A Submission for "Ask the Experts"

Jackie Rand is the first member to respond to my call for questions for the "Ask the Experts" segment at our next meeting. Thank you, Jackie. Here is her request:

"I loved this caboose - it had lots to offer, rust and graffiti. I'm
wondering how the experts would have shot this under similar
circumstances - totally bald sky, slight mist, no tripod, little time.
I'm attaching the jpg image straight out of the camera and the one I
messed with in RAW."

Experts, please save your comments for the meeting.

Post Processing

Original Image

WWIG February Meeting ~ Program

Here is the for the Wednesday February 2nd. SOCIAL HOUR AND PRINT VIEWING:

• Susann Annis returns with a entirely new palette of desserts. Can she keep the winning streak going?

PRESENTATIONS:

• Larry Lindesmith Photography at Gundersen Lutheran 
• Patrick Allitt. A 30 minute video from The Teaching Company about PowerPoint Presentations. Professor Allitt, an eminent historian at Emory University, has thought deeply and written about college level teaching techniques and I have unlimited admiration for him both in both roles. This presentation is a very thoughtful and informative video essay about the uses and abuses of PowerPoint. 
• Byron Annis A Brief Introduction to the Allure of New. I have long been intrigued what constitutes progress particularly the leaps that occur in almost all areas of human activity, especially in art, music and literature, which fall under the rubric of The Creative Process. It has recently become the area that I want to explore within Photography. My presentation tonight will be mostly random musings and an overview of where I intend to go in future meetings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Upcoming meetings
• The next Topic of the Month
• Potential 2 day John Gregor Workshop in La Crosse 2012
• A word about collegiality

ASK THE EXPERT:

• Questions submitted by members will be answered by the experts. The experts are self-appointed.

IMAGES:

• This is the part of the meeting that you have all been waiting for! 
• Topic of the Month-- The Gazebo at Pettibone Park
• Show and Tell-- Members present anything related to photographic technique, gear, digital imaging, books, videos, etc. (Magic Glasses, Prints on Metal)
• Open Mike-- Digital images previously submitted by members will be displayed and prints will be viewed. Comments are encouraged. 

Byron
________________________________________________________________________________

I encountered this stunning image of this incredible Chinese performance hall at Trey Ratcliff's great photoblog Stuck in Customs and get very excited thinking that this was the concert venue that my son Brad played in (he is a member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) on New Years Eve 2008. It turns out that he played that night in The Great Hall of the People which is literally across the street from this newer building which has been nicknamed The Bird Cage. While the IPO was playing in the Great Hall, The Berlin Philharmonic got this venue. Still, not a bad gig. What a fabulous photograph.

I've been cruising around the Internet recently searching for images to use as examples of this and that. I keep discovering wonderful images. As I've proposed previously the best work of amatures on sites like Flickr is, in my opinion, every bit the equal of the images I see by well known professionals. Creativity especially certainly is not confined to the portfolios of the professionals. To see a continuous stream of about 500 images, mostly superb, a day go to Flickriver.
Byron

WWIG Meeting February 2nd

The next meeting of the Western Wisconsin Imaging Group will be on February 2nd. As usual the meeting will begin at 6:30pm and will be at our home at N2207 Pammel Pass W. in Bridal Coulee.

I will be posting the meeting program as I did previously so stay tuned to this blog!

The Topic of the Month is The Gazebo at Pettibone Park. Both Roger Grant and John Zoerb have expressed enthusiasm about their images and both said that they were eager to see how each person brings to their photo an individual interpretation of this often photographed La Crosse icon.

So what's with the art work that leads off this post? Well, it's a teaser about the next Topic of the Month which I think will be quite challenging but interesting both in terms of making the images and seeing what our colleagues come up with. the actual Topic, along with some examples that I have gathered from the Internet, will be presented at the meeting.

Remember the new innovation which was begun at our last meeting: Ask The Expert. Members are encouraged to ask questions about anything that is related to Photography, Art, of Life. The only unusual twist is that the questions should be submitted in advance-- by e-mail to me or posted on this blog-- so that the "Experts" will have an opportunity to consider their responses to the queries. And who will the experts be? Well, anyone who feels that they can give a relevant and, hopefully, informed answer.

Susann Annis, the Pastry Chef Formerly Known as The Queen of Cheesecake, has returned and will be providing refreshments for our social hour.

Finally, here is my monthly plea to members. Please help make this particular meeting and the future of our group successful by supporting what is perhaps our fundamental activity. Our goal is to learn from each other; the sharing of images is essential to this end. Please do bring prints, if you have them, or submit digital images. Remember that we are only going to accept digital images submitted by e-mail. I will review how to do so in a post in a day or so, but the already simple process is going to be further simplified.

Byron

Although there will be no admission charge for our Seminar with John Gregor on Friday January 21st, we will be happy to accept donations to help defray the costs of this event. Also we will be having a drawing of two pieces of gear that I am donating. You can purchase tickets for $5 or $10. A $5 ticket gets you one chance to win the excellent photo vest pictured here and a $10 ticket places you in contention for this really great ThinkTank belt photo bag (Speed Racer model). You can learn more about the bag at the Think Tank web site. It is offered for sale there for $160. I think that the odds of winning this item will be pretty good.

