December 2021

From the President...

What is an organization that's called a club? It is defined as an association of people united by a common interest or goal. Clubs are developed to facilitate hobbies, sports, social activities, political and religious purposes, etc.

According to our camera club bylaws, we share an interest in photography and many of its related activities. In brief, the purpose of our club is to help members promote and develop photography skills, foster an appreciation and understanding of photography, provide digital post processing equipment, assistance, and training for the common good and enjoyment of its members.

During the past few months in my position as Interim President, and now President, I have seen the generosity of our members contribute to the club’s purpose by leading field trips, leading a Special Interest Group (SIG), arranging for speakers, hosting presentations and classes, serving as monitors, responding to calls to photograph non-camera club community events, or serving in the many other capacities for our club.

Your responses have been overwhelming and heartwarming. I thank each and everyone of you who bring such richness of generosity to our club. Covid-19 has a created many challenges and will yet pose additional challenges for us. But as we look ahead to the coming year, rest assured your board of directors will continue to work diligently for you and look for ways to add value to your membership in these changing times.

As we approach the end of the year and look forward to a better new year, we wish you a great holiday season wherever you may be.

Danny Valenzuela, President

Club Hours Still Limited Through December

Normally the club goes back to normal winter hours starting in November. But whether it's our part time members being slow to return to Green Valley this year or past monitor volunteers retiring, the club still does not have enough monitors to support full day operations.

So again, through December the club will retain summer weekday hours of 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, Monday thru Friday, except on Christmas Eve day and New Years Eve day when the club will be closed for the holidays.

We need your help in expanding the monitor pool so we can maintain a full weekday schedule. Monitoring is a fun activity and helps the Club provide all the benefits that we offer to our members. Typically, monitors welcome and check in club members, answer the phone and inform those seeking information about the Club. You are not expected to know how to use the equipment. Volunteers are trained and paired with experienced monitors while on duty, and instructions and a training video are always available on-line for review.

Whether you're here year around or a snowbird, if you have interest and want to get more involved in the Club, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me here or by phone at 520-207-4364.

Sam Schaen, Monitor Coordinator

Photo of the Month

The December Photo of the Month is by Judi Pollard, titled Snow in Madera Canyon. Catching what looks like first snow is quite fitting for the December POM. Congratulations, Judi.

The Photo of the Month is chosen from the Photo of the Day series published on the Club's Facebook page from the 26th of the previous month to the 25th of last month. Keep sending the best of your work to Judith Pollard at jmp7741@gmail.com.

Take Advantage of Our Library

The Camera Club Library needs you! There is nothing lonelier looking than a full bookcase. Librarians like to see empty spaces on the  shelves.

With well over 200 books on topics from B (Black & White) to W (Wildlife) and 18 subjects in between, there should be something to interest every photographer. Whether you are a beginner, a professional or want to experiment with creative photography, there is always something to learn.

We are extremely fortunate to have classes, SIGs, and field trips, along with monthly Speaker Series, Showtime and Travelogue presentations to share what we have learned. Check out a book and see how its contents might enhance your knowledge and creativity in photography.

Find more on the Club's Library here.

Seasons greetings!

Becky McCreary, Librarian

The GVR Camera Club is ready to start a new season of educational offerings.

The Big Winter Photography Class starting January 6 through March 10  at 1:30 pm will be live in the Camera Club, as well as available on-line via Zoom in 2022. You must be a current Camera Club member to attend.

Registration is now open for both “In Person” and “Online” sessions. Thursday and Saturday sessions will be live sessions only (no Zoom). Wednesday sessions will be the Zoom sessions. Recordings of the Wednesday sessions will be available on YouTube soon after the session. 

Participants should register for a specific class and plan on attending class on the day you registered for. For example, if a participant registers for the Thursday class, they should plan on attending on Thursday each week. Any participant can make up a session via YouTube.

Topics for each session and Instructor hand-outs will be distributed at the first session. The topics will include:

• An Orientation to the GVR Camera Club
• The Basics of Camera Use
• Composition in Photography
• Fine Art and B&W Photography
• Multimedia
• Printing and Mounting Photographs
• An Overview of Photo Editing

In order to participate in this event, you must be a current member of Green Valley Recreation and the GVR Camera Club.

Watch upcoming newsletters and E-blasts for new classes that will be opening early next year. We’ve had several requests for a Phone Photography class, and are looking into using a Creative Live class for this purpose. That class would be “In Person” only due to copyright restrictions.

We’ve also had requests for an Intermediate Photography class and we are looking into using a class by Australian geographic photographer, Chris Bray. Watch for details in the near future.

Last but not least, we’re looking for some volunteers to show some prerecorded presentations at the Club. The volunteers just need to set up a Big TV and show a prerecorded presentation from a flash drive. Contact me if you’re interested.

