Category: Club Meetings

Planning Landscape Photos

Sunrise, North Window
Sunrise, North Window, © Andy Butler

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club will meet virtually, via Zoom videoconferencing, on September 9 at 6:15 PM, Mountain Daylight Time. This month’s presentation will be by Andy Butler, and the topic will be “Using Digital Apps to plan and visualize landscape photos”. 

In landscape photography, the photographer often wants to create an image of a photogenic subject under dramatic light, such as sunrise or sunset; moonrise or moonset. While there are many websites and programs that can provide the times and compass bearing for sunrises and sunsets, there are a few that go beyond this in ways that are very helpful to photographers when planning.  In this presentation, three apps will be discussed and demonstrated: The Photographer’s Ephemeris, PhotoPills, and Sun Surveyor. 

These apps are useful in multiple ways. At home, you can place a pin on a map anywhere in the world, on any desired date, to view how the sun, moon and Milky Way will move throughout the day. You can search for specific events, such as when during the year the sun will rise over Square Top, as observed from a specific point.  In the field, the apps have Augmented Reality features, which allow you to visualize the path of the sun, moon and Milky Way as they move through the sky, against an image of the landscape through your smart phone’s camera.  

Following the program, we will have our usual image share. Club members may submit up to five photos to share. Please email your images for sharing, by September 8, to abutler@mac.com . For Zooming, a larger image size is desirable, 2000 tall by 3000 pixels wide or more. 

Club members will receive the link for joining the Zoom session by email. If you are new to Zoom and have not yet downloaded it to your computer/tablet/phone, visit the Zoom download page, https://zoom.us/download , to do so. It’s really easy to use. For most of you, all you will need to do is click the “Link to join Zoom meeting”. 

Update:  A video of this presentation, recorded from the Zoom meeting, is available for viewing at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF3oqSnivaw .

Luminosity & Color Masking in Lightroom, July 8

_O9A0571
Fisher Towers, © Doug Coombs

The July 8 meeting of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will be held at 6:15 p.m., on-line via Zoom videoconference. We welcome back Doug Coombs, who will give a presentation on Luminosity Masking in Lightroom.  

Adobe Lightroom added the capability to use luminosity and color to target local adjustments using the Gradient, Brush, and Radial tools in 2018 using the “Range Mask”. This enables the photographer to make precisely targeted adjustments to selected areas of a photograph. Think of it as dodging and burning, contrast adjustments, color adjustments and other post processing techniques on steroids. Doug will demonstrate how to use the Lightroom Brush and Gradient tools with and without the Range Mask. We may even distribute a photograph to the audience that Doug will process in Zoom and Lightroom while the audience opens Lightroom on their computers to perform the same adjustments. Everything Doug will show in Lightroom can also be done in Adobe Camera Raw, for those you only own a recent version of Photoshop. For a video tutorial on these controls, check out Matt Kloskowski’s blog post on the subject, at:  https://mattk.com/lightrooms-most-powerful-masking-tools/  .

Doug is the chair and co-founder of the Los Alamos Adobe Users Group in New Mexico and a former chair of the Los Alamos Photography Club. He has been doing photography since high school, worked as a photographer and dark room tech in college, and fell in love with digital photography in 2003. Doug is primarily a landscape and nature photographer, with an affinity for birds and wildlife. He now splits his time between Los Alamos, Pagosa Springs, and a generous amount of travel to various photogenic destinations.

This will be a virtual meeting, live on-line, using Zoom video-conferencing. You may participate in the program from the comfort and safety of your own home. Photography Club members will receive a Club email containing the Zoom weblink to participate in Doug’s presentation. Members may also submit up to five photos to share, following Doug’s talk. Others who are interested in taking part in the Zoom meeting may contact Club president Andy Butler for information, at abutler@mac.com . 

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club promotes educational, social and fun interactions between any and all who enjoy making and viewing great photography. Annual membership dues are just $25. For membership information visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ 

June Program: From Field to Framed

2 - eagle
Eagle in Flight, © Chris Roebuck

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club will next meet by Zoom video-conference on Wednesday June 10 at 6:15 p.m. Our speaker will be Chris Roebuck. His topic is Highlights from a photographer’s education: From field to framed. In his program, Chris will discuss why he photographs, how he uses the language of photography to tell a story, and how he takes his images from an encounter in the field to a framed print. 

Chris Roebuck has been a member of the Photography Club for several years. He began his digital imaging education nine years ago by attending a community college (Lansing Community College). There, Chris learned Photoshop in-depth. After 2 ½ years he went to the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, in Missoula, Montana, to learn Lightroom. That same year he attended printing workshops at Maine Media Workshops and College.  Chris has continued to attend photographic workshops every year since.  He is a firm believer in continuing education.  Chris takes a philosophical approach to his photography rather than an artistic one.  He is primarily a wildlife photographer, and hopes to always be a student of the photographic arts.

