FACES OF CUBA - Photography Exhibit by Judith Burngen

FACES OF CUBA
Photography by Judith Burngen (Club Member)


Location:  Latte Land (coffee shop)
                   79th and State Line Rd. (on southwest corner)

This exhibit of 13 portraits was made during Judith's two trips to Cuba in 2010 and 2011.  It showcases a small selection from over 50 portraits.

The exhibit is open now, and will close at the end of March.

Rocky Mountain School of Photography - DISCOUNT!

Rocky Mountain School of Photgraphy
Weekend Workshop
April 28-29, 2012

See below for a discount code!

Nebraska Grouse Viewing

Thank you to Harland Schuster for his wonderful presentation last night!  You can view more of his work at:  www.harlandschuster.com.


During his presentation, he discussed different locations in Nebraska that are good for viewing Grouse.  Here is the info:

The Aperture | 02-13-12

Newsletter of the Johnson County Camera Club

Established April 1963

jococameraclub.org

jococameraclub.blogspot.com

Meeting:  February 13, 2012 (second Monday)

Time:       6:30 P.M. (chat time), 7:00 P.M. meeting

Location: Asbury United Methodist Church

     Music Room

     75^th St. and Nall Avenue, Prairie Village, Kansas

(Park behind the church;  meeting entrance is near the corner on the back of the building near Nall.)

Meeting Agenda for February

At our February meeting we welcome Harland Schuster a freelance photographer from Morrill, KS, where he lives with his wife Suzanne.  Harland’s work has appeared in local, regional and national publications and two current books.  He was the photographer for The 8 Wonders of Kansas Guidebook , published by the Kansas Sampler Foundation, and  contributed to My Kansas , published by Meredith Publishing.  His work has also been published in numerous magazines throughout the Midwest.

Subjects for his photographic assignments have ranged from food shots to nature to wind farms.  Though Harland’s photographic travels have on occasion led him beyond his native Great Plains, his favorite subject remains the Midwestern landscape. 

 A portfolio of Harland’s photography can be viewed on his website:   www.harlandschuster.com

Harland will have copies of the book for sale, $29.95 + sales tax. If you already have a copy, you may bring it and Harland will gladly autograph it.  

We will have Show & Tell images only if time is available following Harland’s presentation.  Please see the requirements for image sizing listed herein.

Flames in the Flint Hills – Bruce Hogel

For those of you who aren't aware, the Flying W ranch is putting on their "Flames in the Flint Hills" event again this 14 April; see  http://www.flinthillsflyingw.com/announcements/2012-flames-in-the-flint-hills.  It was a great event last year, I thought.  The burns were spectacular!  Imagine a couple of thousand acres on fire.  You, being able to get up close and personal with your camera.   Also, Josh is a terrific chef!

Also the 14^th of April is the big day of the week long Prairie Fire Festival in Cottonwood Falls; see http://www.prairiefirefestival.com/ (no details yet).  As part of the event, a handful of us (in the club) are doing a digital "Prairie Fire" presentation at 11:00am that day.

Bio Sheet for our Spotlight Section

Don’t miss out on an opportunity to be featured in our newsletter.   This is your chance to let the other members learn a little about you and your photography.   Please send your bio sheet to Erin Schuerman, Program Committee Chair, at .

Notes from Our Last Meeting

--President Steve Wall presided over the meeting.

--The program consisted of three short DVD’s by self published photographers Erin Schuerman, Bruce Hogle and Brian Schoenfish.  Software products from Blurb were discussed.

--Since the church projector is no longer functional, President Steve Wall furnished a projector for Show and Tell use at the meeting.  Unfortunately there were some technical problems with the unit.

--At the urging of the Digital Dimensions group, the church has had the projection wall painted a  "whiter" beige.  JCCC will pay its share in the cost of the work.

--Following the conclusion of the programs the meeting was adjourned.

