1 June 2019

FOCUS

Newsletter of the Mayslake Nature Study and Photography Club

Hosted by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County www.naturecameraclub.com

Upcoming Programs

June 3rd

- Michael Jeffords and Susan Post

July 15th - Antarctica by Dave Schooley

August 5th - Dragonflies by Anthony Alvis

Dunham Forest Preserve

2 June 2019

2019 MNSPC Annual Members’ Night

We had a very exciting program at the May’s Members’ Night. Noppadol Paothong, an

award-wining nature/conservationist photographer with the Missouri Department of

Conservation, shared his passion for prairie-chickens, sage-grouse, and sharp-tailed

grouse. In this presentation, Noppadol Paothong highlighedt spring courtship behaviors of

these birds that he has documented for 17 years for his books Save the Last Dance and

Sage Grouse, Icon of the West. Copies of his book were available for purchase.

In addition, to this outstanding speaker we again enjoyed a dinner catered by Portillo’s

along with a slideshow of this this year’s awarded competition images. The night

culminated in awarding the coveted Image of the Year! It was a tie! Ramu Bijanki’s

Handsome (Mandarin Duck) and Bill Ludeman’s Touching the Snow won the honors.

Congratulations to both of them.

FPDDC Interaction

The FPDDC asked if MNSPC would partner up with the Mayslake Watercolor class to

create an exhibit/display of works from both clubs/classes combined. What they would like is

to see both a beautiful photograph AND a watercolor creation of that image displayed

together. The creation combination the FPDDC would like to see are those of Mayslake and

wildflower/vista images that would pertain to any of our DuPage forest preserves.

The watercolor class is excited to see the beautiful images that have been photographed by

our members, and will be selecting several to use as a reference for their watercolor

creations. As soon as I find out which images are selected to be included in this partnership,

I’ll let the artist know to get their permission to use their image.

As this project gets underway, I’ll keep everyone informed as to what is developing. If you

have any questions, please let me know.

3 June 2019

Upcoming Outings

Save the Date: June 29th

Keep your calendar open for the June outing to be on the 29 th.

Previous Outings

May 15th: Wednesday afternoon outing to the beautiful Lilacia Park in Lombard

afforded us images of gorgeous tulips and lilacs in an outstanding afternoon light. The

botanical tour that focused on the lilac collections was very interesting and informative.

May 19th: Sunday morning outing to the Indiana Dunes National Park was fantastic.

All that attended this outing were very adventurous as the weather forecast was that of

a high probability of rain! Thankfully, the rain was very minor. Rafi Wilkinson, ranger

for the National Park, led us on a ranger access only tour of the Pinhook Bog.

Bev Bartos

Sue Gajda

4 June 2019

Honors from club entries at CACCA InterClub competitions in recent months.

Maker Photo Title Honor Division CACCA Mtg.

Ron Szymczak Just Grabbing a Quick Bite AW SC Print February

Chuck Klingsporn Portrait of a King AW Mono Print February

Ramu Bijanki Handsome (Mandarin Duck) AW SC Print February

John Janunas Antelope Canyon AW SC Print February

Marcia Nye Northern Cardinal in the Snow HM SC Print February

Don Cochrane Barred Owl HM SC Print February

Bill Ludemann In Mid Air HM DPI February

Ron Szymczak Just Mom and Me AW SC Print March

Ramu Bijanki Blue Jay AW SC Print March

Steve Ornberg Milky Way at Mobius Arch AW DPI March

Chuck Klingsporn Grazing Grizzly HM SC Print March

Marcia Nye Ferruginous Hawk HM SC Print March

John Janunas Deep in the Smokies HM SC Print March

Steve Ornberg Lake Falls – Matthiessen State Park AW,POM SC Print April

Ramu Bijanki Boom Boom Goes the Prairie Chicken AW SC Print April

Frank Norton Our Lady of Sorrows AW SC Print April

Janice Henry Bunch of Coral Orchids HM SC Print April

Steve Ornberg Newport State Park AW Postcard April

Ramu Bijanki Air Egret HM Postcard April

Barbara Dunn Magee Marsh Birds HM Postcard April

Sue Gajda On the Bridge of Avignon HM Postcard April

Marcia Nye Look Out Below HM SC Print May

Bill Ludemann Ready to Dive HM DPI May

The CACCA competition season ended in May. Mayslake I finished tied for third in the Small Color Print Class A division (just 3 points from 1st place). Mayslake II finished in first place in Small Color Print Class B (led second place by 11 points). Congratulations Mayslake! In April's PSA Nature Division competition Don Cochrane won an Honorable Mention for his “Oriole Posing” and Bill Ludemann won an Honorable Mention for his “Ready to Dive”. I’m still waiting for results of the season's final (May) general PSA competition.

5 June 2019

Once again, we are teaming with Lou & Todd Nettlehorst for a hands-on workshop that

will concentrate this time on visual design. Using the Four Principles of Picture

Organization: Dominance, Balance, Proportion and Pattern, along with the building

blocks of visual design; Light, Shape, Texture, Line and Perspective, you will learn to

create images with a fresh eye.

