Magic of the Histogram

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DUBUQUE — The Dubuque Camera Club invites all tri-state area photography enthusiasts to a free photography presentation on Monday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. The event will be held at E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center in the Mines of Spain Recreation Area.

“The Magic of the Histogram” will showcase the work of Henry Matthiessen III, a professional photographer and artist with a studio in rural Elizabeth, Illinois. Learn how to use the built-in histogram on a DSLR camera to give your photography more impact.

“Ultimately, the overall purpose for using the histogram is to stretch out the dynamic range as far as you can.”

— Henry Matthiessen III 

Matthiessen, originally from Chicago, thinks of himself as an artist first. “I’m using my camera as a paintbrush,” he said. He shoots in digital, using two Nikon D700s, one on a tripod, and the other handheld. After a shot is taken, the camera’s histograms show the visual distribution of tones.

“Ultimately, the overall purpose for using the histogram is to stretch out the dynamic range as far as you can,” Matthiessen said. “I’m pushing the limits of the sensor in the camera to get it as dark and as light as I can, on both ends.”

Magic of the Histogram — FREE photography presentation. Monday March 18th at 6:30 p.m. Mines of Spain nature center.

During the presentation, Matthiessen will share his original landscape photography from the Driftless Area as well as images from a photo expedition he took to the Black Rock Desert.

He explained how he gets his inspiration: “My formula for shooting is I that see light first, then composition. The third element is manipulation. It’s 1-2-3, so if I don’t have the light, I don’t even pull out the camera.” 

By manipulation, he’s not talking about post-processing. While his workflow includes both Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, he never significantly alters an image.

Instead, Matthiessen uses other strategies to give an image more visual appeal: choosing an angle, or positioning the subject in relationship to the entire composition; or dodging and burning to bring out the highlights or darken other areas.

“I’m all about dramatic, high impact lighting,” he said. “I want you to look at that picture and stop in your tracks.” If the elements in a picture don’t balance, or clash, the impact on the viewer is lost.

“When you create a picture, you deliver emotion,” he explained. “That’s what an artist does. You have to be specific to guide the eye to that emotion, let them feel that emotion.”

It’s possible for a photographer to be technically adept, be able to spin the numbers with his equipment, yet be unable to make the viewer cry. That intensity is what you should be seeking.

Art is influential to Matthiessen’s photography. He spent time studying the paintings of the masters at the Art Institute of Chicago. Rembrandt, Monet, and romanticism painters have inspired his landscapes. He took his first art class around age 10, and picked up the camera around age 15.

“I’ve always shot, along with doing other forms of art,” he said. “I’m an artist first. Photography is my ‘A’ medium for capturing the Driftless Area and the Mississippi Valley.”

A few years ago, he left a career in the Chicago corporate world and moved to the Galena area. Stoned Art Studio, located within the dramatic hilltops and wooded valleys of rural Elizabeth, Illinois, opened in the spring of 2016.

Matthiessen is the founder of All River Road Talent (ARRT), a Galena area artists’ group. He co-organizes the Scenic Art Loop, a 113-mile self-guided tour of studios and galleries in northwest Illinois, along with photographer Amy Laskye of Amy May Photography. He also leads individual photography workshops and mentors high school students in photography.

In addition to being a professional photographer, he creates stone oil lamps. You are sure to run into Matthiessen at regional art fairs such as the Millwork Night Market, theNorthwest Illinois Art & Jazz Fest in Stockton, or at DubuqueFest each May.

“To be an artist, you have to be bold, daring, first, and different,” Matthiessen said.

Put this free photography presentation on your calendar and plan to join us!


