| From the Club President… I hope you are doing well, staying safe, avoiding contact with all the tourists that seem to be flooding Sedona, and maybe getting your first or second shots of a vaccine. This is a time when it pays to be old and retired. Being old means that we get the vaccinations first. Being retired means that we don’t have to go to work and get exposed to the virus. I often feel that this situation is not quite fair, and that working people should be getting the vaccine sooner. But it is what it is, so we just need to take it as it comes and hope for better days soon. I want to talk about something more fun now. After many years, I have finally decided (with permission from my wife) that it is time to upgrade my camera. I have been using a Nikon D750 since about the time I joined the Sedona Camera Club, and it has been and still could be a great camera for me. However, for over a year, it has had a significant scratch on the sensor that I have had to clone out of every image that I take. Deciding what to buy is something that had to think about for a long time because this will be a purchase that I will live with for a long time. Being old and somewhat set in my ways, I was inclined to stick with Nikon. I had a Nikon D7000 before my D750, so why not stick with the brand? I have also invested in some good lenses, so that was also a factor in staying with Nikon. Then I had to make the decision whether get another DSLR or to go mirrorless. If I had made my purchase six months ago, I would have chosen the former. I would no doubt have chosen the D850, which by most accounts, would have been the perfect upgrade for me. My one reservation was and still is whether I need a 45 MP camera. The answer is no, but that was the best option until the D780 came out. In the end, I decided to go mirrorless again with the Nikon Z7 partly because the Z system gear is slightly lighter and more compact than the DSLRs, and I can still use some of my existing lenses. I say again because I do have some experience with mirrorless. My first useful digital camera was a Sony DSC-F707, although I vaguely remember a Kodak camera that used 3.5” disks to save images for my biology classes. The Sony had a Zeiss 10x lens, an electronic view finder (EVF), and produced whopping 5 MP images. With its tilting body, it was a great travel camera. I clearly remember getting many candid street shots while traveling in India. I wonder where those images are now? I also chose the Z7 because it has some features that might help me in my old age like the EVF, focus peaking, and auto focus stacking. I still question my need for 45 MP. I could have gone with the Z6, but then I remember thinking that 24 MP with my D750 was overkill. So, I ordered my Z7 II, and now we come full circle with this story. My camera has been backordered for over two months. Apparently, COVID-19 has shut down the Nikon factory where the new Z7s are produced. So again, it is what it is, and I just need to take it as it comes. One estimate was that they would start shipping about now, but I have not heard anything recently. I’ve waited this long, so what is a few more weeks. With our last webinar, some members discovered a small problem with the way we are conducting our raffles designed to promote attendance. To simulate our face-to-face raffles for which we drew tickets out of a hat, I downloaded a numbered list of all the registrants for the webinar and generated a random number in Excel. Then I checked the live list of webinar attendees to see if the ‘winning’ registrant was actually present in the webinar. If the first winner was not in the attendee list, I generated a new random number to select the winner. It turns out that some of the couples in the club are joining the webinar together using a single registrant’s email address so that only one attendee is listed for the couple. To avoid the problem, it is necessary for every webinar registrant to join webinar even if you have to join using your phone (or any other device) and you actually watch the webinar together on another screen. I am sorry for this extra step, but this is the only way we can have raffles that are fair to the couples until we can actually pull names out of a hat again. That’s all for now. Be sure to check out the information below including our February 22 meeting, the ACCC Spring Roundup, and the photo critique deadlines for March. Best wishes for good health and great photos, Brad president.sedonacameraclub@gmail.com Next Club Meeting Professional photographer Adam Schallau will present to the Sedona Camera Club starting at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 22nd. As usual, the presentation will be via a Sedona Camera Club webinar. You should have received a confirmation of your registration. If not, please reply to this email. Schallau has been photographing Grand Canyon for more than ten years. He averages 70+ days a year capturing the canyon from the South Rim, North Rim, and along the Colorado River. Adam’s time in the Grand Canyon includes several 18-day photographic expeditions rafting the Colorado River. He will share his experiences, the challenges he has faced in making his photographs, and the lessons he has learned. Adam seeks to convey the timeless beauty of our treasured National Parks and public lands. He says: “My passion is the wide-open spaces of the American landscape and its ever-changing palette of light, shadow, color, shape, and form. It offers unique challenges and generous rewards for the photographer that keeps their eyes and heart open to when all of these elements combine to create a decisive moment in time. I strive to reveal intimate details and awe-inspiring vistas while working in the margins of light as the landscape comes to life.” Schallau is an internationally recognized photographer and workshop leader whose portfolio captures both the grand and intimate scenes of the American landscape. In 2017 Adam was recognized as the Photographer of the Year for the International Regional Magazine Association for his work in Arizona Highways Magazine. He is a recipient of the Luminous Endowment; in 2009 was an Artist-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park. This summer, Adam will be presenting two three-day workshops during the Sedona Photography Symposium’s “Unleash Your Inner Artist Theme,” August 12-15. His workshops are focused on the Grand Canyon: “Magic of the Monsoon Part I – Photographing the South Rim” – August 16-18 and “Magic of the Monsoon Part II – Photographing the North Rim” – August 18-20. “The summer monsoon season is one of the most exciting times to photograph the majesty of the Grand Canyon,“ according to Adam. For more information on these workshops, visit: sedonaphotosym.org. Large-format