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Inside This Issue Motivation through Meetups

From the President

Rich Fisher to Give Presentation

March Image of the Month Results

Upcoming Schedule March 2012

March 2012 Saturday March 10– 12:30 PM CACCA Meeting. Monday, March 12– 7 PM Club Meeting. Rich Fisher to give presentation on African Safari Photography Saturday March 17– 9:30 AM CACCA Spring Salon Monday, March 26– 7 PM CLUB COMPETITION.

April 2012 Saturday, April 14– 1:30 pm CACCA meeting, Arlington Heights. Monday, April 9– 7 PM Club Meeting. Program to be announced Monday, April 23– 7 PM Club Meeting. Program to be announced.

– image by Theresa Hart

Motivation through Meetups Have you found yourself in a "photo op desert", wanting to go out and take pictures, but just not finding enough motivation to head out on your own? Club member Theresa Hart understands just how you feel. "I often have trouble motivating myself to go out and shoot on my own. I guess I don't quite know myself photographically yet, to know what I want to do." Theresa discovered one way to help seek out inspiration is by going to photography meetups. Originally invited to participate in a meetup with fellow club member Nancy Strahinic provided Theresa a change of photographic pace and helped her enrich her pursuit of improving her skills. "The initial impetus was the opportunity to see hot air balloons, something I had never done. "

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Des P laines Camera Club Des P laines, IL March 2012

IN Focus

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DES PLAINES CAMERA CLUB

President…..Tom Mulick Vice President….Dave Waycie

Treasurer….Irene Szilagyi Publicity… Theresa Hart

Recording Secretary…Kay Michaely Program Director…Tom Mulick

IN Focus Editor…Sue Lindell Contributors….Bill Bishoff,

Bob Erickson

Tom Mulick, DPCC President

From the President: It was a disappointing

winter, if you like to take

pictures of ice and snow,

or if you like to ski, ice

skate, snowshoe or

snowmobile. I like to at

least take pictures of the

seasons. Let's hope we

will have three somewhat

normal seasons left this

year.

Spring has already begun with buds on trees, neighbors fertilizing their lawns and before you know it flowering plants will be poking their heads out of the ground. So let's get ready for the coming season by preparing to take pictures of flowers and other plants

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Meetups continued

image by Theresa Hart

Theresa enjoys group outings; and appreciates being able to socialize and

learn from the other photographers. When asked what sort of meetup

interests are out there she replies, "If you look at the meetup website

(http://chicago.meetup.com/) you will find meetups covering just about any

interest possible. There are a number of photography meetup groups in the

area, some more active than others. Some have specific interests, some are

general. They don't seem to be about education as much as about the

opportunity to spend time with like-minded people".

After the success of the hot air balloon meetup, Theresa then attended a

meetup at Architectural Artifacts in Chicago. The group started at a specific

area, identified themselves as part of the group, then went their different

ways to shoot; meeting again for lunch. The group stayed together enough to

allow interactions; asking questions etc, "but we were on our own taking

photographs. Not everyone went to lunch, but it was a very pleasant time".

Demographics seemed to be an equal ratio of men and women, and ages

ranged from '20s to late middle age.

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From the President continued:

Make a trip to the

Botanical Garden, where

you're sure to get in on

what is in bloom. Many of

you are members and

have parking passes. Get

to know one another and

carpool to the garden.

Another annual event to

jumpstart your picture

taking is the Chicago

Flower and Garden Show.

This year the dates are

March 10th to the 18th

www.chicagoflower.com

Every time you turn

around there seems to be

something new in our

"Golden Age", of

photography. If it isn't

some new equipment, it

may be some new

program. Different

methods and lighting

advancements can help

improve your photography

without adding much cost.

Before running out to buy

the latest new gadget,

learn to use what you

have. My own experience

has been that I am only

using 20% of the

capabilities of some of my

equipment and programs.

The journey to becoming a

better photographer only

stops when you want to

stop. Learning is a

continuing process.

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Meetups continued

Theresa believes the amount of interaction among the group tends to depend

on the activity as much as the photographers themselves. In Theresa's

experience, "There were individuals who take the role of organizers for the

group". In her view, both groups were similar in that they started as a group,

went somewhat separate ways to shoot, then came back together again.

Theresa likes the idea of photo meetups, in her opinion they are "like a

camera club, but nothing but outings!" She plans to continue to join meetups

as her schedule allows, as she appreciates the many and varied opportunities

available to continue to develop her already impressive photographic abilities.

Image by Theresa Hart

Rich Fisher to Give Presentation

The next DPCC club meeting on March 12 will feature a presentation about photography while on safari in Africa by Rich Fischer. Rich is a well respected and talented photographer; winning numerous awards for his outstanding photography recently including the CACCA Nature Print of the Month for February. The club meeting will start at 7 pm with club business, after which Mr. Fisher will give his presentation.

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From the President continued

The club has been quite active in social and community events so far this year. I want to thank all those who

contributed in helping various organizations make their events successful. Speaking of success, I can't let this

opportunity go by without saying thank you to all those who contributed to the food drive in February. In spite

of hard economic times our club collected a half ton of food. The actual weight was 1038 pounds. This surpassed

last year's record 770 pounds.

I know of some club members who have taken the step to shooting in RAW and HDR. This tells me that our

education programs are hitting the target.

Let's get out and start taking pictures and growing as photographers, if that is what you desire. We will be

having some interesting programs in the future and hope you are able to learn from them. Speaking of learning,

Bob Benson's program on judging was interesting and informative. I hope it motivates some club members to

join the judging core in CACCA. If you have questions, ask me.

Have fun with photography.

Tom

Tom Mulick, President

Des Plaines Camera Club

CACCA Spring Salon

The annual CACCA Spring Salon will be held on March 17th, 2012 starting at 9:30 am at the Christian Church of

Arlington Heights, 333 W Thomas , Arlington Heights. The event is different to the monthly CACCA competition

in that it does not include interclub divisions. It is open to individual competitors, and the photographers do not

need to be members of a CACCA camera club. Images which are judged "accepted" can then continue to

compete for awards and honorable mentions. Accepted images and makers are then listed in the annual salon

guidebook, as well as presented in a special slideshow which is created on a DVD.

Several DPCC club members compete in this prestigious event, several have gone on to win acceptances, awards

or honorable mentions. This event attracts some of the finest images and photographers in the

Chicago/CACCA area. Help show your support of fellow club members as well as your hobby interest by

attending the Spring Salon.

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March Competition Results

Charlie – image by John Kowalyk

Print of the month for March is Charlie, by John Kowalyck. This image was taken at the Telluride Mushroom

Festival in 2010. It was taken with a Nikon D200, 18-200 mm Nikon lens, ISO 200 , F5.6 at 1/320 seconds and

focal length 50mm.

John's image, Cypress Reflections was awarded DPI of the month for March as well. This image may be viewed on the home page of our DPCC web site

Complete results of club competitions may be found on our web site, http://desplainescameraclub.com

The Des Plaines Camera Club is a proud member of the Chicago Area Camera Club Association and Photgraphic Society of America

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DPCC Competition - Image by Bill Bishoff