Sounds of Spring

Spring is my favorite season. This one has been having trouble getting started due to late snowfall this year. There are certain sounds I love to hear as springtime approaches. I'm missing my camera as it is still in the shop, but thought briefly that it would be a fun project to put together a blog entry that puts sounds into pictures, as much as that is possible. However, lacking that capability, I thought I'd share the list anyway. Perhaps at a later time I can add the pictures and reference the entry.

The rumble of thunder in the distance.
The meadowlarks singing their beautiful songs for a mate, signaling the beginning of spring.
The buzz of a hummingbird's wings as they fly by.
The sound of raindrops softly beating on the window.
The sound of horses hooves running on the rain-softened ground.
The chirp of crickets.
The sound of frogs croaking.
The sound of water runoff after a rainstorm.

These are sounds that remind me why I like living in the countryside and not in town. We'd miss out on many of these sounds I associate with spring, and they are sounds that I thoroughly enjoy. Ah springtime, how I have missed you my friend.

Photography Club Impressions

Tonight was the first meeting for the photography club I have decided to attend. It was exhibition night. The end of this month brings with it the annual show and so many of the exhibitors were displaying their possible photos for the show.

Overall, good group. There is a good vibe there, although it is a tough crowd to please. On the whole however, I have to say I agreed with almost all of their critiques. More contrast, different angle, more/less light, etc. etc. I'll be sure to review any photos I bring to exhibition night VERY carefully.

Almost all of the people who came were older folks. I'd be the youngest one there judging by tonight's turnout. Unfortunately the members I was most wanting to meet did not attend. Many of them hail from out of town and I'm sure it's not easy for them to make all of the meetings. Maybe next time.

There was one person there who does framing and matting professionally, but you know, having done a fair share of matting and framing jobs myself with my own equipment I wasn't totally impressed with her work. She strongly encourages exhibitors in shows to mat in either white or black with either a white or black or otherwise neutral frame. I have to wonder if she is afraid of color.

White seems to make many photos appear washed out, black darkens some too much. Yes, having colored mat or frame does mean it is harder to hang your entry, but color can sometimes make a photo pop in a way that white or black fails miserably in doing. Maybe next year I will have an entry and I can display this fact to other exhibitors. I'm not talking about mat in fuschia or anything hugely bold, but come on, think outside the box please! Even tan would be an improvement and yet still fit the neutral mold.

Moving on, some of the photos were amazing (as I expected). There were terms thrown around that I must spend time researching (HDR for instance) and techniques I had not seen before. HDR is neat, but it makes a photo look more like a painting in many cases. Neat if that is what you are looking for, but I have to say it has a tendency to make things look a little on the fake side. I don't know anything about it, so perhaps there are different levels of HDR application that might not make that effect as pronounced.

There are also various software programs that I need to look into (CS5 for instance) and their capabilities. Apparently some of them are able to work from the RAW image format that many of the high end digital cameras allow you to save images in. I don't know much about RAW vs. JPEG advantages and disadvantages, but apparently the RAW format is more flexible for post processing techniques without losing as much detail.

There was one lady there, Patricia I think was her name, who greeted me and we talked for a while. She is still an old school photography person, preferring to use film and not using computers to modify her images. I admire that, but I think she is missing out on a lot based on what I saw tonight. I have to say I've grown rather fond of knowing that I got the shot I was after immediately rather than waiting until your film is developed to find out.

Something else I noticed, all of the photos for exhibition night were of landscapes, architecture and animals. I was really hoping to see at least a few with people in them. Maybe I'll have to mix it up when I feel I have something worth sharing at an exhibition night. Yes, nature is beautiful, buildings are beautiful sometimes, but sometimes images with people can be a nice break from it all. Not portraits particularly, but you get the idea.

I am interested to see if the next meeting mixes it up at all and also if the professional photographers I had hoped to meet will be there. I'd love to chat with them and talk shop as it were. May 26th is the day for the wildflower class. Places to photograph, example photo shots etc. will be discussed. Sounds great to me. Should be inspirational for my macro lens that will be arriving any day now.

Photography Club

At the beginning of this year I resolved to make more time for me. Well I have done a wonderful job at that with not much effort on my part. I have started a new craft, scrapbooking as mentioned in my previous post, I've read about a half dozen books so far this year, and done a small amount of sewing on my previously deserted quilting machine. Recently I have decided to expand that "me time" even more.

I am a member of a cat club locally that seems to meet only once in a blue moon now. It used to be once a month. I feel as if I am missing out on companionship and commeraderie with like-minded people, so I took steps to resolve that issue. I looked around online for local groups that might have similar interests to me. I landed upon a local photography club and have decided to join. Now that I have a good quality digital SLR camera (and yes, I do still have an old 35mm film one still with all the goodies), I think I'll fit right in.

It meets twice a month, and it is run by a handful of professional photographers from this area. Even better, it meets only about 12 miles from the house! Dues are cheap but pay for entry into photo contests should I have any interest. The first meeting of each month is the member exhibition night. I hope to get some inspiration from viewing other member's photos. The second meeting of each month is a workshop of sorts (usually free of charge) that is headed up by one of the aforementioned professional phtotographers. A technique is discussed during the meeting and sometimes it is lecture other times it is hands on.

I reviewed the meetings they have had since the beginning of the year and am beyond excited to attend my first workshop. Admittedly I will not be interested in everything, like learning about some fancy and slightly pricey software for photographic websites that sounds like it has a built in shopping cart etc. I don't feel I will make use of that since I have no desire at this point to sell my pictures. Yet others that talk about technique (the next one is about exposure I think) should be quite educational. Unfortunately I just missed a macro photography workshop. That's fine though as I just purchased my first macro lens and am as of yet awaiting its arrival at my door. Can't wait to use it!

Last Friday this group met at Garden of the Gods in the Springs at 5:30 AM (I know, I know, too early) to "shoot the moon". Translated as photograph the full moon hanging low over Garden of the Gods. I wish I could have gone, early time or not, but alas I had to take Kiernan into daycare early for class photos that day. Some of the photos from this were astounding. Ah well, next time I guess. In the meantime, I anxiously await the first meeting of this new group next Monday night, meeting the photographers and viewing their work. Hopefully I can contain my excitement until that time!