Wildflowers - April 2004 Assignment

DIGICAM SIG April 20, 2004 Meeting Notes:

The CAUG Digicam SIG met at Parkdale Library for the program featuring a favorite photo subject, South Texas wildflowers. Year 2004 was a bumper year for wildflowers.

Initially, John Hoffmann made an easy-to-follow presentation outlining the effects of the Exposure Compensation adjustment on our cameras. (See online at ccbirding.com/dcsig under the heading HOW-TO: Lessons & PowerPoint Presentations - - click on that and select Compensation Values.) Oversimplified, you tweak with a + Exposure Compensation number when the subject is bright, and do the- Exposure Compensation number when it is dark.

Seven members presented their wildflower portfolios.

Bill Draper showed how to mix shading, in bluebonnets, and mixtures. Shooting a single bluebonnet in the diffused light of a cutaway plastic milk jug provided novel effects.

John Hoffmann showed primarily mixed single flowers in close-up colorful detail, with an exquisite and precisely detailed Winecup reflecting the deep red colors. He was able to get a colorful result in the background blurring that further enhanced that photo.

D. B. Kline showed some in-town areas wildflowers as well as some from Goliad. He gave us photos of wildflowers with larkspur gone to the wild, brilliant poppies, and unusual species.

Ben Luna's usual something special photographs showed beautiful sky backgrounds with winecups viewed from the prone position. How about Aggie "bluebonnets," yeah, red!

Brian and Drew Jacobs gave their 10x optical zoom a workout, capturing birds, a butterfly and a curious heron in gorgeous flower photos. Fairly new to the digital camera world, their presentation was great.

Chuck Guion's enjoyed good hunting around home (Rockport) with excellent shots of bluebonnets, daises, yellow flax, large area of phlox, and yucca in bloom.

Patty Beasley, our resident naturalist and group cheerleader showed the beautiful common flowers, and rare exotics, at their best. Her first photo was a Texas longhorn browsing in a bluebonnet field. She gave us a field of blood-red Indian Paintbrush under an awesome stormy sky. We saw bluebonnets, mixed blue and white. In Port Aransas, Patty found Indian Paintbrush mutations in unusual colors and shapes, oranges, deep reds and celadon tints. At Anzalduaz City Park she captured a field of Rose Verain with a background of Spanish Moss and thick-foliage oaks. A field of huisache daisies was accented by a weathered farmhouse and sheds in back. She found her sharp honey bee on a daisy photo at a vet's office. We saw colorful marsh flowers photo with a lake in background. At Welders Wildlife Refuge, she shot a pretty blackberry bloom with stamen and pistil in sharp detail. A Mexican Primrose is shown face-on with background perfectly blurred. There were male and female Cardinal Feathers, the "feathers" in clear detail. Look especially at Patty's photo of a Texas Star, a gorgeous flower, and she treated it that way. The iridescent blues in her False Iris flower are unusually pretty. And her thistle shots showed super perspective.

Chuck Guion concluded the presentations with a slide show of the sand castles contest at Rockport. Awesome!

The assignment for presentation at our May 18 is Action Shots. This time John Hoffmann has provided Tips for Shooting Action Shots, under Lessons and Power Point Presentations on the SIG webpage. As usual, send your photos to Patty a few days prior to the May meeting so she can organize them into the evening's presentation.

At the May 18 meeting, Bruce Switalla will give instructions on how to use Graphics software to enhance our photos after we take the shot. For instance, if you photo is too dark, lighten it up.

See you at our next meeting: May 18, 7 PM at Parkdale Library. Bring a friend. Public is invited.

For the Scribe -
Bill Draper

Worth one more note is a link to our wildflower info page. It's chock full of field notes, trip notes, how-to's, where-to's and ID tips.