Candlewood Camera Club

Candlewood Camera Club Has Moved

2011-08-23T09:09:00.005-04:00

You have arrived at the old blog site of Candlewood Camera Club of Danbury Connecticut.

Candlewood Camera Club has recently created its new website here which we invite you to visit. If you are specificially interested in the Club's blog, it has been moved to its new location here where we are in the process of transfering this blog's content to. This blog site will no longer be updated and will eventually be taken down.

Our new blog will continue to bring you information about the Club but will be augmented by a full website that will provide you with Club events, announcements, photographic-related resources, samples of photos from the Club's photographers and more. At our new website, club members will enjoy a wide range of features to aid in the presentation of their work, participation in Club competitions and Club-related business.

In addition to the change of our blog location, the club's new Internet address is CandlewoodCamera.org which is where our new wesbite can be found.

We invite you to stop in and visit us at our new website where we will continue to work hard to aid photographers of all skills as we have done since 1948.

Are You Going To The Faire - Two Renaissance Faires In The Area

2011-08-07T06:42:00.000-04:00

It's not often we get a chance to take shots of King Arthur, Lady Guinevere, Merlin, knights, knaves, and wenches . From the end of August through the 16th of October you'll have a chance to do just that. The New York Renaissance Faire runs, on weekends, from now through September 25th. As that faire is ending the Connecticut Renaissance Faire opens and continues through October 16th. So, for the next 10 weekends there's something to do.

The New York Renaissance Faire takes place in Tuxedo Park, NY, about 1.5 hours (70 miles) from the Danbury area. The Connecticut Renaissance Faire is located in Hebron, CT, just about the same time and distance, but in the opposite direction. Both faires encourage attendees to join the fun and dress in medieval garb.

To avoid images with crowds in modern dress in the background, you might consider bringing some of your longer glass.

Another Photo Op Listed

2011-08-06T08:20:00.000-04:00

Down along the right hand column you'll find a listing of "Photographic Opportunities". The number of opportunities ebbs and flows depending on what information is found. As of today, there are more than twenty events listed. Everything from Revolutionary War re-enactments this weekend at Putnam Park in Redding Connecticut and in Sturbridge Massachusetts to an Air Show on the weekend of October 10-11. Take a moment, follow this link and see if there are any events that pique your interest.

One of the biggest club outings of last year was the BalloonFestival at Norton Park in Plainville Connecticut on the last weekend of August. More than fifteen club members attended the Saturday evening lift. The Balloon Festival will go on again this year.

If you know of any events or photo opportunities, make them known and they'll be added to the list.

Scott Kelby's 4th World Wide Photowalk Is Set For October 1-2

2011-08-04T14:05:00.000-04:00

Scott Kelby recently announced his 4th World Wide Photowalk. Last year, more than 30,000 photographer's around the world participated. Again this year Tom Peterson is leading a walk in western Connecticut. This year's walk will be in the beautiful town of Kent Connecticut. Last year's local walk in Danbury had more than 25 enthusiastic participants.

This year's Photowalk is a two day event, October 1st and 2nd. The Kent walk will be on the 2nd. If Kent isn't your cup of tea, there are numerous walks in the New York City area. Kelby's advice is to signup for your first choice in walks and, if a walk on the opposite day is not full within a couple days of the walk, feel free to join another walk.

If last year's walk is any indication, a fun time will be had by all.

The Circus Is Coming To Town

2011-07-23T07:12:00.002-04:00

Well, not exactly our town. But, if you were looking for things to combine to maximize photo opportunities, how about a circus and a train. This weekend and next (July 23-24 and 30-31) there will be "The Valley Railroad Circus Train & "Big Top Tent" Show" happening in Essex Connecticut. According to the "Essex Steam Train andRiver Boat" website:

The Ringmaster welcomes you aboard an authentic Circus Train ride from off-site parking to the event grounds at Essex Steam Train.
Experience the thrills of an Acrobat Show in the "Big Top Tent" and laugh along with a "Punch & Judy" puppet show.
Partake in the circus midway including amusement rides, clowns, a petting zoo, live entertainment and circus food.

Might be something to check out.

And A Good Time Was Had By All

2011-07-18T22:12:00.000-04:00

Photo courtesy of Bill Lounsbury

There was a good showing of club members at the NECCC Conference (New England Camera Club Council), held at the UMass campus. Pictured are several attendees at the Saturday evening "Tether and Balloon Glow" held at the campus pond field. A couple highlights of the weekend were having Joey Lounsbury as the club's high school "scholarship" attendee and his dad Bill being the club's complementary first time attendee. Both are excellent examples of up and coming new club members.

