Photo by Bob Baikauskas
Lincoln Hills
Photography Club
This is an Archive Page for the July 2017 News Page. Some Links may no longer work as the site has changed.
If a link does not work go to the current subject pages for links to archived content pertaining to stories contained on this page.
The Photo Club is comprised of residents of the Sun City Lincoln Hills community in Lincoln, CA.
Presented below is a list of our monthly meetings and activities.
July 12, 2017
General Meeting - 2nd Wednesday @ 8:30am
The General Meeting usually features a guest speaker on a specific aspect of photography. It also is a forum for the President or Board Members to discuss current and upcoming events of interest to the membership.
Field Trips
Spring is an active time for field trips. Find information on recent and upcoming trips HERE
Exhibits
Exhibitions offer club members an avenue to show their photographs. Some use these occasions as an opportunities to sell their work. Find information on current and upcoming exhibits and how to participate HERE
Lifestyle Photography Group
The Lifestyle Group provides photo journalistic services to Sun City Clubs and Community Association sponsored events and activities. They meet the first Thursday of the month. To learn more visit the Group's page HERE
July 11, 2017
Board Meeting
Board Meetings occur on the second Tuesday at 9:00 am in the Multipurpose Room at Orchard Creek.. It is open to any current Photography Club member. Copies of the approved "Board Meeting Minutes" are posted on this site on the MEMBERS page HERE
July 26, 2017
Round Table SIG - 4th Wednesday @ 8:30am
The Round Table SIG provides an opportunity for any member to discuss any topic related to photography. It is the perfect forum for asking all of those, "How do I" questions. For more info about the Round Table SIG click HERE
July 26, 2017
Print SIG - 4th Wednesday @ 10:30am
The Print SIG meets in the Orchard Creek Multi-purpose room immediately following the Round Table SIG. The Print SIG provides an opportunity for members to present and discuss their prints and receive feedback from fellow Club members. To learn more about the Print SIG visit our page HERE
July 18, 2017
Video SIG - 3rd Tuesday @ 9:00 am
The Video SIG meets at 9:00 AM in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Orchard Creek Lodge. This SIG is designed to help you polish your video skills with camcorders or the video feature on your camera/smart phone. Find out more HERE
We’re having our first ever BBQ and social! The BBQ will be at the Sports Pavilion on July 19 at 11:30 a.m. It will be catered by Bill's Chuckwagon
MENU
Chicken and Beef
Green salad with 3 homemade dressings
Roasted garlic red Potatoes
Grilled Vegetables
Garlic Bread
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Cost will be $10 per person (maximum 2 per household). The Club is paying for about half the actual cost to make this affordable for Club members. Tickets are available now through July 12. RSVPs can be sent to Fred Raach, Fred.Raach@gmail.com, and your prepayment must be received by him no later than July 12th. You may send a check to him at:
Fred Raach
1638 Barn Valley Ln
Lincoln, CA 95648
For your convenience, we can take payments at the Enhancement SIG (Special Interest Group) on July 5 or the General Meeting on July 12.
Volunteers Needed
Even though this is a catered event, volunteers are still needed for the following:
â—¦ Set-up
â—¦ Clean up
â—¦ Purchase and bring ice-purchases will be reimbursed
â—¦ Purchase drinks, water and sodas-purchases will be reimbursed
â—¦ Miscellaneous
*Also need to borrow 4-5 ice chests
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If you would like to help out please contact:
Diane Margetts: text (preferred) 916-955-1809 or email dmargett@yahoo.com
OR
Debra Raach: debra.raach@gmail.com.
Club BBQ Party set for July 19th... get your tickets NOW!!!
WHOO HOO! Get ready for a incredibly fun summer BBQ!
Here's a quick, easy way to send your Reservation to Fred Raach!
Be sure to include names of those attending in the message box!
Highly regarded writer, lecturer and photographer, Betty Sederquist,
to headline July 12th General Meeting.
Betty Sederquist
Baby Baboon
Local artist, writer, lecturer and photographer, Betty Sederquist will be our featured speaker at the next General Meeting on Wednesday, July 12th at 8:30 AM in the Kilaga Spring Presentation Hall.
