Luminosity The Doña Ana Photography Club Newsletter August 2018 In This Issue… Second Quarter Print Contest Winners Three Rivers Petroglyph Site Field Trip Third Party Photo Printers Otero Mesa Photo Exhibit Small Product Tabletop Lighting Theme Presentation In This Issue… Second Quarter Print Contest Winners Three Rivers Petroglyph Site Field Trip Third Party Photo Printers Otero Mesa Photo Exhibit Small Product Tabletop Lighting Theme Presentation
Transcript
Luminosity The Doña Ana Photography Club Newsletter
August 2018
In This Issue…Second Quarter Print ContestWinnersThree Rivers Petroglyph SiteField TripThird Party Photo PrintersOtero Mesa Photo ExhibitSmall Product TabletopLightingTheme Presentation
In This Issue…Second Quarter Print ContestWinnersThree Rivers Petroglyph SiteField TripThird Party Photo PrintersOtero Mesa Photo ExhibitSmall Product TabletopLightingTheme Presentation
August 2018 Luminosity - The Doña Ana Photography Club Newsletter Page 2
Mark Your Calendar…
August 4, 2018Submission Deadline for Fireworks ImagesSend to Kristi Dixon here
August 7, 2018 - 7:00 pmRegular Meeting - DAPCSouthwest Environmental Center275 North Main St.; Las Cruces, NM
August 18, 2018Submission Deadline for August Theme“Not My Style”Send to Themes mailbox to participate.
August 21, 2018 - 7:00 pmRegular Meeting - DAPCSouthwest Environmental Center275 North Main St.; Las Cruces, NM
Doña Ana Photography ClubDoña Ana Photography Club August 2018 Serving the Community since 1955 daphotoclub.org
Second Quarter Print Contest Winners
Red Ribbon Winners - 2nd Quarter Print Contest
Blue Ribbon Winners - 2nd Quarter Print Contest
Victor GibbsGerald GussBob HamreBill HansonWill Keener
Seth MadellCarl MaierGary Spencer
Alex BurrSteve EberleinCarol EdmondsVictor Gibbs (2)Gerald Guss
Bill HansonWill KeenerCarl MaierMaria Zucconi
Red Ribbon Winners
e 2nd quarter Print Contest was held during theJune 17 club meeting. ere were approximately 48entries submitted. As usual, about one-third of theentries qualified for a ribbon. Half of those were blueribbons, and half were red ribbons.
Members brought in up to 3 of their photos forentry into the contest. Sign-in was done by DebbieHands, Kristi Dixon and Beth Waters who trackedphotos and their creators, laying out the images inseemingly random order for members to view and forvoting. Voting was done by all paid club members inattendance, and each member was allowed to cast avote for up to 16 photos. e ballots were tallied byDebbie and Kristi aer the voting, with final resultsannounced at the end of the meeting. A list of BlueRibbon and Red Ribbon winner is included below.Congratulations are in order to all of you!
August 2018 Luminosity - The Doña Ana Photography Club Newsletter Page 3
Field Trip to Three Rivers Petroglyphs Site
Five people attended the ree Rivers Petroglyphfield trip on the evening of June 30. Aer meeting atthe site at 6:30, some members of our group stayed aslate as 11:00 PM.
e group was rewarded with a spectacular sunset,
and with glimpses of stars through the clouds later inthe evening.
Included on this page are sample images, includingsome from Kelly Briarton, Bob Peticolas, Jim Rodgersand Marcia Starich.
Photo by Bob Peticolas
Photo by Jim Rodgers
Photo by Jim Rodgers
Photo by Kelly Briarton
Photo by Marcia Starich
Photo by Marcia Starich Photo by Kelly Briarton
by Bob Peticolas
August 2018 Luminosity - The Doña Ana Photography Club Newsletter Page 4
A Comparison of Photo Printing Vendors with ResultsFred Moore compares results when multiple vendors print a complicated photoby Fred Moore
Got Great Prints?I got some, but I also got some less-than-great
prints. To save your shoe leather, I sent this test imageto a bunch of places and evaluated the results foraccuracy - how close the prints came to perfection.Yes, the picture isn’t very exciting, but it’s a standardtest image with some colors that are nearly impossiblefor anyone to print. I did this same survey in 2013,and the quality has improved considerably!