As has been typical for the past several years, Candi and Rocco Valeri and Donna Coulture hosted a Saturday cocktail party at the North Dorms. The party has become so popular that it had to be moved to the "D" building lounge from their suite. It's just another example of the camaraderie of fellow club members. Photography is what brings us together, friendship is what the club is all about.

To all those who attended the conference. Don't forget to let new members, coming in this year, know what a great time the NECCC Conference is.

At Your Service

2011-07-14T11:33:00.002-04:00

Do you want to find out what's new at the club, but don't want to have to check every day just to find out nothing was added? On the top of the right hand column is a new applet to allow you to "Follow By Email". After you signup, every time new content is added to the club's blogsite you'll receive an email letting you know something has been added or updated. It could be a notification, like this post. It could be a "Photographic Opportunity" has been added to the extensive list found down along the right column. Perhaps a member's Blog or website has been added.

The nice thing about this new service is that it won't bother you. If nothing has been added, you won't be getting an email with empty promises. If only one thing is added during a particular week, you'll only get the one email letting you know that you want to check what's new.

This should make life easier for members and, hopefully, encourage comments and discussion.

Looking For Something To Do Next Weekend?

2011-07-10T08:31:00.001-04:00

If you're not going to the NECCC (New England Camera Club Council) conference on the weekend of July 15, 16, 17 and are looking for something photographic to do, how about an antique car show. Shows of this nature are always fun and a good source of interesting detail shots.

There's a show at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie New York on Sunday. Lorri Freedman has suggested this as a possible "thing to do". Information about Locust Grove, directions and a calendar of events can be found on their website.

Any club member (or friend of the club) who knows of an interesting photo ops is encouraged to send in an email and it'll be published here on the club's site.

Some Birds Fly In Rare Air

2011-07-06T17:47:00.003-04:00

The club's brightest rising star is making headlines again. This time Joey Lounsbury is praised by, none other than, world famous author, wildlife and aviation photographer Moose Peterson. Joey thinks of Moose as one of his photographic heroes and sent him a quick email saying how much he appreciated Moose's influence and inspiration. Apparently, Moose was touched by Joey's note and suggests, on his blog, that people should follow the link he provides and say hello to Joey. Chances are Joey's going to be swamped with emails and comments about his work.

After his excellent video presentation at our annual awards banquet the other night it seems likely that it won't be too long before Joey's teaching a class at Photoshop World. Congratulations to Joey for getting some well deserved recognition from a wildlife icon.

First Photowalk Of The Summer To Shoot Sky Diving And Motorcycle Racing

2011-07-02T10:09:00.004-04:00

Alex Lau is the first club member to find a couple of interesting photo ops for the summer recess. On July 10th (next weekend), there's a motorcycle dirt race scheduled for RiderPlanet USA in Modena New York and people are always sky diving in the same area at Blue Sky Ranch in Gardiner. Directions for RiderPlanet can be found here and for Blue Sky Ranch here. Blue Sky Ranch is open from 8:00 AM until dusk on the weekends.

This will be an informal get together, so just show up at either or both locations. Meet up with other members of the club and for those interested, we can get together for lunch or dinner in the area.

Anyone with an interesting photo opportunity in mind should send it in to the editor and it'll be put up on the site to let everyone know where you'll be.

Joey Lounsbury's Show To Highlight End of Year Banquet

2011-06-22T22:48:00.002-04:00

We, as a club, are very fortunate to have a young phenom as a member. Joey Lounsbury has shown the he is an outstanding young photographer and will be sharing some of his images and methods at our end of year (season) annual banquet on Tuesday June 28th. Joey has been featured in several shows in the area, had an article about his work in the local newspaper and took home a First Place B&W Print of the Year award at or recent EOY competition. Everyone should take a moment to congratulate Joey on his outstanding influence on the club this year.
Joey has a couple books and calendars available for purchase. Hopefully he'll have some at the dinner.

A Day in My Eyes (Video Presentation)!

Joey Lounsbury, a 14 year old nature photographer and Candlewood Camera Club member, will be offering a very unique video presentation. The video showcases viewpoints and techniques that he uses to create landscape and wildlife images that will pull on the viewers heartstrings. He visits local swamps in search of landscapes and wildlife to shoot and then ventures over to Tarrywile Park where he photographs the Tree Swallows that nest there. The video encompasses everything from the initial view of the scene, to taking the photograph, and finally finishing the image in the digital darkroom. The video will be compelling for nature enthusiasts and photographers alike.