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 here for the latest information on all club activities.

Travelogue

Tuesday, 12/21 at 7:00 pm

Travelogue is back in the Desert Hills Auditorium! Can't make it to Desert Hills? We will also be on Zoom! Link provided upon registration here.

So far, the December Travelogue will feature:

• Viking Cruise by Sherrie Lucia
• White Pocket and Vermilion Cliffs by Brian and Susan Lavender
• France by Kirk Hively

And possibly more as I receive them.

We are always eager to receive and show your travel programs. If you have a Travelogue to share on the big screen, please contact me, or call me at (970) 596-1505.

Paul McCreary, Travelogue Moderator

Field Trips

2021/2022 Season

The 2021/2022 field trip season is upon us and we have a great list of trips scheduled for our members.

Please note that we've added two new Streetcar Art Tour trips to our schedule.  Join the group, meet some new friends and add to the fun. Find more information and register for one or more of the field trips here or with the links in one of our Field Trip e-blasts.

Photo Opportunities

December is a great month to fine tune your photography skills with plenty of holiday events from which to choose.  For example, you can take the b-r-r-r-r out of your saddle and take in a chili cook-off and car show in Amado, or view a new exhibit at Sculpture Tucson that opens this month. And, of course, it wouldn’t be Arizona without a bit of vigilante action in Tombstone to attend. Take the time, take your camera, take a trip and have fun.

Rotraut Exhibition

• Dec. 1 to Jun. 1 - Tue. to Fri.-10:00 am to 2:00 pm, Sat. 10:00 am to 4:00 pm - Free
• Sculpture Tucson in Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, 3420 E River Rd., Tucson, AZ.
• Find more information here.

Wanderland 

• Dec. 3 to Jan. 2 - Wed. to Sun. - 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm - Fees vary.                            Closed Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Jan.1
• Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Annual Tree Lighting & Holiday Market

• Dec. 3 to Dec 4 - Fri.- 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm, Sat.- 11:00 am to 11:00 pm - Free.
• Veterans Memorial Park, 3105 E Fry Blvd., Sierra Vista, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Luminaries

• Dec. 3 to Dec. 4 - 4;00 pm to 10:00 pm - Free.
• Shops and restaurants in Tubac, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Zoo Lights 2021: Holiday Magic

• Dec. 3 to Dec. 30 - 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Closed Dec. 24 & 25 - Fees vary.
• Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Holiday Nights 2021

• Dec. 10 & 11 and Dec. 17 & 18 - 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm - Fees vary.
• Tohono Chul, 7366 N Paseo del Norte, Tucson, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Chili Cook-Off / Classic Car & Motorcycle Show

• Dec. 11 - 9:00 am to 3:00 pm - Free
• The Amado Territory, 3001 Frontage Road, Amado, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Tombstone's Annual Christmas Light Parade

• Dec. 11 - 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Free
• Allen Street, Tombstone, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Forth Avenue Winter Street Fair

• Dec. 10 to Dec. 12 - 10;00 am to Dusk - Free.
• Historic Fourth Avenue, Tucson, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Winterhaven Festival of Lights

• Dec. 11 to Dec. 26 - 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm - Free.
• Winterhaven neighborhood, Tucson, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Vigilante Sunday

• Dec. 12 - 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm - Free.
• Allen Street, Tombstone, Arizona
• 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

Showtime

Monday 12/13 at 7:00 pm

SHOWTIME is back for a new season with real in-person live presentations, and possibly on-line via Zoom as well. We were planning to be on the big screen at Desert Hills, but we're also still considering presenting in the Anza room. Although we're still working out the details of the venue and the on-line option, a follow-up email will give you the details soon.

Our premier presentation will be a great collection of our members multimedia talents:

• A Quiet Time – Sarah Warnes
• Color Masking – Kevin May
• Lauren Bruner Internment – Bob Puttock
• Signs – Jerry Marrion
• The Ostrich Farm – Sherrie Lee Lucia
• El Tour Comes to Green Valley – Chuck Hill
• Scavengers Revisited
• Tumacacori Christmas – Holly Chorba

And remember, in order to have a successful SHOWTIME this season, or any SHOWTIME at all, we need your programs to show.  So get to work. Take your photos from your favorite field trip and make them into a slide show. Show us how you spent your summer, anything at all will do. I know you can do it. Contact me if you have a program for SHOWTIME.

Chuck Hill, Showtime Coordinator

Speaker Series

Thursday, 12/16 at 2:00 pm

Kevin May

Presented live in the Anza Room

and

On-line via Zoom

The success of last month’s hybrid Speaker Series presentation, thanks to Bryan and Susan Lavender, Phil Rock, Gene Komaromi, our MC, and our speakers Barb Woolard and Holly Chorba, and of course the Snack Elves, means we can do it again and even better!

