October will let each member choose any photo from their collections. The assignment “Members Choice” will be an eclectic collection of photos.
The attached photo is one of my favorites. This sea turtle was just coming of out the water and I got down on the sand to photograph him. I love that he looked right at me. I think Hawaii is my favorite place to photograph. So much to see and do there.
Our October 15th meeting will be in person and on Zoom. Please save the Zoom meeting link that Chuck sends. Put it on your desktop so you have it handy, He does so much and he spends time at meetings sending links to members who can’t find their link. So watch for the meeting link and save it for current and future meetings.
I may be out-of-town for this meeting and if I am the Share and Learn will be run from Dropbox and should be uploaded by 5 PM. I’ll update this if I will be in town.
Good luck reviewing your photos for some favorites to share in October!
Be an “Arm Chair” tourist with our photos from Texas. I’ve uploaded the Share and Learn Gallery for your enjoyment. Thanks to the nine members uploading some of their favorite Texas photos. The header has also been updated with a photo from each member. Zoom participants can also upload photos as Bill Beard did. I was surprised that we did not have more photos from some of our “Texas” activities. Maybe we’ll see more next month as the Share and Learn is “Members Choice”.
If you want current information on the club please review the attached agenda. We are coming to the end of the year but we are not slowing down with our activities. The cooler weather is an opportunity to get out with your cameras and join a group of like-minded members for a fun day together. Check out the agenda for all the particulars for away trips and more local outings. Thanks for supporting your club as you are the club! Have a great month 🙂
August is behind us and we are almost to the final quarter of 2024! Our goal is to make each meeting an event you don’t want to miss! An important part of our club is the Share and Learn activity. This gives members a chance to share an experience, a trip, or a club event that they enjoyed. This month the theme is “Texas Travel Guide”. If you have done any travel in Texas I bet you have a photograph or two that you could upload to share for our meeting.
The attached photo came from a club trip in April of 2016, We visited the area around Fort Stockton, The McDonald Observatory, and Big Bend. That was the first trip for me to photograph the night sky. Below are some of the group: Rob Murphy (husband of Emily Murphy), Dale Barrack, and Helen Dugand (wife of Chuck Dugand) enjoying the beautiful sunset at the Painted Window.
Photos will be added to the PowerPoint so they need to be uploaded by 2 PM Tuesday. As of today, Jim Schepens is the only member in the Share and Learn folder. Looking forward to seeing your Texas Guide Photos! Your photos could be the inspiration for a club road trip!
The landscape photos for June’s assignment did not disappoint. Photos took us across the big pond, across the continental US, and of course Texas! For the header, I’ve uploaded a photo from everyone who shared.
We did have one member who shared for the first time this year: Frank Roberts. Thanks to Frank and all the other members who uploaded photos.
I’ve posted the assignment for the July 16th meeting, “Blooming Flowers”! This should be an easy assignment for everyone.
Happy 4th of July everyone and enjoy the photo Gallery!
We have seen our neighborhoods become littered with downed trees and debris, we had extended power outages and our July meeting was canceled due to the power outage! Life is coming back to normal and our August meeting should be a welcome event. Due to the canceled July meeting the Share and Learn assignment for August is “Blooming Flowers”.
This should be a very popular assignment. Flowers are a favorite subject of our club. Our past club activities have included outings to the Texas Hill Country and local gardens for flower photography. Any photos of those activities would be fantastic. Also, many members have posted photos of their gardens and the flowers at the local arboretums. Even the local nurseries and grocery stores have beautiful flowers to photograph.
Past programs have talked about flower photography and one speaker, Mike Moats is still offering lessons on flower photography. Check his website for his workshops and videos:
Our August 20th meeting is in person and via Zoom. We hope that Mother Nature will spare us any more weather drama but to be safe during Hurricane season I suggest you check our website, Facebook, and your e-mails for any updated meeting changes if weather alerts are broadcast. We will err on the side of caution to keep our members safe.
Photos are due in the club’s Dropbox by 3 PM on August 20th. They will be added to the agenda for the night.
Hoping to see some of your beautiful flower photos in August.
Happy Sunday everyone! The rain has held off for a few hours and hoping my backyard drains a bit more before I head out to my garden.
