November 2021

From the Board...

I remember when I first joined the camera club and attended field trips and SIG meetings. I was uncomfortable because I didn't know anyone. I was concerned about how I could contribute to a world of top-notch photographers. But members welcomed me with open arms and made me feel comfortable. I quickly learned what a talented and welcoming group of members we had.

Covid-19 has certainly had a negative impact on our club and how we interact with each other. What I think is important as we are now about to start meeting in person again, as well as electronically, is that we might need to get reacquainted. This can be true with friends we haven’t seen in a while, other members we don’t know and with new members as well.

As we move forward with expanding our field trips and meeting person-to-person for our SIG’s and other events, take the time to get better reacquainted with each other. I especially ask you to make new members feel welcome. Oftentimes we tend to socialize with those we know and forget to welcome those who are new or alone. Reach out to someone you don't know and you might realize you how much you have in common. We will be a better club because of it.

Maintaining friendships is important for physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Having good friends within the club does not just benefit those members, but it also results in a stronger and more united club for all.

Stay safe and stay well.

Danny Valenzuela, Interim President

Travelogue and Speaker Series

Premier This Month

Jump to Travelogue

Jump to Speaker Series

Club Hours Still Limited Through November

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. With the exception of scheduled event presentations, through November the club will retain summer weekday hours of 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, Monday thru Friday.

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 November Photo of the Month is by Pam Farra, taken on a Camera Club field trip to the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch at Picacho Peak. Is that a branch or a hand that wants to grab me? Congratulations, Pam.

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.

New Books to Borrow

November happens to be Read a New Book Month. Just in time, some new titles were added to the library in October including photography books donated by Edward Lopez. In addition, I purchased three new books:

• Photography Rules: Essential Dos& Don’ts from Great Photographers
• Phone Photography for Everybody: Black & White Landscape Techniques
• Phone Photography for Everybody: iPhone App Techniques — Before & After

We are lucky to have a large library of resources for Camera Club members. Please take advantage of it.

And if you hear of or see a book that would be valuable for our photographers, please let me know.

Find more on the Club's Library here.

Becky McCreary, Librarian

As Bob Dylan told us in the 60’s, “The Times They Are a-Changin’.“ Indeed, the Covid virus has forced changes on the GVR Camera Club, and most likely there will be more changes to come.

The Camera Club’s SIGs have done remarkably well using on-line participation via Zoom, with great attendance and meaningful activities. Our Special Interest Groups are the most powerful educational tool that the Club has.

In addition to that the Club’s popular and well attended Big Ten Week Winter Class is currently being planned. We have the dates and some of the instructors lined up with details to be finalized within the next few weeks. But there seems to be one small bug in the ointment.

Our members seem to be enjoying the “Learn from Home” system far too much. It’s so easy to stay in PJ’s and sip some coffee while relaxing in your easy chair. Attendance is down at the Club’s facilities and the Club is even experiencing difficulty getting members to volunteer as monitors to keep the doors open.

The Club now has the ability to present hybrid (both in-person and on-line) classes with varying levels of complexity. But again the lack of volunteers is a problem. We’ve had one member volunteer to do some training on basic photographic skills, but we need a few more volunteer instructors to complete the class schedule.

So, do you have a skill that you could share? You don’t need to be concerned about dealing with the hybrid equipment, we’ll take care of that. Contact me and we can discuss the possibilities. Let’s see if we can get some changes back to attendance at the Club. With a little patience, we will succeed.

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 Season Premier

Tuesday, 11/23 at 7:00 pm

It's a new season and a new venue for Travelogue! The first travelogues of the 2021-2022 season will be held at Desert Hills GVR Auditorium on November 23rd at 7 pm Arizona time. Can't make it to Desert Hills? We will also be on Zoom! Link provided upon registration here.

We will take you around the world. The Travelogues featured will be :

• Machu Picchu by Patty Ferguson
• Belle Italia by Wendell Werner
• Trip to Svalbard-Looking for Polar Bears by Marilyn Gaizband and Sam Schaen
• Southwest Skies by Paul and Becky McCreary

If you have a Travelogue to share on the big screen, please contact me here, 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.

Trips highlighted below in yellow are getting close and need more registrants. 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.

November Photo Opportunities

Welcome back, fall and winter residents from the north! You're just in time for a fun filled November. Get out and enjoy!

Dia de los Muertos (All Souls Day)

• November 2 - 6:00 pm-8:30 pm - Free 
• Tumacacori National Park, Tumacacori, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Tucson Celtic Festival and Highland Games

• November 5-7 - Gate opens: Fri.-5:00 pm - Sat./Sun.- 8:00 am - Fees vary.
• Rillito Raceway Park, 4502 N 1st Ave., Tucson
• Find more information here.

Tubac Festival of Lights

• November 5-12 - 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm - Free
• Tubac, Arizona
• Find more information here.

Empire Ranch Cowboy Festival

• November 6-7 - 10:00 am-4:00 pm - Free
• Empire Ranch, north of Sonoita, Arizona (Get map and directions on website)
• Find more information here.

All Souls Procession

• November 7 - 6:00 pm - Free
• Assembling on Grand Ave. south of Speedway Blvd., Tucson
• Find more information here.

Tubac Fine Art and Wine Fiesta

• November 26-28 - 9:00 am-5:00 pm - Free
  
• Tubac, Arizona
• Find more information here and here.

Patty Ferguson, Photo Op Coordinator

Showtime

Starting in December

Camera Club SHOWTIME will be coming soon to a theater near you starting in December. Unlike last season when it was all virtual, this season it will actually be real at the Desert Hills auditorium . And possibly, they might be hybrid presentations, also streamed live, as many of us have gotten used to enjoying SHOWTIME from afar.

There will be a one-time schedule change for the month of December.  We will be meeting on the second Monday, December 13th, instead of the first Monday as we usually do.

And remember, in order to have a successful SHOWTIME this season, or any SHOWTIME at all, we need your programs to show.  As of right now there are zero programs in the queue for the December event.  Yes, the well is dry.  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. We need about eight or so programs. I know you can do it. Contact me here if you have a program for SHOWTIME.

Chuck Hill, Showtime Coordinator

Speaker Series Premier

Thursday, 11/18 at 2:00 pm

Holly Chorba

Hybrid Presentations and Meetings

and

Photographic Formats for Thank You Missives

This presentation will be held both in-person and on-line via Zoom. It also serves as our monthly Member Meeting and Danny Valenzuela, our interim president, will host the meeting with announcements and introductions in-person in the Anza Room.

Unfortunately, Kevin May, our speaker for November, had to postpone his scheduled presentation this month due to a still active photography career. But fear not! The November Speaker Series will still be presented with yours truly as speaker via Zoom.

My presentation will include discussion on hybrid (in-person and virtual via Zoom) meeting activities and the contributions of the Multi-Media Special Interest Group that made hybrid meetings happen. In addition I'll discuss photographic formats that can be used as Thank You missives, and I'll also take questions at the end of the presentation.

Join us in the Anza Room for this first hybrid presentation, or register here to view it all from the comfort of your home via Zoom.

I am still scheduling speakers for the rest of the 2021/2022 season. Contact me if you would like to present or know of a speaker you would like to hear.

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 every other Tuesday (Except for 11/2 - on-line only at 1:30 pm). 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