Northwoods Photo Club- 

-a photo club serving the Northwoods of Wisconsin where photographers, of all skill levels, can share their knowledge, learn from each other, and nurture each other’s creativity. 

Please feel free to join us.  We meet the 2nd Wednesday of the month, from 6-8 pm at the Warehouse Art Center in Eagle River.

The Warehouse Center for the Arts
107 S. Railroad St.
Eagle River, WI 54521

Our next Meetings & Events- 

Gail Vandewalker, Club Member

Many of you know Gail already.  She has been a Club member for several years and has shared some amazing images with us over the years.

Gail has traveled near and far and taken many classes and workshops with great photographers over the last few years.

Join us for our November meeting so that you can see what other images she has up her sleeves.  I do believe that we are in for a treat!

Rob Shea, Infrared Photography

This month we have a special treat for you. Rob Shea, Infrared Photography Guru from YouTube, that will be driving from Southern Michigan to explain IR Photography to us- including the things you need to know should you want to try it out.  He has created over 100 YouTube videos on infrared photography, including detailed tutorials, photo shooting and editing guides, tips, tricks, raw editor reviews, and product reviews. He offers free downloads to help process infrared images and has developed new techniques to simplify the complex editing workflow for color infrared images in Adobe Lightroom. His new book, Color Doesn’t Exist: A Practical Guide to Infrared Photography is the definitive guide for photographers new to and experienced with infrared photography.


I personally took Infrared images back in film days and really enjoyed the results.  Things are much easier now that we have gone digital- but there are some interesting things you need to understand to really be able to do it.  You can either use filters to get the IR effect- or convert a camera so that it is sensitive to the light wavelengths you are interested in.  You will also, however, need to work in Photoshop to achieve certain results.  The good news- Rob Shea makes the process easy!  

Jeff Richter's journey with film and camera began almost 20 years ago with a walk through Tom Mangelson's gallery in Jackson, Wyoming.

That inspired him to take up the camera and teach himself the art and craft of nature photography. Jeff has had hundreds of images appearing in print since then. Sierra Club, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, NorthWord Press, Brown Trout, Willow Creek, Wisconsin Trails Magazine, Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel and LoonWatch are among the publishers and organizations that have used Jeff's images.


In 2001, Jeff won an I.R.M.A. Award from the International Regional Magazine Association for his photo essay on albino deer. In 2002, he placed two finalists in the BBC/British Gas International Photographer of the Year awards. 

Long-time publishers of Wisconsin Trails magazine, Howard and Nancy Mead, have called Jeff the best nature photographer in the state. Wisconsin Public Radio host Larry Mueller has been trumpeting his admiration for Jeff's images for many years. Nature's Press was founded by Jeff Richter in 2003. Jeff is the photographer, author and publisher most recently of Pure Superior: Lake Superior Photographs by Jeff Richter (2009). His 2007 book, White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest, has attracted nation-wide attention after a Wisconsin Public Television In Wisconsin segment on the book began to circulate through the internet. Seasons of the North, Jeff's first book, is in its fifth printing. Jeff works exclusively with film and remains a stalwart against the credibility erosion brought by computer-aided manipulations of digital photography.

Image taken by Gail Vanderwalker

Back Button Focus and Bird Photography

Join Scott Pearson, GAil VAnderwalker,  and Holly McCormack for a discussion about What is Back-Button Focus and Bird Photography.

Simply put, back-button focus is a technique that takes the autofocus function away from the shutter release button, and re-assigns it to another button on the back of the camera. Although the name only suggests a button on the back of the camera, it can be any physical button (provided it can be set up for engaging autofocus). Most advanced digital cameras on the market today have a dedicated AF-ON button that is specifically designed for back-button focusing.


IMage taken by Scott Pearson

image TAken by Holly McCormack

Also learn techniques to take images of birds- and especially to get those eyes in focus!

Tilt Shift Lenses

Ralph Pelto and his friend, Bob Nuber will be conducting the 2nd portion of our May presentation and will be discussing tilt shift lenses. In the old days, tilt shift lenses were used to correct perspective on architectural images.  Nowadays the options with tilt shift lenses are endless and include selective focus, panoramas, and more.  And, you don’t necessarily have to buy a super expensive lens to do it it either.  Ralph and Bob will walk us through the ins and outs of tilt sift lenses lenses, plus their less expensive cousins, Lensbabies.