The Magic of the Histogram. Monday, March 18, 2019, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the nature center in the Mines of Spain.
For more information:

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March 4, 2019 Meeting notes

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Fifteen club members attended the Dubuque Camera Club meeting on Monday March 4, 2018. Ron and Jennifer opened the meeting with a discussion of upcoming events and photo opps. Below are a few items that were mentioned:

  • The N4C mini-con is coming up on May 3-5, and will be held at a location in central Iowa that is only a short drive from the Pella Tulip Festival. Send in your registration by April 17. Panorama prints are one of the specialties that will be judged during the mini-con. Jennifer is on the ballot for a director position with N4C. This will be a one-year appointment. More info and a link to the mini-con registration form is on the N4C website.
  • The Dubuque Audubon Society will sponsor its annual bird banding program at the Mines of Spain on Saturday, March 24 @1:00 p.m. If you love photographing birds, this event may offer you some photo opps. You will get an up-close view of chickadees and other birds that frequent the feeders near the nature center.
  • The Dubuque Area Writers Guild is taking B&W photo submissions for its Gallery anthology. Several club members have had work included in the past. This year the subject matter is wide open. However, we do not have info about dimensions or filesize. It might be a good idea to team up with a writer in order to have your photos illustrate their work. Deadline is April Fool’s Day.
  • Depending on the weather (and who knows about that lately?!), the 2019 Galena St. Patrick’s Day parade may make a good photo opp. Not only are you likely to see leprechauns but also people wearing Civil War era costumes. The parade will be held on Sat. March 16 starting at 4:00 p.m. It is sponsored by the Galena Elks Lodge.
REFLECTIONS — Dubuque Camera Club photography exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art, Sept. 21 to Nov. 10, 2019.

REFLECTIONS will be the theme of our 2019 exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art. The exhibit will be on display from September 21 through November 10, 2019.  BE LOOKING AT YOUR PHOTOS FOR SUBMISSION IDEAS! Deadline to submit your images: June 3rd.

Participation is limited to current club members. Initial image submissions will be due by our June 3rd picnic with the museum staff to make final selections. We plan to print on metal or on metallic paper. The club will offer a stipend toward the cost of prints. We may hold a workshop this summer to frame and mat our own prints.

Exhibit committee: Robert Felderman, Pamela Brandt.  More details will be announced at future meetings.

Our club will judge Digital Travel at the meeting on Monday, April 15th @ 6:30 p.m.

In other news…

The club voted to purchase and provide refreshments on judging nights. Jennifer offered to organize the goodies. Our next judging event will happen during the meeting on Monday, April 15th @ 6:30 p.m. We will be judging the Digital Travel category of the N4C competition. More fun with munchies for the audience! [Note that since we will be judging, we cannot submit to this category in April.]

About 40 people attended the sequel to Andreas Exner‘s Storytelling in Wildlife Photography presentation on Sunday, March 3rd. The program had been pushed back one week due to winter weather. Good job again, Andreas!

Robert Felderman is going back to college in an online photography program at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. His work was recently juried into the college’s annual student exhibition. Congratulations, General Bob!

José Garcia had his photography noticed again on the official CanonUSA Instagram account. Congrats, José!

♦ ♦ ♦ A reminder to tell your friends about the Magic of the Histogram presentation on Monday, March 18th. We are all looking forward to seeing Henry’s lovely photos and hearing his tips and techniques. More info here. ♦ ♦ ♦

Congratulations to these photographers…

The club reviewed submissions and returns. Four photographers received recognition in last month’s competition:

  • David Smethers, First place, Digital Journalism. Two merit awards.
  • Kevin McTague, Merit award, Honorable mention.
  • Karen Johannessen Durrant, Merit award.
  • James Durrant, Merit award.

Good job! We are very proud of everyone who entered!

Mirrorless Cameras

As the keynote discussion of the evening, club member José Garcia demonstrated the advantages of using a mirrorless camera. He owns a Canon EOS R. It is lightweight and comfortable, can use any Canon lense, and has an awesome focus assist and other features.

For instance, with the touch-screen, adjustable LCD, you can use your finger to select the focus points and not take your eye away from the viewfinder. Meanwhile, in the viewfinder, what you see is what you get. There’s no “click” sound, which is convenient for church weddings (or wildlife).

