Thunder Mountain Camera Club – Dec. 6, 2022 Meeting Minutes

Sharon and Ona opened the meeting at 7 pm.   10 folks were present at the meeting.

• Introductions were completed for everyone in attendance.
• Treasure report: Balance in account $890.97.  Membership information was discussed with the 4 guests present.  Members will make a list of outings and discussions, presentations, presenters they suggest and lists will be emailed to thundermtncam@gmail.com
• Carol McKay (and Amy) presented information on MJ Thomas Photography located at 12th st. and Hill in Grand Junction.  Carol discussed the business and opportunities/services they provide.   They have the equipment from Gene Taylors store.  School photos is the company’s main business covering a huge geographic area extending across the western slope of Colorado and into New Mexico and Arizona.  Carol discussed photo resolution and print sizes and everyone examined large prints of the same scene photographed on different resolution settings on a Nikon and an i-phone.  Examples of large print, canvas wrap and calendars, coffee cups, metal, T-shirts, albums, etc were on hand.
• PSA competition entries were presented by Sharon and the results from the monochrome were discussed.  Three categories including projected image (PID) color, PID black/white, nature-wildlife. The club received 3 awards for monochrome entries,  Congratulations to Marina, Sharon and Bob.  
• Bob and Sharon shared photographs with the club for discussion.

Meeting was over at 9:00 pm.  The next meeting will be January 24, 2023 at 7 pm, room 171 at Western Colorado Community College Bldg B. 

Minutes prepared by Bob P.

Sharon and Ona opened the meeting at 7 pm.   12 folks were present at the meeting.

• Introductions were completed for everyone in attendance.
• Treasure report: Balance in account $784.40  
• PSA competitions were discussed.  Three categories including projected image (PID) color, PID black/white, nature-wildlife.  Members with signed releases can submit 3 images, one in each category.  Deadline for entry submittal  is midnight Nov. 1.
• The November meeting may be changed to the first week in December due to the holiday and board members will be out of town.  The members will be notified.  A January banquet may be held and Donna Fullerton may offer her home.  Date TBD.
• Outings were discussed.  Possibilities include: fall colors, connected lakes, winter on the Mesa including dog sledding
• Sharon presented information on her work flow for making cards using photoshop.  
• Several members shared photographs and prints with the club for discussion.

Meeting was over at 9:00 pm.  The next meeting is TBD

(Minutes prepared by Bob P.)

Thunder Mountain Camera Club June 28, 2022 Meeting Minutes

Sharon (Club Vice-President) opened the meeting at 7 pm.   16 folks were present at the meeting.

• The volunteer desk was staffed and we were able to log into the computer. 
• Introductions were completed for everyone in attendance.
• The May 2022 minutes were accepted by voice vote.  Treasure report: Balance in account $860.43.  
• Dawn mentioned that she has abundant photography/camera equipment in storage that she needs to get rid of.  These were donated to the club over the years.
• Outings were discussed.  Possibilities include: wildflowers, fireworks, county fair
• Bob Clarke, Paul Huntington and Sharon Bradshaw each discussed their work flows for editing photographs.  These covered clones, sky replacement, noise, sharpening, general do/don’t using software such as: Photoshop Elements, Topaz, Luminar, Silver Fix, Photoshop. Utilizing software within a software.  Paul is preparing a variety of videos for U-tube.
• Dawn is moving away.  She is the heart and soul of TMCC and will be greatly missed.  Sharon presented a gift and we all ate yummy things for another hour and said our good byes.

Meeting was over at 9:00 pm.  The next meeting is July 26, 2022 at 7:00 pm.

B. Peterson

Thunder Mountain Camera Club May 2022 Meeting Minutes

Sharon (Club Vice-President) opened the meeting at 7 pm.   12 folks were present at the meeting.

