6:30 PM at Camp Brewster to take advantage of day light! Bring your own drinks.
Business meeting will be after you are done taking pictures. I hope to see you all there.
Raptor Shoot
The Forest Raptor group will be showing their raptors for us to photograph them. Don’t forget your cameras. If you are not a member of the club, you are invited to come to our meeting(s) anytime to check us out. I welcome you to come and take some pictures of raptors up close and not through a fence.
Camp Brewster
Located just north of Fontenelle Forest.
1313 Bellevue Blvd. North Bellevue, NE 68005
From I-80, take Hwy 75 (Kennedy Freeway) South to Chandler Road. Turn left onto Chandler. Stay on Chandler approx. 1 mile until the road ends at the stop sign at Bellevue Blvd. Turn right onto Bellevue Blvd. Continue approximately .3 of a mile to Camp Brewster (on the left)
Camp Brewster, Sarpy County, Nebraska, 68147
Fountains for Bellevue Library Photo Display
Judy is collecting your photos of “Fountains” for the Bellevue Library photo displays. Bring them to the May meeting.
Don’t forget to put on the back of your photo your name, contact information…etc. Photos should be boarder-less 8X10 or 11X14 sized pictures.
Donna Turner has sent me the Harold Davis series of videos. I went ahead and got the links for the subjects she notes in her email to me and posted them here. Then there is a section on 3D Flowers. And another section on Photographing flowers on a lightbox. You don’t have to search for them. The links are below. Take your time with the videos. Watch them at your convenience. I know this post is lengthy. Leave comments below.
If you have any questions, Donna’ s contact info is;
On U Tube look under Harold Davis Photography on a lightbox. There are several similar Webinars so watch for the titles recommended. Matching the length of time of each webinar helps.
PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS FOR TRANSPARENCY WEBINAR PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1:12:45
PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS FOR TRANSPARENCY PART 2 ARRANGING & EXPOSING 1:23:16
PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS FOR TRANSPARENCY PART 3 PROCESSING A HIGH-KEY LAYER STACK 1:20:56
PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS FOR TRANSPARENCY PART 4 ADVANCED TECHNIQUES 1:23:17
PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWERS FOR TRANSPARENCY PART 5 OVER TO YOU 1:20:38 ( AN CONTINUATION OF PART 4)
( There are several similar programs but the above are a series)
If you want to go further with the LAB process:
Creative LAB Color Part 1: Getting Started 1:26:54
Creative LAB Color Part 2: Advanced Techniques 1:04:45
Photo cards I recommended are Strathmore Photo Mount Cards Available at Dick Blick or Amazon
3D Flowers
3 D FLOWERS
Select flower and move to Photoshop. Crop it to a square. (Crop—ratio 1:1 click.
Make 4 copies of it. Shortcut is Control J on a PC or Command J on a MAC.
Go to Image —canvas size. Change to a percent and change both percents to 150. Click OK. This puts a white border around the picture.
Highlight the top copy in the layers panel on the right.
Get the move tool (first tool) and holding down the shift key put the cursor on the big main picture and move a copy to the right until just touching the main picture. (The copy will magically appear.)
Go to Edit —transform and flip horizontally.
Go to Edit — free transform, click and handles will appear. If some are off the page and not visible do control/command zero or control/command – and the picture will shrink and the handles appear.
Holding shift grab the middle far right handle and squish the side picture until it is within the white boundary. Click (check mark)
Edit –transform—perspective. With shift and move tool, Grab top outside handle and pull up until you are at 45 degree angle (see upper bar) click.
Highlight the next layer. Using shift, move the picture left until just touching main picture.
Edit –transform and flip horizontally.
Edit – Free transform. Grab middle handle and with shift squish to inside white boundary. click
Edit—transform—perspective. With shift use handle to move to 45 degrees. click
Highlight the third layer.
As before, with shift move the layer this time up.
Edit—transform and flip vertically
Repeat steps 12 and 13. Squish to the white boundary. click
Highlight fourth layer, move layer down and Edit—transform and flip vertically.
Repeat steps 12 and 13.
OPTIONAL LIGHTING:
Lighting: click on layer in stack that shows the left side.
To darken, click Image—adjustment–Brightness and contrast. Decrease -100
To lighten, go to opposite side layer in stack, click Image –adjustment–Brightness and contrast. Increase +100.
On top image, darken -50% with Image—Adjustment—Brightness and contrast.
Lay lightbox flat on the floor of a normally lit room.
Put camera on tripod and place it over lightbox as high as you can and still see the camera screen
Set camera on:
low ISO –100
Manual exposure
Manual focus capable of at least 5 times magnification
F stop of F11 to F16 depending on distance from lens to flowers. Choose one and don’t change
Long exposure noise reduction ON
Artfully arrange flowers on box. (This is the hard part.)