The camera’s low light focusing ability makes it “amazing for night photography,” said José. It’s got eye detection for portraits and a real-time histogram. When you change the lenses, a curtain closes so you don’t get dust inside the body of the camera.

Every photographer at the meeting had a chance to take a closer look at Jose’s new Canon when he passed it around the room. It felt like passing the baby during a family gathering. However, the technobabble and photography jargon made it clear we were at a meeting of the Dubuque Camera Club.

Thanks to José Garcia for sharing his expertise in this presentation!


Here’s a 5-minute video from Sony that talks about the difference between DSLR and mirrorless cameras.

Upcoming events

  • March 18, 6:30 p.m.  — Club meeting.  “The Magic of the Histogram.” Free photography presentation by Henry Matthiessen. BRING YOUR FRIENDS! More info here.
  • April 1, 6:30 p.m. — Club meeting. N4C submissions are due before the meeting. No DT submissions this month.
  • April 15, 6:30 p.m. — Club meeting. Our club will judge Digital Travel (DT). We will have refreshments! Please attend!
  • May 3-5 — N4C mini-con at Wesley Woods, Indianola, IA. More info here.
  • May 6 — Club meeting. N4C submissions due. We can submit double DT.
  • May 20 — Club meeting. Presentation or workshop, TBD.
  • June 3rd, 6:00 p.m. — Annual picnic. Open to club members only. Last meeting of the regular N4C season. DMA “reflection” submissions are due.

Feb. 18, 2019 meeting notes

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The Dubuque Camera Club meeting on February 18, 2019, was attended by 19 people. Our club judged 112 photos from other clubs in the Digital Black and White category of the monthly N4C competition. Bob Felderman, Andreas Exner, and Kevin McTague served as judges. Ron Tigges, Ken Kiss, and Cara Pusateri also helped with the judging process.

Using N4C competition rules, photos are judged on the basis of Technique, Composition, and Interest, with a maximum score of 5 from each judge, in each area. The hypothetical perfect photo would score 45 like this:

TechniqueCompositionInterest
Judge #1555
Judge #2 555
Judge #3 555

In the B&W category, duo-tone or sepia images are fine. Images that are sized at 1920x1080px will fill up a widescreen monitor with a 16:9 aspect ratio. To learn more about N4C rules, visit the competition page on the N4C website.

N4C submissions:
File size: up to 750KB
Dimensions: 1920 px on longest side
(recommended: 1920x1080px which is 16:9)
Crop to best advantage!
Next submissions are due by March 4th

How to enhance a photo’s composition

It was very clear from the photos we looked at during judging that a photographer should always crop to enhance the composition. When judges are looking at over 100 photos, those that are composed carelessly are passed over. The choices that you make while cropping can make or break an image.

For instance, look at the edges of your photo. Are tree branches framing the subject in a good way, or will the viewer perceive them as protruding obnoxiously into the composition? If so, crop out or erase the offending items. One option is to use the Spot Removal Tool in Lightroom.

When you crop, consider symmetry and leading lines. (Remember, there’s more than one kind of symmetry.) In Lightroom, when you are cropping an image, press the letter O on your keyboard to cycle between crop overlay grids (rule of thirds, golden spiral, etc.) This will help you to enhance your image’s composition for the best effect. Click here to learn more about how to do this in Adobe Lightroom Classic.

When you are selecting among your images, remember that no matter how cute or adorable that snapshot of your pet or farm animal is, it’s still a snapshot. Likewise, an interesting subject that is portrayed from a poor angle will not stand up in competition. Be very cautious about putting the horizon line smack dab in the exact center of your picture. And don’t over-sharpen or over-process!

The best photos result when a photographer takes the time to be thoughtful about how the subject is portrayed. And don’t give up! Sometimes, the likes or dislikes of individual judges make all the difference. For example, an all-male judging panel, because of their idiosyncratic likes and dislikes, may utterly dismiss an exquisite and well-lit flower, yet irrationally give fives to a naked lady hood ornament!!! (This is a hypothetical example, of course… Just saying.)

