The Woodlands Photography Club
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2021
Chris Summers
Thank you to Mac Rodgers for creating this slideshow of the March Mini-Contest.
MONTHLY CLUB MEETING
April 12, 2021
7 pm Central Time
via Zoom
The Zoom session will begin at 6:45 pm and the meeting will kick-off at 7:00 pm.
Zoom details and link are in the TWPC Newsletter email. Just click on that link and you will be directed to the meeting. We will send you a reminder email with this information on the day of the meeting.
Guest Speaker
Our April Guest Speaker is wildlife and nature photographer Jeff Parker. His photographs have been appeared in numerous publications and websites. He will be discussing the the 12 Critical Elements of a good photograph. This will be very helpful as we prepare for this year's Annual Contest.
ANNUAL CONTEST
TWPC Annual Contest Important dates
The rules for the 2021 Annual Contest have been emailed to all members and have been posted to the TWPC website on the contest page. If you have any questions regarding the 2021 Annual Contest rules please email Ellen and Randi at TWPCFallContest@gmail.com . They will be happy to help you out.
Information regarding the 2020 Annual Contest exhibition of winning photos will be coming to the participants via email in April.
CLUB CHALLENGES
You need some inspiration? New ideas of what to explore in your photography? The monthly Facebook Challenges offers a new opportunity to practice, get inspired, and inspire others by sharing your work.
All members can participate in posting up to 3 photos on TWPC Facebook page, according to the monthly subject, with the correspondent #tag. Every Challenge starts on the first day of the month and ends on the last day. The Showcase Presentation will be created with a minimum of 4 participants and will be published on Facebook the first week of the following month.
The following are a few of the entries from the
March 2021 Challenge:
Photographers From Left to Right: Anita Wren, Joan Tilton, Kathy Craven, Richard Houghton and Alicia Kominek
FIELD TRIPS
We will continue to follow CDC protocol and social distance at all field trips. This will be a combined field trip of the one postponed in February due to the ice storm and the wild flower search planned for April.
We will meet at Brazos Bend State Park in the parking lot by 40 Acre Lake (please see the park map on the website) at 9:00 a.m. There are senior passes available so please check the website for that information as well.
As the state parks are now requiring ‘reservations’ even for day use, each person will be responsible for purchasing their entry fee on-line prior to the field trip. Please do this early as the parks are also restricting the number of entries sold each day and with the weather continuing to get nicer sometimes tend to sell out.
Even if you signed up for the February trip and would like to join us in April, please email me at judogal@att.net or respond ‘going’ to the Facebook event and I will create a new sign-up sheet since our general meetings are still not in-person. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at judogal@att.net. Hope to see you on this trip!
Claudia Smith
We will continue to follow CDC protocol and social distance at all field trips. These are the beautiful Gypsy Cobb horses that everyone loves to photograph. We will meet at Aunique Ranch at 9:00 a.m. Fees are due when we arrive at the ranch before our tour starts.
If you would like to join us, please email me at judogal@att.net and I will create a sign-up sheet since our general meetings are still not in-person. I also will create the Facebook page event about the first of April. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at judogal@att.net. Hope to see you on this trip!
Claudia Smith
Last Month's Field Trip
Houston Audubon Society Raptor Photo Shoot
A big thank you to Janet and Teresa who joined me for the March field trip. From the posts on Facebook, it appears that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Enjoy these few fabulous images of some very magnificent birds and remember to take a look at our Facebook page if you haven’t already for more smiles.
Claudia Smith
WORKSHOPS & LEARNING
Workshops
Matting Photos
Saturday, May 22nd
9am-noon
More details coming soon.
Photo Walks
Black & White Flower Photography w/ Flash
Saturday, April 17
9-11am
Look for the Facebook Event soon for exact details! Hopefully you are practicing with your flashes...we will use them in our next photo walk. Plan to shop at your local nursery a couple days before for some nice flowers you would like to plant in your yard (you know we ALL need some after the freeze). We will meet outdoors and practice with our flashes to create some dramatic black and white flower images.
Photo Credit: Zoraya Stern
Follow his tips and use your camera manual to set your camera up in monotone as he suggests so you’ll be ready to shoot! (Don’t worry if you can’t do all the changes to your camera as he does as his is an Olympus...just get the monotone setup) I did these on my desk as I wrote this month’s newsletter. I can’t wait to see what we can do outdoors! We can share each other’s flowers so we all get a variety of images!