fine art prints of Adam’s work are in personal and corporate collections across the world and have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums. His work frequently appears in marketing and public awareness campaigns including Apple, National Audubon Society, the National Park Service and Patagonia. Adam’s photos have been published in magazines including National Geographic Traveler, Sunset Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, Men’s Journal, Arizona Highways, Cowboys & Indians, Via Magazine, Colorado Life, and New Mexico Magazine. You can see more of his photography in his book Chasing the Light – Grand Canyon. Most recently his work was featured on the cover of the book Grand Canyon National Park 100 Views. For more information, please see his website at https://adamschallau.com. Club Events, Workshops, Trips, and Board Updates ACCC Spring Roundup The Arizona Camera Club Council (ACCC) will hold their Spring Virtual Roundup – Saturday, March 13, 2021 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Find details in their Spring newsletter at Spring 2021 Chronicle and at their website. March Photo Critiques You can submit images for the March Digital Critiques until February 24 at 9pm by going to the Submit Critique Images page under the Members tab on our website. This page has links to all the information that you need to submit images. At our upcoming meeting, photos from our February Digital Critiques will be presented by Digital Chair Tim See, and detailed scores and comments will be available online. Photo Development/Lightroom Post-Processing Workshop Do you have a photo that you love but just cannot quite get it to feel like you want? Charles Ruscher, a local photographer, will do a live demonstration via Zoom, where he will develop your photo in Lightroom and share his thought process while providing tips and insights both on taking photos and bringing your vision through the development. The developed image will be transferred back to you with the edits. Charles Ruscher of Charles Ruscher Photography says, “Photography is my yoga, my connection to the divine within myself and thankfully with other passionate human beings and this amazing planet.” More information about Charles is available on his website: https://www.absoluteinspiration.com. Date: 25th February 2021, Time: 6:30 PM to 8 PM Requirements: Ability to access Webinar, use Lightroom, and possibly a little photoshop. The workshop is limited to six people with one photo each or three people with two photos each. Register by emailing mentoring.sedonacameraclub@gmail.com After registering, you will receive instructions on how to upload your image. UPDATES FROM OUR SCC BOARD MEMBERS Elaine Belvin – First Vice President and Program Chair The role of the Program Chair/1st Vice President is to organize the speakers for each of the seven meetings. The work of selecting the speakers is done in May through July for the next club year. I have always done internet searches to find photographers. I send them an email describing the club and our meetings and ask if they would be willing to be a presenter. We can’t afford to pay for speakers, but we do give them a small travel stipend. In pre-pandemic days we took them out to dinner before the meeting. Before each meeting we need to coordinate with the speaker to get material for a press release in local publications. Pam Holmes has been doing the publicity for the last few years and she does a wonderful job. We often get front page coverage in Kudos. The pandemic has affected our processes. Brad Kincaid was instrumental in figuring out that GoToMeeting would serve us best and he has been setting that up. We have a video call with each speaker a few weeks before their presentation to go over the software and resolve any connectivity issues. One major positive effect of the pandemic is that we have been able to have presenters who don’t live anywhere near Sedona. Sean Bagshaw was an example. Tom Wardrup Director (2 years) – Trips Coordinator I am Tom Wardrup and I am a club board member and trips chairman. As trips chairman, my role is to recruit leaders for club trips and outings. With Covid-19, all such activity has been postponed until it is safe to resume personal contact. I am hopeful that we will be able to resume club meetings and trips this fall. I am also hopeful that several of you will consider leading a trip or outing to one of your favorite locations. I will help you plan and announce your trip, and act as an assistant if desired. If you have any questions about this or think you may be interested, please contact me at Trips.sedonacameraclub@gmail.com. Diann Bustamante Director (3 year) – Mentoring Whilst this position does not require advanced photography skills, it focuses more on organizational abilities. Having a strong network of professionals willing to conduct free or low-cost workshops is exceedingly helpful. Research educators and organize workshops via Zoom in different genres that will interest our club members. Research and provide resource links. Create new avenues of educational opportunities. Promote and monitor all workshops to ensure a successful outcome. Assist the Board in other activities and projects as you have time and talent. Sally Nelson Membership Co-Chair Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Sally Nelson spearheaded the effort to create Special Interest Groups within the camera club this year as a way of helping members get connected with each other. The survey circulated earlier this year found that there is member interest in all SIGs to varying degrees. The response was strong with a lot of expressed interest. The goal is to be able to provide all of the SIGs for the members. As we start up, we have facilitators for five groups: Landscaping, Animals, Photo Scouts, InfraRed, and Macro. Hopefully, a few groups will start by the end of this month. These groups offer a way for members to participate online as we wait for the return to normalcy. Once we are able to meet in person, SIG meetings can be held both in person and online. To support our efforts, Bob Kenney is building new website capabilities to aid our communications. I would also like to put a call out to all members: if you are interested in one of the SIGs that does not yet have a leader, please let me know. I and others on the board can help groups get started, but we need people to act as facilitators for the groups. The groups with expressed interest but no leadership are as follows: Artistic, Plants, Night Sky, Man-Made, People, and iPhone. If you think you are interested in one of these groups but are hesitant to volunteer, please email me at salpnel43@gmail.com. www.sedonacameraclub.org |
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