Betty has more than 30-years of experience as a professional in the field with numerous publications (nine books, numerous magazines and more) to her credit. She also has a stock photography library that contains well over 200,000 images.
A world traveler her portfolio features images from such geographical locations as: the African Continent, Iceland, Alaska, Galapagos Islands, France, Ecuador, the Amazon, Tanzania, California, and more. She excels at landscape and nature photography, and is guided by her desire to capture “great light” and present it with her keen compositional skills.
A graduate of the University of California, Davis she got her start as a teacher and lecturer at a Community College and is still actively conducting in-classroom lectures and workshops.
Currently you can find her images on display at the Art Studio 360 at 360 Main St. in Placerville, CA. Recently, her images have been chosen (three years in a row) for the prestigious Showcase Gallery, North American Nature Photographers Association.
You can read more about Betty and view her portfolio by visiting her website:
http://www.sederquist.com
Neddick Lighthouse in Maine
Members Share Tips and Techniques at June General Meeting
The presenters at the June meeting were all Club members. They each have developed skills and expertise in photography and/or video and wanted to share their knowledge with all club members. Presenters included:
RON PARKER presented techniques and shared shortcuts for image vignetting which is creating an image that is normal in the center, and fades off at the edges. Sometimes subtle and other times pronounced for special effect, vignetting is a technique that most photographers use at one time or another.
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TRUMAN HOLTZCLAW shared 'how to' secrets that we can all use. He took us through the simple steps on resizing photos to meet specific sizes. And now we have no excuses about preparing images for inclusion in our galleries. Truman also shared his secret for amazing portraits with his presentation on using PortraitPro software.
Members Elect New Board of Directors
Voting was held at June 14th General Meeting.
Members bid farewell to Brad Senn, outgoing President and Truman Hortzclaw, outgoing Vice President with memorable and touching presentations.
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The newly elected Board of Directors holds some new faces as well as retaining incumbents for Secretary and Treasurer. The Board of Directors includes:
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Bill Kress (President)
Bill’s interest in photography started while at the Kodak Research Labs, in the 70’s. He took advantage of free film and processing to generate thousands of slides and color negatives and won hundreds of prizes in US and international competitions. He converted to digital about 2005 with the Nikon D70, and never went back to film. His favorite subjects are nature, people and cities at night, and he shares an interest in those subjects with his wife, Dorothe, who is a very good photographer. His next challenge is to master video.
Bob Dale (Vice President)
After retirement in 2005, my wife and I moved to Lincoln Hills. I still had my Minolta film camera, but couldn't get film for it, so it became a shelf decoration. Then an army friend told me/showed me how today's digital photography works. I was impressed and in less than twenty (20) minutes, I was hooked. In 2007, I bought my first digital camera, joined the Lincoln Hills Photography Group and the rest is history. I usually shoot landscapes and maybe a tree or two. I'm still learning, but Lightroom makes me look as though I know what I'm doing. I know better.
Debra Raach (Secretary)
A native Californian, Debra and her husband returned to SCLH last summer after spending a brief 2 years in Philadelphia. She has gotten much more involved with the club this time around and enjoys photographing all things related to nature. Debra is now working hard at learning various post-production apps to improve the quality of her prints.
Dale Petersen (Treasurer)
Dale and his wife Carole moved to Lincoln Hills in July of 2010. His interest in photography has continued from age 14 but became serious after taking photography classes at Napa Valley College in 1972. Those were the times when he could afford the time and money to advance his interests and skills in this hobby! His favorite subjects are nature, landscape and still life photography with both film and digital cameras. He is one of the few people who still has and enjoys his personal darkroom. His biggest photographic challenge is to be able to physically carry and use his favorite 8"x10" view camera and all of the associated equipment more than just a few hundred feet from his vehicle!
Open Forum Follow-Through: Implementing Your Recommendations
Diane Margetts and Debra Raach were named to a subcommittee tasked to follow up on suggestions and recommendations and develop plans to implement those that are widely accepted and feasible. The subcommittee made the first progress report and recommendations to the Board.