At The Galleries – Michael Stone  (Photography currently on display):

Revocup Coffee, 11030 Quivira (behind McDonalds), Overland Park, KS (913) 663-3695.

Hours: Monday thru Friday 6:30am-7pm, Saturday 7am-5pm, and Sunday 8am-5pm.

            "Photography by Ernie Lowden" JCCC member Ernie Lowden's 17 photographs offer the viewer a broad range of subject matter and pictorial genre, from traditional landscapes and nature, to subjective abstraction  -  Closes February 28.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - Block Building, 4525 Oak, KCMO (816-561-4000).

Hours: Wednesday 10am-4pm, Thursday and Friday 10am-9pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, and Sunday noon-5pm.

            The Photographs of Brett Weston This exhibition features 38 photographs, and presents a concise survey of the career of Brett Weston, son of famed photographer Edward Weston. Brett's work exemplified the modernist aesthetic. In the details of everyday things, he combined fact and form, objective reality and abstraction. Reports from those who have seen the exhibit agree, its a "Do not miss!" experience for any serious photographer  -  Closes April 1.

The Editor’s Corner – Bill Staudenmaier

Warning: What follows has nothing to do with Nikon or Canon.  Therefore should you choose to dismiss these ramblings I will understand.  I realize this is bordering on camera heresy.

Let’s get this out of the way right now.  My camera of choice is the Pentax K-7.  In the film days I also used Pentax, and perhaps this is why I have continued with them.  I have nothing against the aforementioned brands, but I shoot with Pentax, and enjoy complete satisfaction.  One of my initial attractions to Pentax was their claim that you could attach any of their older lenses to their digital DSLR’s and shoot in manual mode, but with image stabilization, since this feature is incorporated into the Pentax body rather than the lens.  Now this claim is true, somewhat.  With screw thread lenses you need an adaptor, but beyond that you do have complete manual control.  Some K-mount bayonet lenses have no aperture recognition and stay wide open, but the later versions have full manual control.  You can also use the medium format 645 lenses, with adaptor, on the Pentax bodies.  But I mostly use two present day weatherproof dedicated Pentax zoom lenses for my K-7 and they work quite well.  The technology has improved so much with computer design that there is no reason to do otherwise.  

We spent Christmas in Fort Collins, Colorado with my daughter Rebecca and family.  My son-in-law is starting to collect film cameras; although he says he isn’t.  He’s been reading up on the great cameras and lenses of the past century, and has purchased some of them.  For the most part I think it is really Tony’s skill as a photographer that shows through.  These cameras present a challenge for him, and he likes the unknown.  This is why he is into research, and is a respected scientist.

In the days of film you could get a great image with just about any lens if you stopped down and used a tripod.  But today you have Lens Baby and software that does what older lenses did, accidentally, because of their lack of quality.  Nevertheless old glass can be fun to use.  Thus in December, Tony (a Canon disciple), and I went to shoot at one of the “wild areas” set aside by the city of Fort Collins in the foot hills.  I borrowed a screw thread lens from his collection, a Pentacon 135mm 2.8 with a fifteen-blade aperture.  These extra blades in the lens offer an almost circular opening at any setting.  Adding the screw thread adaptor to my camera, I was then able to screw in the Pentacon and operate with total manual control, along with image stabilization. 

You will remember that Germany was, after WW2, divided into East and West.  The original Zeiss factory in the eastern sector was taken over by the Russians, equipment plans and existing camera stock.  Meanwhile Zeiss moved into the western sector and re-established itself.  Thus Tony’s 135mm Pentacon is of GDR manufacture.  All Pentacon’s early cameras and lenses were based on original Zeiss patents.  

