A note to the club from Trudi…

The Arizona Cactus Garden at Stanford was in full bloom the last time I visited (about two weeks ago). Many different plants and a wide range of color. Creative and challenging opportunities for photographers abound. It is best to arrive just before the sun comes over the horizon as the blossoms of these desert cacti and succulents don’t last in even the early morning heat. The Garden is difficult to find. It is located on the south side of the mausoleum off of Quarry Road between Campus Drive and Arboretum Road.  Here’s more info on the garden.

A little photography humor for you…

Here are the results of winners from our club. The special category was Creative and the format was print. Los Altos members won 4/6 awards in the Creative Category!

Club Total: 10/25 awards (40%!)

General B

• Award of Merit – Sarah Mitchell – “Candid Condor”
• Award of Merit – Sarah Mitchell – “Gentle Opening of the Heart”
• Award of Merit -  Bill Jennings – “Curves of Color”

General A

• Honorable Mention – Janet Morrison – “Sahara Desert Scene: Algeria”
• Honorable Mention – Ray Kaleda – “Lynx Under Sail”

Monochrome

• Honorable Mention – David Morrison -”Egyptian Majesty”

Creative

• Award of Merit -  Bill Jennings – “Margarita Madness”
• Award of Merit – Ted Nidy – “Visitors”
• Award of Merit – Stephen Terlizzi – “Window into a Tormented Soul”
• Award of Merit – Lana Hysinger – “Staged Sunrise”

View the winning competition images here.

Image of the Month
John Brittain – “Torres Del Paine”

General B

• 1st – John Brittain – “Torres Del Paine”
• 2nd – Peter Ebbing – “All dressed up and no place to go”
• 3rd – Peter Ebbing  – “70 feet up, no net”
• 4th – Bill Jennings – “Mt Moran at Oxbow”
• 5th – Bob Mills – “Golden Eagle standing”
• HM- Laurel Kaleda – “Washday in Burano”
• HM – Stephen Terllizzi – “Contemplation”

General A

• 1st – Ted Nidy – “Eric and Les”
• 2nd – Darrel Torgerson – “Maroon Bells”
• 3rd – Niki Muller – “First Snow Yosemite”
• 4th – Lou Beaudet – “Waterslide in the Poconos”
• 5th – Dawn Nidy – “Meteor Crater Arizona”
• HM – Steve George – “Roaring Camp Battle”
• HM – Lou Beaudet – “View from the 16th Floor”

Monochrome

• 1st – Lana Hysinger – “Zebra 1″
• 2nd – Karen Aden – “Pacific Dogwood”
• 3rd – Lou Beaudet – “Woven Shadows”
• 4th – Niki Muller – “Memories, The greatest generation”
• 5th – Suzanne Blakeslee – “Contemplating the Wall”
• HM – Bill Jennings – “Pet Parade Mastiff”

Special Category: Nature

• 1st – Marilyn Howard – “Cheetah Hunt”
• 2nd – Lana Hysinger – “Hyenna retriving lunch”
• 3rd – Janet Morrison – “Galapagos Sea Lions sunning on beach”
• 4th – Marilyn Howard – “Sacred ibis drying his feathers after a bath”
• 5th – Richard Johnson – “Hippocampus (leafy seadragon)”
• HM – Laurel Kaleda – “Sella Group Profile – Dolomites”
• HM – Bob Mills – “Golden Eagle flying”

http://www.earthshots.org/

“Earth Shots is a Photo of the Day contest celebrating the beauty and diversity of our planet. Everyday we feature the best photograph submitted by our visitors.”

Entry to the daily competition is free.  The quality of the images is very good.  Take a look at their winners.

http://photocritic.org/white-balance/

A nice article on how to get proper white balance with digital cameras, how different formats affect white balance (RAW vs. JPG) and why white balance matters.

This article has some good tips (with screenshots) for using filters with Adobe Photoshop Elements.
http://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-filters-in-photoshop-elements

Video: http://digital-photography-school.com/interview-with-photographer-tomas-hawk

In this video Marc Silber from SilberStudios interviews San Francisco photographer Thomas Hawk about how he goes about his photography.

Take home lesson: carry your camera everywhere – Thomas does and as a result he’s on his way to publishing his goal of 1,000,000 photographs in a lifetime!

You can also see Thomas’s photos on Flickr.

