August 2024

From the President... 

I am pleased to report that due to Danny Valenzuela’s efforts we have the sign by the parking area updated. Thank You, Danny!

My wife, Sandra, and I are off on a three month RV trip this month.  We’ve planned in some time to relax with sight-seeing along the way. We will visit friends in Wisconsin, stay in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, cross thru Canada to Niagara Falls, visit family in Indiana and hit the Smoky Mountains in October for fall color.

We are looking forward to starting up our programs this fall and hope to see a lot of new photos displayed on the club’s walls.

Kirk Hively, President

Time to Renew Your Club Membership?

It might seem too early to renew your Photography Club membership, but it just may be a great idea to do it now and have one less thing to remember at year end.

The dues for 2025 are unchanged from 2024. They’re just $30 for a one-member household and $40 for a two-member household.

Renewal will secure your membership through the end of 2025. Go ahead, do it now here.

Photography Club Members Share Awards

Sahuarita recently announced the winners of their annual Photography Contest and five GVR Photography Club members won awards.

• Alan Medlow - Honorable Mention "Digitally Altered Artistic Images" category
• Dave Bisharat - 2nd place "Digitally Altered Artistic Images" category
• Diane Marr - Honorable Mention "Plants & Wildlife" category
• Kim Holmes - 2nd place "Plants & Wildlife" category
• Sandy Ostroff - 2nd place "Places in Sahuarita" category
• Sandy Ostroff - Honorable Mention "Digitally Altered Artistic Images" category

Alan Medlow - Milky Way Over Sahuarita

Dave Bisharat - Sahuarita Festival Mirror

Diane Marr - Black-Crowned Night Heron

Kim Holmes - Looking at Lunch

Sandy Ostroff - Chrome Spheres On Pond

Sandy Ostroff - Pecan Grove

You can see all the Sahuarita Photography Contest winners and their photographs here.

Congratulations to Alan, Dave, Diane, Kim, and Sandy!

Keep Our Facebook Page in Mind

Whether you're on vacation or just enjoying the Arizona summer, be sure to remember to send me your favorite photos so I can post them on the Club's Facebook page. Those photos are also where I get to choose the Photo of the Month featured  in the newsletter each month. Your photo could be chosen next!

Don't forget the GVR Photography Club when on vacation. Share your best photos with us!

Sue Ready, Facebook Coordinator

Photo of the Month

The August Photo of the Month is by Darrell Rude, a beautifully composed image taken with his iPhone, titled Swans.

Darrell recalls, "I photographed these Trumpeter Swans July 2, at Tern Lake, Alaska, using my iPhone. I did the basic editing of contrast, curves, levels and then cropped to 16x9."

Congratulations, Darrell!

The Photo of the Month is chosen from new and archived photos submitted to Sue Ready, the Club's Facebook Coordinator. Keep sending the best of your work to Sue at suready@yahoo.com so we may continue to showcase the refined capabilities of GVR Photography Club members. Photos should be submitted in .jpg format and please include its title and location. -ed

It’s summertime and the living is easy. The Photography Club is planning late fall and winter activities and should have some definite information to share early in September.

Right now, I'm laid back, feet in the water, sitting on the sand when I should have my camera in hand. So, I’m going to practice what I preach; I’m going to take some time to do a little photography and I encourage you to do the same. Get that camera or phone out and shoot away.  I’ll try to arrange a “Show and Tell” session in the fall where participants can share their “What I Photographed During the Summer” results.

I also have one summer learning experience to suggest. Spend a little time on the repository of all knowledge, YouTube. Search for some photographic topic that piques your interest, watch it, and hopefully learn something new. Try some topics like portraits, composite photography, or landscape photography.

Gene Komaromi, Education Chair

Library News

Our Library is an asset to the GVR Photography Club. It is open the same hours as the Club — currently Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - noon, does not require a library card, has no fines for overdue books, and there are dozens of free magazines.

On the shelves are books in many categories of photography: Black & White Photography, Making Art/Creativity, Composition, Special Collections, Digital, Equipment, IPhone Photography, Lighting, Movie/Video, Nature, Photographers, Portrait, Photoshop, Street Photography, Photojournalism, Software, Studio and Wildlife. Plus, the Miscellaneous shelf houses the books which do not fit into a specific category.

Our library grows with book donations and new purchases. Please help keep our shelves full by returning borrowed books in a timely manner. Thank you.

Becky McCreary, Librarian

This Month's Club Activities

Jump to SIGs

Jump to Travelogue

Jump to Field Trips

Jump to Photo Ops

Jump to Showtime

Jump to Speaker Series

Check the Club Calendar for the latest information on all club activities. Photography Club members are also welcome and encouraged to attend the Club’s monthly Board of Directors meetings. Check the Club Calendar for the date of the meeting and attend in-person at the Club, or remotely by registering using this link. The Board is always interested in comments and new ideas from the members.

Need help with your digital camera, smartphone camera, slide/print scanning, photo printing or a photo editing software application? Photography Club Volunteer Helpers are available to help. Log in to the Club’s website. Click on the three bars at the far right of the home page menu bar and select Volunteer Helpers. Once you've found a helper, scroll down to see their contact email listed. Help is just a few clicks away.

Showtime

Keep Shooting for Next Season

Greetings to all,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, staying cool and talking lots of photos and making videos for next year’s SHOWTIME.