The area where we shot is in a valley between some lower rock formations, but the sun provided little direct illumination until almost noon.  The temperature was about 20F with little or no wind.  There was snow on the ground and a half frozen stream meandering through the landscape.  After shooting with my Pentax lenses for a while I switched to the Pentacon.  Focusing was smooth and the aperture stopped down without any problems.  Regarding the results later, the Pentacon seems a little soft even stopped down, but not disagreeably so.  I’m satisfied with my shots that day.  The other screw thread lens I tried out was a Mamiya 135mm 2.8 (with the standard number of aperture blades) of approximately the same time period of manufacture, but made in Japan.  Side by side visual examination has the Mamiya scoring a little better.  This was not a scientific test of course, simply a fun way to spend the day doing something different.  I’ve always enjoyed shooting in manual.        

Even though Tony and I hiked around the area, we still managed to get a little chilled.  Constant stopping and standing in one place allowed the cold to penetrate.  After a few hours of shooting, it was time to get back to his truck and head home.   

 

Images for Show and Tell

There is always a possibility at all of our meetings (if time permits) for member images to be shown and discussed.  Please see the information below regarding sizing of images.

All images should be sized for 1024 pixels on the longest dimension and saved in jpeg format at 72 dpi.  Images should be renamed to include the artist’s last name in the first characters of the title.  Check your image, if it looks blurry or pixilated (unintentionally), you may have started with a low resolution or highly cropped image.  In this case, you may need to increase the setting in the resolution box to improve the image; but be sure to retain 1024 on the longest side.  Submit JPG files on a flash drive tagged with your name.  Drives will be returned after the images have been loaded into the computer for projection.

Subjects for the Year-End 2011-2012 Photo Contest

Submittals for our Year-End-Contest are due at our May 2012 meeting.  Only images shot since April 2011 are eligible.  There are nine subjects to choose from.  You may select a maximum of six subjects with a maximum of two entries for each of the six subjects chosen.  A professional photographer will judge the contest, with the results to be presented and discussed at the June 2012 meeting.

2011-2012 Year-End-Contest Subjects

• Abstract                                                 
• Autos/ Transportation/Wheels                                                    
• Close Up
• Curves                                                     
• Rusted/Busted/Old/Dilapidated                                                 
• From Below
• HDR                                                          
• Nostalgia                                                                                      
• “Wild” Things     

Please patronize the following area businesses when you need photographic supplies or camera repairs.

Overland Photo Supply, Inc.    8967 Metcalf,      Overland Park, KS  66212                                (913) 648-5950,                FAX (913) 648-5966,         e-mail – sales@overlandphoto.com,    Hours: M-F 10-7,  Sat 10-5

Crick Camera Shop      7715 State Line Rd.    Kansas City, MO  64114   (816) 444-3390,      e-mail - crickcamera@sbcglobal.net      Established in 1946

The Aperture, newsletter of the Johnson County Camera Club, is published monthly.  Meetings are held the second Monday of each month, unless otherwise announced, at the Asbury United Methodist Church.  Short articles written by club members, or selected from other sources of possible interest to club members, may be sent to the editor for inclusion in the newsletter.  Membership dues of $25.00 for one year are to be paid during the month of September, which is the beginning of the club year.  Anyone who joins the club after March 1^st. will not be required to pay dues and will not be eligible to participate in the year end competition.

For additional information or questions on the Johnson County Camera Club, activities, meetings, and membership contact the following members:

President  -  Steve Wall   913-782-6339   seeque2@gmail.com

Vice-President  - Erin Schuerman  913-322-3959   schuermanerin@gmail.com

Treasurer  -  Michael Stone   913-469-5724    mstoneopks@kc.rr.com       

Newsletter Editor  -  Bill Staudenmaier    913-381-0264    wstaude@sbcglobal.net 

Program Committee Chair  -  Erin Schuerman  

Program Committee Members  -  Steve Wall, Brian Schoenfish, Carol Barlau, Ernie Lowden, Marciana Vequist, Mark Higgins, Mary Cleveland, Shari Stanberry, Bruce Hogle

Les Saucier Workshop - May 2012

Registration is now open...

Space is limited!

Contact Erin Schuerman to register

at (913) 645-9898

BLURB Coupon!!!