Ralph Pelto was one of the founding members of our photo club, and, in his professional life was a chemical engineer for Kodak for over 25 years. Our club is very fortunate to have such an expert among its members!   Last year he gave an in-depth presentation on focus stacking and this year suggested a presentation on tilt shift lenses.


Bob Nuber, whom you might remember from Ralph and Bob’s focus stacking presentation last year, is a retired software engineer who revived his photography hobby in 2021.  He lives in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood and spends his shooting days either in the city or in the dunes, woods and marshes of northern Indiana and southwest Michigan.  Lately Bob has been mainly focused on close up and macro work, seeking subtle beauty in composed interior scenes as well as the natural environment.  He shoots with a Nikon Z6ii camera and recently acquired a TTArtisan 100mm 2x macro tilt/shift lens to further complicate his image composition thought process.

NIK Collection 

"February’s presentation will be an exploration and demonstration of the the Nik Collection of plug-ins. The plug-ins work in a variety of host applications including Photoshop, Lightroom, DxO Photolab, and Affinity Photo and can also be used as standalone apps. A brief overview of the plug-ins and their unique control point masking will be followed by a demo. The presentation will be over Zoom.


A list of links will be available by email for those interested in testing Nik after the presentation."

"Astro & Panaramas" 

Michele’s presentation will focus on nightscape panoramas.  She started out shooting nightscapes with a 14mm wide angle lens, but it was never wide enough!  There had to be a better way to capture all that she saw.  Thus, began her journey into capturing the beauty and immense size of the night sky through panoramic photography.  Michele will discuss the equipment and programs she uses, explain some of her early struggles, and share images of our Northwood’s night skies.          

Michele Sadauskas is a nightscape photographer who loves to chase the aurora, lightning bugs, and meteors.  She grew up in Conover, WI on a ‘crick’ and it was there where she fell in love with nature and the night sky.  She fondly remembers lying on the dock with her sister watching one heck of a Perseid meteor shower and getting up early one morning in 1986 to view Halley’s Comet with her Dad.  Even though she loved photography since an early age, it took her a few decades to understand that her love of nature, old things, and photography was best experienced under the cover of darkness.  But, when she did, magic happened.

"Rules to be Broken" 

The Rules of Composition- and when to break them! 

Presented by Ralph Pelto

Ralph was a Chemical Engineer for Kodak for over 25 years- from the hey day of film with over 65,000 employees to the company's demise.  Ralph was Chairman of the Stereo Photography section for about 4 years and was the President of the Kodak Camera Club for 5 years.

 

Ralph's attention to detail naturally lead him into large format photography, where the power of selective focus brings life to an image, that you have to see in person, on a large scale to full appreciate.  The selective focus concept draws a persons eyes into the image, and can guide the viewer through a fairly complex composition that would otherwise be ineffective. 


Come listen to Ralph's presentation about the rules of composition and what will entice viewers to take notice of your work.

Photo Critique Tips- to Challenge and Improve Your Photos,

“Self Critique in Photography.”


Learning how to analyze and judge your own artistic work correctly is a valuable skill that can be a bit tricky to learn properly. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “I’m my own worst critic” thrown about, you may have even said it yourself in reference to your own photography. However, there are ways that you can harness this self-criticism and learn from it rather than allowing it to consume you and destroy your self-confidence.

Learning how to constructively critique your own photography can not only help you make better photographs each time you pick up a camera, but it will also build your confidence as a photographer. We will cover the benefits of self-critique and show how it can help you become a more confident photographer.  

Presented by Mark Schermeister and Libby Scott

Waterfalls!!  Scott Pearson

Scott will give us a brief presentation on the techniques and filters he uses to obtain those beautiful waterfall shots!


Dan Dumas presents... Drones

Dan has a diverse background in technology and customer service.  He is an award-winning photographer and professionally trained videographer with an eye for innovation and framing the perfect shot.  He is also an experienced graphic designer and digital art director who seeks pixel perfection.

Dan obtained his FAA License and Certification as a Commercial Drone Pilot in 2016 following years of hobby flying.  He now strives to take client projects to new heights!