This month’s assignment is “Landscape with People”, the photo to the right was taken in 2019 along the Florida panhandle with my granddaughter heading to chase the birds. I love that she is airborne, arms outstretched, flying like a bird.
Why would we want to add people to our landscape photos? Below is a screenshot from an article that I’ve linked below
In this photo, I like how she pops against the sand and her reflection mirrors her perfectly. With these assignments, I go back in time to review my old photos and I am so excited to find something like this in my catalog that I had completely forgotten. A forgotten gem?
How many forgotten gems do you think you have in your catalog? If you want some tips on including people in landscape photography the article below should give you something to think about!
Our meeting will be on the 3rd Tuesday, June 18, at Kingwood First Baptist Church, 3500 Woodland Hills Drive. We start at 6:30 pm and meet in the 3rd-floor media room across from the elevator, you can’t miss it. The Share and Learn photos will be added to the Agenda PowerPoint so the deadline for uploading photos is 3 pm Tuesday, June 18th. Upload to the club’s Dropbox and I appreciate your resizing your photos before uploading.
Good luck looking for photos in your catalog or taking your camera out and creating something new. Stay safe and we’ll see you in June!
The agenda is a great resource for what the club has done and plans for future activities and workshops. Three new members have joined so the club continues to grow. This month two activities were featured on the Facebook page. We are coming into the hot months of summer so planned outdoor activities are limited. I have an activity in August to photograph the full moon over the City of Houston on August 19th if the weather cooperates! If you are interested in the June 21st Ship Channel Cruise, there are only 10 tickets available online. For questions please contact Jim Schepens at jlskep@aol.com.
The Cove Craft Beer and Wine was flooded but they saved our photos from the flood. We’ll have an in-person speaker next month, David Valdez. His program will recount his years as The President’s Photographer! Should be interesting. The next meeting will be June 18th, the assignment is “Landscapes with People” and a thank you to the members who shared photos in May.
The May meeting included a fantastic program by our speaker Bryan Hansel. Zooming in from northern Minnesota his presentation included examples of Composition, Additive, and Subtractive. Starting with the simplest scene at your location add one or more compositional elements to bring more interest to the scene. His photos show the process that he follows by walking around and finding additional elements to enhance the photo. Subtractive is just the opposite. You photograph the entire scene then you begin to subtract elements until the composition is the strongest.
Simplicity – Flow – Relationships, how do these all relate in a photo? The first rule of composition: There are no rules, dito for the second rule and the third rule is refer back to rules #1 and #2. He read a quote from Edward Weston “To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.” Three things are needed for a good photo: Simplicity of subject matter; Visual Flow and balance to create direction for your viewer and Relationships between all elements.
Simplicity incorporates shapes, forms, lines, patterns, textures, and colors. Straight lines add energy compared to curved lines that slow the viewer’s eyes and are more calming. Looking for repeating patterns and textures can be regarded as very strong compositional elements. Color can be very impactful. Whether it is a bold single color or a combination of colors. The color wheel can be of great help when dealing with colors
These are some of the color combinations that he talked about with examples of his photography to add emphasis to the subject matter.
Flow is another element to consider. How do you balance a photo, is the visual weight balanced on the left and right sides of the photo? Visual weight will draw your eye like a bright area, a contrasty area, people are weighty and motion. Dark areas hold little weight. As an exercise, take a photo and draw an imaginary line down the middle. Does it feel balanced? A well-balanced photo will help move the eyes of the viewer around the photo.
Relationships include three points in a landscape – foreground, middle, and background. Foreground, what is in front of you, is the introduction to your photograph and the first item that grabs your viewer’s interest. It can help direct the eye to the subject of the photo, the middle, or the background. The height of your tripod can modify the relationship between the foreground and the background. If the background is uninteresting moving closer to the foreground can be more impactful. Focal length can also modify the relationship between foreground and background. Take photos at different focal lengths by zooming in but keeping your foreground in focus to see the effect.
Finally, he talked about Style. Style includes photographing subjects that we like and how we visualize them. As we develop our skills we’ll see repeating patterns in our images and realize that is part of our style. He mentioned that he likes photographing in natural areas and he likes putting a canoe as a foreground element in them. He showed a very early photo that was totally unlike any of his current photos but was a good example of how he has developed his style.