The club took an intermission at or around the 62nd photo so that Ron could thumb-wrestle with projection technology. He was able to untangle the problem so that judging could continue. Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting!

Upcoming meetings

► On Sunday, March 3rd at 1:00 p.m., club member Andreas Exner will give his presentation on Storytelling in Wildlife Photography. This presentation was rescheduled from an earlier date due to weather. Learn more here.

► The next Dubuque Camera Club meeting will be on Monday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. Send in your N4C submissions by or before the meeting. Specifics are in past emails to club members. Because we judged this month, our club can submit double B&W in March. The club is planning to discuss mirrorless cameras. These innovative new cameras are an alternative to DSLR. If you have an interest or expertise in this topic, please contact club president Ronald Tigges and/or plan to attend this club meeting!

► At the meeting on Monday, March 18, we will enjoy a presentation from Henry Matthiessen III about the Magic of the Histogram. The public is invited. Learn more here.

Finding Your Light

The Des Moines Camera Club will host the 2019 N4C convention, Finding Your Light, from Sept. 19-21. The event will be held at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel, located at 1800 50th St. in West Des Moines, Iowa 50266.

Keynote speakers will be Don Komarechka and David Thoreson. Click here to learn more about them.

For more details and registration materials, visit the Des Moines Camera Club website.  You can also follow the Finding Your Light page on Facebook.

Other photography news

• DSO concert photos. In other news, a few club members have had their original digital photos used in a photography slideshow during a Dubuque Symphony Orchestra concert this year. (Congrats!)

• DAWG. The Dubuque Area Writers Guild is accepting black and white photos for its annual anthology, which will be released at DubuqueFest in May. Submit by email by April 1st. More info here.

• Twin Cities opp. A group of photography clubs in the Twin Cities sponsors an annual “Spring Break” event with a full day of photography tips and presentations. It will be held on March 30, 2019, with registration due in advance. More info here.

• Nature field trips. The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin sponsors a LOT of field trips throughout the year, some of them within a reasonable driving distance from Dubuque. In 2019, three field trips are specifically for photography — although you can probably take pictures on all of them. They also sponsor an annual photo contest which is limited to photos taken during these field trips. You must be a member of the organization to register (membership is $25). See their 2019 Field Trip Guidebook.

• N4C Mini-con. In addition to the big annual fall convention which our club hosted last year (Blufftops & Visions), the N4C organizes an annual mini-convention. It will be held May 3-5, 2019 in rural Indianola, Iowa. You must register by April 17. More info on the events page.

Top ideas for the 2019 DMA exhibit

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Because the club needs to decide on a theme for the upcoming 2019 Dubuque Camera Club exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art, club members were asked to vote in a poll. Information about the poll went out by email, and it was also discussed at the Feb. 18th meeting. Seventeen people chose between five options. The poll closed the day after the meeting. See below for the voting results.

The club will make a final decision about the DMA exhibit theme at a future meeting. If you are a club member and wish to participate in the exhibit, please be aware that digital submissions will be due by our June 3rd picnic. After the museum makes selections, we will order prints (dimensions TBA). This year, the club will give participants a stipend toward the cost of prints. We will possibly frame and mat our own prints in a workshop this summer. The exhibit will be on display from September 21 through November 10, 2019.

Poll results

Click on the links below to learn more about the top choices:

Long exposuresBeginner’s TipsExamples
More examples
ReflectionsIdeas and TipsExamples
More examples

Feb. 4, 2019 — Meeting notes

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The Dubuque Camera Club meeting on February 4, 2019 was attended by 21 people. Club president Ronald Tigges shared final numbers from the Blufftops & Visions convention that we hosted here in Dubuque in September 2018.