16-Day Spring and Fall Photo Expeditions

From Su Zhou, a member of the King City (Oregon) Camera Club: Plans for her next three forthcoming photo expeditions to China are taking shape.  Full details are available at: http://www.zhousu.us/page3/10ChinaTour.html

Fall Expedition (Beginning 10/09/2009 & 2010)

Sichuan Province – Get face to face with panda cubs at Sichuan ’s Giant Panda Breeding Center.  Stroll the narrow streets of ancient Hutong.  Enjoy an evening at the Sichuan Opera.  Fly to huge Juizhaigou National Park and Huanglong National Park , national treasures Westerners would be astonished to find in China .  Photograph overpowering waterfalls, colorful lakes and grandiose mountains scenery.  Meet Tibetan and Qiang villagers in their remote hamlets.  Visit a valley studded terraced with colored ponds and waterfalls beneath mountains peaks and ridges.

Heilongjiang Province – Fly to Harbin .  Visit the Church of St. Sofia , an example of Byzantine architecture reflecting its Russian past.   See the ice sculpture exhibit showing the best of Harbin ’s famous annual fairyland of ice sculptures.  Take up-close photos from a Land Rover where tigers roam free at Harbin ’s unique Siberian Tiger Park .  Photograph the rare red-crowned crane and exotic waterfowl at China ’s Zhalong Nature Reserve.  Fly to Beijing .

Beijing – Visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Beijing ’s Yuanmingyuan Gardens and the new Yonghe Monastery.  Take photos at The Great Wall by special arrangement at sunset when the daytime horde of visitors has departed. Set aside some time for shopping.  Enjoy an evening dinner of Peking Duck, one of China ’s famous dishes.  At the Olympic Games Park, visit the 90,000-seat “bird’s nest” amphitheater and the nearby Cubic Natatorium.

Spring Expedition (Beginning 5/21/2010)

Yunnan Province –   Photograph interesting Chinese farmlands, minority villages and ancient Lijiang, a colorful large outdoor performance, the mighty Yangtze River, landscapes of wildflowers on the remote Tibetan Plateau and a quiet Tibetan Buddhist temple.  Take the cable car to Jade Dragon, Snow Mountain and Yak Meadow.  Stroll the streets of exotic Dukezong and Shuhe.  Meet minority villagers.  Photograph exotic birds on Sashihai Lake.

Guangxi Province – Capture sunset and sunrise against the brilliant shining limestone along the Li River.  Take sweeping aerials from a balloon ride over Guangxi’s jagged karst landscape.  Watch fishermen working with their cormorants and oil lamps on bamboo rafts.  Attend a riotous performance on the Li River.  Take home pictures of Guangxi’s famously colorful rice terraces.

Shanghai – Shop at the famous Bund, stroll the Yu Gardens and the traditional bazaar.

Hong Kong (2-day side trip) – Stay at a four-star hotel overlooking fascinating Victoria Bay, see a Chinese lazer show and photograph thousands of unusual Asian  birds at Hong Kong’s unforgettable Ocean Park.

CIWEM’s Environmental Photographer of the Year has already received hundreds of entries from photographers in over 30 countries, including Hungary, Poland, Bangladesh, Serbia, Israel, Bulgaria, Pakistan, The Netherlands, Zimbabwe and the UK. But photographers only have until 31st July 2009 to enter, so please remind all contacts, friends and colleagues to enter!
CIWEM’s international Environmental Photographer of the Year is open to all professional and amateur photographers worldwide. This year’s categories are Mott MacDonald’s Changing Climates; Black & Veatch’s World of Difference; Quality of Life; The Natural World; and Young Environmental Photographer of the Year (Under 21). It encourages entries that are contemporary, creative, experimental, resonant, original and beautiful. The judging panel is made up of some of the most respected environmental photographers in the industry, including
Gary Braasch, winner of the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, Anthony Epes and Ronnie Israel, as well as senior environmentalists including Lord Smith, the Chairman of the Environment Agency, and Nick Reeves, Executive Director of CIWEM.
Individual pieces of work will be judged on impact, creativity, composition, originality and technical abilities. Winners will share a prize fund of nearly £4,000 and all winning and highly commended entries will be displayed at the international Environmental Photographer of the Year Exhibition later this year. To enter, go to www.ciwem.org/arts/photographer.