Scissors, tweezers, paper clips, tape, museum gel and little pebbles are all helpful in holding flowers in place
Easiest to cut heads of flowers and leaves from stems.
Take practice shots at shutter speed of ½ or 2 seconds after turning light box on.
Remember you don’t see depth in lightbox photography.
4 . Then take a series of 6-8 shots.
Start with shutter speed of 1/30 then 1/15, 1/8,1/4 and continue with one stop
difference until you get to 4 or 8 seconds where it becomes too light.
b. Change only the shutter speed.
Transfer to lightroom.
DO NOT CROP PICTURES UNTIL THE END
ce ca cc cv
ce–(control e on a PC, command e on a MAC)
Move picture from Lightroom LR to Photoshop PS
Ca (control a on a PC, command c on a MAC)–Select picture in Photoshop
ca– (control a on a PC, command a on a MAC) Copy picture in Photoshop
cv – control v on a PC, command v on a MAC) Put picture on top of another layer in Photoshop
In Lightroom highlight the longest exposure (4 or 8 seconds) and take it into Photoshop.
(Photo –edit in Photoshop or use shortcut ce)
*( If there is something extraneous in this first shot (like a scissors or the edge of the light box, it is easy to remove. With the eye dropper tool, sample an area near where you want to make a change. Then with the brush tool set on white, remove it. It won’t show up on subsequent pictures.)
Back to Lightroom (LR) highlight the next longest exposure and take it into Photoshop ( PS) (ce)
A. With that picture highlighted Select All (ca)
B. Then copy (cc))
C. Go to first image in PS. It will be on the black bar on the left. Paste. (cv)
In PS go to Layer – layer mask – Hide all. Very important. That takes you back to lighter image.
Now you are going to use the paintbrush to lightly paint back in from the darker image.
Lower opacity (ex. 50%) and flow (ex. 50%) on top bar. Your layer mask will be black so you are painting with white.
Then with pencil set to fairly soft , start painting in color. This is where the creative part comes in.
If you make a mistake hit Control z to undo.
Back to Lightroom, get next picture, ce, then ca, then Ccc. Back to first image and cv.
Layer – Layer mask—Hide all and paint as before.
Keep going back to Lightroom for another picture. You won’t necessarily use them all.
Lower opacity as you go.
Now you can crop!
To clean up any bad spots on your flowers, Do control and the plus sign to magnify image. Maneuver around using the space bar and the mouse and use the spot healing brush in PS.
When finished Save All with layers intact. You can save with all layers by holding down Control, Shift, Alt and e all at the same time
Then flatten Image and make further adjustments in Lightroom – if desired.
Save
( This whole process if much easier if you tether your camera to your computer with a cord.) In Lightroom go to file,Tethered capture, Start tethered capture, ,Fill in session name , Ok. Enter your numbers and then you can just sit at your computer to take all the pictures)
The photo club will meet this Thursday at 7:00 PM. There will not be a Zoom call for this meeting due to technical issues with the WiFi at the Forest.
Donna Turner will be our speaker
Donna will discuss her unique photos and the process she takes putting them all together. Like the image below.
Donna Turner Poppies Galore Anything Goes
Forest Photo Display
Bring your raptor photos that have been taken at the Forest. Judy and her team will hang them up at the Forest’s display racks. Don’t forget! if you do or the photos are not yet printed Judy will accept them after the meeting, just arrange with her or Frank to get them to her.
Blending in Photoshop
Here is a short tutorial on blending two images in Photoshop
That is all for now. Please comment below. We can discuss at our meeting about future photo displays, what was discussed between the board and the Forest, Changes with our photo contest and much more. Thanks for your support!
Number in attendance-in person was 19 and on Zoom there were technical issues so had to shut it down. There will be no Zoom meeting in April, only in-person. The meeting was being recorded to be posted on YouTube.
Agenda items
Welcome by President Phil Mininni.
New members: None
Judy and Frank: They have enough of the sunrise and sunset pics for the library. Please bring pictures of Raptors from the previous photo shoots if you have any to the April meeting or any photos taken at the Forest for use at future Forest displays.
Kathleen: Treasurer’s report: amount in Treasury is: $1476.67
Brent: Apologized for last meetings mess up on zoom
Sue: Nothing to report
Donna Gray: Contest still on at Bellevue Univ. See rules and dates on our website.
Kathy Holm: Nothing to report
Our speaker was Jay Davis who was a past president of our club. He talked about commercial photography. He used to a studio in downtown Omaha at the Hot Shops but now works out of his home. His presentation was very interesting. He showed some wonderful photos.
