Here's the agenda for our upcoming meeting on Thursday, July 16, 2009

7:00 - 7:15 : Announcements, Introduction of new members/guests, Member News

7:15 - 7:30 : Web Sites of the Month - we'll visit member-recommended web site resources. Don't forget to recommend your favorite website!

7:30- 8:15: Knowledge Share - Topic: Adobe Lightroom - Lightroom users should come prepared to share their favorite features or a technique.

8:20 - 9:00: Formal critiques. Topic: Recent Work. Don't forget to send your 2 critique images (jpg 800 pixels wide) by Tuesday, July 14 via email to: hcphotoclub@gmail.com. View the new critique process here:
http://hillcountryphotographyclub.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-critique-process.html

Location: Horizon Bay (formerly Merrill Gardens) in San Marcos. Map and directions available on our club website.

Agenda for meeting on June 18, 2009

Here's the agenda for our upcoming meeting on Thursday, June 18, 2009

7:00 - 7:15 : Announcements, Introduction of new members/guests, Member News

7:15 - 7:30 : Web Sites of the Month - we'll visit member-recommended web site resources. Don't forget to recommend your favorite website!

7:30- 8:15: Guest Speakers - Amanda Stahl and Glynda Hatfield

8:15 - 9:15: Formal critiques. Topic: Before and After pairs. Don't forget to send your 2 pairs of critique images (jpg 800 pixels wide) by Tuesday, June 16 via email to: hcphotoclub@gmail.com. View the new critique process here:
http://hillcountryphotographyclub.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-critique-process.html

Location: Horizon Bay (formerly Merrill Gardens) in San Marcos. Map and directions available on our club website.

About our Speakers:



Amanda Stahl writes "When it came time to choose a major for college, much to my parents delight, I decided on accounting. After graduating for Lamar University in Beaumont, I sat for and passed the examination to become a Certified Public Accountant. Photography was always a part of my life, but only for vacation and family pictures. It was not until some twenty or so years later, that I felt the need to take photography more seriously. As a result of this love for photography and making images, I have entered many juried photographic exhibits over the past ten years. During that time, I have been accepted into more than fifty juried exhibits in Oklahoma, New Mexico, New York, Florida and numerous locations in Texas. Jurors such as Roy Flukinger, Clint Willour, Bill Witliff, Christoper James, Harvery Stein, Stephen Perloff, Wendy Watriss and D.J. Stout are among those who have chosen my work. Images in these exhibits have earned numerous awards, grants and inclusion in private and institutional collections. My images have also appeared in many group exhibits around Central Texas and one solo exhibit in Austin. Portions of several of my bodies of work have been printed in Borderland: Texas Poetry Review, Shots Magazine, AVAANTI 10 and Black and White Photography magazine."




Glynda Hatfield's series, A Time Left Behind, captures our abandoned childhoods. The images were taken in an overgrown, deserted playground between Ruidoso and Cloudcroft, N.M. In her biographical statement, Hatfield writes that "what an individual sees of the world comes from our own background, experiences, taste, and attitude. What we really see is defined by our feelings, memories, emotions, and intuitive senses. Hi Ho Silver, Away, 2003, is a perfect example of why, despite having a Holga, an incredible handmade pinhole, and a half-dozen Polaroid cameras, I am not a photographer". Mature technique, experience, and altered view are the only way to create such a captivating image.

Agenda for meeting on May 21, 2009

Here's the agenda for our upcoming meeting on Thursday, May 21, 2009

7:00 - 7:15 : Announcements, Introduction of new members/guests, Member News

7:15 - 7:30 : Web Sites of the Month - we'll visit member-recommended web site resources. Don't forget to recommend your favorite website!

