focus - mlnpc.com · by pam otto presentation night. aug 6, 2018 guided tour by shannon burns of...
TRANSCRIPT
1 July 2018
FOCUS
Newsletter of the Mayslake Nature Study and Photography Club
Hosted by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County www.naturecameraclub.com
Up Coming Programs
August 6th
- Competition Overview
by Ron Szymczak
September 17th
– Competition
Oct 1st–Local reptiles and amphibians
By Pam Otto
Aug 6, 2018
5:45 pm to 6:45 pm Guided tour by Shannon Burns of the Forest Preserve to learn about the Mayslake grounds. Bring a camera and a tripod !!!
7:00 pm Regular meeting. Steve Ornberg will talk about re-sizing your photograph for competition. Ron Szymczak will go over what to expect at competition.
Up Coming Programs
January 7, 2019 will be a member‟s
presentation night. If you have something
to share: travel destinations, tips, camera
gear updates, etc., please contact Noriko
Buckles at [email protected]
February 2019: We are firming up dates
for Lou Nettlehorst‟s Macro workshop.
Please keep an eye out for information on
registration. This will be our first
fundraising of the year and part of the fee
will go toward the usages of meeting
rooms at Mayslake Mansion.
2 July 2018
Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (FPDDC) Happenings
• Discover Mayslake Event
On July 21st, MNSPC participated in the Discover Mayslake event. Steve Baginski, Gail Chastain, Barbara Dunn, and Steve Ornberg staffed the MNSPC event booth and assisted participants with flower photography. Beverly Bartos and Bill Dixon were the official Discover Mayslake event photographers.
Steve B. did a magnificent job pitching MNSPC and really educated the by passers on the studio set-up we had. Gail did a great job setting up the studio flower arrangements which were very eye catching and I many people ohhed and ahhed when they looked at their iPhone pictures. Barbara took groups on your photo walks around the Mayslake flower beds the lucky attendees got some great coaching. Steve Ornberg displayed the set-up and images from back-lit light box flower arrangements.
Beverly and Bill captured event attendees enjoying everything Mayslake had to offer. MNSPC also gave away 2 matted photos to lucky winners. In addition, several MNSPC members have photos in the Illinois Bi-Centennial artwork on display throughout the mansion.
• September - A Night for Nature silent auction at Danada House. On Thursday, September 20th from 5- 9pm FPDDC will hold a silent auction with the proceeds going toward the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Please consider donating to the Friends of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County‟s Willowbrook Wildlife Center and natural resource initiatives at “A Night for Nature.” See attached flyer. FPDDC is looking for 10 pieces of art to include in the auction. If you are interested in donating your artwork, please contact Katie Michel at [email protected]
Light box
Flower Light Tent Set-up
3 July 2018
Recent Outing
July 28: Kankakee Sands Preserve, Wilmington, Illinois We had a beautiful day for the outing. Fran, Diane, Gail, and myself met at the Kankakee Sands Preserve. This section in Will County is part of a large prairie savanna complex that spans between Illinois and Indiana. We were able to capture outstanding images of prairie flowers and grasses as well as of butterflies and dragonflies. After about 2 hours of exploring gravel loop trails we then went down the road to Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve. This preserve is a remnant of a dry sand savanna and wet sand prairie. We explored this preserve by walking a grass loop path. The outing ended with lunch at the Golden Mine Family Restaurant.
Cicada Killer Wasp by Gail Chastain
Essence of the Prairie Savanna by Fran Piepenbrink
Up Coming Outings
Unfortunately, my work schedule at this time has changed and I am unable to plan an outing on August 12. If my calendar for August changes, I will send out information. I am currently working on scouting a location for the September outing. If there is a location of interest, please let me know and I would be happy to set it up. -Bev Bartos [email protected]
Tree with Animal Face by Diane Marton
Prairie Flower by Bev Bartos
4 July 2018
Tech Tidbit: LAB Color Space Altered Flower
Portraits
I recently reread a book by Harold Davis, Photographing Flowers (https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0240820738/) and was interested in his technique of photographing with a white background and then processing in Photoshop using LAB color. We usually process using RGB color mode but the LAB color space goes about defining colors differently. Whereas RGB defines color by a combination of red, green, and blue values of different shades, LAB uses three different channels. They are: Lightness, something called the A Channel, and the B Channel. Harold then inverts the image and ends up with more dramatic colors. See attached PDF on his process.
You can get some very psychedelic looking flowers. These can be layered over the original to punch up the colors and make your flowers look more transparent. Note that these photos are not eligible for competition (cut flowers, cultivars).
This technique can also be used to punch up landscape photos, without inverting. For more information consult this article: https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-lab-color-in-photoshop-to-add-punch-to-your-
images/
Have fun and be creative, Steve Ornberg
We are looking for contributions for tech tidbits. If you have an item you love in your software or came across a good tool, share it with us. Send tidbits to Sheila ([email protected])
Before and After
5 July 2018
Nature Corner
Nature Corner aims to educate about animals,
flowers, plants and trees. Each month we will
include a plant or animal photo and a few
paragraphs about the subject so you may be
able to identify it when you see it.
Anyone can submit a photo to Sheila
Newenham via the club e-mail for inclusion in
an upcoming newsletter. Include the name,
location and date if relevant, and a little
information about the subject.
Male Kestrel Female Kestrel
American Kestrel
The American kestrel is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. The kestrel is also the most familiar and widespread in North America. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds (e.g. sparrows). In open country it is commonly seen perched on roadside wires, or hovering low over a field on rapidly beating wings, waiting to pounce on a grasshopper. Kestrels nest in cavities in trees; in places where there are few large dead snags to provide nest sites.