NECCC Conference Schedule Has Been Posted.

2011-06-20T10:42:00.003-04:00

The image you see is a generally marked up copy of the 2011 NECCC Conference Schedule. It's available by following this link. There's a lot to the schedule and a lot to the conference. If you haven't been to the conference you'll find that you'll be kept busy from dawn to dusk and beyond.

If you want to take a quick look, just click on the image above and it'll open as a larger shot. To work with the schedule you'll probably want to print it out and mark it up. One of the things that happens to some people every year is that they find out about a stellar class and end up without a time slot to get to it in. You may want to pre-plan the classes you want to make sure you don't miss.

As an example: Joe and Bill Lounsbury will be going up this year. Joe might want to attend "Photographing Birds in Motion" and Bill might be interested in seeing "Low Light Photography". They happen at the same time on Friday and each might have other favorites they don't want to miss on Saturday and Sunday. To avoid as many conflicts as possible, looking over the schedules and making a plan would probably be helpful. It doesn't have to be "cast in stone", but mapping out what you'd like to catch is a pretty good idea.

Printing the schedule on an 8.5 x 11 sheet will make the print impossibly small. You probably want to print it out on, at least 11 x 17 to be able to read it.

Everyone should try to make the most out of the weekend and have the best time possible. The club will have a couple things going on. Be sure to check with the usual suspects.

Help With The Planning For Next Year

2011-06-16T08:34:00.002-04:00

The title of this post is a link to the ballet for voting on the Assigned Subjects for the 2011-2012 season. If you didn't get a chance to vote at the club meeting this past week, grab a copy and fill out a ballet. Then email your single ballet to our club president: mailto:GerardBianchi@charter.net. Gerard will be counting the votes and have the assignments at the End of Year Banquet on the 28th.

There are other ways to help plan what's going on at the club next season. You see the "usual suspects" announcing one thing or another at the meetings. Everybody started out as the new person in the club. If you've got ideas, speak up, rise your hand, take one of the positions that open up each year. There should ne no small group setting the direction of the club. Let your voice be heard, get involved.

End Of The Year Competition Results

2011-06-14T21:57:00.000-04:00

Well, the season is over and it was a very successful year. The End of the Year winners are:

The Patty Johnson Flower B&W Print - Don Brooks
The Patty Johnson Flower Color Print - Don Brooks

The George Huff Nature B&W Print - Don Brooks
The George Huff Nature Color Pront - Bob Fletcher

The Warren Johnson Color Print of the Year - Don Brooks

Black & White Print of the Year - Joey Lounsbury

Photojournalism Print of the Year - Don Brooks

Digital Projected Image, Open Category - Lorri Freedman

Digital Projected Image, Altered Reality - Lorri Freedman

Digital Projected Image, Flower - Lorri Freedman

Digital Projected Image, Nature - Carol Finley

Congratulations to the winners and thinks to all who competed. Assigned Subjects for next season will be announced in two weeks at the EOY Banquet.

Club Members Will Participate In Art Exhibit and Sale This Saturday

2011-06-02T07:59:00.001-04:00

Looking for something to do this weekend? Carol Gibson and Joe Lounsbury will have some of their work on exhibit and available for sale this June at the second annual Tarrywile Park and Mansion "Plein ir Festival. Tarrywile Park is one of Danbury's most beautiful parks and a great place to do some photography. All club members are invited to attend the reception.

The following is a short description credited to "Still River Editions" blog:

"There is a plein air art happening taking place from June 1, until Saturday, June 4, 2011 at Tarrywile Park and Mansion, 70 Southern Blvd., Danbury, CT. Artists will be painting and photographing en plein air (live from the landscape outdoors in the open air) from dawn to dusk June 1-June 4, culminating in the Plein Air Art Exhibit and Sale on Saturday, June 4, 2-6 pm, where over 100 paintings and photographs from local artists will be offered for sale.

Tarrywile is a beautiful park, and has a lot of trails to hike and explore as well as water features and open fields for observing birds and other wildlife. There is even a crumbling castle in the part of the park across the street from the mansion."