7:30- 8:15: Guest Speaker - James F. Bland, Commercial Photographer

8:15 - 9:00: Formal critiques. Topic: Recent Work. Don't forget to send your 2 critique images (jpg 800 pixels wide) by Tuesday, May 19 via email to: hcphotoclub@gmail.com. View the new critique process here:
http://hillcountryphotographyclub.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-critique-process.html

Location: Horizon Bay (formerly Merrill Gardens) in San Marcos. Map and directions available on our club website.

About our Speaker - James F. Bland

James is a commercial corporate photographer for Industrial, Maritime, Technology, and Military segments. If you're looking for tattoos and piercings, move on, nothing to see here. If you're looking for an experienced, rock steady, reliable, responsible, creative adult, your search has ended. The name is Bland, James Bland - shaken, not stirred.

While not taking a direct route to photography, James has been involved in imaging science, design, chemistry, and photography his whole life. Graduating with honors as an Ensign from the United States Naval Academy in 1978, he went on to a successful career in nuclear submarines, where he was responsible for the ship's weapon, sonar, and imaging systems. James earned two Navy Achievement Medals and was a part of special operations that were awarded a Navy Unit Citation and three Meritorious Unit Citations. In 1980 he bought his first 35mm SLR camera, a Canon AE-1.

In 1984, James started a 17 year career with GE Space Systems, supporting digital imaging satellites and the associated ground systems. Capitalizing on his technical background, he later led the marketing design of analog X-ray and computed tomography (CT) diagnostic imaging systems, directing the start up of factories in Beijing, China and Budapest, Hungary. In 2001, at CPS Innovations, James directed the marketing and engineering project teams to bring a new type of hybrid CT/ Nuclear camera to market, the PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography, named Time magazine’s Invention of the Year 2000).

James has operated James Frederick Bland photography since 2005, teaching photographic expeditions and developing commercial clients.

James has won one award from American Airlines for images created in the Hong Kong SAR ( Dec 2004); was published in Cowboys and Indians as a contest finalist (EOS 1V / March2006) and has an image included in a PhotoFlex product catalog. James conducts business out of Austin, TX and is a Founding member of the Austin Center for Photography. James also maintains memberships with the Texas Photographic Society, Metropolitan Breakfast Club, Austin Chamber of Commerce, PPA, and ASMP.

Agenda for meeting on April 16, 2009

Here's the agenda for our upcoming meeting on Thursday, April 16, 2009

7:00 - 7:15 : Announcements, Introduction of new members/guests, Member News

7:15 - 7:40 : Web Sites of the Month - we'll visit member-recommended web site resources. Don't forget to recommend your favorite website!

7:40- 8:20: Knowledge Share - Carol Watson - Introduction to Layers and Masks in Photoshop

8:20 - 9:00: Formal critiques. Topic: Before and After Pairs - Images straight from the camera and the same image after enhancements or transformations. Don't forget to send your 2 pairs of critique images (jpg 800 pixels wide) by Tuesday, April 14 via email to: hcphotoclub@gmail.com. View the new critique process here:
http://hillcountryphotographyclub.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-critique-process.html

Location: Horizon Bay (formerly Merrill Gardens) in San Marcos. Map and directions available on our club website.

Hill Country Alliance Photo Contest

Ranchers Welcome Photographers

$500 bonus added to Hill Country Alliance Photo Contest

Austin (April 6, 2009) – Spring is bursting out all over the Hill Country. It’s a great time to capture that winning photograph and enter the Third Annual Hill Country Alliance Photography Contest. Take your photo on a Texas Hill Country Nature Photography Alliance (THCNPA) member ranch for a chance to win a $500 bonus award.

The Texas Hill Country Nature Photography Alliance (THCNPA) is a group of ranchers offering up their ranches to guests for nature photography and tourism. Most of the ranches have several established photography sites with food and water to attract wildlife, with one or more professionally established photo blinds carefully situated for optimal photographic opportunities. Many also offer overnight accommodations, allowing guests the chance to enjoy magnificent hill country scenery, and special encounters with critters, in privacy.