Photo Critiques
Monday, June 21
via ZOOM 7-8:30pm
Ted Washington and Jeff Parker have agreed to join us again! Remember our goal with these critique sessions is for each of us to learn how to look at a photo with a critical eye using the “elements of a merit photo” as a base point. You may continue to submit photos here. If all your photos don’t get discussed at the first session, no worries we will use them for the following session!
Photo Deconstructions
Monday, April 26
Richard Houghton
via Zoom
(see email or Facebook Event for Zoom Link & Details)
This time No Photoshop is needed! Everything is done in Lightroom. You do need to set up the shot and Richard will explain and show some diagrams of how this shot was done. Challenge yourself to try it with one of your own photos! Then post your results on our Facebook page with #photodeconstruction
Last month Dennis Chernov shared with us his photoshop techniques for taking an everyday, middle of the day photo and turning it into an interesting night image! Those who attended...we hope you gave it a try and remember to post what you learned!
Photo Credit: Richard Houghton
WORKSHOP & LEARNING COORDINATORS: ALICIA KOMINEK & ZORAYA STERN workshopstwpc@gmail.com
MINI CONTEST - SHARE & LEARN
April Contest Theme
TINY
Deadline: Friday, April 9, 11:59pm
VOTING will be the same as our last virtual meeting. About 24 hours before the meeting (Sunday evening), we will send out a MailChimp meeting reminder. This reminder will contain two Mini-Contest links: one that will lead you to the online gallery where you can view the entries and decide your favorite; and another link that will lead you to an online ballot where you can vote for your favorite. Balloting will remain open until 6:45 pm Monday. The winner will be announced during the virtual meeting.
Submission of entries for our APRIL VIRTUAL MEETING will be EXACTLY THE SAME as for our live meetings: Remember to remove your "watermarks" from all submitted photos. You upload high-resolution jpeg images (up to 2 per member) with the word “Mini” in the file name, by clicking on this link and following instructions:
April Share & Learn
Deadline: Friday, April 9, 11:59pm
Max Photos: 4
Submission of entries for the APRIL SHARE & LEARN will be similar to previous meetings: you can upload high-resolution jpeg imageswith the word “Slide” and a sequence number (Slide-1, Slide-2, etc) in the file name, by clicking on this link and following instructions:
As usual, we will present a slide show near the end of the virtual meeting, and you will have the opportunity to tell us about your images. Here is last month's Share and Learn slide show.
For questions this month contact Zoraya Stern at WorkshopsTWPC@gmail.com
MEMBERSHIP
JOIN THE WOODLANDS PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB!
TWPC members look forward to sharing and growing our photography with current and new members in 2021. New members, with new ideas and a love for photography are always welcome. If you or someone you know would like to become a member, please click on the Membership Application link below, complete the online registration, and choose your desired payment method.
2020/2021 Dues:
Single Membership: $25/year
Family Membership: $35/year
Student Membership: $15/year
Note: Membership is required for participation in the monthly Challenges, Mini-Contests, Workshops, Slideshows, the Annual Photo Contest, and our active Facebook page.
All membership applications must be filled out online
You will have the option of mailing a check, Paypal, or a credit card. We encourage everyone to pay online if possible as it makes the administration of membership payments much easier.
Feel free to forward the membership link to your friends!
Our Club Thrives Off The Efforts of Our Volunteers!
TWPC Leadership Team 2021
President: Joan Tilton
Vice President: Tom Flink
Annual Photo Contest VP: Ellen Taylor
Treasurer: Amy Butler
Membership Coordinator: John Small
Secretary/Historian: Glenn Siegert
TWPC Newsletter: Janet Bartsch
Field Trip Coordinator: Claudia Smith
Field Trip Coordinator Alternate: Open
Webmaster: Glenn Siegert
Zoommaster and MailChimp: Tom Flink
Publicity (External: media, calendars): Kathy Craven
FB Challenge Coordinator: Alicia Kominek
Hospitality Coordinator (Refreshments): Open
Slide Show/Mini-Contest: Mac Rodgers
Workshops and Learning: Zoraya Stern and Alicia Kominek