As before, we will have a presentation before the hands-on workshop and a feedback

session afterwards. Sessions and outdoor workshop (weather permitting) will be held

at Mayslake on:

Oct 7th Monday - Inform

Oct 13th Sunday - Practice

Oct 21 Monday - Feedback

Cost will be $60 and sign-up will be available through the FPDDC website (date soon

to be announced). So in the meantime block out your calendar for another exciting,

informative event.

Save the Dates Registration will be opening soon for the following photo clinic with the

Nettlehorsts so set aside the dates noted below.

6 June 2019

Membership Have you sent in your 2019-20 MNSPC Membership

dues? Most of you have – a big THANK YOU!

But there are still a handful of current members who have not. Please fill out the attached form and mail your check to Mitch Stemler as soon as possible to

avoid a $10 late fee effective in July.

Nature Corner

Nature Corner aims to educate about animals,

flowers, plants and trees. Each month we will

include a plant or animal photo and a few

words about the subject so you may be able

to identify it when you see it.

Everyone is encouraged to submit a photo to

Sheila Newenham via the club e-mail for

inclusion in an upcoming newsletter. Include

the name, location and date if relevant, and a

little information about the subject.

Prothonotary Warbler

The elusive, furtive Prothonotary warbler was the prize bird at Magee Marsh. Crowds would run

down the boardwalk to catch a glimpse through their binoculars. It was like Yellowstone on the

boardwalk where crowds would gather and stop traffic stretching to catch a view as the warbler

darted behind trees and bushes in the marsh. Photographers tried valiantly to not only catch a

glimpse but gain focus on this elusive, beautiful bird.

Steve Ornberg

7 June 2019

"Did You Know?"

You can get inside information about local preserves, contribute

to conservation and get motivated to get out and shoot by

volunteering to be a nature scout with Chicago Nature Now! The goal of Chicago Nature Now is to “restore the natural beauty

of the Chicago region by getting people to fall in love with

Chicago nature.” Help reach more people and learn more about

the region yhourself.

Learn more on the chicagonaturenow website.

Exhibits By Fred Drury

I hung the new show, ‘Macro/Close-up’ on Saturday, April 6. We have a total of 20 images in the current

‘Macro/Close-up’ show and have realized 2 sales Marcia Nye’s, “The Bug Zapper”! and just this week my

‘Periclimines Imperator (Imperial Shrimp) Fiji’.

The current show will come down on the July 6-7 weekend and be replaced by our next show: ‘Abstracts &

Intimate Landscapes’. The ‘Macro/Close-up’ images will be available for pick up from the storage area

after July 7.

Just to remind you, the ‘Abstracts & Intimate Landscapes’ show themes are ‘new’ to our exhibits so here’s a couple of web references for those who are less familiar with them:

1) For ‘Abstracts’, check out: ‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_photography’ and ‘https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=abstract+photograph’;

2) For ‘Intimate Landscapes’, check out ‘https://improvephotography.com/51468/top-10-tips-for-photographing-intimate-landscapes/’ and ‘http://www.artnet.com/artists/eliot-porter/’.

This new show provides an opportunity to exercise a whole lot of creativity within our overall ‘Nature’ theme and I hope that you’ll embrace this option!

If you have any questions, drop me a note at fred@marklandimaging.com

8 June 2019

2018/19 Season Competition Report

Image of the Year Based on the voting, there was a tie for Image of the Year. Congratulations to the following two individuals: Ramu Bijanki for his image titled Handsome (Mandarin Duck) William Ludemann for his image Touching the Snow The other seven images that were voted to be in the top ten are as follows: Merganser Parade by John Janunas Red Sky over White Pocket by Fred Drury Ready to Dive by Bill Ludemann Hepatica by Bill Dixon Down The Hatch by Chuck Klingsporn Blue Jay by Ramu Bijanki Antelope Canyon by John Janunas Based on the highest average score for the 2018/19 monthly competitions, the first and

second place finishers in each category are as follows:

Class A Prints First Place: Marcia Nye Second Place: Fred Drury

Class B Prints

First Place: Frank Norton Second Place: Ramu Bijanki

Second Place: Don Cochrane

Class A Digital First Place: Fred Drury

Second Place: Ron Szymczak

Class B Digital First Place: Ramu Bijanki Second Place: Frank Norton

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all members who

submitted images.

9 June 2019

MNSPC Member

Adventures

This column highlights the

nature photo experiences of

our intrepid members. Seeing

where members have been

and what they have been

doing may pique your interest

in visiting some of these

areas. We encourage

everyone to contribute a

nature-related story for this

column. Please email Sheila

Newenham at

drsnewenham@gmail.com

with a few of paragraphs and a

couple of images about your

experience.

