Photo-Nat News

William Bickle has been invited to Display his Images at the Algonquin Room within Algonquin Park.

The exhibit will be at the Visitor Centre @ Km 43 East Entrance ( 14k inside East Gate)

The Exhibit & Sale “FUR & FEATHERS” will be available August 27 through September 30.

With over 100 Images & Posters for Sale, featuring Algonquin Flora & Fauna. Images will be available as Framed or Matted only . Posters will be available for sale as well.

A few “Limited Edition” Prints framed will be available as well.

Free Admission daily 10am to 5 pm.

“ Peoples Choice”…..

Free-draw for a Framed Image during the exhibit.

*** Digital Presentations on Large Screen on a few selected days.

DIGITAL IMAGE PREPARATION FOR SHOW & TELL

Show & Tell is a very important part of our Photo-Nat meetings. This gives members the opportunity to share their work with others, request feedback if desired and provide members with hints, ideas, and insights. It's a great way to share and learn. In the past, we simply brought in our slides and the projectionist displayed our work on the big white screen. However, with digital age being dropped on us at an alarming rate, we now have the ability to show our images digitally using computer technology and digital projection.

To keep things running smoothly, members should have their images in a format and size that is compatible with our current digital projection equipment. Basically, the format should be in JPEG (JPG) and the image pixel dimension should be approximately 1280 X 853 with a DPI (Dots per inch) of 72.

Brad Denoon has provided us with an excellent guideline: Resizing images in Photoshop. Although the example uses Photoshop as an application, you will find that most applications use similar methods and the end product will be the same.

PHOTO-NAT : A NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB

A Guideline for New Members and a Reminder for Us All

The purpose of Photo-Nat Photography Club is to provide activities and experiences which encourage membership growth in skill and knowledge, and the appreciation and enjoyment of nature and nature photography.

Our objectives are:

1. to provide a club for amateur and professional photographers to join together in a relaxed atmosphere of support and encouragement;

2. to provide a time for members to share their photographs with others in a risk-free and supportive atmosphere;

3 to organize outings to encourage members to share photographic experiences, to learn from each other, and to enjoy each other's company;

4. to provide an opportunity for public display of each member's work.

A "nature photograph" is defined as one in which a natural subject is the main and dominant theme, or focus of interest. Ttypically, nature photographs contain no, or very little evidence of people or 'man-made' objects. Photographs displayed at club meetings or in club sponsored exhibits or activities must reflect the club's focus of nature photography. To give everyone an equal opportunity to share during the sharing time at meetings, we ask that all presentations be no more than three to five minutes in length. We encourage you to participate by bringing prints, digital images on a CD or flash drive, clearly marked with your name on them. We also encourage you to share your expertise with the group in the form of a mini-presentation of ten minutes or less or to be the main speaker of the evening. Let the president or any member of the executive know if you are interested or just a note in the question/ suggestion box.

To maintain a climate of acceptance, co-operation, and encouragement. the club does not formally critique individual member's photographs. Members are encouraged to offer help and suggestions on an informal basis when requested. The club does not conduct competitions within the club, or between Photo-Nat and other clubs which would require judging and selecting photographs of individual members to the exclusion of other members. Members are of course free as individuals to enter any competition outside the club.

Outings are organized during the year to encourage each other to share experiences and to learn from each other. If you have any ideas for us, again, let us know. One outing that is an annual event is our trip to Algonquin Park each fall (always the weekend before Thanksgiving). Other trips might be to find wildflowers, birds, elk, deer, waterfalls, landscapes etc. We have been to many places over the years and are always looking for new spots to explore.

To provide an opportunity for members to display their work publicly, we organize an exhibition each year at the Quinte Mall in the month of February. This gives members the opportunity to mat and frame their photos for display. Other places we have displayed are at the library and at the Garden Show.

Hope you will enjoy being a member of Photo-Nat Photography Club!

DOUGLAS BANKS

Photographic Equipment Repairs

based out of Amherstview, Ontario, Canada.
Our mailing address is:

Heritage Square Plaza
6 Speers Blvd., Unit G
Amherstview, ON K7N 1Z6

Phone: (613) 634 1922

Fax: (613) 634 1907

e-mail: douglas@photographicrepairs.com

OFFICE HOURS

Monday ~ Friday 8:00 - 5:00
Saturday / Sunday Closed

Website: http://www.photographicrepairs.com.

TESTING PROCEDURE FOR SLR CCD SENSOR

Photo-Nat’s guest speaker in March was Camera Repair Expert, Douglas Banks. Doug is always a wealth of information when it comes to camera maintenance and repairs. Doug Banks Photo Equipment Repairs offers a CCD and Cleaning Service and his web site is at http://www.photographicrepairs.com.For those of you who a brave enough to tackle CCD cleaning themselves, one of the better guidelines web sites is http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com

One of Doug’s topics was about the infamous dust bunnies that cling to our CCD sensors of our DSLRs. He provided us with a procedure to test DSLR CCD sensors. The following is a procedure using Photoshop, but you can convert the guidelines to just about any photo editing software:

1. Take a photo at F/22 of a clear blue sky or gray wall.

2. Open up photo in Photoshop.

3. Click on “View” then click “Actual Pixels” (100% view).

4. Click on “Image” and then click “Mode” then click “GrayScale”.

5. Click on “Image” then click “Adjustments” then click Brightness/Contrast”.

6. Decrease “Brightness” and increase “Contrast”.

7. As you slide the bars you can see the different types of dust and debris on the sensor.

8. Faint spots are like dried moisture spots and dark spots are actual dust or dirt particles.

Doug Banks Photo Equipment Repairs offers a CCD and Cleaning Service and his web site is at http://www.photographicrepairs.com.