Blufftops & Visions was attended by 130 people from 11 states. One-third of the registrations were digital transactions. Our club pioneered the use of online registrations for the annual N4C convention. The three most popular events were opening night (attended by 73 people), the Millwork & Models photo shoot (70 participants), and the American Lady river cruise (78 participants).

After remitting the required 25% of the financial proceeds from Blufftops & Visions to the N4C board, we have a positive bank balance to potentially spend on something that club members would like to see, try, or do.

Here are some suggestions that were mentioned at the meeting:

  • Bring in a speaker. For instance, bring back one of the keynote speakers from Blufftops & Visions to lead a night photo shoot this summer. Horseshoe Mound was suggested as a potential location. We would need to collaborate with JDCF.
  • Subsidize the cost of prints for club exhibits. Provide a subsidy to club members who have a print selected for our upcoming exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art. [NOTE: We need to select a theme for this exhibit. Long exposures is a tentative theme that was suggested at the meeting.]
  • Purchase photography equipment that can be shared between club members. An image sensor cleaner was suggested. Other ideas…?

If you have thoughts on these ideas or other suggestions for the use of club funds, contact Ron or bring it up at a future meeting.

Imaging USA outbrief from General Bob

Robert Felderman at Imaging USA, the 2019 national PPA convention

As the highlight of the evening, Dubuque Camera Club member Robert Felderman of General Bob Photography gave a recap of this year’s national PPA convention, Imaging USA, which he and his wife, Nancy, attended in Atlanta in January.

It was a massive event, with over 10,000 attendees, over 2,000 trade show booths, and countless classes and workshops. Photo critiques, awards programs, and parties with endless buffets!

General Bob shared a slideshow of smartphone pictures that he captured in the trade show area, or during the convention. Much information at Imaging USA was pertinent to the business side of photography. Hot trends in the world of professional photography include flat studio lighting and mirrorless cameras. Metal and acrylic prints are also popular.

The badges worn by convention participants showed their areas of expertise, and some individual wore badges that almost reached the floor! Noteworthy photographers that were present included Peter Hurley, who gives classes for KelbyOne, and who was at the convention to present for Canon. In addition to the scheduled classes, there were many impromptu photography presentations or equipment demonstrations at the vendor booths.

“A good 25% of the people I talked to only knew how to shoot in automatic… at this professional photography convention!” — General Bob

Trade show vendors included Canon Professional Services (CPS), Tamron, American Color Imaging (ACI) from Cedar Falls, Iowa, and many more. There were wares for sale from vendors who specialize in printing or display, backdrops, studio equipment, or other photography-related areas. Lots of eye candy from a couple of international photo contests. One software maker claimed to have the secret to fix any blurry image. And the line to purchase gear for taking baby pictures was extremely long!

In January 2020 the national PPA convention will be held in Nashville, Tennessee. Convention registration (in the $300 range) is free if you are a PPA member. Thank you, General Bob, for this outstanding outbrief of Imaging USA!

N4C returns

At tonight’s club meeting, we also went over returns from the January 2019 N4C competition. Our club took home several merit awards and honorable mentions. Congratulations to the following photographers!

  • Casey Klein
  • Ken Kiss
  • Eleanor Schueller
  • Kevin McTague
  • David Smethers
  • Cory Huntington
  • Robert Felderman

Next Meeting: Judging B&W

Our club will judge the Digital Black and White category of the N4C competition at the next meeting on Monday, February 18 at 6:30 p.m. Three experienced club members will be needed as judges. You should have been a club member for at least 6 months to volunteer as a judge.

“It is a night where we get to look at a LOT of pictures. I always think it’s a pretty fun night.” — John L.


Black and White photos are judged on the basis of Technique, Composition, and Interest. Audience members will have a lot of images to look at, so be sure to attend! See the N4C Winners Galleries for past winners in the Black and White category.

“It’s so helpful to come and watch this, and the photos are amazing.” — Casey K.

Photography by Dubuque Camera Club member Jose Garcia was recently featured on the official Instagram account of Canon USA.