While Dan's skill set is vast, he has a passion for aerial photography and the challenges of aerial video. Dan has worked with Discovery Channel production crews, NBC, ABC and WXPR as their drone and camera operators on numerous projects.




Macro May & Matting Club Meeting, May 10th!

Remember to borrow or rent a macro lens for the field trip.

Macro May Techniques

Join Scott Pearson and Libby Scott- and learn the ins and outs of macro photography

Matting 101

Join Libby Scott and Scott Pearson to learn how to mat your own prints!

May Field Trip-  Macro!  Date: tbd

MACRO FIELD TRIP!

Friday, May 26th, 10AM

Lac Vieux Desert Park- parking lot located on W. Shore RD.

We will caravan from the meeting spot to locations full of wild flowers.

VAnelli

Vanelli will be conducting the April 12th Photo Club presentation plus doing a half day workshop at the Warehouse on April 13th.

Vanelli is an educator, author, and a working sports and portrait photographer based on the east coast of Florida. His specialized photography programs have been taught on Linkedn Learning, Lynda.com, ThinkTap Learn, in workshops, lectures and in the Brevard County School District. Currently, he is Skylum's Director of Education, a Drobo Ambassador, teaching workshops, and writing for Photofocus.

Picture #1 in stack of 40 images. Taken on Canon R5, 100mm, F2.8 macro lens

Focus Stacking

Link to video of meeting:  https://youtu.be/88SAD_Rov1Q

Join us for a presentation on focus stacking!  Focus stacking is a great think to use in situations where your F-stop just can't accomplish what you want it to- be it in macro or landscape photography.

Ralph Pelto will compare results of focus stacking in different software including Photoshop and Helicon.

10/12/22- 6-8 pm at the Warehouse Community Arts Center in Eagle River.  Everyone is welcome.  Beginner  to advanced!

Picture #40 in stack of 40 images. Taken on Canon R5, 100mm, F2.8 macro lens


Final stacked image- blending 40 separate images into one final focused image.

Dave Meiss- "Visualization"

Dave Miess is a Great Lakes nature photographer based out of Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. Dave first put an eye behind a lens over 40 years ago and merged his passion with the outdoors and photography about 25 years ago. Dave has seen the evolution of photography - from his start working with black and white film in a darkroom, through slide film to the latest in digital technology.

While Dave, like most professional photographers, has made the evolution to digital capture - he has kept his "film" sensibilities and history with him. Much of the work, like dramatic skies and saturated colors, comes from his work in the field and behind the camera. However, Dave also realizes the benefits modern technology brings and keeps in mind the adage "What Would Ansel Do?" when sitting behind the computer. Dave prints all of his images on archival papers, canvas, and metal. While he does shoot around the country, he tries to focus on his regional home - the Upper Great Lakes.

Dave's presentation will focus on how photographers can use Visualization -- How to Make What You See in Your Mind’s Eye a Reality.


Scott Pearson- Astro Photography- 

Wednesday, 8/10/22, 6-8pm at the Warehouse in Eagle River

"My photography focuses mainly on the Great Lakes regions of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the UP of Michigan, and will expand as I photograph other areas of the country.  I currently live in northern Wisconsin and enjoy the incredible beauty, both natural and man-made, that is found throughout the Northwoods.  I've spent the majority of my life near Lake Superior and my appreciation for what is found here continues to grow.  From the Aurora Borealis to the great ore carriers that navigate her waters, Gichigami offers endless photographic opportunities.  I'm a self-taught photographer and continue to improve my work primarily through reading and making more photographs."




Mark Schermeister is a fine artist who has spent a large part of his life in the north woods of Wisconsin for the past 64 years. Originally from Minneapolis, he now divides his time between Miami and Land O’ Lakes. He’s an enthusiastic Photographic Artist who describes himself as “having 56 years’ experience and still (always!) a student.”

 

He began as a photographer and lab technician, then followed a career as an air traffic controller, retiring from federal service a few years ago. Through it all, he carried his camera, capturing and expressing what he calls “the miracle and mystery of the life we’re blessed with.”

 

With a personal intention to create and exhibit visual art that conveys the unseen qualities of the world around us, he endeavors to “To photograph the invisible.”

 

Mark has been photographing dance for 12 years and is Owner and Proprietor of Studio1761; a photographic arts venture with the purpose of “Communicating the visible and invisible spirit of both the dancer and the dance.”