Highlands Ranch Photo Club Meeting
February 13, 2007
DeDe welcomed everyone to the meeting. Meetings are held at the Highlands Ranch Library the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
The club is collecting dues and savings to buy a club projector for digital images. Dale is investigating the cost of a projector.
Several members have seen eagles at Chatfield Park.
Several guests were present who introduced themselves and told what kind of photography interested them.
Dale reminded club members of the Lone Tree Photographic Art Show and Sale with a March 1 deadline to enter up to 4 photos on CD. The show will be juried. See http://www.cityoflonetree.com/index.asp?NID=427 for details.
Extreme Lighting Photography
A Presentation by Richard Bruner
Club Co-President Richard Bruner gave an interesting presentation on photography in extreme lighting conditions. He discussed shooting into the sun, overcast or cloudy conditions, night or low light, sunrise and sunset as well as fog, snow and rain.
For bright light he suggested using a neutral density filter and a polarizing filter. A polarizing filter can be adjusted by standing to the side and turning it for the appropriate amount of correction. Glare can be reduced by using your hand or a lens shade. Another trick is to slightly adjust the angle of your camera. He has had success with shooting through glass when getting in close to the glass and tilting the camera slightly.
High contrast situations such as canyons and snow might improve with a wider aperture setting, but this can cause hazing. Richard likes to take two shots and then layer them together. A graduated density filter or neutral density may help. Another idea is to adjust highlights and shadows using photo software.
For low contrast he suggested a warming filter and using a tripod. Examples would be overcast weather, fog, rain or snow. He found that exposure compensation was helpful with snow shots and suggested bracketing the shot. By shooting at several settings, one will likely turn out correctly. For reflections, he has found that a low angle of sun gives the most colorful results. Craig mentioned he has used Noise Ninja, an add-on photo program, which is very good at removing noise.
For low light Richard recommended a tripod, remote cable release, a fast lens and a camera with an image stabilizer.
When shooting directly into the sun, Richard suggested tilting the camera angle. He showed some excellent examples of using reflection of snow or water to light subjects. Shadows can be a problem on bright sunny days or they can add interest and depth.
Thank you, Richard, for a very interesting presentation. The photos shared were also helpful in understanding various techniques presented.
Show and Tell
Deb brought shots from a 10th mountain snow hut near Copper Mountain.
In response to questions, Dale mentioned that he has had inexpensive and high quality prints made at Costco. They use Fuji archival paper there.
Notes for Future Meetings
Rita and Charlie Summers from Wild Images will make a presentation at the March 2007 meeting. Their specialty is photographing wild horses.
April's meeting will be show-and-tell with Meg Dalton providing comments and suggestions. Members are encouraged to bring photos to share.
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