Author: fotohiker

webs are for spiders

Creating Depth in Photography

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club is meeting on January 8th at the Community United Methodist Church, located at 434 Lewis St. The meeting starts at 6:30 pm, but you can come early to socialize and chat about photography at 6 pm. Everyone’s welcome to join us! Just enter the church through the side door next to the parking lot.

This month’s speaker is David Lenderman. David will give a multi-part presentation. He’ll start with a short slideshow set to music, showing some of his favorite photos. Then, he’ll talk about why depth is important in photography. He’ll show you how to make flat photos look more interesting and engaging with a sense of depth. David will share practical compositional techniques that anyone can use to add depth to their own photos, no matter what camera you use.

Using composition to enhance depth © David Lenderman

The last part of David’s presentation will be about suno.com , an AI music generator. With Suno and other AI music programs, you can easily make your own music. As image creators, we often need the perfect soundtrack for our slideshows or videos, and now you can make your own! David will explain how to use Suno.com and show you examples of the music you can create.

David Lenderman has been an avid photographer for over 25 years. He specializes in underwater, travel, and wildlife photography. He’s been to six of the seven continents, looking for amazing scenes and fascinating animals. In 2022, David and his wife moved to Pagosa Springs, so they can enjoy the natural beauty of Colorado and the warm, friendly community. David often speaks at photography and dive clubs, and he loves sharing his knowledge and inspiring other photographers.

The presentation will be followed by our monthly image share. Photography Club members may bring up to five images each to share and discuss. This meeting will also be available on Zoom for those who can’t attend in person. The Zoom link will be emailed to members; others who wish to attend may request the link by email to abutler@mac.com .

Did you get a new camera or lens for Christmas? If so, joining the Photography Club would be an awesome way to learn more about photography and get tips on using your gear. The Pagosa Springs Photography Club is open to everyone who loves making and viewing great photos. Our members use cameras of all types, from smartphones to medium format. We have educational programs, image sharing and discussion, photo outings, and contests to help each other improve our photography. Club membership is just $25/year. You can apply for membership on our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/.

Seventh Annual Digital Photography Contest Results

On November 13, the Pagosa Springs Photography Club held an Awards Celebration in conjunction with its Seventh Annual Digital Photography Contest. Members attending the Celebration viewed the 101 images entered in the contest by 20 photographers. During the evening, Club members and spouses also enjoyed a pizza dinner, socializing, and discussing the photos entered and photography in general. This year the  contest included three categories: Nature, Portraits, and Manmade/other. Images in each category were judged on the basis of composition, impact, and technical quality. Our judge this year was Shanda Akin, from Durango. Akin selected the top 3 images in each category; Honorable Mention (HM) was awarded to those images within a half point (out of ten possible) of the top 3. In addition, Club members voted to determine “People’s Choice” winners for each of the categories. 

In the Portraits category, the top images were:

1st Place: Doug Coombs, Maasai Warriors

2nd Place: Kathie Disner, On the Outside

3rd Place: Scott Galabota, Playing in the Mud

HM: Herb Grover, Cattail Family

HM:  David Lenderman, Llama Kiss

HM: Andy Butler, Maasai

HM: Dave Anderson, News of Ukraine

HM: Doug Coombs, Maasai Midwife

In the People’s Choice voting for this category, 1st Place was awarded to Galabota for Playing in the Mud, 2nd Place to Coombs for Maasai Warriors, and 3rd Place to Chris Roebuck for Higher Grounds

(Click on a group of images to view them larger)

This year’s winners in the Nature category were:

1st Place: Chris Roebuck, Grizzly

2nd Place: Adrienne Disbrow, Dragonfly

3rd Place: Dave Minkel, Valles Caldera

HM: Doug Coombs, Cranes Crossing the Moon

HM: Doug Coombs, Sunrise Bear

HM: Rondi Ballard, Milky Hoodoos

HM: Rondi Ballard, Texas Totality with Clouds

HM: David Lenderman, Foxy Portrait

HM: David Lenderman, You’re Next

People’s Choice results for this category were: 1st Place, Coombs for Cranes Crossing the Moon, 2nd Place, Disbrow, Dragonfly, and 3rd place to Lenderman, Foxy Portrait.

The best images in the Manmade/Other genre were as follows:

1st Place: John Farley, Alton Bridge at Sunset

2nd Place: Doug Coombs, Kodiak Harbor

3rd Place: Chris Roebuck, My Ride

HM: Dave Duquemin, 4 July

HM: Herb Grover, July 4th Flyover

HM: David Lenderman, Night on the River

HM: Chris Plemons, Steaming in the Storm

HM: Scott Galabota, Snow Swings

The top photos in this category, based on the People’s Choice voting, were: 1st Place, Plemons for Steaming in the Snow, 2nd Place, Andy Butler for Canal Reflections, and 3rd Place went to David Lenderman’s Yokohama Street Scene.