Byron

Meeting Site Changed

Please note that the site of John Gregor's presentation on Friday January 21st has been moved to the EcoPark at Hixon/Myrick at 6:30pm. Because there is ample space available there is no need to let me know whether or not you plan to attend.

I believe that those who participate will be rewarded and find that they have spent the evening both pleasantly and profitably. Some lines from the St Crispin's Day soliloquy from Shakespeare's Henry V come to mind:

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

Forgive my theatrical excess-- I needed to do something a bit outrageous to cheer me up on this cold, damp, sullen winter day.
Byron

More on Vivian Maier

Ron Reimer recently brought to our attention  story of the remarkable discovery of the work of Vivian Maier. It apparently has become an Internet phenomenon. Today I received an e-mail with a link to an exceptionally interesting video that you might enjoy. Click here to see it: http://video.wttw.com/video/1706831766/

Byron

Posting Messages and Comments on WWIG Blog

Here is how to post messages or to comment on messages posted by others:

1. To access the WWIG blog (read only-- no posting or comments) use this URL http://westernwisconsinimaginggroup.blogspot.com/. I suggest that you bookmark the address so that you can get on the site with only one click.  
2. To post messages and/or comments you must SIGN IN. To do so go to the upper right corner of the page and click "Sign In". Use this User Name wwig01@gmail.com and this Password wwig1234. At this point you should be signed in. 
3. Select the tab New Post and you will see the appropriate dialog. You are now good to go.

Please feel free to contact me if you encounter difficulty with these instructions.

Byron

Accomplished Street Photographer Discovered Posthumously: Vivian Maier

I wanted to make sure members had heard about Vivian Meier and her recently discovered life's work of black and white street photography. A blog about it is also available. I believe a show of her work has just opened in Chicago and a video documentary of her interesting and secretive life are in progress. Many rolls of undeveloped med. format film are still being carefully processed and many of her 100,000 images are yet to be seen.

Ron Reimer

Next WWIG Meeting

I want to clarify the status of the regularly scheduled meeting of the WWIG. It will take place as planned on Wednesday February 2nd.  I will be travelling for a major part of February and March and has several activities planned for later in the year which will take me away from La Crosse. Unless someone volunteers to host WWIG meetings, we may have quite a few gaps.

Remember, the Topic of the Month (for February) is to photograph the gazebo at Pettibone park and, hopefully, offer some fresh perspective to this local photographic icon. I saw John Zoerb the other evening and he mentioned that while photographing the gazebo, he saw many fascinating new aspects. I am very eager to see what you all come up with.
Byron

MAJOR WWIG EVENT

JOHN GREGOR TO GIVE A SPECIAL PRESENTATION TO THE WWIG

I am extremely pleased that John Gregor, a superb fine art and nature photographer, a master of digital imaging and printing, and a truly gifted teacher will be joining us on Friday January 21st. He will be giving a 2 hour presentation: Outside My Backdoor; Recent Views of Lake Superior. John says "I will be sharing views and tips about photography from around Lake Superior. I will share my favorite locations, my camera technique, and some of my computer techniques"

.

This is the back cover of the Lake Superior 2011 calendar published by John and his partner Val Doherty.

John owns ColdSnap Photography and you can learn much more about his activities by visiting his website ColdSnap Photography and also the website of his and Val's gallery in Two Harbors, MN
The Waterfront Gallery
I'll be posting more about the time, venue, and other pertinent information. Most likely we will meet at my home, but I will be inviting members of the La Crosse Camera Club to join us and if the number of bodies exceed the space available we do have a back up plan. Please let me know as soon as possible if you will be attending, as plans have to be made.

Finally, as I told you in the email, I am going to provide John's stipend and I don't feel right charging admission. On the other hand, I would very much appreciate any donations that attendees would be inclined to give. Anyone donating $10 or more will be entered into a drawing for a couple of very nice prizes, a photo vest and a Think Tank camera bag. I'll try to get some photos posted in the next couple of days.

Stay tuned to this blog. More to follow.
Byron

Perhaps You Might Want To Put Off That DSLR Purchase

This magnificent portrait was shot by Photographer Lee Morris shot in a studio with the whole fashion protocol, from hair stylists to retouchers. So what camera, lighting and other photogear was used?  If you feel certain about the future of cameras, especially if you are planning to act on that certitude and buy a serious DSLR, you might want to take a deep breath and contemplate this image and the fact that it was shot with an iPhone and a couple of $50 floodlamps from Lowes. In case you are thinking that this beautiful rendering is the result of Photoshop magic, think again. It appears to me that the Photoshop was applied with a very light touch. Go to this Flickr site for much more, including the pre and post processed images.

This interesting news comes from The Online Photographer and a commenter at that site did put this whole thing into perspective. Go to The Online Photographer and scroll down to read the whole thing.
Byron

Image from Jackie Rand



In her email Jackie wrote: "I took this shot on the way to the Kickapoo Rec Fest on Sat and converted it to
black and white (guess that's obvious)."  I'm sure that Jackie would appreciate any comments that you may have. Were any other WWIG's at the Kickapoo event? Let us know about the experience if you were. I was dissappointed that I was not sufficiently recovered from my illness as I had planned to attend.
Byron

Back Again

Except for fatigue and remarkable lassitude, I am more or less back from flu hell. I want to thank WWIG stalwart Jackie Rand for asking me to post her wonderful image which has given me the impetous to restart posting items.
Byron