Ten brave photographers attended the Dubuque Camera Club meeting on Monday, April 16, 2018.

Only the most courageous creative spirits dare to attend club meetings on judging nights. Typically, more experienced club members realize that they may be called on to either judge the N4C competition, or stay up past their bedtime, so they wisely stay away.  Thank you to these brave souls:

Judges: Greg Nauman, Cecil Pfeiffer, and Andreas Exner
Facilitators: Ron Tigges, Cara Pusateri, and Eleanor Schueller

We had 108 photos in the Digital Black and White category to evaluate. Photos were judged by three judges on a scale of 0 to 5 in three categories:  technique, composition, and interest. Many of the submitted images were simply awesome.

Remember, looking at photos from other clubs can be educational. When our club judges a competition category, the images are shown on a high-res TV as well as on a bigger projection screen. This way, the audience can see what’s happening and admire the submissions too.  (All the more reason to attend on judging nights!)

If you missed this meeting  (or had to run away early because it was past your bedtime) don’t forget that you will be able to see all the winning photos on the N4C website.

2018 DuMA Exhibit Theme

The color red will be the theme for our upcoming annual photography exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art.  For ideas, Google “red photography.”   

If you are using Lightroom CC (the newer, cloud version of Lightroom), you can — theoretically — search your own uploaded photos for “red.” (Please report back if you find this tip useful.)

Each member in good standing (i.e. with annual dues of only $20 paid up-to-date) may submit up to 5 images to the art museum show. They will be uploaded to our Smugmug site, then the museum curator will choose among them. Submission deadline June 18 (two weeks after the club picnic).

We will probably be doing metal prints again (12″x18″). Remember, every photo that is chosen will cost you about $65 to have printed and mounted. It’s OK to decide that you only want one of your images selected. Tell Ron about any suggestions regarding financial sponsorship of the show.

Upcoming Schedule

• May 6: Final, drop-dead deadline to submit your images to the N4C competition this year. Because we judged, our club can submit double black and white. Members, send your images to Cara or Ken by following the instructions in your membership packet. Longest side: 1920px  
• Monday, May 7 @6:30 p.m. Regular club meeting. Mines of Spain. All tri-state area photography enthusiasts are welcome.
• May 21 @ 6:30 p.m. Club meeting
• June 4. Annual club potluck picnic. 6:00 start time. Final meeting of the 2017/2018 season.
• June 18. Deadline to submit images to Seeing Red. Email them to Ron.
• Sept. 4. First official meeting of the 2018/2019 season. Frantically finalize convention preparation. [Expect more convention-oriented planning meetings to be scheduled].
• Sept. 13-14-15, 2018. Blufftops & Visions photography convention in Dubuque.

Sixteen people attended the Dubuque Camera Club meeting on April 2, 2018. We were happy to say hello again to new member Julie Johnson. Remember, all tri-state area photography enthusiasts are welcome to attend our regular club meetings! We meet twice a month, September through May, at E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center in the Mines of Spain.

Club President Ron Tigges led a planning discussion for the 2018-19 season. The goal is to challenge both beginners and experienced photographers. “I’d like to see more hands-on interaction or workshops we could do as a group,” he said. “The club is for people to learn, to share, and to get feedback from others.”

Here’s the tentative meeting ideas we came up with for next season:

• Macro night.
• Creative night. “We’ll use the lab downstairs and make a mess down there,” said Ron.  It can be oil & water or anything using water. Look on the internet and bring your ideas.
• Post-processing.  This would be similar to the presentation on Photoshop techniques that we enjoyed in January.
• Night photography. This would be an offsite club night. We would meet somewhere else to take photos. Weather dependent.
• 3 judging meetings. Our club has committed to judging the N4C competition three times next season: 
  • September 17, 2018 – Judging Digital Pictorial
  • February 2019 – Judging Digital Black and White
  • April 2019 – Judging Digital Travel

N4C competition. Remember, the resolution size for competition submissions has increased to 1920 pixels on the longest side. File size is still limited to no more than 500KB.  If a photo receives a first, second, third, or merit award, it must be retired. Photos receiving an honorable mention may be resubmitted.  A photo collage that tells a story (like a three-photo filmstrip) is acceptable in the Digital Journalism category; however, longest side is still limited to 1920px. 

In Digital Travel, add the state to your filename or it may be disqualified by whatever club is judging. Even obvious landmarks (like the Statue of Liberty) run the risk of being disqualified for not having a state in the filename, so always be sure to add the state to travel submissions. For more detailed information about the monthly competition, see the N4C website.

Absent members. Sadly, two of our most experienced photographers, DeWayne and Gary, have been dealing with health issues that prevent them from attending meetings. We hope they will both be feeling better and back with us soon!

Now that Lori B. is back from her luxurious Florida vacation, we hope to also be seeing her at meetings again soon. More female representation is needed to keep the boys in line!

Dubuque Museum of Art show. We have agreed to organize an exhibit for the Dubuque Museum of Art. This will be our sixth annual exhibit at the art museum. Ron met with the curator to discuss. The tentative theme revolves around the color red. Selective (de)saturation is fine.  We will be ordering  12″x18″ metal prints.

The show will run from Sept. 22 to Nov. 4, 2018. Prints need to be delivered to the museum the week prior to the show’s opening. Club members can submit as many images as they wish, keeping in mind that prints will run about $65 apiece. Our SmugMug website will be used for photos submitted to the show.  If he is available, General Bob Felderman has been appointed as committee leader for this exhibit.

Blufftops & Visions

Thanks go out to everyone who has been generously giving their time to the Blufftops & Visions planning sessions. What a lot of exciting ideas have been tossed around! There is so much to do!!! Some committee leaders have already been named, but there are still plenty of ways to get involved.

For instance, we will need an official event photographer for the Blufftops & Visions convention. This will allow us to showcase photos in a gallery at the end of the convention. Are you interested? Naturally, everyone who attends is welcome to take pictures.

• When you post your pictures on social media, use this hashtag: #blufftopsandvisions 
• We also have a hashtag for the club: #dubuquecameraclub

Attend the April 16 club meeting for a brief overview of Blufftops & Visions planning, and to find out ways you can get involved.

Upcoming Events

• Next regular club meeting: Monday, April 16 @ 6:30 p.m. Judging digital black and white.
• Blufftops & Visions Planning Sessions: Saturday, April 7 @ Convivium. Saturday, April 14 @ Mines of Spain.
• N4C Spring Mini-Convention will be held May 4-6 in Panora, Iowa. Find more information on the N4C website. On Sunday, May 6, mini-con attendees will hear our plans for Blufftops & Visions. [Jennifer is looking for tourism-related photos for this presentation. Email her to discuss contributing your photos].
• The Linn Area Photo Club’s annual photography workshop is on May 19, 2018. Visit their website for more details.
• Dubuque Camera Club Annual Potluck Picnic: June 4, 2018
• Blufftops & Visions: Sept. 13-14-15, 2018