May 2020 

From the Board

Greetings, Camera Club members.  I hope you’re all staying safe and finding interesting things to do while respecting social distancing during these crazy times.  For those members who will be here in Green Valley through the summer, I wish I could tell you when the club will reopen. I know I’m anxious to get back to our regular club activities.

According to the most recent GVR eblast, “On April 29, the GVR Board will present a plan for reopening the facilities when it is considered safe for the members and staff.  This plan will include general guidelines to be utilized during the reopening process.” 

My personal opinion is that we do not know now, and will not know for some time, enough about Covid-19 to reopen our club.    In addition to getting monitors to work, there will be many precautions that should be taken to make our workspace safe for our members.

The Board will follow the developments, both nationally and locally, to determine when it will be safe to reopen the club for our members.  We will keep you up to date as we venture through the next few months.

Stay safe out there!

Linda Gregory, Interim President

Board of Directors Annual Meeting

The Camera Club Board of Directors held their Annual Meeting for the election of board members on April 16, 2020 via Zoom, in accordance with the current social distancing conditions. The nominated slate of 6 candidates was presented for the 6 open 2-year positions consisting of 4 returning members, John Yeager, Bob Patterson, Kevin Hannah and Mort Spenser, and 2 new members, Julie Howard and Michelle Hamel.

No other nominations were made and the slate was elected unanimously.

The nomination and election of President was tabled until a later time. Linda Gregory volunteered to stand in as Interim President for the summer.

Remembering Franco Iozzi

It is with great sadness that I recently learned that Franco Iozzi, a longtime member of the Camera Club, has passed away. He was a special photographer.

Franco was one of the “Founding Fathers” of the camera club. Way back then, the East Center was home to the Camera Club along with an actual wet darkroom. He and a few others enjoyed developing and printing their own photos.  Then came along the rush to digital cameras and the wet darkroom was turned into a computer darkroom to work on one’s photos.

The last few years and before the TV era, Franco ran the Tuesday morning group that showed “Finished Framed Photos”. He was notorious for pointing out photos that showed electric lines or electric poles coming out of someone’s head!  We still kid about taking out telephone wires in photos because that was Franco’s specialty. To this day we laugh at a power line in a photo, remembering Franco.

Franco’s famous line, known to many, was ”Don’t take the picture - Make the picture”! He will be missed.

Ron Stein

Notes On The Chalkboard

By Gene Komaromi

The Covid Virus has put a temporary stop to the educational activities of the GVR Camera Club. Summer hours will most likely be in effect when facilities reopen so check the Website for activity information.

Some of the Special Interest Groups have been successfully meeting via an online classroom and the meetings have gone well. The Club is seriously considering offering some online classes on a regular basis so members can participate from any location.

The Club is in the process of planning classes for next year. In fact, we’ve already scheduled room assignments for next year’s “Big Photo Class”. Would you like to teach a class? Would you be willing to set up an instructional video? Do you have ideas for an activity? Contact me, become part of the planning process. genek6@gmail.com

This Month's Club Activities

The Camera Club remains closed and all 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.

The Field Trip SIG is going to start featuring one of its field trips in the monthly newsletter. This is the first month for this effort. I am Sue Rock, the Field Trip SIG facilitator. I do arrange a few trips during the season, but that is not my primary job. I will start off writing about one of my trips, and each month others will write about one of the trips they have arranged.

The Lost Barrio (San Antonio Barrio)

Phil and I visited this shopping area in the San Antonio Barrio (named for St Anthony) for the first time many years ago. The shops are inside an old three block brick warehouse. The shopping area might be named the Lost Barrio because St. Anthony is the patron saint of all things lost, credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods. He is also the patron saint for lonely spinsters, the poor, trees, fishermen, boatmen, sailors, shipwrecks, harvests, fish, mules, and other animals. “Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. Something is lost and needs to be found.” Or maybe it got its name because it is not very easy to find. It is tiny and it is hidden.

We have two ancient Chinese chairs in our house that we purchased from one of the import shops on our first visit. When we went to check out the place again in anticipation of the camera club field trip, we were sad to find out that there had been a fire there in Petroglyphs - one of my favorite stores. I heard that they plan to rebuild, if structurally possible. The fire was exactly 1 year ago this month. See the story here.

https://tucson.com/news/local/tucson-firefighters-fight-early-morning-blaze-at-lost-barrio-shopping/article_feec6212-83c7-11e9-94d2-0bef1688ffd1.html

Across the street is the closed Tooley’s restaurant which opened in 1989 and was open for 20 years. It has not been open the last three years that we have visited, but it is still an interesting place to photograph. Wish it was still open. Here is what the owner is up to now.

https://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/patricia-schwabe-talks-about-developing-downtown-with-food-in-mind/article_2d4219ac-f75f-11e5-96b5-cfcad80b053e.html

The Lost Barrio is a great place to photograph unique doors, but these doors are not attached to houses, they are architectural finds that are for sale. They have doors from everywhere, temple doors from Tibet, barn doors from South America and even teak doors from Africa. The shops are fascinating, almost like little museums with stuff from all over the world, and some contain little art galleries. There are plenty of inside and outside architectural details. You might find something you will want to take home with you. It has been known to happen.

There are plenty of photo opportunities walking around the neighborhood too, if you care to explore. The walking is easy and the parking is free. Don’t forget to check out the surprise murals on the back of the warehouse.

Lunch is at the Welcome Diner and is within walking distance. We reserve the back room so we can all be together at a couple of tables. There are many menu choices and the food is farm to table with local affiliations.

The Welcome Diner features the California birthed Googie architecture of Mr. Ronald Bergquist. It expresses a modernism and optimism straight out of 1964, the year the diner was built.  With the architectural collaboration of Welcome’s sister affiliate, Martha + Mary Studio and Repp + McClain Design and Construction, the building was renovated in 2016 to highlight its original intention.  An amazing group of artists and artisans joined in. Look for the installation of original and subsequently remodeled building tiles, the discovered and exposed neon light boxes over the counter, paintings by Jon Haddock and Stephen Cosand, and a Danny Martin drawing collection of foxy/soulful Tucson buildings. Danny Martin is one of the Tucson muralists that is featured on the Camera Club Stone Avenue Mural field trip. Check out the diner here.  http://welcomediner.net/broadway/ourstory

We plan to offer this trip in the fall and again in the winter.  I hope you will join us. Here are my pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/sue.rock.73/media_set?set=a.10216050250671410&type=3

Now come and take your own!

Sue Rock

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
• 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 - Louise Holsworth, 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