"Light Reading"
Our home on the web: http://www.DACameraClub.org
News Flash:
We're in our new location and back to the third Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM, now at The Southwest Environmental Center near the Las Cruces Downtown Mall (see below for directions).
Next meeting date: Tuesday, August 17 at 7:00 PM
Club News:
The August meeting topic is “Color Control and Printing”—how to calibrate your monitor and set up your printer to get the images you want. A Monitor calibrator will be available for loan to Camera Club members who attend!
The August theme is “Water”, which we’ve recently seen plenty of, so bring your digital images and/or prints to the meeting. You are also encouraged to bring recently taken images you'd like to share.
Report by Fred Moore
Highlights of the last meeting were presentations by printing and framing experts Jim Turrentine and Ron Saltzman.
Jim discussed the many variables that affect how your printed image looks. Even after you calibrate your monitor and profile your printer, the result will seldom look just like the edited image you saw. This is where experience comes in. Paper selection has a big influence—he showed how the same image can look very different on different papers. A significant part of printing is experimenting with various papers and printer settings. You saved tones of money by not having to develop & print film. Invest that in some quality paper, and always use the printer manufacturer’s ink. Cheap ink is very inconsistent and can react with your paper in unpredictable ways. Jim suggested setting up a “paper cooperative” in which several members would buy different papers and exchange them with each other. If you are interested, please email me with information on a paper you’d like to try.
Ron Saltzman showed the dramatic affect that different color mattes can have on the appearance of your print. He discussed the many options for displaying prints, from simple dry mounting on foam core board to elaborate frames. Ron also showed various glazing materials for framed prints, ranging from inexpensive plastic to “Anti-Reflective” museum quality glass that is nearly invisible. The location where you will be displaying your artwork will greatly affect the type of mounting. He emphasized the difference between photos that you can re-print if they fade or get damaged, vs. irreplaceable art that needs to be properly preserved. For help or advice on printing or framing, email Jim Turrentine at pictures@desertexposures.com , or Ron Saltzman at frame@zianet.com .
The Southwest Environmental Center wishes to put on a display of Camera Club prints for the month of August. “Nature” is the theme and there are very few restrictions on what we can display. This is a great chance for you to show off your work! [Editor's note: Fred sent an email with information and criteria. Email Fred if you did not get the announcement or need more information.
Attendees brought in their fireworks and lightning photos for the monthly themes of “Smoke” and “Fire.” Members also showed some very impressive close-up photos of insects and birds. Returning member Maria Kruse sought advice on avoiding reflections from double-pane glass, but nobody could see anything but great results. As always, bring your images or prints to any meeting for friendly suggestions on how to improve them (if possible.)
Echoing last month’s presentation, Jim Turrentine re-emphasized the need to get your digital images off your camera cards (which have a very limited storage life) and onto less volatile media like hard drives CD/DVDs (preferably both.) If you missed that meeting, you can see the presentation on our website: http://dacameraclub.org/StorePhotos.pdf.
Also, in a preview of next month, Ron Wolfe distributed a “Printing Setup Guide.” From the guide—to do right now: Change the default color space in your camera and editing software from sRGB to Adobe RGB for instant color improvement. For help in doing this, email us or bring your camera to the August meeting.
Members approved a proposal to raise the annual dues from $5 to $10 per person and that signup now would be good for the year 2011 as well. This will enable us to pay for the meeting space of $1 /person without the need for passing the hat. We now have $345 in the checking account with the addition of four new/renewed members. Dues for 2010 are overdue—bring 10 bucks to the next meeting or mail it to the Treasurer: Jerry Claessen, 1100 N. Alameda Blvd, LC, NM 88005.
Special Note: In the works is a program of photos from photo worthy places within a day's drive. This is to give our photographers ideas about some interesting places to go. This program is tentatively scheduled for later in the fall, and Mary Lou will moderate it, but will need all of you to bring several photos from your favorite places (within that distance) to share. Please email her PMLpendergrass@comcast.net naming the place you plan to "advertise" If we can figure out an easy way to get your photos on our "thumb" drive during that meeting, we can post them together on our web site.
Pat and I are taking a vacation from doing the newsletter, VP Fred Moore is doing a great job sending the emails keeping all of you informed, but we are still doing with the web site.
We adding copies of presentations from some previous meetings to the web site in the form of Adobe Acrobat .pdf's. You will need Acrobat Reader to view these files. If your computer doesn't have it, it's a free download
Click here:
Check them out here:
Storing & Organizing Your Digital Photos
Photography 101
Fred's directions to Southwest Environmental Center:
"From the north: go South on I-70 (N Main St) past the library. Keep right onto Water St and turn left into the Day's Hamburgers lot just past Las Cruces Ave."
"From the South: go North on Main St, keep right onto Church St, turn left onto Las Cruces Ave at the Post Office, then left into the parking lot just before N Water St.
Enter the Southwest Environmental Center by the rear door between Day's Hamburgers and the Rio Grande Theatre.
If you're hungry, Day's has been dishing up tasty burgers since 1932."
News from The Preston Gallery
Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops : (For more information and registration, go to http://www.mesillaworkshops.com )
~ What's New in Photoshop's CS5 Upgrade? - Saturday August 21, 1 PM - 5 PM Tuition: $45.00
~ Intro to Photoshop Elements 8 - Tuesdays, Sept. 14 & 21 6-9 PM Tuition: $75.00
Check out their web site for a discount for 2 or more people from the same family or organization to take a class or workshop.
Web Sites of Interest
The list of helpful web sites, tips, catalogs, and other resources is on our web site, with a link from our main page, available to members and visitors. Please keep submitting URLs that you think will be useful for our group. See the Resource list
For Carl's link to lots of information about on-line camera dealers SheddingSomeLight.com (Click on the Buying Cameras and Electronics On-Line link)
Contact the presidents Ron Wolfe or Jack Spratt
Hope to be back sometime in the fall,
Mary Lou and Pat