Sale on Adobe Lightroom Hot On The Heels of Wednesday's Program

2011-05-25T16:13:00.001-04:00

If the May 24th's Program night on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 piqued your interest in using the program, have we found a deal for you. B&H Photo in NYC has LR3 on sale for $179.95 rather than its normal $299.00. Any time you can get a $120.00 saving on an Adobe product it's undoubtedly a hot deal.

This is a link directly to the webpage for the sale.

Long Time Club Member Recouperating After Back Surgery

2011-05-21T07:13:00.000-04:00

Long time club member and past President Jan Sansevera is recovering from recent back surgery. Please think of Jan and send her your good wishes. Members who know Jan and would like to visit her during her recouperation should ask for information at the next club meeting.

Jan: We all hope you're well soon.

May Program About Working Smarter, Using Adobe Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5

2011-05-20T08:00:00.001-04:00

Tom Peterson will introduce his program "Partnering Smarter With Lightroom and Photoshop" to the club on Tuesday, May 24th. The focus of the program will be using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 and what can be done with it and where an editing program, such as Adobe Photoshop CS5 (or Adobe Photoshop Elements 9) might be needed. Tom will look into the strengths of Lightroom and the ease of importing, sorting, developing and various output options within Lightroom. He'll discuss why Lightroom is "the" application for photographers dealing with straight photographic work. He'll also discuss the limitations of Lightroom and where a pixel based editing program, such as Photoshop CS5 picks up where Lightroom ends. Tom will demonstrate the ebb and flow of intricate composite production between Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5.

Tom has been involved with photography since 1972, having served as the club's president from 1974 to 1977. Tom rejoined Candlewood Camera Club about ten years ago and serves as the club's representative to NECCC and PSA. Tom was a beta tester for the current version of Photoshop, giving opinions and suggestions to Adobe before CS5's release.

It's That Time Of The Year Again (click here for the link to the questionaire)

2011-05-14T13:52:00.004-04:00

Did you like every one of this year's Assigned Subjects? Yes! Great. No! Okay, let's do something about it. Here's your chance to put your two cents in. The header of this post is a link to a form asking for your thoughts on what the Assigned Subjects should be. Just remember, we have more than fifty members. If only one, or maybe none of your suggestions are selected for next season it doesn't mean you're being ignored. If everyone takes the survey and everyone has ten totally different ideas, we'll only have nine subjects from a pool of more than five hundred.

Chances are more than excellent that there will be overlapping suggestions and suggestions that are closely related. That's how we wound up with May's Assigned Subject of Rain/Mist/Fog. It's a mashup of at least three members suggestions. If you have a recommendation of Sherwood Island State Park and it ends up that we have Subject of beach/shore as we did this past year, consider that your input was counted. It might not be your exact phrase, but it'll be close enough that you'll be able to incorporate your particular slant on the subject and compete.

In the past five years, Assigned Subjects have included: Animals, Country Roads, Fire, Flowers, Painterly Quality, Winter Scene - Ice/Snow, Church Steeples, In The Woods, Eyes, In My Yard, Junk, Working People, Hands, Musical Instruments, An Unusual Viewpoint, Blue, Coastal Scenes/Beaches, Old Gas Stations/Pumps, "S" Curve, Blurred Action, Butts, Money/Coins, Wet, Monochromatic, Fences/Stone Walls, Numbers, Long Exposure, Abstracts, Night Photography, Steps/Stairs, Outside Looking In, Texture/Repetition, Beaches/Coastline, Carnivals, Antique/Vintage, In Motion, Abandoned Places/Things, On The Street/Street Scene/ Bugs/Butterflies, and finally Rain/Fog/Mist.

A Little Short Notice, But It Will Be Worth It.

2011-05-14T12:35:00.002-04:00

Ya looking for something to do this Monday evening? Well, Charter Oak Photographic Society is having "An Evening With Mark Bowie". Mark is a professional nature photographer and writer. He spoke at the NECCC Conference a couple years ago and was a big hit. His topic will be night landscape photography. The image showcased with this post is one belonging to Mark. To check out Mark's work and get an idea what he'll be discussing, take a look at his website (this is a link). The header of this post is a link to Charter Oaks invitation. It should be an interesting evening.

Freedman Sweeps Digital Competitions

2011-05-10T23:15:00.001-04:00

It was probably never in doubt, but Lorri Freedman led the way in each of the Digital Categories (Open, Assigned, Altered Reality) garnering first places in each. Just for kicks she also took a first for Color Prints Open and a second in Color Prints Assigned Subject. The rest of the contests were spread out among the rest of the club members.