Thanks to Phil and Sue Mininni, Brent and Mary Headley and Keith White for the treats tonight.
Next month, April 21 Donna Turner is going to show us some of her post processing skills.
Bellevue Times-They posted about our club and information like when we meet, etc.
Forest partnership with the photo club- Another meeting will be set up with them to discuss some issues we still have.
Treats for the April meeting will be provided by:Linda Schuett and Linnea Baney. Thank you in advance.
Donna Gray has had to resign to take care of personal issues at her home. She will not be able to continue as our Photo Contest coordinator. We need to find one or two volunteers to take the reins of the contest coming up in May/June.
Donna writes;
I must apologize for the timing this close to the annual contest in May. I will certainly help whoever takes over the contest duties, as much as I can from home. I can forward past records and the name of the contact person at Bellevue University. Jay Davis has agreed to be the judge and someone will need to touch base with him to coordinate activities.
Please contact the webmaster if you are interested. You can also comment below your willingness to help your club out.
Our March 17 meeting was recorded and is now on YouTube. We still experienced difficulties with the Forest’s WiFi. And the recorded audio was experiencing some echoing. Jay Davis was our speaker. His presentation is on commercial and architectural photography. It was a very interesting discussion.
Thanks to Jay!
https://youtu.be/UUGTvKrnn6c
Raptor Photos for Forest Display
Greetings Photographers.
We are planning to gather raptor photos for our next display at the Forest Nature Center. These should be photos taken at one of our many photo shoots at FF or at one of their raptor programs. They have a large selection of birds in their aviary and education program. Please pick out a couple of your great shots to bring to our next meeting. April!
Same requirements as usual. No mats or frames. Sizes 8×10, 8×12 or 12×14. Boarder less if possible.
I must apologize for the unmitigated disaster of our last club’s meeting. In theory it should of worked well. Unfortunately, it didn’t. First of all I want to make it clear it was not because of our presenter, Allen Kurth. Allen, Kathleen and I did a test run on line and it worked out excellently. If we all had been on the Zoom call and not in person it would have worked out. I am reminded how well it went when Peter did his presentation during a Zoom only meeting . Thank you to Allen for trying.
First of all, the wireless internet connection was terrible. Next, was the lack of good audio volume for those of us that attended the meeting live at the forest. And our digital projector’s display was not large enough for us at the forest to see clearly enough of what Allen was doing. And lastly it was my fault for not anticipating the troubles we experienced at the meeting. It was clearly a waste of your time to attend this meeting. That is on me and I am sorry. If we try this again, I recommend that the next president do a Zoom only meeting.
Thanks to Kyle, Brent, and Kathleen for their help with the meeting.
March 17, 2022 Photo Club Meeting.
Jay Davis will be our guest speaker and will do a presentation on Architectural and Commercial photography. Jay is another past president of the club. Jay’s website has information about Jay and Jay’s business.
We will attempt to do an in-person meeting and a zoom call at the same time. We will have Jay’s laptop connected to our projector and we will have Kyle on the camera looking at the projector’s display screen.
We may have Jay share his screen with the zoom participants for better visuals.
Camera for Sale
From Alan Brodin:
I am in the process of converting to Mirrorless cameras and am starting to sell off some of my DSLR equipment.
I have a Nikon D500 in Like New condition with less than 12,000 shutter releases with a battery grip I am selling for $1,000. I have all the original box, packaging, charger, and battery. See attached.
I will also have 2 Nikon D750’s to sell once my new Z9 gets here.
Please contact the webmaster for Alan's contact information if you are interested.
Photoshop
Field Trip
Would any of you be interested in a Zoom only meeting? And if I can get Allen to agree to show us what we attempted to do at the last meeting, perhaps we can have a successful presentation. This would be on a different night from our regular 3rd Thursday of the month. Think of it as a field trip on line. Please comment below or contact your webmaster if you would like to participate.
Video
Allen was attempting to give us some help post editing photos at the February meeting. Photoshop can be as easy as you need or as hard as you make it. I find myself in the middle. The video below has a lot of info for the 13 minute length. I recommend you pause the video at each subject and have your Photoshop program loaded and play with the tool shown, then move on.
YouTube is a resource with hundreds if not thousands of tutorials for learning Photoshop.
I have a goal to be able to take out a person in a photo and insert a different person in place of original person. What are yours?
That’s It
I will close for now and hope for better times to be achieved for all of you. Please leave a comment below on what you thought of today’s post.
In one of my last posts there was confusion in what I said and what the meeting minutes provided by the secretary wrote. Someone thought the secretary wrote that some members were still a bit skittish attending in person at our club meeting. These were my words not the Secretary. Please observe the title of the section in posts that I submit to the website. On this post I have only included the minutes from the February meeting so there should not be any confusion.
If there are any changes or modifications needed, please comment below!
Phil
Fontenelle Forest Photo Club Meeting minutes
Fontenelle Forest Photo Club Meeting minutes
Location:
Fontenelle Forest
Date:
2/17/2022
Time:
7PM
Attendees:
Number in attendance-in person was 23 and on Zoom was 10. The meeting is being recorded to be posted on YouTube DUE TO THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, WE HAD TRYING TO HAVE OUR SPEAKER DO HIS PRESENTATION ON ZOOM WE HAD TO CUT OUR REGULAR MEETING SHORT. THEREFORE, SOME OF THE CONTENT OF THE MINUTES WERE NOT ACTUALLY SPOKEN IN PERSON BUT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF THE NIGHT HAD GONE AS PLANNED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.
Agenda items
Welcome by President Phil Mininni.
New members: None
Changes are being made at the Forest that may affect our photo displays. 1. They are remodeling. 2. The Baright gallery may be going away. 3. A place for our photos will definitely change.
The Forest wants to display only photos taken at the forest which may limit our photo taking. We took a small vote and about 19 members disagreed with this and about 3 members agreed. It isn’t easy for all members to walk the forest property due to physical limitations. Members suggested some of the following:
*This is an unreasonable request
*We do what they ask because they allow us to use the facility for free.
*We pick the subject for the forest display.
*If we can’t get many forest shots then in our display maybe highlight 3 photos of the forest within the other photos on display.
*Do a “four seasons of the forest” display.
*Display the photos of the Forest that were entered in our Photo contest whether they were a winner or not.
Maybe as members shoot photos of the forest or at our raptor shoots, create a folder on your computer and keep all forest pictures together so they are readily available when we ask for them for our display.
Judy and Frank: Accepted photos of sunrise/sunset for Library display. Holding off on hoof stock photos for the forest until it is worked out or understood exactly what the Forest wants displayed. Phil will set up a meeting with them again to discuss. Also, if you want to sell any of your photos that are on display there is a sign that says ask at the desk and then they contact the photographer with the buyer information.
The library is moving to the area of the corner of Cornhusker and Fort Crook Road amongst the businesses located there. No date yet on when the move is to occur.
Kathleen: Treasurer’s report: amount in Treasury is: $1464.67
Brent:
Sue: A member suggested to Phil that the responsibilities of the Secretary of the photo club are very lax in content. I try to record the information being provided and discussed. This is a small club with 57 members, all of whom do not attend, and sometime the content of discussion is very minimal and I will not apologize for how I do this task, but at any time if I have missed something or typed any content incorrectly any member is welcomed and encouraged to mention it for submission or correction. Thank you.
Donna Gray:
Kathy Holm: Kathy had sent Phil a suggestion on how to attract young people to join was to see if the Forest would have a lower membership fee for young people and maybe our club could offer a student membership rate.
Bellevue Times
We have our meeting info posted on the calendar in the Times. Thanks to Kathleen for working with the editor.
Forest partnership with the photo club
The forest is excited about the club’s potential participation in more of the activities the forest holds during the year.
Walking tours
Photographing events
Giving photo hints to their members, i.e., on walking tours
Flora and fauna
Landscapes
Possible night walks
Our speaker tonight was past president and current member, Alan Kurth showed us some of his workflow of post processing photos using Lightroom and Photoshop. Unfortunately, it did not go as well as planned due to the technical issues. Maybe in the future Alan can present again in person at one of our meetings. Thank you, Alan, for your efforts.
Thanks to Lorraine Feldhausen and Diane Kinney for the treats tonight.
Our speaker for March will be past president Jay Davis on Architectural photography.
I had forgotten to mention. Judy will be collecting, at the February 17th meeting, your sunrise/sunset photos for the next library display.
Proofread
Wife mentioned that I should have proof read my last posting more than twice. Definitely not an English major. I did rush to put out the last post. My apologies!
We are excited to announce the following nine categories for entry in our 2022 contest:
Birds: Portraits and behavior
Mammals: Portraits and behavior
Baby Animals: Portraits and behavior of young animals of any species
Other Wildlife: Portraits and behavior (includes underwater life, reptiles, amphibians, insects, spiders, macro and more)
Landscapes & Plants: Scenic views and plants from backyards to wild places
People in Nature: People enjoying the outdoors or connecting with nature and wildlife
Mobile: Nature, wildlife and people outdoors photographed with a mobile device (phone or tablet)
Portfolio Category: A submission of up to 10 images built around a common theme related to nature and conservation (*To enter a portfolio, you MUST purchase the Photography Portfolio entry package, listed below.)
Young Nature Photographers: For photographers age 13-17
