The 2011-2012 camera club season is nearing an end and only the "Print/Digital Image of the Year" competitions remain.  The results are in for the season-long points competition:

Class A Color Prints Assigned Subject - 1st Place: Lorri Freedman & 2nd Place: Donna Cloutier Class A Color Prints Open - 1st Place: Lorri Freedman & 2nd Place: Don Brooks Class B Color Prints Assigned Subject - 1st Place: Ali Nager & 2nd Place: Loure Shaw Class B Color Prints Open - 1st Place: Ali Nager & 2nd Place: Loure Shaw Class A&B Black & White Prints Assigned Subject - 1st Place: Donna Cloutier & 2nd Place (Tie): Dennis Yates & Micheline Williams Class A&B Black & White Prints Open - 1st Place: Don Brooks & 2nd Place: Donna Cloutier Class A&B Color or Black & White Prints Photojournalism - 1st Place: Don Brooks & 2nd Place: Micheline Williams Class A&B Digital Image Assigned Subject - 1st Place: Lorri Freedman & 2nd Place: Micheline Williams Class A&B Digital Image Open - 1st Place: Lorri Freedman & 2nd Place (Tie): Micheline Williams & Neil Zobler Class A&B Digital Altered Reality - 1st Place: Lorri Freedman & 2nd Place: Micheline Williams Class A&B Digital Nature - 1st Place: Lorri Freedman & 2nd Place: Micheline Williams

Photo by: Lorri Freedman

Also, congratulations to the following people who each had five or more first place finishes in the monthly competitions during the 2011-2013 season:

Lorri Freedman - 22(!) first place photos Alex Lau - 12 first place photos Micheline Williams...

The May competition meeting results are in! The high score for the night was 28, received for Lorri Freedman's photo of a Tufted Titmouse catching a bee, in the digital Nature category.  The complete results from the May competition are available and here is a summary of the first place winners:

Class A Color Prints Assigned Subject - Donna Cloutier
Class A Color Prints Open - Lorri Freedman
Class B Color Prints Assigned Subject - Ali Nager
Class B Color Prints Open - Joe Tambascio
Class A&B Black & White Prints Assigned Subject - Tie: Micheline Williams & Alex Lau
Class A&B Black & White Prints Open - Alex Lau
Class A&B Color or Black & White Prints Photojournalism - Tie: Rick Tyrseck & Alex Lau
Class A&B Digital Image Assigned Subject - Doris Peterson
Class A&B Digital Image Open - Tie: Don Brooks, Lorri Freedman, Tom Peterson & Neil Zobler
Class A&B Digital Altered Reality - Lorri Freedman
Class A&B Digital Nature - Lorri Freedman

Photo by Neil Zobler - 1st Place Tie May Digital Open Competition

Photos by Lorri Freedman 

The shorebirds photography outing, led by Joey Lounsbury, took place on April 28. From all accounts it was a fun and successful photo shoot. Here are a few images from the outing. Thanks for organizing, Joey!

 

Want to see the Big Five and many, many more animals and birds in their natural habitat? Want to learn how to go on a picture taking safari that costs $12,500, or $4,300 or FREE? Want to know what you need to bring in order to navigate safely to the bathroom at night? Want to learn the secret of getting through customs and saving yourself over an hour? Want to find out what can help you on the plane ride over and also help take the best pictures of animals? Want to learn how to prevent intgruders from entering your tent in the early morning? Want to learn the secret of protecting your camera from the highest risk on a game drive? Want to know what NOT to bring? Want to know when NOT to go to Kenya? Learn what to have in order to get a good night's sleep with the wild animals around. Learn what you need to know in order to use U.S. dollars successfully. Come see how to get a special kind of man-in-his-environment photo.    

COME see Bill and Courtenay Snellings' presentation at Candlewood Camera Club on April 24 at 7:30 pm in the Banquet Hall at Hatter's Park Hall located at 7 East Hayestown Road, Danbury CT. Bill has been in Candlewood Camera Club for over 15 years and was a past president. He has been a serious photographer since high school (also over 15 years ago). Courtenay is an English Teacher at Ridgefield High School. She just recently started taking pictures with her new, much less expensive camera (and took better pictures and videos than Bill on this trip!)

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The April competition meeting results are in! The high score for the night was 28, received for Eric LaCore's photo of a monkey in the digital Nature category.  The complete results from the April competition are available and here is a summary of the first place winners:

Class A Color Prints Assigned Subject - Tie: Lorri Freedman, Donna Cloutier & Rocco Valeri
Class A Color Prints Open - Donna Cloutier
Class B Color Prints Assigned Subject - Ali Nager
Class B Color Prints Open - Bonnie Mather
Class A&B Black & White Prints Assigned Subject - Tie: Loure Shaw, Bill Lounsbury & Dennis Yates
Class A&B Black & White Prints Open - Tie: Dennis Yates, Bruce Miller & Alex Lau
Class A&B Color or Black & White Prints Photojournalism - Tie: Joey Lounsbury & Bruce Miller
Class A&B Digital Image Assigned Subject - Ralph Baskin
Class A&B Digital Image Open - Lorri Freedman
Class A&B Digital Altered Reality - Lorri Freedman
Class A&B Digital Nature - Eric LaCore