A first time entrant, Ralph Baskin, took a first place in the monthly Digital Assigned Subject category. Look for big things from Ralph next season. Ralph's image, titled Coney Island Downpour accompanies this post. Ralph said he was there for the annual sand castle building contest when the skies opened and people started running. Way to go Ralph.

All scores can be found by going down the right hand column to the heading "Quick Tips About Competitions". The first topic is Current Competition Scores. As is always the case, if you spot any errors, report them for correction.

April Program Evening - Images of Bhutan by William B. Barnett

2011-04-14T16:39:00.001-04:00

Images of Bhutan: Photography in the Land of the Thunder Dragon explores the land, people, culture,and architecture of Bhutan. Approximately the size of Switzerland, Bhutan is a small Buddhist country located half way around the world in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas between India and China. Bhutan has long been isolated from the outside world, but it is now tentatively beginning to increase contact and move into the 21st century while still trying to maintain its traditional Buddhist culture. TV and Internet access have only recently come to Bhutan. Still images and video clips are combined with Bhutanese music to tell the story of this unique country.

In addition to showcasing Bhutan, the program also discusses the photographic techniques employed to capture the images and bring them to the screen. Topics include: planning for travel photography in a far off land; the equipment selected; and the digital techniques needed to capture and process the images on the trip and deal with the lighting conditions encountered. Unlike photography close to home, the travel photographer must deal creatively with the weather and lighting conditions that are present as the trip progresses; there is no alternative of coming back later when conditions are better.

Bill joined his first camera club (Stamford, CT) in 1969 and has been participating in photographic activities ever since. He has won numerous awards in local competitions as well as international competitions recognized by various divisions of the Photographic Society of America (PSA). He has received over 2500 acceptances which have earned him many stars distributed among five PSA divisions. He has been designated an Artiste by the Fédération Internationale de L’Art Photographique (AFIAP) for an outstanding record in foreign international photographic competitions. In 2010 PSA awarded him its Excellence distinction (EPSA) for his record of acceptances in international salons recognized by the various divisions of the Society.

Coming Down To The Wire And Some Races Are Tight

2011-04-12T22:37:00.000-04:00

Carol Finley's Digital Altered Reality image took
first place for the April Competition.

One more competition to go and some races are tight - others, not so much. The scores for the April competition and the cumulative totals for the year can be found by going to the link in the right hand column under the heading Quick Tips About Competitions.

The B&W Open battle is still up for grabs, Dennis Yates and Micheline Williams are tied for first. Don Brooks and Rick Tyrseck are nipping at their heels two and three points behind. In Class A Color Prints - Open there's a three way dead heat with Lorri Freedman an inch ahead of Bill Snellings and Don Brooks. It's anyone race to win. A few competitions are all but over. In the Digital Altered Reality Lorri could enter a hand drawn stick figure and still win. She's dominated the category all season long, having taken first place seven out of eight times.

Carol Finley took first place in the evening's Digital Altered Reality category with her image of Salisbury Cathedral. Carol explained how she created the effect after winning. Congratulations Carol.

Anyone Up For An Airshow?

2011-03-29T13:04:00.004-04:00

We started the month letting everyone know about an open house at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome on June 4th. We'll pretty much end the month on the same aviation note. Rhinebeck isn't the only opportunity to shoot aircraft. There's about a dozen air shows scheduled over the summer of 2011 within striking distance of the Danbury area. Some would be long days and all would cost a couple bucks in entrance fees, but there might be some chances for interesting images.

To find an air show, check in the right hand column under the heading "Photographic Opportunities". The list over the summer has more than twenty opportunities for photography. Anyone with any "Photographic Opportunities" should send a note to mailto:candlewoodcameraclub@hotmail.com.

That Was A Short Stay In NECCC Class B Prints

2011-03-28T16:02:00.002-04:00

The results for the final NECCC Print Competition of the 2010-2011 season are posted. Last year Candlewood Camera Club came in last in Class A B&W Prints. We were demoted to the second string, Class B. That was more than a little embarsassing for a club that used to be the beast of the east in Black & White Competitions.

Well, we're back. the results for the final print competition for NECCC can be found in the right hand column under the heading "2010-2011 Outside Club Level Competitions". The club ended the season winning the overall Class B category and has been "promoted" back to Class A.

Congratulations to all the Black & White printers in the club. It's a small but dedicated lot, and the few are keeping a dying piece of photography alive. Well done B&W printers.