Water Lily
The water lilies are blooming at Chicago Botanic Garden. Get there early in the morning to catch them opening when the sun comes out. “Nymphaea 'Colorado' is a hardy water lily with 6-inch carnation-pink flowers with yellow stamens. Flowers are held several inches above the water. Water lilies are rhizomatous aquatic plants with about 50 species occurring in the wild, mostly found in the tropics of the Northern Hemisphere. They are characterized by round notched leaves that lie flat on the water and flowers with numerous petals produced at the end of a long lax stem floating just above the water surface. In the center of each flower is a cluster of showy stamens.” From Chicago Botanic.org
6 July 2018
Exhibits by Fred Drury
The „Grand Landscapes‟ show is currently hanging in our Exhibit Area. It consists of 21 images provided by the following: Noriko Buckles, Don Cochrane, Bill Dixon, Barbara Dunn, Sue Gajda, Bill Glass, John Janunas, Chuck Klingsporn, Sheila Newenham, Steve Ornberg, Chuck Peterson, and Jack Shouba. Thank you all for participating.
Our final show for the year will be „Fall Colors‟ which will run from early September until year end. You can send me information on your submissions for this show beginning immediately. Send me 1) Your name, 2) Price or NFS, and 3) Maker‟s Info (max 250 words). Please check your word count does not exceed this 250 word limit. You can check your word count in ‘Word’ by selecting your Maker’s Info then choosing ‘Review/Word Count’. The addition of the Maker‟s Info has been well received by Mayslake who‟ve mentioned that a number of exhibit viewers have commented positively on its presence. Beginning with the „Fall Colors‟ exhibit I‟m going to add an information posting to each show which explains the theme of that show. As photographers, we probably think our show themes are obvious, but this is not necessarily so for those viewing our shows.
NOTE: For those who don‟t want to take on the additional cost of matting and framing, we have 4 metal frames with mats in the club „inventory‟. These frames are 14x18” so will handle any 11x14” print board. This means we can exhibit any image which has been submitted to a Print competition. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, just let me know when you provide your „image information‟ (see above) and I‟ll take care of putting your images into one of the club frames and including it in the show.
Mayslake is currently showing the Illinois Bicentennial Exhibit ‘200 Years in the Making’ until August 10. It consists of work which will let viewers „enjoy artists interpretations of the rich tapestry of life created by people, places and events during Illinois‟ first 200 years of statehood‟. Please take an opportunity to view this show which includes many different art forms!
As I mentioned previously, we have been offered a show in the Mayslake „Living Room‟ which would run from September 26 – November 4. The Living Room is the large room that one enters from the main entrance and was home to another of our shows earlier this year. The space can handle 30-40 images depending upon size. The general theme of the show is „Nature‟ but we‟ll accept the hand-of-man for this show. I eagerly accepted her invitation; it‟s another opportunity to show off our work. So the rest is up to you! For each submission, send ([email protected]) the following: Title, Price and Maker‟s Info. Images for this show should be dropped off at the Mayslake office on Monday, September 24, 6-8 PM, and picked up on November 5, 6-9 PM.
7 July 2018
MNSPC Member
Adventures
This column highlights the
nature photo trips from our
intrepid members. You can
see where members have
been and what they have been
doing to maybe pique your
interest in visiting some of
these areas. We encourage
everyone to contribute a
nature-related story for this
column. Please email Sheila
Newenham at
with a few of paragraphs and a
couple of images about your
trip.
Many travelers only stop in Reykjavik (prounounced Rake-ja-vik) and the nearby Blue Lagoon, a working industrial geothermal system that pipes hot water around the island, dressed up as a tourist spa. But there is so much more to see. The Ring Road goes around the perimeter of the island (note that the natives spell the country‟s name as Island) and can be done comfortably in 10 days. Most of the interior is snow-covered volcanic mountains, while most of the population lives in towns near the shore. Driving is on the right, there are no traffic problems and main roads are in great shape. Interior back roads can be dicey, however, some crossing rivers!
Iceland: A Photographer’s Dream by Don Cochrane
The scenery is quite spectacular. The island was formed by tectonic and volcanic activities and there are volcanic cones, craters, canyons, waterfalls, and lava fields everywhere. Many of the mountains and dormant volcanoes are covered with snow most or all of the year. Waterfalls (with very long names ending in “foss”) are quite impressive as a result of the snow melt. There is a glacial lagoon on the south side where glaciers calve into thousands of small icebergs that you can explore from water or land
Sometimes you go around a bend on the road and you just look 360 degrees, not knowing what to shoot first – a glacier in front, a dormant volcano to your left, a spectacular waterfall to your right, and a black sand ocean beach behind you.
8 July 2018
thousands of small icebergs that you can explore from water or land. Whale watching, glacier, and bird-watching tours are available. We took a flight-seeing tour over the interior mountains, lakes, lava fields, and glaciers. There are a variety of geothermal areas with geysers, boiling mud-pots, and multi-colored terrain from the minerals. Wildlife is primarily birds, but there is quite a variety. The long-haired and photogenic Iceland ponies are everywhere, as are sheep and goats. The northern lights is another attraction, but that show is only during the winter months.
"Did You Know?"
Bloomberg reported Adobe’s plans to create a full-fledged version of Photoshop for
iPad tablets. This won’t be like Adobe’s current Photoshop app offerings for iOS —
instead, you’ll be able to do everything you can do in the desktop version of Photoshop
CC, right on your iPad.
It’s supposed to be revealed at the Adobe MAX Conference this October, with a release date sometime in 2019.