For the second year, THCNPA is offering $500 prize that may be split by the HCA Photo Contest winner(s) of either category 2 - “Working the Land: gardening, agriculture, ranching, farming; or category 4 - “Natural treasures: wildlife, plants, springs, parks, rivers, special places in nature,” provided the winning photo(s) were created on one of the Alliance member properties.

Any photographer who wants to photograph on one of the five member ranches needs to make an advance reservation for $100 per person, a $25 savings off the regular fee. To learn more about each ranch and to make a reservation go to www.hillcountryphoto.org.

This year’s theme for the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) Photo Contest is Celebrating the Treasures of the Hill Country. The judges for this year’s contest are: Rusty Yates, contemporary fine art photographer; Carter Smith, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife; and Kevin Vandivier, photographer and owner of Alpha Omega Photographic Gallery.

Thirteen winning photographs will appear in the HCA 2010 Hill Country Calendar, and a cash prize of $250 will be offered in each the four categories:

1. Hill Country people: individuals, children and families

2. Working the land: gardening, agriculture, ranching, farming

3. Hill Country enterprise: wineries, tourism, festivals, towns

4. Natural treasures: wildlife, plants, springs, parks, rivers, special places in nature

For more details and to enter the contest, visit www.hillcountryalliance.org.

The Hill Country Alliance is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to raise public awareness and build community support around the need to preserve the natural resources and heritage of the Central Texas Hill Country. Please see the HCA website (www.hillcountryalliance.org) for the latest news and events, and to learn more about our initiatives and how you can contribute to our activities.

Agenda for meeting on March 19, 2009

Here's the agenda for our upcoming meeting on Thursday, March 19, 2009

7:00 - 7:15 : Announcements, Introduction of new members/guests, Member News

7:15 - 7:40 : Web Sites of the Month - we'll visit member-recommended web site resources. Don't forget to recommend your favorite website!

7:40- 8:30: Guest Speaker - Rusty Yates - Photographer

8:30 - 9:00: Formal critiques. Topic: Recent Work. Don't forget to send your 3 critique images (jpg 800 pixels wide) by Tuesday, March 17th via email to: hcphotoclub@gmail.com. View the new critique process here:
http://hillcountryphotographyclub.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-critique-process.html

Location: Merrill Gardens in San Marcos. Map and directions available on our club website.

About the Guest Speaker - Rusty Yates

Rusty Yates has been exploring the natural world since childhood. His interest in photography started while living and working on a cattle ranch, shooting his herd for informational and promotional purposes. He soon became passionate about making art through photography. His curiosity and sense of adventure have taken him around the world in pursuit of this passion. Rusty's work has appeared in numerous magazines, livestock publications and advertisements. A featured photographer in both Texas Highways Magazine and Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine he has received awards from the International Regional Magazine Association and National ADDY awards. His work has appeared in numerous galleries and exhibitions and is in several private collections.

"For as long as I can remember, I have been enamored by the natural world and the beauty within it. The play of light on the land has transfixed me since I was a child. I am attempting not only to interpret this beauty in a personal way but to also invoke an emotional response from the viewer. In addition to fulfilling a personal need to artistically express myself, my purpose, for making photographs is heightening awareness. Making photographs intensifies my experience of the world around me. If even only in a small way, my work brings awareness of the incredible beauty of our world and the need to be wise stewards of our natural resources - then I have been successful."

Schedule for Cafe on the Square Exhibitors

Here's the proposed schedule for the next 8 months for Cafe on the Square exhibitors. The aim is to change the images out near the end of each month.

February:

Larry Alford

Rose Epps

March:

Lucy Durfee

Lois Schubert

April:

Crystal Bushacker

Elizabeth Lautner

May:

Kathy Williamson

Judy Nicholls

June:

Carol Watson

Benny Rice

July:

Jane Guerin

Phyllis Rummel

August:

Carol Serur

Wes Odell

September:

TBA

Reminders will be provided at each club meeting along with an email.