 

 

Photo by Eric LaCore - 1st Place April Digital Nature Competition

"Hank the Tank," a coal-fired steam engine will be running on the Naugatuck Railroad June 8-17. Some club members are already planning to shoot the train on Saturday, June 9, with a rain date of June 16th. The train runs several times per day, but the first run is at 10:00 am, departing from the Thomaston Train Station. The shooting will probably begin around 9:15 as the coal is loaded, the water tank is filled and the train is prepared for departure. There is then an opportunity to drive to the area where this photo was taken for those who want to get action shots as the train crosses the trestle. Afterwards, there is time to return to the station for shots of the engineer, conductor, station master, etc., followed by lunch at Crabby Al's just a short walk from the train station.

Here are some links that you might find helpful:
- Naugatuck Railroad
- Directions

There is no need to RSVP - if you are interested in attending, just show up at the train station! If you'd like to car pool, you can send a note to president@candlewoodcamera.org and we can put you in contact with others who we know are attending.

  

Photo by Tom Peterson

The New England Camera Club Council Photography Conference on July 13 – 15, 2012 is now open for registration. 

The Saturday night Feature Presentation will be “Telling Stories with Light” by Joe McNally (of Ridgefield, CT). 

Sunday morning will offer an opportunity to photograph a selection of 50’s-60’s Cruise Cars provided by members of the Massachusetts Cruisers Auto Club, along with a selection of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Details of these, as well as a listing of the weekend’s presenters and topics are available in the Conference Preview.

Here are some other links that you might find helpful:

Conference Information

Paper registration form

Online registration

Most of the Candlewood Camera Club members who attend the conference stay in the North Dorms (the ones that are air conditioned).  These dorms consist of four individual, private rooms with a shared common area and two bathrooms that are shared by the four guests.  When registering, club members often request specific suite-mates from the club, although this isn’t required.  At the next club meetings, we can have a show of hands as to which club members plan to attend so that you can know who else will be there.

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An Evening At The Shore: Saturday, April 28, 2012 - 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Join Joey Lounsbury for an evening of photographing shorebirds at Milford Point, a Connecticut birding hotspot.  The program is free to attend and will be a great learning experience.  Joey will be teaching us how to approach shorebirds for the best angle as well as camera settings and various other bird photography techniques. 

The group will arrive at Milford Point at 4:00 pm.  It is about an hour drive, so we can arrange for car pools or you can drive by yourself.  Upon arrival we will have a quick discussion about setting up your camera to make the sharpest and most properly exposed images you can.  We will then proceed out to the beach where we will begin shooting.

The evening should offer opportunities at photographing Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling and possibly the Black Skimmer.  All of these birds will be in prime breeding plumage, and some of them may even be demonstrating courtship displays!

The tide reaches its lowest point at 6:14 pm, which should give us a prime opportunity to photograph foraging birds.  The sun will set at 7:39 pm, hopefully giving us prime light on the birds and maybe even a few good sunset photos as well!  A focal length of at least 200 mm is recommended for this this, although the longer the better!  Joey regularly uses a 300 mm lens.  If you are interested in attending this great workshop, please send Joey an e-mail. ...

The March 27 meeting is a shooting night.  The Danbury Railway Museum has again been gracious enough to open its doors to us.  We will be photographing their miniature train layouts that depict the Danbury Rail Yard as it appeared in the 1950's and other layouts.

The museum is located on White Street in Danbury.  You may arrive beginning at 7:00 pm, but shooting will begin at 7:30 pm.  The Patriot parking garage is nearby in case the Railway Museum parking lot is full.

Be sure to bring your tripod as it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to photograph using the necessary long exposures without it.  Also bring flashlights to illuminate the sets using "light painting."

See the photo at the right as one of Tom Peterson's examples of what can be accomplished at this shoot.

The March competition meeting results are in! The high score for the night was 29, received for Ali Nager's photo of a spider on a leaf.  The big winners of the night were Lorri Freedman, with four 1st place results, Ali Nager, who won first place in both Class B competitions and Micheline Williams with three first place results. The complete results from the March competition are available and here is a summary of the first place winners:

Class A Color Prints Assigned Subject - Lorri Freedman
Class A Color Prints Open - Lorri Freedman
Class B Color Prints Assigned Subject - Ali Nager
Class B Color Prints Open - Ali Nager
Class A&B Black & White Prints Assigned Subject - Tie: Donna Cloutier & Joey Lounsbury
Class A&B Black & White Prints Open - Alex Lau
Class A&B Color or Black & White Prints Photojournalism - Tie: Don Brooks & Micheline Williams
Class A&B Digital Image Assigned Subject - Lorri Freedman
Class A&B Digital Image Open - Tie: Lorri Freedman & Micheline Williams
Class A&B Digital Altered Reality - Lorri Freedman
Class A&B Digital Nature - Micheline Williams



Photo by Micheline Williams - Tie - 1st Place March Digital Open Competition