Big Picture, Sam’s, and Adorama came out on top.But here’s the strangething: most of the “onehour” places use the sameprinter and soware thatSam’s does! And it’shighly automated - theattendant mainly puts theprints in envelopes andcollects your money. Sowhy are they different?My guess is that Sam’s hasbetter maintenance thanthe others. And it’s notlike I caught them on agood day; Sam’s has beena favorite with DAPCmembers for years.
Sam’s has anotheroption: Kodak. ere is aseldom-used kiosk with asomewhat funkyinterface, but the printsare well-saturated andlook like the prints youused to get from film(remember that?)
Or maybe you shouldprint them yourself? Sure, but you can’t beat the priceor the quality even at the corner pharmacy. What youcan do is keep editing and re-printing yourmasterpiece until you get it looking just right. If youdon’t have a photo-quality printer, take your image fileto Big Picture Digital Image Experts at 2001 E.Lohman Ave. ey will work with you to get your
print looking just the way you want, and you’ll evenget a discount for being a DAPC member.
In addition to the local shops, I also included some“more than one hour” places. Adorama offers anamazing choice of nine different photo papers! eydelivered my prints via UPS in 4 days. Each print wasshrink-wrapped to a piece of cardboard, all of whichwere packed in a sturdy box. Contrast that toShutterfly, who did a fine printing job but shipped theprints rolled up in a triangular box. I’m still waiting
for them to flatten out!You really should try
“metallic” paper. is is afairly new paper with apearlescent surface thatmakes high-contrast andmonochrome imagesseem to jump off thepage. It’s an option fromSam’s, Adorama, and BigPicture.
Other issues areenhancement andcropping. e soware atthe one-hour places will“improve” your imageunless you tell it not to.Also, the default“borderless” option willcrop a bit off the edges ofyour image to make itborderless. Somelocations let you add asmall border to yourimage to prevent this. Ifthey don’t, you can dothe same thing by
expanding the “canvas” size in your editing soware. And one last thing - prints up to 8 inches wide are
done on a Fuji printer that is optimized for speed.Larger prints are made on a wide-format Epsonprinter. So, for the best 8x10 print, expand the canvasor add a border to your image to make it 11x14. is
Continued on page 5
The image (above) was sent out for comparison printing
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Image IconsHistoric and Inspiring Photosthat Evoke an Event or an Era
V-J Day in Times Square - Alfred EisenstaedtThis photo was taken in Times Square on the day World War II officiallyended. The identities of the sailor and nurse are unknown.Although the photo is often said to have captured the passion ofromantic love, it is likely that the two kissers were complete strangers.
forces them to use the Epson printer. You’ll pay a bit more but the prints will be better. Here are the results foreach source:Store Grade 8x10 Surface Printer Comments
Big Picture A $14.62 Epson Premium Luster Epson 9900 slightly under-saturated, otherwise OKBig Picture A+ $14.62 Epson Ultra Prem. Presentation Matte Epson 9900 true matte surface even printing, good colorBig Picture A+ $14.62 Simply Elegant Metallic Chrome Gloss Epson 9900 glossy, accurate color, images pop esp facesAdorama A- $3.48 Kodak Endura Luster ? good, slightly undersaturatedAdorama A- $3.48 Kodak Endura Matte ? a bit dark, matte has a slight sheenAdorama A+ $3.48 Kodak Endura Metallic ? glossy, accurate color, images pop esp facesAdorama A $3.48 Kodak Endura ProGlossy ? good contrast, sharpShutterfly A $10.06 11x14 Matte ? matte has a slight sheenShutterfly A $6.06 8x10 Glossy ? slightly more saturated than matteSam's Club A- $3.86 Glossy, 8x10, Kodak kiosk Kodak 6850 good color & contrast, sl undersaturatedSam's Club B- $3.96 Luster, 11x14, Fuji kiosk Epson 7890 good color, too light, sl blue shiftSam's Club B- $3.96 Luster, 11x14, Fuji kiosk Epson 7890 too light, too unsaturatedSam's Club B $3.96 Matte, 