Highlands Ranch Photo Club Meeting
March 13, 2007
DeDe welcomed everyone to the meeting. Meetings are held at the Highlands Ranch Library the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
Those present were asked for suggestions for future meetings. Several people accepted assignments to follow up on speaker and field trip ideas. Possible excursions include Hudson Gardens, a mine trip, a walking tour of Denver galleries and the Denver capital dome.
There was some discussion of the possibility of joining with the Lone Tree Photo Club. The group decided we would like to keep our separate club going, although there may be times we would enjoy attending the Lone Tree meetings as well.
With that decided, Dale was given the go-ahead to purchase a digital projector to use at club meetings.
Several guests were welcomed to the group.
Dale reminded club members that the Lone Tree Photographic Art Show and Sale will take place April 15 to May 5 at the Lone Tree Golf Club and Hotel, 9808 Sunningdale Blvd., Lone Tree, CO 80124. Some club members' photos were accepted for the show.
Wild Horses
A Presentation by Rita and Charlie Summers
Rita and Charlie Summers of Parker, Colorado, have been photographing wildlife, and especially wild horses, since the 1970s. They recently provided the photographs for a new book, "All the Wild Horses." You can learn more about the book and their photographs at their "Wild Images" website: http://www.wildimages.biz/index.shtml.
Charlie Summers started out by giving a history of horses, including how there came to be wild horses in America. Then the club members were treated to a beautiful presentation showing wild horses and other wild equids from around the world as photographed by Charlie and Rita Summers. Wild equids include wild asses, zebras, burros and horses. Rita Summers provided commentary on the photographs.
Zebras live in harem societies, where one male zebra has a harem of female zebras. Zebras are very protective of their young. Several of the zebra species are endangered. They have never been domesticated because they are too cantankerous. Rita mentioned that if they bite, they won't let go.
Wild horses are found in many countries throughout the world. Horse stallions often fight at waterholes. Older horses are often quite scarred from these encounters. Wild horses are often found in desolate or undesirable places. They can survive there where other animals cannot.
Some wild horses are found at Assateague Island National Park in Virginia and Maryland. Other wild horses in the U.S. are found in Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, California, Oregon, Idaho and most western states.
Wild horses live in harem and bachelor groups. Rita stated that the bachelor groups are very active and interesting to watch. The herds do things together -- moving, grooming, rolling, feeding, and so on.
Because the wild horses do not have many natural enemies, the herds grow by about 20 percent a year. The Bureau of Land Management handles roundups and adoptions to avoid overpopulation.
Besides wild horses from the United States, we also saw interesting wild horses from around the world. Many have distinct features and colorations.
Rita and Charlie Summers' photos were spectacular. It was very evident that wild horses are their passion and a very familiar subject for their photographic efforts. They brought copies of their new book, "All the Wild Horses" which several club members were able to purchase the book at the meeting. We thank them very much for a most interesting presentation.
Show and Tell
Nancy brought flower close-up shots to share.
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