July 2020 

From the Board

Greetings, Camera Club members, wherever you are!  I hope you are all staying safe and sane after three months of quarantine or at least greatly reduced socializing. 

For those of you who are here in Green Valley, you may be wondering when GVR will give the go-ahead to open the club facilities with dedicated spaces.  GVR has provided no indication when this may happen, and actually I believe this is a good thing.  Covid-19 cases continue to escalate and even if GVR gave us the go-ahead, we would not open the club as long as the cases are still rising.  A second wave (we’re still in the first) isn’t due for another three months or so.  Our commitment as your board is to keep your facilities safe for the members and we intend to do that.

In the meantime, Gene Komaromi continues facilitating the Multi-Media SIG and Sandy Ostroff's Fine Arts and Photoshop SIG via Zoom.  Those who have participated in these SIGs tell me that they are very happy with the job these two men are doing to keep them involved.  Well done, both of you.

Kudos to Marilyn Luehrmann who alerted us to the possibility that our printers may need some service during the shutdown due to the lack of use.  Special permission to attend to the printers was obtained to enter the club to perform any maintenance necessary.  Thank you, Marilyn, for your always-amazing attention to detail.

I also want to applaud our new newsletter editor, Neil Wicai, for working hard to create a newsletter all members should want to read, even during the club shutdown.  He has come up with some excellent ideas to make the newsletter entertaining as well as informative.  Great job, Neil.

See below for the Call for Scavenger Hunt Photos, a fun activity that can be accomplished during this continuing shutdown to keep you involved in the club, no matter where you are. I hope your cameras haven’t been collecting dust.

I hope everyone is staying smart and safe.  It will help in reducing the number of Covid-19 cases, and assist in reopening our camera club facilities.

Linda Gregory, Interim President

Photo of the Day Response

We were thrilled by the response to the Facebook Photo of the Day article in last month’s newsletter. Many camera club members new to Photo of the Day submitted photos. Thank you all for contributing.

For those of you who are new to submitting photos, please keep in mind that because of liability issues, the club cannot publish your family member or personal pet photos on Facebook. Send us photos that show off your learned photo expertise. Remember you are displaying your camera and photo editing capabilities, as well as promoting the Camera Club’s image. Often simple photo editing techniques like adjusting lighting and exposure, cropping to improve composition and deleting unwanted distractions in the image will turn just a picture into a prize winning photograph.

Don’t be discouraged if your photos don’t show on Facebook immediately. Publishable photos are drawn randomly each day. Keep sending the best of your work to Judith Pollard at jmp7741@gmail.com.

With such great member interest we are going one step further and establishing a Photo of the Month series below as a continuing feature in the newsletter.

Photo of the Month

The July Photo of the Month is by Linda Gregory taken at one of the White Stallion Ranch field Trips. Great shot, Linda!

The Photo of the Month is chosen from the Photo of the Day series published on Facebook 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.

Dust From The Chalkboard

This summer the Camera Club is deep in Lesson Planning. Here’s a quick look into the Club’s Crystal Ball, to present a vision of what may take place next season.

Ooh... I see more online classes. Two of the Club’s SIGs have been successfully meeting on Zoom this summer. A couple of members have developed their Zoom skills to a level where we may be able to train some other facilitators.

Oh, now there’s a shimmering in the Crystal Ball for The Annual Ten Week Class.  I see 5 weeks of basic instruction followed by 5 weeks of workshops on interesting topics. Class participants will be able to attend workshops on topics like, Photoshop Elements, Composition, Macro Photography, IPhone and Android Photography in a combination of online and classroom sessions. The basics may include a club orientation, camera basics, composition and more.

If you have any suggestions for classes you would like to attend this winter, drop me a note at genek6@gmail.com. The Crystal ball is still glowing......

Gene Komaromi, Educational Chair

Call for Photos

Let’s have some fun!  While you’re dealing with the pandemic, I hope you’re documenting your activities, whether it’s getting out to do some birding or enjoying nature, staying in your house with your significant other or pet, or simply enjoying your home and surroundings.  These activities, or lack thereof, could make a terrific slideshow.  So how about contributing to the Stuck at Home Slideshow I’d like to put together for the next Showtime, whenever that is.

This is what you need to do.  Select photos that represent the theme and make sure they are large enough to show well on our large screen at Desert Hills.  They should be about 1M or bigger.  I’m sure a lot of you are taking photos with your cell phone, but I’ve learned that sometimes the files aren’t large enough to show well.  How do you know how big they are?  If you put them on the computer, you can hover your mouse over them and the size will show along with the date the photo was taken. 