Those of us still here in Green Valley are keeping cool from the 100+ degree temperatures by gathering at the club with our Multi Media SIG and having fun. For those of you not here, we Zoom the SIG on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month. This allows us to help you any way we can to make better videos. You're welcome to join in on the fun.

See you in the fall.

Todd Taylor, Showtime Host

Travelogue

Closed for the Season

Paul McCreary, Travelogue Coordinator

Speaker Series

Starting in November

Kim Holmes, Speaker Series Coordinator

Field Trips

Planning for Next Season

As we get ready to start this season's field trips, I need your help. Last year's success with our many field trips was due to an unbelievably small, but very dedicated group of trip leaders. In order to continue with our record number of trips, we need members to step up and volunteer to lead our field trips.

I have received several new ideas for future field trips. Keep those ideas coming! Our next Field Trip Committee meeting will be in the early part of September to set up next season’s October through May calendar. Watch for the e-Blast

I haven’t forgotten our summer field trips, so watch for an e-Blast shortly.

As always, If you have any questions, ideas for future trips or want to participate in our Field Trip activities, please contact me,

Have a safe and happy summer! See you soon!

 Monica E. Parker, Field Trip Facilitator

Photo Opportunities

Hummingbird Banding at the San Pedro House

• Aug 3,10,17, 24 & 31, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm – Free
• San Pedro House Visitor Center, 9800 East Highway 90, Sierra Vista, AZ
• Find more information here.

Southeast Arizona Birding Festival

• Aug 7-11, times vary - $30 registration plus applicable event fees
• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 445 South Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ
• Find more information here.

Turquoise Trail Walking Tour

• Aug 10, 7:30 am to 10:00 am – $30, registration required
• Presidio San Agustin Museum, 196 North Court Avenue, Tucson, AZ
• Find more information here.

Barrio Viejo (Old Neighborhood) Walking Tour

• Aug 10 & 24, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm – $30, registration required
• El Tiradito Wishing Shrine, 418 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ
• Find more information here and here.

Sunset Historical Film Tours

• Aug 10 & 24, 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm – $20, Reservations required
• Mescal Movie Set, 1538 North Mescal Road, Benson, AZ
• Find more information here.

Second Sundaze at the Tucson Museum of Art

• Aug 11, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm – Pay what you wish, reservations required
• Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, 140 North Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ
• Find more information here.

Vigilante Sunday

• Aug 11 & 25, 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm – Free
• Downtown Tombstone, 311 East Allen Street, Tombstone AZ
• Find more information here and here.

Kartchner Caverns Photo Tour

• Aug 17, 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm - $125, Registration required
• Kartchner Caverns State Park, 9 miles South of Benson on Hwy 90.
• Find more information here.

Celebration of All Things S-cuk Son / Tucson – Tucson’s 249th Birthday Fiesta

• Aug 17, 6:15 pm to 10:00 pm – Free
• Presidio San Agustin Museum, 196 North Court Avenue, Tucson, AZ
• Find more information here.

Bull Riding in Tombstone

• Aug 17, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, pre-show at 6:00 pm - $15
• Shoot-Out Arena, 316 South 3rd Street, Tombstone, AZ
• Find more information here.

We are always looking for recommendations for future photo opportunities. Please feel free to contact me If you have suggestions for upcoming events of interest.

Tom Parker, Photo Op Coordinator

Special Interest Groups are fun and educational. Any member of the Photography Club is welcome to attend any of the SIGs.

Click on any of the links listed to get more information on each one.

Multimedia SIG
Black and White SIG

Studio and Fine Art SIG

On Assignment SIG

Photoshop/Lightroom SIG

Canon R Series SIG

Photoshop Elements SIG

Wildlife Photography SIG

Monitor Notes

Monitors typically welcome and check in club members, answer the phone, and inform those seeking information about the Club. We are all indebted to the dedicated team of monitors who volunteer to keep the Photography Club open. Many thanks to all of you.

We are always looking for additional monitors. Help us provide all the benefits the Club offers to its members. As you take advantage of the Club's activities and its extensive digital processing equipment, consider sharing the effort in providing these services by volunteering as a monitor.  You are not expected to know how to use the equipment. Training takes about three hours.

Contact: gvrcameramonitors@gmail.com for more information.

Photography Items

Wanted

or

For Sale

There are no listings this month.

All items:

• May be placed only by current, past or families of past members.
  
• Must be for used photography related equipment.
  
• Must include your name, or the name of the past member, and contact information.
• Should be submitted to neilwicai@gmail.com.
• Must be placed by the 25th of the month prior to the month of listing.
• Will run for one month, but may be resubmitted up to three times to be listed again.

GVR Photography Club

The GVR Photography Club is one of the largest photography clubs in the U.S. with over 600 active members. Regardless of your skill level, you'll have fun honing your skills in taking, editing, and presenting photos and videos. Share your photographic passion with others. Take FREE courses and join our Special Interest Groups to get the most from your digital camera, smartphone, action camera, or drone. Learn the ins and outs of post-processing software. Use our state-of-the-art equipment to digitize and edit photos, slides, and videos. Go on Club Field Trips to practice your photographic skills. Exhibit your photos/videos at our Showtime and Travelogue events. Come make friends and photographs!

The Club is located on the 2nd floor of the west wing at the Santa Rita Springs GVR Recreation Center. You may contact us at:

PO Box 1423, Green Valley, AZ 85622 or  gvrphotographyclub@gmail.com. 

Neil Wicai, Newsletter Editor - neilwicai@gmail.com - 575-224-1238