Our next meeting is on Thursday, November 15th. Please mark your calendars!
7:00 - 7:15: Introduction of New Members/Guests, Announcements, Member News7:15 - 8:15: Presentation - "Wildlife Photography" - Greg Lasley
8:15 - 9:00: Image Reviews - Topic: Motion Blur.Don't forget to send your 2 review images (jpg 800 pixels wide) by Tuesday, November 13th via email to: hcphotoclub@gmail.com.
Reminder about our image review process:
When we display your image we'll ask you to select one of these reviews:
- Critique - You have specific questions you'd like to ask about your image and you want feedback from the other photographers at the meeting. Come prepared with your questions.
- Show and Tell - You'd simply like to share information about this image with us such as technique or location.
More about our image review process here:
Meeting Location: Horizon Bay (formerly Merrill Gardens) in San Marcos. Map and directions available on our club website.
About our Program
Greg first pointed a camera at a bird in 1971, a Horned Lark at Great Salt Lake, Utah, while he was in the U.S. Air Force. By 1976, as a novice, but enthusiastic bird-watcher, he became interested in documenting appearances of rare birds by photographing and tape-recording them. From the late 1970s until the late 1980s, most of Greg's wildlife photography focused on documenting rarities and obtaining slides of birds to illustrate his lectures for Audubon Societies or other nature-oriented groups.
In 1983, Chuck Sexton and Greg took over the editorship of the Texas Region for American Birds, later known as Field Notes, and now known as North American Birds, a publication of the American Birding Association. Greg continued to be the Texas co-editor of that publication through the year 2000 and was the Secretary of the Texas Bird Records Committee of the Texas Ornithological Society from 1986 until 2000. Greg also served on the Bird Records Committee of the American Birding Association for two terms, ending in 2005. In these various capacities he became more involved with rarity records in Texas and the rest of North America. In 1988, Greg took some photos of the Golden-cheeked Warbler, an endangered species which nests only in Texas. One of these photos was published on the cover of a birding guide-book, which led to other requests to publish Greg's bird photos. In the next several years many of Greg's photos were published in Texas Highways Magazine, Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, America Birds, Wildlife Conservation, and a few of other publications. After these initial publication successes, Greg became more serious about his photography. Over the next few years he continually upgraded his camera equipment, developed the skills necessary to become a good wildlife photographer, and traveled the state of Texas and much of the United States photographing birds. Through the 1990s, hundreds of his photos found their way into various publications.
In 2000, Greg, along with Larry Ditto of McAllen, Texas, a fellow photographer and friend, entered the Valley Land Fund Wildlife Photo Contest as partners. The contest was a six-month-long wildlife photo competition in far south Texas. Participants included more than 100 other accomplished photographers from around the country. Greg and Larry spent long hours on a single piece of land, working to capture wildlife images in 50 different categories. This contest forced Greg out of his "photographic comfort zone" of birds and into the world of spiders, dragonflies, mammals, and other types of wildlife. Greg and Larry won first place in this prestigious contest in 2000 and finished third in 2002. Since then Greg has continued to branch out with his photography, finding new subjects at which to aim a lens. Dragonflies and damselflies have been a favorite subject for him in recent years, however birds are still a prime focus as well. Butterflies, mammals, and other wildlife are photographed as well. Greg's photo credits now exceed 2000 published images in more than 100 different books and magazines.
Greg spent 25 years in law enforcement, retiring from the Austin Police Department in 1997 as a lieutenant. From 1997 through early 2005 he divided his time between photographing wildlife and leading bird-watching trips over much of the western hemisphere for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours. He had also led trips for VENT part-time from 1985 to 1997. In March, 2005, Greg decided to take a sabbatical from regular tour leading and now concentrates on photography and other wildlife pursuits. He still leads occasional trips for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT). His photos appear regularly in a variety of nature and wildlife-oriented books and magazines. He and his wife, Cheryl Johnson, reside in Dripping Springs, Texas.
Greg also served as juror for the 5th Annual Naturescapes Photography Contest and Exhibition in 2009.
http://www.greglasley.net/