8.5x11, Fuji kiosk Epson 7890 OK color but too dark, slight blue shiftSam's Club B+ $3.96 S Gloss, 11x14, Fuji kiosk Epson 7890 good color, sl too light, slight blue shiftSam's Club B $1.78 S Gloss, 8x10, Fuji kiosk Fuji DL600 OK color but too darkWalgreens (Walton) C $3.08 11x14 S Gloss Epson 7890 light & undersaturated, TIFF same as JPGWalgreens (Walton) B $3.08 8x10 glossy Fuji DL600 good color, too dark, crop for borderlessFedEx (Lohman) C $1.29 Cover Stock, 80#, 100 bright Canon C700 decent color but too dark & unsaturatedFedEx (Lohman) D $0.65 Plain paper, 20#, 92 bright Canon C5540i surprizing good for plain paper, self-serviceOfficeMax D $3.08 Glossy ? undersaturated, head strikes!OfficeMax C $3.08 Matte ? good color & sat, slightly dark & too blueWalmart (Valley) C $3.08 8x10 matte (more like luster) Fuji DL650 very dark, I added a border at the Fuji kioskWalmart (Valley) D $3.08 8x10 matte (more like luster) Fuji DL650 too dark, cropping for borderlessWalmart (Walton) E $3.08 8x10 matte (more like luster) Fuji DL600 terrible! too dark, cropping for borderless
Comparison of Printing Vendors – Continued from page 4
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September 18 meeting. Typically, there is no 4thQuarter Print Contest, since the Photo of the Yearcontest is held in its place.
Here are a few of the Blue Ribbon winners:
Third Quarter Print Contestcontinued from page 2
City of Rocks Tree by Victor Gibbs
Coming Storm by Will Keener
Stone Faced by Seth Madell
Earth Moan by Robert Hamre
Great Cloud Over Las Cruces by Carl Maier
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e Southwest Environmental Center is hosting aphoto exhibit featuring local photographers whoseworks highlight the grasslands and wildlife of the OteroMesa. is photo exhibitwill be on display at theSouthwest EnvironmentalCenter Gallery from July 6through August 24.
e photos in the ex-hibit highlight the breath-taking views, remoteness,cultural heritage, and plantand wildlife the OteroMesa has to offer. e gallery space also offers an edu-cational component with facts about the importance ofthis wild place and opportunities for community mem-bers to participate in the #OurOteroMesa campaign toprotect the sacred and defend the wild from oil and gasdevelopment threats.
e #OurOteroMesa campaign offers local commu-nity members an opportunity to protect this vital partof our ecosystem of which we are all a part.
e photo exhibit illustrates Otero Mesa’ssignificance and the importance for communitymembers in the Southwest to join us in our fight to
protect it from threatswhere capital interestsoverlook communityinterests related to pre -serving our public landsand protecting wild life.
For more informationon the significance ofOtero Mesa and our effortsto ensure its pro tection for
future generations, visit wildmesquite.org.[Press Release by SW Environmental Center, July 2018]
* * * * *
Two members of the Doña Ana Photo Club–DaveBrown and Fred Moore–are among those artists who arefeatured in the exhibit. A few of those photos areincluded below.
Protect the SacredDefend the Wild…
Otero Mesa Photo Exhibit hosted by SW Environmental CenterDoña Ana Photography Club members are among those featured
Photo by Dave Brown Alamo Mountain by Fred Moore
Photo by Dave Brown Windmill Pump at Sunset by Fred Moore
August 2018 Luminosity - The Doña Ana Photography Club Newsletter Page 8
At the July 17 club meeting, Igave a presentation on shooting“table tops”– small products in astudio setting. is style of work isvery suitable for shooting hobbiesand cras in your home. I wentover several basic lighting set-upswhich can be created without toomuch trouble or expense. ese in-clude trace frames, light cones andlight tents. I also showed the differ-ence between “catalog” shoots andmore individually constructedlighting set-ups.
I looked at basic tools and tech-niques, and then at a series of dif-ferent products which useddifferent lighting and backgroundsto bring out the essence of the ob-jects. at is, aer all, what allgood table top work strives to do.