The Board approved pursuing opportunities to expand photography and video skill development. Several options involving modifications to the Special Interest Groups and General Meeting are being studied.
Month progress reports will continue as the modification are refined for implementation. Click icon at right to review initial Open Forum report.
Galaxy & Wildflower Photo Opportunities Highlights Summer Field Trips
This Summer will offer two great opportunities to photograph the Milky Way Galaxy over Loon Lake. The first opportunity will take place on the nights of July 24, 25, 26. The second opportunity will take place on the nights of August 21, 22, 23.
During those time periods the moon will not have any impact on night sky brightness and the Galactic Core (brightest part) will be visible at a reasonable hour... not 4:00am.
Specific information regarding this self directed photo op (maps, compass bearings, camping information etc.) is posted on the Field Trip page HERE
Tahoe Wildflowers, Waterfalls & Wildlife!
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Lake Tahoe will be the focal point for a 5-day, 4-night Photo Safari to shoot flora, fauna and landscapes from July 23rd to the 26th.
Go to our Field Trip page for detailed information HERE
You are allowed to bring guests on these field trips unless it is specifically limited to a certain number of "spots". For those trips where we are traveling overnight we normally have a "Pre-Trip Planning Party" with loads of information, handouts and helpful tips. We also have after-trip Show & Tell parties to share photos from the Adventure.
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Galaxy Photo by Truman Holtzclaw - The photo was taken at Loon Lake on June 29th of this year. Photo opportunities will be available this July and August.
Wildflowers photo by Allen Adler - Sierra wildflowers will likely abound this coming July as a result of the wonderful snowfall this winter. Don't miss this trip.
September
In September we are planning on a return to the Reno Hot Air Balloon festival which features over 100 hot air balloons.
Photo Flash Mobs - Anytime the light is right!
Flash Mob Trips are those spontaneous happenings usually in the local area. Notices for these trips are sent to you via email on somewhat short notice. They are fun and you will always learn something new. Examples in the past have been some night photography learning opportunities such as shooting the Super Moon and photographing the city lights in Old Sacramento.
Lucky Six take photo tour of Gladding McBean plant.
A Black & White photographer's dream, the site lives up to its reputation!
Joe Parker was a most gracious host and the 100+ year old plant did not disappoint.
The Sun City photographers: Jeff Andersen, Bob Baikauskas, Phil Harmon, Dale Petersen and Debra and Fred Raach were treated to excellent commentaty by Mr. Parker, Operations Manager, and access to the best locations in the plant to photograph.
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The opportunity to tour the plant was arranged by our own John Neil.
Gladding McBean started making clay sewer pipe in 1875 and evolved into a major manufacturer of architectural terra-cotta used on buildings throughout the United States. It is still operating today making sewer pipe and architectural ornamentation for buildings.
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Included here for your enjoyment are some iPhone snapshots from the tour.
Clock-wise from top - Motley Crew of Lucky Stiffs (l-r) Bob Baikauskas, Dale Petersen, Debra Raach, Fred Raach, Phil Hammond and Jeff Andersen flank Joe Parker, McBean Operations Manager who graciously conducted our tour. Bottom Right - Joe was a wealth of knowledge about the plant and all the better places to photograph. Bottom Left - In the heart of the Dragon; the control room for a several-hundred foot-long Hearth designed to slowly and precisely dry castings.
Below are just two of the photos made by the group... a slide show of images will be presented at the July 12th General Meeting.
McBean Image by Phil Harmon
McBean Image by Jeff Andersen
Ron Nabity and Jim Cormier add their new Gallery to the Website!
Click on photos to go to respective phtotgraphers's Gallery Page on this website
Photo by Ron Nabity
Photo by Jim Cormier
It's time to get off your duff and follow the examples set by Ron & Jim and create your own photo gallery or refresh your current gallery with new images.
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Club Member Individual Galleries have now been expanded to accommodate a total of 32 photographs.
With this expansion members who want to showcase their photos on the website have the option to present as few as four photos up to a maximum of 32 photos. The prior maximum was limited to 20 images.
