes:  The images should be only black and white, no sepia. They should portray locations that are inside the Dubuque city limits. Also, the final deadline to get your images turned in has moved up a couple weeks to the May 16th meeting.

Club President Ron Tigges said, “Pick your favorite four images, and send the images to me. If you send them at print resolution, you won’t have to send a second copy later. Send the highest resolution possible.”  He suggested 200-300 dpi.

“Look at the composition,” he said. “If you’ve got a good image with sharp, hard lines and high contrast, send it in.” Remember, the images should be at 2:3 (portrait or landscape). The exhibit opening is scheduled for August 5. Check our Facebook group for a link to the SmugMug gallery and up-to-date discussions.

N4C returns/submissions

We went over the returns from the March 2016 N4C competition. These photos earned special recognition:

We also went over the entries received thus far for the April competition.  As of the night of the meeting, only the Nature category was full. Be sure to follow the instructions in your folder and send in your contest images by the first meeting of the month.

Next meeting, we’ll be judging the Pictorial category. Because are judging, we can enter double Travel in April and double Pictorial in May. Double entries means 16 images per category for the club, while the normal limit is 8.

Model releases

A question was asked about whether you need signed model releases for images that contain people that are entered in the N4C contest. The answer is no, you do not, since these photos are not being put to commercial use (i.e. they are not being sold on the N4C website).

Bob Felderman pointed out that if the image is of a band onstage, sometimes the venue puts limits on photographers. For instance, they may forbid flash, or only allow photography during the first few songs of the set. A photographer may get into trouble for violating the venue’s rules.

Ron pointed out that if you take pictures of people in a public place, as in “street” photography, you generally do not need a model release. However, when individuals are identifiable, it is courtesy to name them in the caption.  When you’re taking photos as a media representative for a specific publication, you would follow the rules for editorial use.

Nametags

Those of us lost souls who have misplaced our nametag – and the new members who need one to wear during meetings – should contact DeWayne or Eleanor to have a new nametag printed.

Winners Gallery

If you had a winning photo in any of the prior N4C competitions, please add it to the appropriate album in our Facebook Group. Click here to view past winners on the N4C website.

Upcoming press

Bob shared that 365ink would be willing to work with us to create a spread featuring Camera Club images in an upcoming issue of the newspaper. No details or publication date yet.

Nik collection

The Google Nik Collection is now free software. Until recently, it was $150. Ron suggested that everybody should check it out. Several of his photos displayed during the meeting were edited in Nik. Download it here:

www.google.com/nikcollection 

Upcoming meetings:

April 18: Pictorial judging (Need 3 judges that have been in the club at least 1 year)

May 2: Returns/Submissions (double Pictorial entries). RSVP for picnic.

May 16: Travel judging. Need to have organizers for picnic.

June 6: Picnic.