Chasing Warblers Steve Ornberg

At the suggestion by several MNSPC members I finally arranged a trip to the warbler capital of North America, Magee Creek. Magee Creek is located in Ohio about 18 miles east of Toledo nestled up against Lake Erie. In May many species of warblers migrating from South and Central America stop at Magee Creek to refuel before flying over Lake Erie. A one-mile long boardwalk provides up close access to over 30 different warbler species. The second week in May is the official “Biggest Birding Week” with lots of birders, vendors, tours and birding classes you can attend with several thousand other birders and photographers. I chose to go the week after and my expectations were exceeded. I managed to get some excellent photos of 24 bird species that I had never seen, let alone photographed before. I recommend shooting with a 100-400mm or 200-500mm lens, hand held. Tripods are not recommended. You can use a monopod, which I tried the first day, but found that I needed to be fast with locating the small birds quickly. A 150-600mm lens could be good also if you can quickly focus with it.

It took me about 3 hours to navigate the board walk and I made a couple of passes each day. I was there for 2 ½ days and found that I had taken some 4000 photos – so I had enough. The amount of time you spend will be weather dependent. If it is too cold or rainy (which it had been up until I arrived) the birds may not migrate to Magee Marsh.

I also visited Howard Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. AT Howard Marsh I managed to get a photo of a yellow-headed black bird and see a split rail. Birders were very helpful in pointing these out to me as they were at Magee Marsh. I did not visit it but another location is in Canada, across Lake Erie at Pelee Point where the birds land after crossing the lake. This location is a 2-hour drive north and east of Toledo. Remember to bring your passport.

10 June 2019

My recommendation: Visit Magee Marsh and surrounding preserves at least once in your life if you want to capture fantastic bird photos.

Another note: I also met Moose Peterson on the board walk, a world class wildlife photographer who was at Magee Marsh capturing the warblers.

Tech Tidbit

If you use Lightroom for editing your photos you may have been frustrated with the cropping tool. When cropping photos in Lightroom Classic, typically you would retain a horizontal crop for a horizontal image, and a vertical crop for a vertical image. So, if you wanted to crop to an 8x10 crop on a landscape/horizontal image it would crop to a 10x8. But if you wanted it vertical, i.e. 8x10, you can easily switch the crop by pressing X on your keyboard. The crop tool automatically switches to a 8x10 vertical crop. Try it; it saves a lot of frustration. We are looking for contributions for tech tidbits. If you have an item you love in your software or came across a good tool, share it with us. Send tidbits to Sheila (drsnewenham@gmail.com)

11 June 2019

This has been the most unusual year the club has had financially in a very long time.

The reason, we had three unanticipated events that distorted the normal and routine

financial operation of the club. Despite these unusual events, we finished the year in

sound financial shape with adequate cash reserves to carry us into fiscal 2020 and with

a membership base that is growing, thus providing support for the types of programs

and activities members have come to expect. In summary, we took in $4376, 40 %

more than budgeted. On the Expenses side, we spent $4,735, 52 % more than the

budget amount. The net result was a reduction in our operating balance of about $359.

What were these three large items? The first was the Nettlehorst Macro workshop in

February. All of the revenue and the expenses of this program flowed through our

books even though not budgeted and did not involve any club money. The club did

benefit directly, however in that we earned $187.50 that was not budgeted.

The second was the need for and subsequent Board decision to replace our projector,

laptop computer and two audio microphones. These items were necessary due to the

incompatibility of our old equipment with newly adopted image size standards at

CACCA combined with the reality that our aging equipment was difficult, sometimes

impossible to maintain. The Board had budgeted $350 for new equipment anticipating

the need over a period of several years. As the difficulties increased, it became prudent

to resolve the issue and put it behind us. The total cost of the new equipment items was

$1,593, well beyond the budget. We were, however, able to achieve savings in a

number of other areas to partially offset the excess cost. These equipment items will, of

course, serve the club for many years even though all of the cost had to be charged

against this one year.

The third item comes under the category of mixed blessing. We lost long-term member

Bob Dorn last winter; he will be missed. His wife Marilyn made a gracious and

generous decision to donate all of his considerable inventory of printer paper to the

club; we raised $220 in unexpected income from that donation. Thanks to Mrs. Dorn.

If you would like additional detail or would like to see a copy of the year end statement,

please contact me by email, northrockies@aol.com. Thanks.

Chuck Klingsporn - Treasurer

See my lunch By Bob Dorn - Award Class B

Print-September 2016

Treasurer’s Report

12 June 2019

2019-2020 Officers and Committee Members

Officers

President Steve Ornberg

Vice President Ramu Bijanki

Treasurer Chuck Klingsporn

Secretary Barbara Dunn

Chairpersons and Committees

CACCA Karl Knapp, Marcia Nye

Communication Sheila Newenham

Competition Ron Szymczak, Lee Balgemann,

Nature Study Dee Hudson

Equipment Dave Schooley, Bill Dixon

Forest Preserve Liaison Cheryl Rausch

Exhibits Fred Drury

Education Fred Drury

Membership Mitch Stemler

Outings Coordinator Beverly Bartos

Social Your Name Here

Webmaster Steve Ornberg