Contributed by Pamela Brandt

At the February 15 meeting, Dewayne Beecher showed off the new informative booklet that is available to all Dubuque Camera Club members. It contains club member contact info, photography terminology, and N4C info. It also walks you step-by-step through the monthly contest submission process, from choosing a category to resizing and naming your photo.

“If you like the shot, enter it,” said Dewayne.  “We need more entries.” Even though we have over 40 paying club members, sometimes we do not submit the maximum number of entries per category. The club can submit 8 photos in every category (16 when we have judged a category).

Photo by Mike Burley. (c) 2016. All rights reserved.

Guest speaker Mike Burley

We enjoyed an excellent and informative presentation from professional photojournalist Mike Burley from the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.

He earned a B.A. in Visual Journalism and has  worked as a professional photographer since 2003. Before coming to Dubuque, he served as an assistant to a Sports Illustrated photographer, and also worked for news media in Topeka, Honolulu, and Chicago.

Burley shared a slide show of his photos, talking about technique and story behind each image. He also talked about the job of being a photojournalist, how he gets his photos, and his workflow. “My forte is probably portraiture,” he said. Because altering photos is unethical in the news world, he does very limited post-processing. This includes using levels, dodging and burning, and cropping. Photoshop “actions” speed up his photo editing.

He said that patience is one of the necessary qualities for a photojournalist, since most shots are “found moments,” not posed. His goal is “trying to spend the most time at the assignment that you think will yield the best pictures.”  

Thank you, Mike Burley, for a compelling presentation!

Upcoming events:

We’ve been invited back to exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art this summer. Jennifer will have an update at the March meetings.

During the May 16 meeting, we will be judging the Travel category. This means that in April the club will be able to submit double, or 16 photos in Travel. Remember, Black and White can be entered every month. See the N4C competition rules for details.

Contributed by Jennifer Tigges

On a cold January night we were pleasantly surprised that 19 club members were in attendance.

Bald Eagle Watch review. The eagle watch had a good crowd. Special thanks to Kevin McTague, DeWayne Beecher, Ron and Jennifer Tigges and Adam Ploessl for helping with cameras, spotting scopes and educating the public about our club.

Dubuque Camera Club table at the 2016 Dubuque Bald Eagle Watch

Library pickup. For those who were part of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library Holiday Exhibition, please pick up your work January 26th after 4:00 or the following day.

There were some discussion about possible themes for the Dubuque Museum of Art. Bring your ideas to the next meeting.

Discussion of possibly setting up a shoot at the new local indoor skateboard park, Olliewood Action Sports.

We reviewed the November 2015 returns and the January submissions with some discussion of how the images were created.

Coming up:

February 1. Regular meeting, submissions due, returns, discuss options/theme for Dubuque Museum of Art Exhibition and go over how to create a sepia or black and white image.

February 15 meeting. Mike Burley from the Telegraph Herald will be our guest speaker.

Continuing Education Possibilities:

Rick Sammon Photograpy Seminars, Peoria, Illinois. More information.

2016 Winter Education Event, hosted by the Quad Cities Photography Club. Featuring Bob Davis, Ty Smedes, and Stan Bousson. February 6, Davenport, Iowa. More information here.

Wildlife photography workshop with Moose Peterson. Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. till around 5:00 p.m.(previously Canon Explorers of light series). Moose uses a Nikon camera. More information here.

Contributed by Jennifer Tigges

President’s report

Dubuque Museum of Art wants us for 2016. Need theme and coordinator for exhibit. Let us know if you have any ideas for this.

Holiday Library Show. Continues through January 26th, 2016. Those in show will be contacted about when to pick up photos. Previous Library Show Sales: checks should have been received by now.

January Submissions

We went through January submissions, and discussion was about Intervelometer and StarStaX free software.

Member Folder

DeWayne showed the latest version of the member competition guide and folder that will be given to each club member. Eleanor has been working on this, and it is almost finished. Distribution will be at one of the next meetings. Thanks for all your hard work on this, Ellie!

Upcoming schedule

January 16. Bald Eagle Watch, Grand River Center 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please let us know if you can work a shift that day (9-noon or noon-4:00). Duties include sitting at a table and discussing photography with attendees casually. Bring your own work of eagles or other animals to display. More information about the Dubuque Bald Eagle Watch.

January 18 meeting. We will go over submissions and returns at the beginning of the meeting because they were not available at the Jan. 4 meeting. This meeting will also be a question and answer night with a focus on either Photoshop or Lightroom. Bring a photo or digital file, your camera, or any questions (or let us know in advance).

February 15. Mike Burley will be guest speaker.

March 15. We will be judging travel. No Travel submissions this month.

April or May Meeting. Tentative guest speaker on drone or quadcopter photography.

Contributed by Bob Felderman

The Dubuque Camera Club Holiday Party on December 7, 2015 was a success! Thanks to all who attended and especially to those who brought food or drinks. Lots of members and guests were present, and everyone should have left full.

Thank you to Laura Schuster for cooking the barbecued pork. Jennifer also did a great job with helping to organize our holiday gathering.

The meeting started promptly at 6:30 p.m. (okay, a little early since folks were nibbling). A drawing was held for giveaways. DeWayne won a CD, and Cecil won a book.

The new, official Dubuque Camera Club patches were passed out to those present by DeWayne. Sew them to your jacket or camera bag. Every member gets two patches.

Next meeting: Monday, January 4, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.

DON’T FORGET to tell folks about us and ask them to join.

7:51 p.m. adjourned.

Contributed by Jennifer Tigges

Nature Judging

Judges: Gerald Marella, Kevin McTague, and Rick Noel.
There were 123 entries in Digital Nature, taking about 2 hours to go through.

President’s report
Reminder: The Dubuque Museum of Art wants us for 2016. We need a theme (planning committee), coordinator for exhibit (planning committee to find someone).

Quote from Dubuque Museum of Art Fundraiser on Friday: Dubuque Museum of Art executive director David Schmitz told art patrons that the museum is for everyone. During a recent camera club exhibit, he received a phone call from a truck driver who was coming to visit to make sure they were open. He said one of his friends had a photo in the show that he wanted to see.

Holiday Show at the Carnegie-Stout Library. These names were selected by drawing to show at the library: Kevin McTague, Bob Felderman and Laura Schuster. Bob, Sue, Lori, Ron, Gary are backups if the other artists sell their work.

The opening reception for the Holiday exhibit is December 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. All are invited, no admission charge.

The current library display runs until November 23. Please pick up art on these days: Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, November 23, 24, or 25.

Upcoming schedule
December 7, 2015. Christmas Party. Laura Schuster to coordinate potluck, order food and beverages, setup and cleanup. Need head count. Please let Laura know by November 30th if you are attending, what you are bringing, and number of guests.

National Geographic 50 greatest photographs. National Mississippi River Museum. October 31-January 3.

Dubuque County Conservation Photo Contest. www.dccbphotocontest.weebly.com

N4C on Facebook. N4C wants your photos, stories, hints and tips for the 2015-16 N4C News Bulletin. Read past issues of the bulletin here.