• The volunteer desk was not staffed, no one was available to log into the computer. Dawn’s husband Doug was able to connect to the internet for us.  Thank you, Doug.
• “Take Part in Art” at Lincoln Park was discussed.  It will be held outside the Lincoln Park Barn on June 18, 2022 from 9:00AM to 12:00PM.  Paid members were asked to consider taking part through submitting matted photos for display at the event.  Those who would like to participate but unable to attend can make arrangements with Sharon (aussiehike@aol.com or 970-261-7984) to collect their photos.  Our goal: to recruit new members.  (Note: Sharon thought the event was June 11 but it is to be held on June 18.)
• Treasure report:  Deposits of Membership Dues $70.00, Expenditure to WCCC of $210.00 for three months meeting room rental (June thru August), Balance in account $775.68.
• Bob Clarke and others discussed editing tutorials for the next meeting. Three members volunteered to walk through their editing workflows.  Bob Clarke, Paul Huntington and Sharon Bradshaw volunteered.
• Visitors were welcomed and ask to share their interests in photography with the group.
• Sharon shared a video from National Geographic, Masters of Photography, Michael Medford’s video on using the four types of natural light in landscape photography.
• Sharon presented the PSA scores for PSA Round #3. Ona Griffith’s photo titled “Morning Eagle” received a Merit Award and Sharon Bradshaw’s photo “Courting Catch” received an Honorable Mention.  That gives the club a total of four awards for this competition year.
• Bob Clarke shared an informative presentation on mirror lockup and the effects of vibration on photos with mechanical shutters.  His research led him to conclude that mirrorless cameras are effective in reducing this effect. 
• Members Sharon, Hank and Dawn shared some of their recent photos, including photos from the club flower outing, and discussions followed. 
• Bob Clarke volunteered to contact WCCC regarding a login and password as there are no volunteers available during the summer months to perform this task for our meetings.  He will also contact them about connecting laptops to allow projection of the editing workflows. 

Meeting was over at 9:00 pm.  The next meeting is June 28, 2022 at 7:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Sharon Bradshaw

TMCC Meeting Sept 28, 2021 – Minutes

Dawn opened the meeting at 7 pm.  This is the third club meeting since the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.  She was the only board member present.

Business meeting – 

• Contact Dawn if interested in planning photo outings.
• Memberships have been prorated to finish out 2021 at $17.50 single membership; $25.00 family membership.  Forms were provided including liability waiver and PSA release.
• There were 11 attendees.  Snacks were provided.
• PSA #1 competition entries are due by midnight Oct 15, 2021.  Category: Open.  Please email to Sharon Bradshaw (aussiehike@aol.com) as well as to the contest email (tmcccontests@gmail.com).  See the competitions tab for additional submittal information. Competitions, Guidelines and Challenges

Presentation – Dieter Heinrich presented his “Photo Evaluation Handout” – Why should we learn to critique photos ?   1. Gain image evaluation skills  2. Improve your photography   3.  Learn to positively evaluate/critique photos  4. Help your fellow member   5.  To have fun in photography.  This covered categories: impact, originality, lighting, composition and quality/technical/post processing.  He also created an evaluation form with a point system.  The presentation has been posted on the TMCC web site. http://thundermountaincameraclub.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=7615&action=edit

Submittal Request – 

• At the July and August meeting Club members were asked to submit 5 – 10 photos of things they had shot during COVID.  Photographs from Sharon B., Paul H., Jerry B. and Dawn M. were shown and discussed briefly.  Thank you for playing.  She requested more submittals for the October meeting.

Meeting over at 9:00 pm.  Next meeting is October 26, 2021 at 7:00 pm.

Dawn opened the meeting at 7 pm.  This is the second club meeting since COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.  She was the only board member present.

Business meeting – 

• Contact Dawn if interested in planning photo outings.
• Memberships have been prorated to finish out 2021 and should cover room rental and internet website fees.  $17.50 single membership; $25.00 family membership.  Forms were provided including liability waiver.
• There were 11 attendees including 2 visitors, 1 was a former member.  Welcome Elivia and Paul.
• Several attendees paid membership and joined/re-joined TMCC.  Every attendee introduced themselves and identified their photography interest(s) and equipment.

Dawn was in the Sand Wash Basin Aug 19-22 to photograph wild horses and she had 3 good days of horsing around.  She provided a slide show of her photographs with discussions about equipment, such as her new Sigma lens. 