Many people don’t try this typeof photography because it involvesartificial lighting or other studiotechniques, but they should. Lightis light, and it doesn’t really matterwhether you use LEDs, compactfluorescents, older tungsten lights,speedlights, studio strobes or awindow with natural light. Con-structing even a simple set and de-signing an image from scratch hasits own problems. However, “mak-ing” pictures this way providesmuch more control of what is inthe image - more than anyone whomerely “takes” a found image everhas.
In the end, one process and itsproblems replaces another. Mod-ern digital technologies make thetechnical issues much easier than
they used to be. Ultimately, tabletop work is about two things: look-ing at the object and decidingwhich characteristics are impor-tant, then constructing a photo-graph which shows, supports andcomplements those elements; andsolving problems by trial and error.
Problems may be in the light-ing, in which case you move lightsaround until they work for you.Problems may exist in building theset, which involves finding ways tohold things where you want them.Neither is typically all that hard, al-though set building can become acomplete specialty in itself.
If you are a craer who alsophotographs, this type of workshould be interesting and fun andfully within your capabilities.
The Set-up and Lighting for a Small Product Photo Shoot The Final Photo from the Set-up as Shown
Small Product Lighting for Table Top PhotographyDAPC President Dale Taylor Discusses the Design, Set-up, and Lighting of aHome-Based Small Product Photo Shootby Dale Taylor
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Most of us use the word “fluid”as a synonym for “liquid.” In fact,liquids are only a subset of thatgroup of substances known as flu-ids. Technically, fluids include allsubstances that change shape whenstress is applied, and this includesliquids, gases, plasmas, and someplastics. e difference between aliquid and a gas is that a liquidforms a free surface within a con-tainer, but a gas does not. Be thatas it may, the colloquial use of theterm “fluid” is in fact synonymouswith the word “liquid” and most ofus use the term as such.
Just how “solid” does a solidneed to be? How “fluid” must asubstance be to be called “liquid?”A famous experiment involves asmall quantity of hot pitch (a formof coal tar) that was poured into afunnel and allowed to cool, thenallowed to drip freely from the bot-tom of the funnel. is experimenthas been running continuouslysince 1927, and so far there havebeen only 9 drops of pitch that
have formed and fallen from thefunnel. So… is pitch a solid or aliquid? At that rate, does the dis-tinction matter?
Remembering the actual defini-tion of “fluid,” however, also opensup a world of interpretation. atwhich is fluid does not resist achange in shape when acted uponby an outside force. We might de-scribe our careers, our emotions,even our identities as “fluid.” Solid-ity can be noble (as in the strengthof our resolve) but fluidity can alsobe admirable (as in the virtues ofcompromise and cooperation).
So let us raise a glass (of liquid?of fluid? certainly not of coal tar!)to the 14 members whose 41 imagescontributed to the July theme pres-entation. Most, of the photos con-centrated on movement and flow,mostly of water but occasionally ofother things (like grain, glass, andmilk in coffee). Others focused onice and snow, while some weresimply creative.
Next month’s theme is “Not My
Style.” Submit up to 3 JPG imagesusing the theme as your guide.Send them to Kristi Dixon for in-clusion in the presentation. Photosshould not exceed 2MB and shouldbe no larger than 1920 pixels wideand 1080 pixels tall.
e theme for September is“Distortion,” and the entire sched-ule of themes for 2018 can befound online here.
July Theme PresentationFluid
Cream Swirls by Carol Edmonds Bond Falls UP, MI by Carl Maier
August 2018 Luminosity - The Doña Ana Photography Club Newsletter Page 10
Constructive Edits
Highlights and features of photo editing software for more interest and best results
By now, most of us know what Layers are. Layersare a stack of image data, one on top of another,that are eventually added together to create a singleresult. Layers can be additional pixels (one imageon top of another) or can be adjustments (changesin exposure, contrast, etc.) or filters (blurs,distortions, and others).Most of the time, Layers occupy the entire area ofthe image (the “canvas”). If you add a Contrastadjustment, it changes the contrast of the entirepicture. What if you only want that adjustment toaffect a portion of the picture? What if you put onephoto on top of another, but only want a small pieceof the top photo to be seen?A Layer Mask is frequently the best way to do this.A Layer Mask is a way to hide a portion of a layer.Just as a real-world mask can obscure the face it is
worn on, a Layer Mask can reveal or obscure theLayer into which it is placed, as well as those layersbelow it.Use a layer mask to reveal just a small part of aphoto, as in the example shown. Use a layer maskto apply an adjustment to only a fraction of yourimage. Use a layer mask to fade one photo (in thetop layer) into another (on a bottom layer).Your imagination is the only limit.