2.3 - MaineFox
Maine Fox, © Chris Roebuck

This will be a virtual meeting, live on-line, using Zoom video-conferencing. You may participate in the program from the comfort and safety of your own home. Photography Club members will receive a Club email containing a Zoom weblink to participate in Chris’s presentation. Members may submit up to five photos to share. This month’s theme is “Animals”. Others who are interested in taking part in the Zoom meeting may contact Club president Andy Butler for information, at abutler@mac.com. 

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club promotes educational, social and fun interactions between any and all who enjoy making and viewing great photography.  The club sponsors educational programs, themed challenges, contests and outings to help photographers develop their skills. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting to learn more about the club. Annual membership dues are just $25. For membership information visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ .

Antarctica-May 13 Presentation

The May program of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will be held on Wednesday the 13th at 6:15 p.m, Mountain Daylight Time. This will be a virtual meeting, live on-line, using Zoom video-conferencing, consistent with Colorado’s current “safer at home” rules. You will be able to participate in the program from the comfort and safety of your own home. Our speaker will be Frank Comisar, whose topic is Expedition to Antarctica. Frank will show photos and videos of the wildlife and amazing scenery of Antarctica, taken on a recent cruise to the ice continent. Further, he will explain the logistics and daily routines of his trip, and considerations involved in planning for a cruise to Antarctica. Photography Club members will receive a Club email containing a Zoom weblink to participate in Frank’s presentation. Others who are interested in taking part may contact Club president Andy Butler for information, at abutler@mac.com. 

Frank Comisar is the founder of Scenic Aperture Gallery in Durango, and is a well-known wildlife and nature photographer. Frank travels throughout North America making beautiful photographs for his Durango gallery and leading small group photography workshops emphasizing landscape and nature photography.

Influenced by a previous career in Architecture, Frank’s images are well known for artistically depicting our three-dimensional world in a two dimensional medium. Frank learned early in his architecture career that “. . . the creative process is not a destination but a journey. It is a journey that includes research, planning, timing, technical skills, creative judgment, and a bit of good luck.” Frank’s success as a photographer is founded on these principles.

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club promotes educational, social and fun interactions between any and all who enjoy making and viewing great photography.  The club sponsors educational programs and outings to help photographers hone their skills, whether novices or enthusiasts. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting to learn more about the club. For membership information visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ .

April Meeting Canceled

Oh, the lovely fickleness of an April day!  —  W. H. Gibson

Because of State of Colorado and local health orders related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will not be holding our regular monthly meeting on April 8. We will also not be doing any in-person group outings during April. 

We encourage our members to continue to practice their craft and develop their photographic skills. There are plenty of photographic opportunities near, and in, your homes. Just use your imagination, and maintain appropriate social distance. This is also a great time to make sure your backups are up to date, to make a few prints, or to develop your post-processing skills. Learn something new and different. Several on-line learning sources have made their content free for the time being. These include:

Professional Photographers of America, (https://www.ppa.com/education-unlocked)

KelbyOne: (https://kelbyone.com/free)

Nikon School: (https://www.nikonevents.com/us/live/nikon-school-online/)

Continuing to be creative and engaged can be a huge emotional boost while you are staying home to stay healthy. Also, consider taking part in our on-line Photography Club Shutter Therapy challenges. The first week (through April 6) is on the theme “Spring.” To view or participate, check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PagosaPhotoClub/ and view the photos in the comments of the March 29 post on Spring Shutter Therapy. 

March Club Meeting: Black and White

Teton Cloudcap
Teton Cloudcap, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, © Dave Anderson

The March 11, 2020 meeting of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will be held at 6 p.m., at The Community United Methodist Church, 434 Lewis Street. Our speaker this month will be Club member Dave Anderson, who will give a presentation on  Black and White Photography in the Digital Age.  

Black & white photography can be useful for emphasizing textures, shapes and contrasts in images, for creating more abstract views of a scene, creating dramatic sky or sky-sun combinations in images, and for architectural and fine art photography. The presentation will discuss different methods of creating black and white photographs, and the use of digital filters and presets to produce black & white images in Photoshop and Lightroom post-processing software, with examples comparing color and black & white versions of the same image.

Dave Anderson has a Ph.D. in Chemistry and worked before retirement as a research scientist on malaria, multi-drug resistant bacteria, disease biomarker discovery, drug target identification and other areas. His photographic interests include landscape and nature photography and occasionally urban and abstract photography.

Club members are encouraged to bring up to five photos on a thumb drive to share with the group after the presentation, if time permits. If you have some black & white images of your own, this would be a great month to bring them! (Please note the new limit of five photos, designed to allow more time to appreciate and discuss the images.)

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club promotes educational, social and fun interactions between all who enjoy making and viewing great photography.  The club sponsors educational programs and outings to help photographers hone their skills. Membership is just $25/calendar year for individuals and $35 for families. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting to learn more about the club. For membership information visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ .