Tag: resources

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Photographing the Annular Solar Eclipse – Chapter 1

I am getting ready for the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14th. I could not do the Library Series so I’m sending out Chapters on how to photograph the coming eclipse. You probably think you’ve seen more of the sun than you’d like the 100+ days are not for the faint at heart but I’d like one more on October 14th!

The attached PDF has the first chapter that discusses filters and locations that you need to consider now. The filters still seem to be in good supply and San Antonio should have enough hotel choices for you. I’ve also included resource links for more in-depth information. I’ve found that YouTube has increased the number of videos on photographing this eclipse. A month ago there were very few. Any of them should help you with planning and photographing. The next chapter will come out next week and will discuss setting up, camera settings, using a star tracker to track the sun, and anything else that I think will help. The star tracker is a new piece of equipment for me so I’m still in a learning stage. Mike is the expert. I’ll also discuss our experience with the total eclipse in 2017.

As I said, I have been getting out to practice – thus the photo of the sun from my driveway taken yesterday between clouds. After the second chapter is published I’ll set a time and date for checking my equipment at Lake Houston along Scenic Shores and let it be open for any who wish to watch and if you bring your equipment we can check it out.

Another current astral event – an astroid is visible now during the early AM. I’ll look for an article with more specifics and see if it is visible in Kingwood.

Chuck has set up a new sub-category on our website. When you click Resources you will see the new category >Astrophotograpy where I’ll be putting these and other articles on astrophotograpy. Thanks, Chuck for making this available to the club. If anyone has an article they would like posted, let me know and we’ll post it. Till next week.

Clear Skies everyone!

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February Speaker Mike Marvins “Texas – Central and Way out West”

Our speaker, Mike Marvins, was a treasurer. He shared some of his gorgeous photos of Texas, his journey and love of where he lives and what he does with his camera.

Having grown up in Texas he has a lot of memories going back to summer camp in the Kerrville area so he really knows this area. The slide show featured photos that he used in the two books that he has for sale “The Texas Hill Country, A Photographic Adventure” and Texas’ Big Bend, A Photographic Adventure”. Both can be purchased on Amazon. For those who bought on Tuesday, he graciously autographed them!

Mike talked about his method of photography and his default settings along with some post-processing tips. He always exposes them for the lightest section of the scene, usually the sky. He does this because it is easier to bring up the shadows than to bring pull down the highlights. If your histogram is totally to the right, you have blown out your pixels and will never get them back. His favorite lens is a zoom lens. He stated they get a bad rep but he keeps his on the camera and does not need to change lenses in the field which can result in a sensor cleaning for $100 or more. He likes the zoom for the same reason that I do, you have choices with composition. You can get a fairly wide view or zoom to the action or subject. I personally use my 28-300mm for most of my travel photography and even photographing the Wings over Houston air show.

Speaker Mike Martin at our February meeting

He shared stores of his wife driving him around and yelling stop when the scene is something that he has to capture. His wife is very adept at impromptu parking. In his slideshow The Texas Hill Country he talked about the Edwards Plateau and the beauty found there. The road “Twisted Sisters” is the most dangerous drive in Texas. The link below is an article about location and information about the roads.

Twisted Sisters: The Texas Hill Country’s Most Famous Trio

The Edwards Plateau is mostly limestone and all the rainfall percolates to the underground streams that feed some of the most beautiful streams in Texas. Because these streams have a rock bottom they are clear and on a sunny day will have that beautiful blue sky reflection.

Another piece of advice from Mike, always have your camera with you and ready for that spontaneous shot. He explained that when doing workshops sometimes you pull over for a very short time. Participants that have huge bags of camera gear are still trying to figure out what lens to use still getting the tripod out and he’s telling everyone back to the cars. He doesn’t fool around so some may totally miss the shot. That is another habit of mine as my husband was quick to point out, my camera is always with me and I don’t keep a lens cap on so I am always ready for action.

Pam Walton talked with Mike after the meeting and asked if he would do a workshop for the club. He was very receptive to doing one, probably in the fall and will get back to us with dates so this would be a fall out-of-town trip. More information to come.

Mike was also very kind to let us post his two slide shows which members only can view in our resource section. These are mostly photos with some screenshots of post-process with before and after shots. Also, many famous quotes that he likes. It was a well attended and well-received presentation. Thank you, Connie Emerson, for arranging Mike and we’ll look forward to listening to Kathy Adams Clark in March. Another fantastic speaker.

You can also follow Mike on Facebook: Mike Marvins Photography

Below is one of Mike’s quotes from his slideshow:

Visual Ideas combined with technique, combined with personal interpretation, equals a photograph.  Each must hold its own or the thing collapses. 

Ansel Adams

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January’s Speaker, Jay Mangum “Blending Natural and Artificial Light in Night Images”

Jay Mangum, a club member, was our featured Program Speaker this last month. His talk was on one of my favorite subjects, night photography. However, he added artificial light to his portraits to bring a more dramatic scene to life.

With some great equipment tips, fantastic night photos and photo settings he prepared us for our next trek into the wilds with camera and tripod. Some of his safety tips included checking the weather before heading out for a long hike. Bad weather can be really bad when you are in an open field with no cover. Carry extra flash lights and triple the batteries and if planning a long hike, check it out during the day for potential problems. Walking at night is so different than walking during the day. Safety first as we all want to get home with these award winning photos.

Jay was kind enough to let me post his PowerPoint so you can take your time reviewing and learning from his experience. Excellent talk by one of our own!

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Club Resources

We have quite a few documents attached here, so we made the table below searchable and sortable. Use the search box to enter any words you think might help you find what you are looking for. You can also sort by date posted, or title.

These documents are a collection of presentations and articles prepared by club members.   Clicking on the links will download them into your downloads folder, where you can find and open them.  Download whatever you need.

Additional resources:

Adding a Virtual Background for a Zoom Meeting

Adding Metadata to Share and Learn Photos (video)

Below is a YouTube Playlist of workshop videos (click the playlist icon – top right). For many of these videos, if you watch in YouTube, you can see a timeline in the video description area that will allow you to skip ahead.

YouTube Workshops Playlist

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