At the July meeting Club members were asked to submit 5 – 10 photos of things they had shot during COVID.  Photographs from Bob P., Sharon B. and Jason D. (new member) were shown and discussed briefly.  Thank you for playing.

Submittal Request

• Dawn again requested members to submit 5 – 10 photographs prior to the next club meeting.  The photos should present some of your efforts during COVID-19, be of small size and emailed to Dawn (email shown above).  These photos will be compiled by Dawn and shown/discussed at the September meeting.

Meeting over at 9:00 pm.  Next meeting is September 28, 2021 at 7:00 pm.

TMCC Meeting July 27, 2021 – Minutes

Dawn opened the meeting at 7 pm.  This is the first club meeting since COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.  She was the only board member present.

Business meeting – 

• Three of the four Board members (elected for 2020) have agreed to finish out 2021.  A Vice President is needed.  Contact Dawn if interested in planning photo outings.
• Memberships have been prorated to finish out 2021 and should cover room rental and internet website fees.  $17.50 single membership; $25.00 family membership.  Forms were provided including liability waiver.
• The current balance on the Treasury is $716, which should cover the bills until March 2022.
• There were 11 attendees including 4 visitors, 2 were former members.  Several attendees paid membership and joined/re-joined TMCC.  Every attendee introduced themselves and identified their photography interest(s) and equipment.
• Dawn asked for ideas for outings: star photos, night sky, unknown places, less photographed, wild horses, Crystal Mill Red Mountain Pass, Pictographs west of Montrose on reservations, street photos.  
• Dawn will be in the Sand Wash Basin Aug 19-22 and please contact her (dawn@2morrowsmuse.com) if you are interested in meeting up with her near Maybell.
• A sign up sheet was circulated to provide drinks and snacks to the meetings.

•  Scavenger Hunt – 
• John T. brought the submittals and mounted them on individual boards for viewing.  15 topics/words were provided in early 2020 to photograph.  Four members participated.  Thank you John for overseeing this activity, which was greatly affected by COVID-19 outbreak.  Future scavenger hunts will be discussed at a club meeting to gauge interest.

Photographic Society of America (PSA) competitions – 

• Sharon B. presented the photographs that had been selected for entry into the PSA club competition for 2019-20 and 2020-21 PSA years.  Thank you Sharon.  
• She discussed the low number of entries in recent competitions and the difficulty of getting judging.  She would like to utilize 3 club members as judges in the future.  
• She also recommended TMCC participate in a second division, the Nature Division, in addition to the current Projected Image Division which has only a few rules about post processing.  The Nature Division will cost no extra and is more consistent with the types of photographs our members typically create.  
• Sharon also stated that members should sign a release to allow PSA to be able to post their photograph on their website.
• Deadlines for the next PSA competitions are tentatively: Oct 15, Feb 1, April 1.

Bob Clarke presentation of bird photos on his recent trip to the Texas Gulf Coast including several sanctuaries and wildlife areas.  Thank you Bob.

Submittal Request

• Dawn requested members to submit 5 – 10 photographs prior to the next club meeting.  The photos should present some of your efforts during COVID-19, be of small size and emailed to Dawn (email shown above).  These photos will be compiled by Dawn and shown/discussed at the August meeting.

Meeting over at 9:15 pm.  Next meeting is August 24, 2021 at 7:00 pm.

President Dawn called the meeting to order at 7pm.  one new guest and member: Nathan Bailey

Up-coming competitions and outings were reviewed: PSA due March 1; Club competition themed long exposure due April 1; Outing March 7 530 pm at Sharon’s for burning of steel wool and other night shooting.  Address is 2845 C1/2 Rd.  Blue house south side of the road, north of the river.

Treasurer report: $555 deposited.  $515.76 remaining.  meeting room was paid through November.

Photographer Chris Eaton, Pinyon Ridge Photography, presented his evolution into night and dark sky photography and recent publications for the CO Monument.

Sharon reviewed the judging for the PSA #2 competition.  The 6 selected photographs were from Marina S., Amy H., Robert Pratt, Paul G, Sharon B. and Debbie T.  The website will be updated.

The members divided into 3 groups to review and comment on about 5 photos provided by anonymous club members.

The meeting ended about 9:15 pm.