Image (left) and its Layer Mask (right)
Upcoming Club PresentationsOn August 7, Dale Taylor will talk about “Basic
Portraiture & Flash.” Also, a 30 minute talk aboutportrait photographer Phillipe Halsman is scheduled.
On August 21, Seth Madell will present a shortinstructional presentation on “Adding Light Rays” tophotos, using post-processing techniques. He willinclude a live demonstration of this process, usingAffinity Photo soware. Light rays can give photosdepth and mood when used judiciously.
Also on August 21, a review of fireworks imagestaken by club members is scheduled.
Photo Exhibitionse SW Environmental Center is currently spon-
soring “Our Otero Mesa Photo Exhibit” — featuringlocal artists whose works highlight the grasslands andwildlife of the Otero Mesa. e exhibit runs throughAugust 2018. Dave Brown and Fred Moore will havephotos featured in the exhibition. Article on page 7.
Carl Maier’s “White Sands Wall” was awarded 1stPrize in the El Paso Art Association’s “Eye of theCamera” exhibition. Carl has suggested that thiswould be a good venue for club members to utilize.
A Note About Boot Campere will not be a second Boot Camp series
scheduled in 2018. e next Boot Camp is tentativelyscheduled to begin in January, 2019.
Adding Light Rays to a Photo - August 21 MeetingPhotos by Phillipe Halsman - August 7 Meeting
Announcements…
DAPC is a proud member ofthe Photographic Society ofAmerica. We encourage youto consider becoming anindividual member of PSA.For more information,please visit their website atpsa-photo.org and see whatthey have to offer.
Rachel Courtney Leaving Newsletter Post This MonthSeth Madell will Serve as New Editor
Many thanks go out to RachelCourtney, who is leaving herposition as Newsletter Editor. Sheis moving to Wenatchee, a smallcity in Washington State, with herhusband, Joel. Rachel has puttogether the club’s monthlynewsletter since the February, 2017edition, compiling dates, facts,photos, and articles from membersand officers alike. Oen a namelessand thankless job, Rachel has giventhe club a consistently high qualityand attractive newsletter each andevery month.
Rachel graduated from NMSUwith a Bachelor of Arts inJournalism & Linguistics in 2003.She was the Production Managerfor the Las Cruces Bulletin from2006 to 2014. She runs her ownbusiness, Pretty Nice Creations,which has a number of local clients
for whom she does advertising,brochures, and similar jobs. Shewill be missed by all of us.
Starting with this edition, thenewsletter editorship passes toSeth Madell. Seth promises tocontinue to provide a monthlynewsletter that is both interestingand informative. Seth has added anumber of features that he hopeswill become monthly staples. eShooting Menu is a short tip sheet
regarding camera features and/ortechniques for photography.Constructive Edits is a similarmonthly instructional tidbit thatdiscusses a common feature inpost-processing editing soware.And, Image Icons is a monthlylook at photographs from our pastthat are recognizable, and whichevoke a time, an event, or anemotion. Also, a great new photoon the cover each month.
The Shooting MenuA discussion of camera functions & shooting techniques
The default behavior of most DSLR cameras is to invoke auto-focuswhen the shutter button is pressed. Because of this, the camerafocuses with each new picture. Sometimes, this causes problems.There are compositions where the desired focus point is off to theside, and this requires a half-press and re-composition with each newpicture. Sometimes, especially in low light, autofocus may simplyhave trouble and take too muchtime. Often, the answer is a camerasetting called Back Button Focus.Many new cameras allow the user tore-map the autofocus function to adifferent button. This will usually bedone through the Custom Settingspart of the menu system. In this way,focusing is done by pressing a separate button, and is done onlywhen the photographer desires. This means that the camera will notre-focus with each new shot. And, it means that the half-press-and-recompose routine is no longer needed.
