November 15 Program: Photographing Alaska’s Aurora Borealis and more

Our speaker this month is Barbara Eddy. In 1990 she began her career as a nature photography workshop and seminar instructor. Her photography travels have taken her all over the world leading photographers to Africa, Antarctic, the Galapagos, Ecuador, the Falklands, Scotland, Canada, Japan and, of course, locations all over North America.

Barbara is an award-winning photographer who has co-authored six nature photography “how-to” books and has been published around the world in such prestigious publications as National Geographic, in calendars, books and greeting cards.  

On Tuesday, November 15, she will share one of her photography expedition locations, Alaska. She is still amazed at the diversity found within the wilds of this northern frontier. Barbara will share her techniques for capturing the magic of the aurora borealis. She says it’s not difficult to photograph the dance of the northern lights and will highlight what she finds helpful in planning and preparation, as well as camera settings. Barbara will also share some websites that she finds useful for aurora predictions and alerts. And will also discuss helpful ways to find clear skies which are necessary for viewing and photographing the auroras.

After sharing tips and tricks of making magical images of the spectacular phenomena of the northern lights, Barbara will share some images from around Alaska to illustrate what can be seen and photographed during different seasons, locations, and weather conditions. Barbara hopes this program will encourage you to make a trip to this spectacular part of the planet. 

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October 18 Program:  UNDER THE SURFACE

Photography underground and underwater

Erich Schlegel

Erich Schlegel is an award-winning freelance photographer based in Austin. Erich was born in Mexico to American parents and grew up speaking English and Spanish while growing up throughout Latin America. He received an international business degree from SMU, but his passion for photography led him to a career in photojournalism. Erich was staff photographer at The Brownsville Herald, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, then The Dallas Morning News. While at the DMN, his assignments ranged from high school football to Winter and Summer Olympics, long documentary projects and conflicts around the world.

In 2008, Erich left The Dallas Morning News to pursue a successful freelance career, and ever since, his client base changes constantly. Current clients include Texas Highways magazine, Austin Opera, USA Today Sports, Texas Water Foundation, Colorado River Land Trust and the Edwards Aquifer Authority. He has also done several assignments for National Geographic magazine, including documenting a source-to-sea paddling expedition on the Amazon River in 2012.

Recently, Erich has been working underground and underwater. Caving and underwater photography for different clients. This is the focus of his presentation, and both are amazing worlds that he is looking forward to sharing with our club!

Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin dives from the surface at Gladden Spit Marine Reserve off the coast of Placencia, Belize. The dolphin has shark bite marks around its head. Photo by Erich Schlegel
Dr. Molly Cummings of the University of Texas at Austin fishes underwater for small grouper around the supports of an offshore oil rig in Gulf of Mexico, east of Port Aransas, Texas. The fish will be used for research on underwater camouflage. Photo by Erich Schlegel

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September 20 Program: Think Tank Photo

Need? Want? Thinking about something? Didn’t know you needed? Wow, that is neat! This just might be for you!

Ted Meister, Marketing Director and Matt Fabiano, Content Director with Think Tank Photo will be giving an overview of just a few different types and style of products available at Think Tank Photo.  See & hear about a variety of camera carry solutions such as Rollers, Backpacks, Shoulder bags/Slings and their Modular Belt System. 

In addition, we are happy to announce that members in attendance will have the opportunity to win a Vision 13 Shoulder Bag donated by Think Tank! 

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Let’s SHOP ! ! !

Did you know that the club is a participant in a special program with Think Tank and MindShift?  With the Think Tank Affiliate Program receive a free gift when you purchase at least $50 of gear & free ground shipping using our special links and codes. 

Our special link is located on our website under the NEWS tab.  Scroll down, make note of the associated discount code, click on the Think Tank or MindShift logo and shop!  With each purchase through our special links, the club will be credited with a 20% commission of the sale.  Commissions are paid out to the club 3 times a year – January, May & September. 

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August 16 Program: The Properly Equipped Macro Photographer

Being a properly equipped macro photographer is not just about the equipment, but also equipping yourself with the how-to knowledge of macro photography. Mike will cover the most important equipment for macro photography, how to control depth of field, composition, and finding character in your subjects. 

Mike Moats is an international award-winning full time pro macro photographer from Michigan.  He is a Tamron Image Master, Vanguard Pro, and his articles and images have been published in many photo magazines for over 16 years.  He has a Macro Photo Club online with over 2,400 members, from 27 countries.  Mike teaches workshops and speaks at photo conference throughout the US.

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July 19 Program: Photographing Birds in Costa Rica

Professional photographer, instructor, guide, and consultant Ruth Hoyt presents her original program, “Photographing Birds in Costa Rica,” for the Kingwood Photo Club on Tuesday, July 19, 2022.

Ruth Hoyt is not only a professional photographer and guide but a photography teacher for 30+ years and Texas Master Naturalist and Certified Interpretive Guide for 10+ years. An active Outdoor Writers’ Association of America member, she writes her “Set Up for Success” column for the Journal of Wildlife Photography.

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Fracture – Follow up from June’s Monthly Meeting Program

During last Tuesday’s program, our speaker, Sarah Seeser with Fracture, said she would share a couple of videos about Fracture in case anyone was interested in learning more.