Those needing guidance resizing their images should refer to the instructions posted on the Members Page HERE
Member Galleries now accommodate a maximum of 32 images, up from 20.
Affinity Photo will be the topic for the July 5th Photo Enhancement SIG
A photo editing program that has been getting a lot of hype lately is Affinity Photo from Serif Labs which is currently available for $40. There is no subscription and for your 40 bucks you get all future updates and releases until the next major upgrade which in this case would be 2.0. They recently released version 1.5.
With the recent release of the Windows version it is available for both Mac and Windows plus they have a version for the iPad.
To see what all the hype was about I googled the term "Affinity Photo review" and on the first page I got the following.
Techradar gave it five out five stars.
Tomsguide gave it a rating of 9 out of 10
Shutterbug asked, "Has Photoshop met it's match?"
Fstoppers.com said, "Finally a true alternative to Photoshop"
DIY Photography asked, "can it give Adobe a run for it's money?"
Affinity Photo
Next I went on YouTube where I found page after page of videos singing it's praises along with tutorials on how to do things in Affinity Photo.
After reading the reviews and watching several of the YouTube videos and being the photo editing software junkie that I am I just had to try it out. So what do I think? Come to the Photo Enhancement SIG meeting and find out
Enhancement SIG meets 1st Wednesday in Orchard Creek Lodge Multi-purpose Room at 8:30 AM
John Campbell, Larry Brenden & Dale Petersen present Prints at June SIG meeting.
John Campbell (l) - describes his technique for printing 3D images, while Club members look on. Pictured (l-r) Dennis Berry, Dale Petersen, Rhonda Campbell, Debra Raach, Truman Holtzclaw, and Brad Senn.
Making a Point - Dale Petersen (far right) discusses the process of converting large 4"x5" negatives into digital files for printing. Pictured (l-r) are Brad Senn, Truman Holtzclaw, Larry Brenden, Pete Henshaw, Allen Adler, Debra Raach and Dale Petersen.
The Print SIG meets the 4th Wednesday of the Month at 10:30 AM in the Orchard Creek Multi-purpose Room.
To learn more about the SIG and to view more photos from the June SIG as well as prior meeting coverage click HERE
July 18th Video SIG to explore challenges of making a major video production.
In this Video SIG I would like to share with you the challenges we faced, lessons learned, how we planned and shot the production, edited the raw video, created titles and animated graphics using key frames and recorded and edited voice overs. Even though most all of you will not take on this type of production, you may find various aspects applicable to short videos. I look forward to seeing you in July... Jeff Hanner
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For more information, you can visit the Video SIG page by clicking HERE
The Video SIG meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month in the Orchard Creek Lodge Multi-purpose Room at 9:00AM
"Colorful Summer" Replaces "Old Things" as Theme of the Upcoming Simple Pleasures Exhibit on July 24.
Our current exhibit - "Old Things" at Lincoln's Simple Pleasures Restaurant is coming down on July 24 to make room for "Colorful Summer".
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The exhibit features work by Club Members:
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The exhibit will be on display until October 24, 2017. Simple Pleasures is located in downtown Lincoln at 648 Fifth Street. It's a great spot for breakfast and lunch. Check out the Exhibit and support this local venue.
Spring Poppies - Photo by Brad Senn highlights the concept of the theme - "Colorful Summer" - our upcoming exhibit at Simple Pleasures Restaurant starting July 24th.
Club Photos Grace the Walls of Buonarroti’s Ristorante in May and June!
Club member photographs are currently on display at Buonarroti's Restorante in Lincoln. Don't miss out on the opportunity to treat friends and family to fine Italian dining while enjoying the works of your peers. The exhibit topic was left to the discretion of the photographer. The photography will be on display through June. Photographers participating in the Buonarroti's exhibit include:
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Rhonda Campbell, Stephanie Huntingdale, Klara Kleman, Pat Monda, Joy Paris, Brad Senn, Ken Silverman, Steve Stewart, Bill Szabo, and Jim Wronkiewicz
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For a few examples click HERE
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Pots by Jim Wronkiewicz
Sun City Afternoon by Pat Monda
Click icon to go to Buonarroti Ristorante Website
Art League of Lincoln - "Where in the World" Exhibit
The Art League of Lincoln's latest exhibit starts July 12. Bill Szabo, John and Rhonda Campbell, Stephanie and Phil Huntingdale, Don Bowden, and Vicki White will have photos in the exhibit. Come to the Reception on July 15. Check out the Exhibits Page for a look at the LHPG entries and more information by clicking HERE
Pace Race, Softball and Lincoln Lion's Club Special Kids
are Focus of Lifestyles Group Photographers in May.