Then change the file name--usually a number like IMG654--to your name first and the title of the photo.  How do you do that?  If they’re on the computer, you can click on the file name to turn it blue, then type in the requested information.  It would then look like “Linda Gregory-Birds bathing.”

You should send them to me at lsgregaz@gmail.com by August 31 at 5pm.   Then I’ll put them together in a slideshow for the next Showtime.

By the way, short videos are accepted, too.  They add a lot to a slideshow with mostly still images.

I look forward to seeing what you’ve all been up to during this very crazy time.

Linda Gregory, Scavenger Hunt Facilitator

This Month's Club Activities

The Camera Club remains closed and in-person club activities remain suspended in accordance with the latest government and GVR guidelines regarding the still evolving Covid-19 pandemic. We value the health and safety of all our members and encourage you to stay safe and sensible during these trying times.

Please check the club calendar at http://dev.gvcameraclub.org for the latest information on future club activities.

Field Trip Review of the Month

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch

The camera club took a field trip to Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch in January of 2016. Recently, two new members of the Field Trip SIG, Linda Dorosh and Chuck Gremel, suggested we do that again. They wrote,

“Linda and I are proposing doing a field trip to the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch.  Have we done one there before?

The ranch is approximately 68 miles away, a little over an hour drive.  Admission for groups is the standard $12 but with $3 of feed thrown in which includes additional entry into Stingray Bay, you get both for no additional charge.  Typical visitors spend one to two hours roaming.  Danna from Cogburn’s says they get many photo groups and they typically stay longer.

Besides approximately 1,000 ostriches, there are deer, ducks. donkeys, stingrays and more!  They are located at the foothills of Picacho Peak offering many additional photo opportunities.

Lunch options are best be explored separately.  Though we understand there is a large shaded picnic area with vending machines, a possible catering of a mega sub from Subway or perhaps stopping back along the highway toward the valley.”

On the 2016 field trip we toured the ranch in a monster truck, seeing the ostrich nests and eggs and hay barns, learning about desert plants and animals and feeding the ostriches oranges with a fishing pole. Afterwards, we were given food to feed the donkeys, goats, deer, sheep, ostriches, parakeets, rainbow lorikeets, bunnies, ducks and stingray. They have tortoises, too. We stopped for lunch afterward at Dairy Queen across the highway. Picnic tables were available, if you wanted to bring your own lunch, which we did when we brought the grandchildren later. My photos of the 2016 field trip there can be found here.

A wonderful detailed review of the ranch on the Roadside America website can be found here.

We should definitely consider the Ostrich Ranch as a destination when the club’s activities open again.

Enjoy!

Sue Rock, Field Trip Facilitator

Special Interest Groups are fun and informative. Any member of the Camera Club is welcome to attend any of the SIGs. No need to sign up, just come on in.

When the Club reopens from the current closures, the SIGs will be meeting as listed below. Not all SIG's meet during the Summer months. Some are meeting on-line during the closures.

• Multimedia SIG - Doug Stenerson, moderator.
• Kino room - Mondays @ 9:30 am - Summer meetings are on-line. Send email to genek6@gmail.com to get on the mailing list.
• Learn what it’s all about. Bring your video project to share for comments & suggestions.

• B&W SIG - Wendell Werner, moderator.
• Ansel Adams room - Mondays @ 9:30 am
• Who knew black and white could be so complicated?

• Studio and Fine Art Photography SIG - Sandy Ostroff, moderator.
• Kino room - Monday's @ 1:30 pm - Summer meetings are on-line. Send email to gvrphotoartsig@gmail.com to get on the mailing list.
• Explore new techniques and broaden your skills.

• Hit me with Your Best Shot SIG - Jerry Marrion, moderator.
• Kino room - Tuesdays at 9:30 am
• Bring five examples of your best efforts to show.

• Photoshop/Lightroom SIG - Al Crawford, Moderator.
• Wednesdays @ 9:30 am
• Study techniques found in Photoshop CS and Lightroom that are not found in other photo processing tools.

• Field Trip SIG - Sue Rock, moderator.
• Ansel Adams room - Wednesdays @ 4:00 pm starting in October 2020
• Plan, arrange, guide and advertise field trips.

• Photoshop Elements SIG - Linda Gregory, moderator.
• Kino room - Thursdays @ 9:30-11:00 am
• Learn how to use the magic of Photoshop Elements post processing on your photos.

• Birds SIG - Mike McMinn, moderator.
• Kino room - Thursdays @ 1:30 pm
• Celebrate and share your best shots of our feathered friends.

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 check in club members, answer the phone, and welcome those seeking information about the Club. You are not expected to know how to use the equipment. Training takes about an hour.

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 GreenValleyCameraClub@wildapricot.org 

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