Kevin May will be speaking live in-person in the Anza room. Kevin is a GVR Camera Club member who contributes frequently to the teaching and learning that goes on here, but is not seen as often as we’d like. That’s because he works as a commercial/industrial photographer who travels throughout the world for his clients. Although based right here in Green Valley, he’s often all over the U.S. shooting for his clients.

Kevin graduated from Bradley University in 1985 with a degree in photojournalism and worked for six years as an assistant at a commercial photography studio. He left the studio in April of 1990 to work for himself and has been doing so ever since.

Kevin says, “Here’s the bottom line, photography isn’t brain surgery! It’s supposed to be fun and it’s also about getting kick ass images, I try to do both!”

You may attend in-person and enjoy his live presentation, or join us via Zoom at 2:00 pm Arizona time. Either way, you can register for the presentation here. The Zoom link will be sent with the confirmation to your registration. Just remember to mute your sound whether watching via Zoom or in-person! The microphones in the Anza Room pick up a lot of gnashing of teeth and secrets being whispered!

Happy Trails,

Holly Chorba, Speaker Series Coordinator

Special Interest Groups are fun and informative. Any member of the Camera Club is welcome to attend any of the SIGs. Not all are meeting in-person yet. Details below.

• Multimedia SIG - Grace Pitzer, moderator.
• Learn what it’s all about. Bring your video project to share for comments & suggestions.
  
• Second and Forth Mondays @ 10:00 am - Meetings are online via Zoom. Register here on the GVR website to join and get the Zoom link to attend.

• Black and White SIG - Wendell Werner, moderator.
• Members bring their images to examine the special qualities of monochrome photography and share editing techniques in composition and lighting.
• Tuesdays @ 9:30 am - Meetings are in-person at the club and online via Zoom. Register here on the GVR website to join and get the Zoom link to attend.

• Studio and Fine Art Photography SIG - Sandy Ostroff, moderator.
• Explore new techniques and broaden your skills.
  
• Monday's @ 1:30 pm - Meetings are online via Zoom. Register here on the GVR website to join and get the Zoom link to attend.

• Hit me with Your Best Shot SIG - Pat Caniff, moderator.
• Bring five examples of your best efforts to show.
  
• Thursdays at 1:00 pm - Meetings suspended until further notice.

• Photoshop/Lightroom SIG - Al Crawford, Moderator.
• Study techniques found in Photoshop CS and Lightroom that are not found in other photo processing tools.
• Wednesdays @ 9:30 am - Meetings are in-person at the club and online via Zoom. Register here on the GVR website to join and get the Zoom link to attend.

• Field Trip SIG - Sue Rock, moderator.
• Plan, arrange, guide and advertise field trips.
• Wednesdays @ 4:00 pm - Not meeting during the summer break.

• Photoshop Elements SIG - Linda Gregory, moderator.
• Learn how to use Photoshop Elements post processing on your photos.
• Thursdays @ 9:30-11:00 am - Meetings are online via Zoom. Register here on the GVR website to join and get the Zoom link to attend. Participants have the option to send a few photos to Linda in an email for processing here. Submit at least one day prior to the SIG. Put "Elements SIG" in the subject line and describe what you want improved. 

• Bird Photography SIG - Mike McMinn, moderator.
• Improve your bird photography skills and share your best shots.
• Wednesdays @ 1:30 pm - Meetings are online via Zoom. Register here on the GVR website to join and get the Zoom link to attend.

• Rebel Rousers SIG - Al Crawford, Moderator.
• Share your interest in Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras.
• Fridays @ 9:30 am - Meetings are online via Zoom. Register here on the GVR website to join and get the Zoom link to attend.

Camera Club Library

The Camera Club library shelves are full of photography related books for members to borrow. Subjects include tips and techniques, software, photographers, black & white photos, lighting, studio photography, IPhone techniques, landscape and wildlife shots, and many, many more.

Books may be checked out for three (3) weeks and renewed another three weeks if no one is waiting for the book.  We also have older magazines to enjoy. Stop by and browse the shelves!

Also, if you have books that were checked out before we closed for Covid-19, please return them to the library. Please contact me if you have questions.

Becky McCreary, Librarian

Monitor Notes

Help us provide all the benefits the Club offers to its members by volunteering as a monitor. 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.

Monitors typically welcome and check in club members, answer the phone, and inform those seeking information about the Club. You are not expected to know how to use the equipment. Training takes about an hour. Review our Monitor training video here.

Contact: gvrcameramonitors@gmail.com for more information.

Green Valley Recreation Camera Club

The GVR Camera Club was established in the early 1970’s as one of many Green Valley Recreation organizations to serve its members and our community. Our main interest is photography, both still and video imaging. The Club has grown into one of the largest camera clubs in the country with over 750 active members.

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 gvrcameraclub@gmail.com. 

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