Yep, just what it says. Birds, all shapes, all kinds, all sizes, water and land. Our members came through again and not only did we get photos of all kinds of birds, those birds literally were all over the world! While on assignment to have fun, Ken Parsons included the DigiCamSIG assignments in his tour of Europe this fall and sends his submissions to us each month from his port of call for the day! Now THAT'S the kind of spirit that sets our folks apart from your average run-of-the-mill photography buffs! Awesome! Also, due to timing situations, Pam Bomar's photos didn't make it to me in time for the meeting, but I'm including them in the presentation anyway, and we'll look them over in full size at the November gathering. Now, let's check out the offerings ... you know, we got almost as many submissions for this assignment as we did for our traditional big topic, December holidays! Way to go, everyone!

Birds!

John Hoffmann lesson on white balance

CAUG Digicam SIG Notes
October 19, 2004 meeting

CAUG's Digital Camera SIG, supported jointly by Parkdale Library, had about twenty camera enthusiasts present on our October 19th meeting.
Assignment for the month was Birds.

John Hoffmann presented an excellent slide show on White Balance. Both the technical and practical aspects were covered, See it at on the LESSONS page - this is a must review for novice and intermediate digital camera users.

The following comments cover a small number of the excellent photos submitted by our digital camera group.

Ken Parson emailed his offerings from the Old World countries. We recognized the mallard and another "genus duck." Other local bird photos
were complemented by local scenery backgrounds and the birds' perches, one on the head of a statue.

Patty Beasley, our naturalist, featured photos of "kettles" (meaning a lot) of broadwing hawks, a magnificent shot of Ranger, a male
Harris's Hawk, a caracara in flight, golden eagle, peacock, pair of ruby-throated hummingbird, a pyrrholoxia, green jay, great shots. We
really owe her: she executes our programs.

Ben Luna, unable to attend, challenged us with great white and blue herons, a swan and gulls in flight, having been given Ben's special
flair with light, shadow, and reflections. We missed you, Ben.

Joan Stephens showed exotic birds of South America, colorful macaws, flamingos, and touton penguins from her Antarctica experience. She
and the penguins were literally cool!

Chumbe Salinas/Bill Draper - Chumbe included her "brush country" birds (she lives in Benavides). Hers was a roadrunner, a Great Kiskadee
virtually posing, Vermillion Flycatchers, and others from the Brush. Bill provided shore birds, a black crowned night heron, seven cattle
egrets on his deck, and a hummingbird, wings stilled, on a hummingbird bush.

John Hoffmann became the master of hummingbird photography. Look at his seven photos of hummers, with wings stopped, and their features in
great detail, even to the eyeballs. He added wild turkeys, a great shot of a long-billed curlew, and a curious red-headed vulture.

Linda Toth gave us great white and great blue herons against a background of surf and foam. One Great Blue was in an unusual strut. She
caught the backgrounds at a good time - nice colors.

Brian and Drew Jacobs - Drawing on a 10x optical zoom, they got a belly shot of a Ruby Throated Hummingbird, a pair of Laughing Gulls
chattering, a colorful Green Jay in an even more colorful background, very close-up shots of pelicans. The shot of Roseate Spoonbills, on
floating brush with wings spread, is especially impressive.

Pam Bomar mined the Aquarium for her birds, a Swainson's hawk on a perch and the plethora of shore birds that hang around the water side, many photographed in flight.

Susan Fabisch provided super close-ups of two Great Blue Herons, enough to count the feathers, against backgrounds of the JFK Causeway and Laguna Madre.

Chuck Guion went DVD - a movie of swarms of hummers in his yard, and included his Rockport themes, like birds occupying each post in a row
of pilings. We very much appreciate our Rockport friends who make a 100-mile round trip to participate with us.

For the Scribe,
Bill Draper

Also - we ask you bring your pictures you took of the Red Moon last Wednesday (Oct 27) - the skies were mostly clear so we should have some great moon pictures!

Assignment for October 2004:  Vegetables!

Have we lost our minds? Only in trying to decide just which luscious veggies to put in front of our lenses! Okay, so when you quit laughing, just consider ... we're now in fall season, and there are all kinds of neat fall season-only veggies now available in our grocery and local restaurants. Putting that wonderful creativity to work that I know we all have in abundance, go out and find some of these natural works of art and bring them to the screen with your digital camera. I'll post some hints and tips on the main page, starting with some wonderful spreads of Indian maize and colorful gourds in Port Aransas at the Moby Dick newly-reopened tropical restaurant! Check out the menu while you're there ... the Zeiglers have done a wonderful job in reclaiming their business and bringing it back in full force and quality from former proprietors!