Tag: nature

May Photography Club Meeting

Western Bluebird on a Perch near Pagosa Springs

The next meeting of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will be held on Wednesday May 8, at the Community United Methodist Church on Lewis St. We will begin with social time at 6 pm, and the program will begin at 6:30 pm. This month’s program will be presented by Keith Bruno, who will discuss Birds, Birding and Conservation Photography. 

Keith Bruno is the Southwest Colorado Community Naturalist for Audubon Rockies, and is based in Pagosa Springs. Keith works also closely with the Weminuche Audubon Society here in Pagosa Springs. He develops and runs a variety of education programs in the region. Keith enjoys teaching about birds, native plants, pollinators, food security, snow science, and generally anything that gets him outdoors. He has a Master’s Degree in natural resources from the University of Idaho and has worked throughout the west.

This meeting will also be available on Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed to members; others who wish to attend may request the link by email to abutler@mac.com .

As usual, the presentation will be followed by our member’s image share. Photo Club members may bring up to five images to show and discuss with the group. Please bring these on a thumb drive. They should be saved as jpeg files of at least 2000 pixels on the long edge. 

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club welcomes all who enjoy making and viewing great photography. The club sponsors educational programs and outings to help our members improve their photography.  For more information about the club, and to download a membership application, visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ .

Geology of Colorado

Chimney Rock, near Pagosa Springs, is an excellent example of how the geologic history of Colorado has shaped the landscape that photographers love to record. Photo © Andy Butler.

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club will next meet on March 13, at the Community United Methodist Church, 434 Lewis St. Come at 6 PM for socializing. The presentation will begin at 6:30 PM. Our featured topic this month will be the Geologic History of Colorado, presented by Jeb Baxter. The meeting is open to the public.

This will be a hybrid meeting, also available on Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed to members; others who wish to attend remotely may request the link by email to abutler@mac.com . 

If you are a landscape photographer, then you well know how important geology is to finding photographic opportunities. Just look at the San Juan Mountains near Pagosa Springs, Chimney Rock, or the red rock canyons and arches of Utah.

Baxter’s presentation will provide an overview of the geologic history of Colorado and localities where the evidence of this history is visible in the rocks.  The talk will begin with the screening of a 25 minute video by the Interactive Geology Project.  The video will then be followed by an explanation of key geologic processes and additional evidence of geologic history in the Four Corners region.  The talk is designed to provoke discussion with the audience and questions are welcomed throughout.

James Baxter is a retired professional geologist and professor of geology, who now lives in Pagosa Springs.  He earned a BS in Geological Sciences at Lehigh University and MS in Geology at The Pennsylvania State University.  His professional career included 16 years of experience in the environmental consulting industry followed by 20 years on the faculty of Harrisburg Area Community College.

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club welcomes all who enjoy making and viewing great photography. The club sponsors educational programs and outings to help photographers build their skills.  For more information about the club, and to download a membership application, visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ .

Photo Club Moab Outing

Nine Photography Club members traveled to Moab, UT, Feb 20-23, 2024 to photograph in the area. Most of our outings were to Arches NP for sunrise or sunset sessions, plus one to the Island in the Sky region of Canyonlands NP. The first evening’s weather wasn’t great, but otherwise we had lots of good options in a very photogenic area. It was a good opportunity to learn from one another, see some majestic landscapes, and get some good images.

Here are a few sample images from Club members Doug Coombs, Al and Jo Myatt, Andy Butler, Lisa Tedder, and Chris Plemons. Check back, this is a live document and more photos will likely be posted. Click on any image to view a larger version, navigate through using your arrow keys.

Bosque Outing, Dec 2023

Several members of the Photography Club spent Dec 10-13, 2023 on a Club outing in Socorro, NM. We photographed at nearby Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and at Ladd S Gordon Waterfowl Complex, at Bernardo. These refuges are wintering areas for waterfowl, including Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes. This year, there was a new pond at Bernardo, which succeeded in attracting large numbers of waterfowl.There were thousands of birds, good blast-offs at the “Flight Deck”, mammals, and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Overall, another fun and productive outing.

Here are a few sample images from Club members Adrienne Disbrow, Dave Anderson, Andy Butler, and Doug Coombs. Click on any image to view a larger version, navigate through using your arrow keys.

Wildlife from Bosque del Apache and Ladd Gordon

Bat City USA

© Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org

The November 8 meeting of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club will feature Laura Brooks, who will present and discuss her documentary Bat City USA, a video about how a Texas city overcame its fear of one of the world’s most misunderstood creatures, largely thanks to the efforts of one man. The Club’s meeting will be held at the Community United Methodist Church, 434 Lewis St in Pagosa Springs. Come at 6 PM for socializing; the presentation will begin at 6:30 PM.

A giant colony of Mexican Free-tailed bats moved into an Austin, Texas bridge in the 1980’s, after a bridge reconstruction project created an ideal roosting habitat. The “bat invasion”  created a media hoopla and alarm among residents worried about rabies. When the city threatened to exterminate the bats, conservationist and bat researcher Merlin Tuttle stepped in and fought to save them. Tuttle moved to Austin, then the epicenter of “worldwide bad bat publicity,” and founded Bat Conservation International to promote a positive image of bats.

Tuttle worked tirelessly to overcome opposition and change the public’s perception of bats from disease carriers to desirable creatures who help keep bugs in check. Tuttle became a pioneering bat photographer for National Geographic, developing special techniques that showed bats not as snarling beasts, but as creatures engaged in their natural ways of feeding, flying, and other behaviors.  Tuttle used his striking photos as an important weapon in his battle to gain acceptance for the bats and their environmental benefits.

Thanks to Tuttle’s efforts, Austin now loves its bats.  Each year, thousands of tourists are drawn to the downtown bridge for a close-up glimpse of one of the world’s largest urban bat colonies – at least one million bats.

The 54-minute documentary was directed by Laura Brooks, a Pagosa Springs resident and member of the Pagosa Springs Photography Club.  Brooks has worked for years as a journalist in Central and South America and along the US-Mexico border.

Following the presentation, Club members may share and discuss up to five of their images per person with the group.

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.   We welcome photographers of all skill levels. For more information about the club, and to download a membership application, visit our website at https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/about/ .

Sixth Pagosa Springs Photo Club Digital Photo Contest

The Pagosa Springs Photography Club is pleased to announce our Sixth Annual Digital Photo Contest. 

There will be four Contest categories this year: Landscape, People, Creative, and Nature. The contest is open to all current members of the Club. New or renewing members may join at the time they enter the contest. Each member may submit two images per category (up to six total), for a flat entry fee of $10. Images should be submitted as digital files. Submissions are due by September 15, 2023. Awards will be presented at the PSPC October meeting and Awards Celebration, which will be held at the PLPOA Club House on Vista Dr., on October 11, 6:00 pm. The top 3 images in each category will receive cash prizes. All entries will be displayed at the Awards Celebration. We will again have “People’s Choice” voting on the images entered, as well.

If you haven’t taken part in the contest previously, this is a great opportunity to get feed back, both from our judges 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. So pick your images and submit them!

For contest guidelines, and instruction on entering your images, go to:  https://pagosaspringsphotoclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-contest-guidelines.pdf . 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/2023/08/2023-pspc-contest-entry-1.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.