Thanks to everyone who entered the Photography Club contest this year, and all those who helped make it a success. 

Aztec Arches Photo Outing

Just across the border in northern New Mexico, is an area with hundreds of arches of various sizes. In early September, Greg Heid organized an outing to this area for Photography Club members. We had a great day driving the back roads outside of Aztec, exploring several arches and natural bridges. Here are a few photos from the expedition. (Click on the photos to view larger)

PSPC Oct 9 Meeting-Astrophotography

M-31 (Andromeda) © David Duquemin

The October meeting of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will be held on Wednesday, October 9, at the Community United Methodist Church, 434 Lewis St. While the meeting will start at 6:30 pm, feel free to join us for socializing at 6 pm. Photography Club meetings are open to the public. Please enter the Church through the side door next to the parking lot. This month’s presentation will feature Dave Duquemin, speaking on Astrophotography. 

In his presentation, Dave will explain how he photographs deep space objects including distant galaxies like M-31 (Andromeda). Dave is a retired commercial airline pilot. He is a member of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club, and also enjoys building and flying airplanes. 

The presentation will be followed by our monthly image share. Photography Club members may bring up to five images each to share and discuss. This meeting will also be available on Zoom for those who can’t attend in person. The Zoom link will be emailed to members; others who wish to attend may request the link by email to abutler@mac.com .

From Polar Bears to Penguins

Chris Roebuck photographing a seal on an ice floe

The next meeting of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will be held on Wednesday, September 11, at the Community United Methodist Church, 434 Lewis St. Join us for socializing at 6 pm. The meeting and presentation will start at 6:30 pm. Please enter the Church through the side door next to the parking lot. This month’s presentation will feature Chris Roebuck, whose program will be From Polar Bears to Penguins.

Chris’s presentation chronicles four expeditions to photograph these creatures found near the poles. This included two trips to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada to photograph Polar Bears and other Arctic wildlife. Chris did one of these trips in the early winter season, and the second in sunny summer, to catch the wildflowers as well as wildlife. Chris will also show photos and experiences from two trips to Antarctica. The first of these was unsuccessful, ending in tragedy due to a boating accident, and an immediate return to port.  The second attempt was a successful Antarctic expedition to photograph landscapes, penguins, and wildlife while visiting the seventh continent.

Chris Roebuck is a student of the photographic arts. After retirement he returned to school to learn about digital imaging. He has dedicated his remaining years to photographing beauty and traveling the world to experience wilderness, wildlife, and the accompanying excitement this provides. Chris Roebuck resides in Pagosa Springs and has been a Photography Club member for several years. 

The presentation will be followed by our monthly image share, for which Photography Club members may bring up to five images each to share and discuss. This meeting will also be available remotely on Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed to Photography Club members; others who wish to attend may request the link by email to abutler@mac.com .

Don’t forget about the photography excursion to northern New Mexico to see and photograph arches near Aztec. This will be on Friday, September 5. There are numerous photogenic arches in this part of New Mexico, and we will visit and photograph several of them on this trip. Club members interested in going on this outing should let Greg Heid know (goheid@yahoo.com). We will meet at his place at 8 am on the 5th.  

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club welcomes everyone who enjoys making and viewing great photography. The Club sponsors educational programs, image sharing and discussion, and outings to help our members improve their photography.  Membership is just $25/year. For more information about the Club, and to download a membership application, visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ .

7th Annual Digital Photography Contest

The 2024 Pagosa Springs Photography Club Digital Photography Contest is now open for entries. The Contest is open to all Photography Club members in good standing. New or renewing members may join the Club at the time they enter the contest. The submission deadline is October 9, 2024, and prizes will be presented at an Awards Celebration on November 13. As in previous years, members may submit up to 6 photos (2 per category) for a flat fee of $10.  You only need to submit your digital image files, not prints. The top three images in each category will receive ribbons and cash prizes at the Awards Celebration, and all entries will be displayed at that time. There will be “People’s Choice” voting on the images entered, as well.

This year there will be three categories: Nature (landscapes, wildlife, flowers, etc); Portraits (which may be of people, pets, or other domestic animals), and Manmade/Other, (architecture, trains and cars, street photography, abstract, etc.) See below to obtain the contest guidelines and entry form. 

If you haven’t entered the contest previously, this is a great opportunity to get feed back, both from the judge and from other Club members, about your images. Our goal with this contest is not only to recognize members for their talent, but also to encourage everyone to share their best work with the group. So select your best images and submit them!

For contest guidelines, and directions on entering your images, click here . The guidelines have instructions on how and where to submit your files. Then, download a contest entry form here: https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-pspc-contest-entry.pdf and fill it out with your entries. Note: you should be able to fill in the information on the entry form using the text tool of Adobe Acrobat Reader or Mac Preview. The best way to submit your images is to use the Dropbox link in the entry form, but you may also bring entries on a flash drive to the PSPC Sept 11 or Oct 9 meetings.