Here are the links:

Packaging Video

Fracture’s 1 Millionth Print

Fracture Workshop Tour

Fracture’s New Facility


In addition, Sarah consulted with a Customer Support Teammate and sent the following response to a question asked by Dianne Binnie.

  • Question: “Different paper requires different icc profiles for printing.  I have to use color management when editing to determine if the colors are what I intend.  Since this is printed directly on glass, I am wondering how I would check that in adobe color management when processing my image?”
  • Fracture’s response: “Pinning down how colors will turn out on glass is a tricky art. There’s no exact set of guidelines for adjusting color; glass is one medium that’s very difficult to color profile like normal non-transparent materials (i.e. paper), so there’s no specific color profile that’s 100% accurate across the board. Typically, we’re unable to print neons or metallics. All files should be profiled with RGB for the best output. I usually err on the side of having more contrast, especially around finer details- Fracture prints will typically print lighter where there are a lot of highlights. If you’d like to tweak an image before uploading, I’d suggest heightening contrast in areas with a lot of details and increasing saturation in areas lit by strong lighting (especially on faces). As for color, keep in mind that vivid, deeper colors are preferable for subjects since they come out more clearly defined.”

I hope this helps your group.  If anyone has other detailed questions or would like more information about this answer, they can contact our support team directly via support@fractureme.com.  

Sarah Seeser, Executive Business Partner

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June 21 Program: Fracture

Fracture is an Internet-based photo finishing service. Fracture’s main service is printing photos directly onto glass. The company is based in Gainesville, Florida.

Today, we take hundreds of photos that never see the light of day.  Everything about the way that we capture and share our digital photos has changed over the past two decades. With the explosion of smartphone usage, suddenly everyone has a high-quality digital camera on them virtually at all times. As a result, we’re taking more photos than ever—nearly 1.5 trillion every year and counting.  So maybe it is time to print a few!

A Fracture glass print is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Unlike traditional printing methods, printing digital images directly onto glass ensures that they go from the moment itself, to your camera roll, to your wall without losing a single detail. 

Sarah Seeser, Executive Business Partner at Fracture, will walk us through how Fracture’s sustainable and environmentally-friendly printing process has changed the way we think about displaying our stunning photos in our homes, businesses, and anywhere in between.

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May 17 Program: Macro Photography of Jumping Spiders (and more!)

Salticidae, the family of jumping spiders, is the most species-rich family of spiders. Their extreme diversity and beauty can serve as an effective gateway to arachnid-acceptance and teaching the important role spiders play in ecosystems all over the world. In this presentation, our speaker will go over their approach to finding and photographing them, how they see, how they hunt, and more! Not only will the presentation be about his work with salticids, it’ll be full of macro-photography advice applicable to anyone interested in close-up photography in the field!

Our speaker, Thomas Shahan, is an artist and photographer based out of Oklahoma, United States, who utilizes his background in printmaking to bring a creative approach to high-magnification macrophotography. He has worked as an imaging specialist for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, a video game artist, and a book illustrator.

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art from the University of Oklahoma, his photographs have appeared in National Geographic, national television programs, and museums throughout the world. Despite an interest in all fields of entomology, his passion lies with arachnids, specifically salticids.

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April 19 Program: Mike Mezeul II – Documenting the Beauty of Tornado Alley

Mike Mezeul II is an extreme nature and landscape photographer based out of Dallas, Texas. His work focuses on documenting the power and beauty within the world’s most powerful natural events, focusing primarily on severe weather and volcanoes. When he is not on a project or assignment, he spends his time leading workshops around the world in which he shares his passion for photography through inspiring and educating individuals of all ages and skill levels. To view his portfolio and most recent work, please visit  www.mikemezphotography.com.

In this presentation, come join Mike as he shares the stories behind the
images from the past 20 years of documenting some of nature’s most powerful thunderstorms. He will discuss how he safely approaches storms, photographic techniques, and why he travels over 10,000 miles each year documenting storms.

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March 15 Program: Shades of Gray: The Art of Black & White Photography

Brittany Colt grew up in the state of Washington where the rolling fields and deep pine forest were her playground. Being born blind in one eye motivated her to photograph the beautiful scenery that was set before her. Eyesight was something that she never took for granted. It helped Brittany value her ability to recognize and capture those fleeting moments of life.

Brittany first found her passion for photography at age ten while on a family vacation in the Olympic National Forest located in the state of Washington. Her passion for the art form grew exponentially, along with developing a strong desire of capturing more intimate subjects. The way Brittany “sees” is unique and has helped shape her photographic style.

Brittany’s creative journey began by photographing landscapes and continued further into the applications of portraiture and wedding photography. This led to her establishing a photography company in 2012, while also working in the Film Industry in Portland, Oregon. In 2016, Brittany started a formal degree program in Graphic Design. These combined experiences in Graphic Design and the Film Industry helped mold and influence her attention towards light, color and composition in her work.

In 2018 Brittany developed an additional interest in teaching photography and started working as a Staff Photographer for The Ansel Adams Gallery (TAAG) and is currently the Education Coordinator for TAAG. Brittany loves to challenge her students and expand their minds, not only technically, but creatively as well. Working in a national park and The Ansel Adams Gallery has combined her passion for being in the great outdoors, teaching photography, and photographing the wilderness of Yosemite.

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