We've posted three photo galleries to showcase the events.
May was a busy month for the Lifestyles Group photographers. The group's team included: Allen Adler, Jeff Andersen, Jim Cormier, Patrick Jewell, Klara Kleman, Brad Senn, Charlie Schuman and Larry White. Peter Beckett and Kate McCarthy were videographers.
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The first event was the Pace Race held May 6th within the community. Several hundred participated in the event to "promote the ageless commitment to exercise."
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Softball held their 2017 Season Opening Celebration on May 13th, and we had three photographers there to cover the event.
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That same day we covered the Lincoln Lion's Club Kid's Day event. While the event was held off-campus, we felt so strong about this cause that we volunteered to covered the event on our own time.Who knows what the month of June will have in store for us.
We can always use new photographers interested in joining the Lifestyles group. We have posted extensive photo galleries of the three events on the Lifestyles Page. To view an event-specific gallery click on the Photo.
To view Pace Race Gallery click on the above photo.
To view Kid's Day Gallery click on the above photo.
To view Softball Gallery click on the above photo.
You can get to the Lifestyles Page and check out the photo galleries of the above events and learn about upcoming photo shoots by clicking HERE
Scottish Festival, Yolo County Fairgrounds, Woodland
We enjoy festivals. On April 30, we took the short trip to Woodland and, because we were early, the parking was easy and the ticket lines short.
Planning to stay only a short time, we ended up staying the entire day, seeing unusual people doing unusual things. Our lunch was interesting with the only requirement being that it was Scottish, resulting in a dish we didn't recognize with a name we had difficulty pronouncing. But it was great.
There were many opportunities to take people pictures, our favorite. There was a long parade of people wearing a wide assortment of costumes. The event was named a Scottish Games Festival, and both men and women were throwing really heavy things. There was a contest in which men in kilts marched up and down a large field twirling batons.
Most men at this festival wore kilts, which took some time to get used to.
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For a few additional pictures,
click HERE
Bill Kress
Do you know of a great location you would like to share? We look forward to your contributions. To share a location with others, click the link at the top of the Locations page. To go to our Locations page click HERE
Man in Early Scottish Outfit. The Battle Axe Looked a Bit Scary. Photo by Bill Kress
The BLOG is Here!!! Check it Out.
What's New
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Another blog post will be available shortly after the July 5th Photo Enhancement SIG meeting. The topic will be Affinity Photo and my opinion as to whether or not it is a Photoshop killer as some are claiming. It will cover some of what will be discussed at my Photo Enhancement SIG July 5th presentation for those who couldn't make it and those who did but didn't take notes.
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We want to hear from You!
One of the nice things about the Blog is you have the ability to comment on blog posts and respond to someone else's comments. You can even put a photo in your comment. So far no one has commented on any of the posts. We were hoping members would get involved and express there opinions. In fact we encourage you to do so.
If you have any experience with, or opinions about, any of the information presented in the blog posts please share your thoughts with your fellow Club members. Post a comment. I would prefer the Blog be a conversation and not a lecture.
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Have a post idea... Let us know.
One final reminder. Any member can make a Blog post. Just write it up and send it to me. You can even remain anonymous however you do have to tell me who you are but I won't use your name as the author.
To navigate to the new blog look for the BLOG link at the end of the main menu, or click HERE
We hope you will enjoy this feature and participate by commenting on blog posts, responding to the comments of others, and asking questions.
Gary Stephens is our Blogger!!
If you would like to reach Gary directly you can email him at:
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