Mike and I attended a Milky Way photo tour with Bryan and he was an excellent teacher, he has lived in MN for decades and knows all the best spots. We were very lucky that the skies cleared so we had beautiful night skies on the shores of Lake Michigan. Below is his information for anyone interested in one of his workshops or signing up for his blog that he e-mails out. He said teaching is a way to give back to his teachers and it motivates him as a photographer. A very nice person and an excellent teacher in a workshop.
Hope to see you all next month! Stay safe and hopefully, we’ll dry out in a few days.
We are now upstairs with plenty of room for members!
Taking advantage of a rainy day to get all my posts uploaded. A good break from all the yard work too.!
The photo to the right was taken on the Club trip to South Dakota. Tim Sullivan was looking up to photograph Crazy Horse and I caught this image behind him.
In addition to uploading the Gallery, I’ve also updated the header with a photo from all participants. I was surprised to hear the number of members that had no photos looking up. So at some point, I’ve made a note to assign a “Looking Down” Share and Learn and maybe there will be more participation. Cleaning my flower beds prompted many “Looking Down” photos of caterpillars and toads.
The “Looking Up” assignment had two new members share their photos: Beth Guide and Michelle Henley. Beth chose photos with a city theme of skyscrapers and clouds. Michelle showed some beautiful night photos. Thank you both for sharing and welcome to the club. Thanks to all the regular members who participated. The Share and Learn is a lovely way to end the meeting with members sharing their photos. This is not a contest so no pressure 🙂
Chris used the Share and Learn to talk about his upcoming Bosque del Apache trip in December. The primary subject of the trip will be the migrating Sand Hill Cranes. He has several photos showing these beauties in flight. The gallery is a mix of aerial feats, ceilings, nature, nighttime skies, birds, vacations, and big balloons. Take a minute to check them out.
The June assignment “Landscapes with People”, more on that in a separate post.
The picture at right was taken when the Blue Angels flew over Kingwood, on May 6, 2020.
Where were you when the Blue Angels flew over Kingwood? One of the pilots grew up in Kingwood. Read more from the Houston Chronicle article below.
All eyes were looking up to track the planes. My settings: 1/1250 sec, f/11, ISO 640, 80mm. I wanted the foreground (the flag) to add another element to the photo. The planes were so high I couldn’t get any more of the flag than I did. As fast as they move you have to be quick!
So “Looking Up” is a very general assignment. At some point maybe we should do “Looking Down”. The subject matter is up to you and I think everyone should have at least one photo that would work.
I plan to be in town so the Share and Learn photos will be added to the Agenda. The deadline for uploading to our Dropbox is 3 PM Tuesday, May 21st. Please resize them. Directions are on our web page. Each month I have to resize photos that are too large for WordPress as a favor to you before adding them to the Gallery. I appreciate your cooperation.
Interesting article below. I love photographing the Blue Angles and they are coming back this year! Maybe it’s time to revisit the CAF Wings over Houston!
Want to know what is going on in our club? Did you attend the meeting but want to review what we talked about? Good news, you can click on the April Agenda and review all the updates for all committees, special activities, and future dates to keep you informed.
Chris said membership is doing great, we are on track to equal last year but he’d like to encourage everyone to help sell our club. Talk to people with cameras about our club, neighbors, and online friends. Doing Zoom meetings adds additional costs that we want to continue to provide. And we can, as long as we keep adding new members. We have a great resource page and they get so much for the minimal fee of $20. Help sell the club, as every member is a plus for us.
Activities calendar is a work in progress and there have been some changes so check it out. For a 5 day out-of-town activity Chris Summers is leading a group to Bosque del Apache, NM the first week in Dec to photograph the Sand Hill Cranes. Contact Chris at Membership@kwphotoclub.com
Jim Schepens will reserve a day in October for a 10 am boat embark for Caddo Lake. Friday is the only day available. More TBD.
The Great American Eclipse has ended and so ends the last of the three eclipses that traversed America since 2017. It is hard to believe that they are completed. I’ve included a few photos from our April Eclipse setup in Johnson City TX. Not total cooperation with the clouds but not a total washout either plus we had wine (Sidoney Cellers), food, and a great location. There are no future solar eclipses for Texas! However, there is a Lunar Eclipse on March 3, 2026, that can be viewed from Houston, and don’t forget the Perseids meteor shower, peaking on August 13th.
Review the agenda and mark your calendars for future events. We’ll see you in May.
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