This is a chance to help out Fontenelle Forest. Submit a photo to be auctioned at the Feather Our Nest annual fund raising event. The Forest would like 8-10 photos from our club. See all details below.
Digital submissions MUST be received by Donna Gray by August 1st.
File Name: 2025-FF-Feather-Our-Nest-Fundraiser-.docx
Please arrive as early as you are able.
Important: The Best of Show, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winning photos will be moved and displayed at the Bellevue Library (space permitting). You do not need to pick up Best of, 1st, 2nd & 3rd place entries.
All other entries, including Honorable Mention, need to be picked up.
If you have questions or unable to pick up at this time, please contact Donna Gray, Email: djg618@yahoo.com
Hitchcock Humanities Map – Google Map Link
Peter Carbonell is our judge and will critique our photos and announce the winners in each category
Located at Bellevue University, Hitchcock Humanities Bldg
From Howard Carson;
The June 12th photo meetup at forest lawn cemetery has been postponed to Wednesday June 25, at 5 pm.
Meet at the entrance at 5pm.
Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.
To Kathleen Crawford-Rose and Mary Headley for checking in photos. Terry Turner, Brent Headley, Glenn Tolles and Phil Mininni for hanging the photos.
Thursday, June 19, 2025 at 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Judging and critique by Peter Carbonell. Awards presentation.
Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 10 AM Pick up your photos at the Bellevue University. If you can’t pickup your photos at this time, please let Donna Gray, Graydj1956@gmail.com or Kathleen Crawford Rose, katcr@cox.net know. All the winning photos except third place photos, will be hung at the Bellevue Library for display.
To Donna Gray, Graydj1956@gmail.com as soon as you can. Photos will be used at the critique by the judge.
Lorraine Feldhausen, Diane Kinney, and Howard Carson have stepped up and volunteered to head the photo club for the 2025-2026 year. We still have no President or Vice President. The club should revise the club charter and get the Fontenelle Forest administration to sign off on this.
Our Raptor photo shoot will be May 15th starting at 6:30 PM at Camp Brewster. There will be a brief meeting after the shoot. Come and have fun! Kathleen originally mailed out time start at 6:00 PM.
The entries for the annual contest will be 10:00 am on May 24th at the Bellevue University Gallery. Entry forms will be available at the Raptor Shoot Meeting. Contest rules are attached to this message. Remember to email your entries JPEGs to Donna Gray. Her address is: dig618@yahoo.com
Our next display at Fontenelle Forest Gallery will be Fontenelle Forest Landscapes. Please bring prints to the May meeting, the contest mounting or the June meeting.
The next display at the Bellevue Library will be the winning contest entries.
The entries for the annual contest will be 10:00 am on May 24th at the Bellevue University Gallery. Entry forms will be available at the Raptor Shoot Meeting. Contest rules are attached to this message. Remember to email your entries jpegs to Donna Gray. Her address is: dig618@yahoo.com
http://www.fontenelleforestphotoclub.org/2025-photo-club-contest/ is the link for contest rules.
April 2025 balance $780.75
No income and no expenses
Pending expenses
Contest Ribbons $176.92
Contest Judge $125.00
Raptor Team donation $150.00
That is about it for now. Hope to see you all at the Raptor Shoot. All are welcome, members and non-members alike. Bring young photographers too! Please comment below with anything our your mind. I will try to get the answers to you and I will try not to upset you or your day.
Phil
Below is a Word document of Herb Thompson’s outline from his presentation on cell phone photography. It has links for some of the things he presented. His presentation was mostly on Android phones. He also went the several extra steps above by setting up several stations with lighting for member’s to take photos of flowers with their cell phones. One thing I found out there are several differences in android phones. I recommend we all get out our individual operator’s manual and look up all your camera functions your phone can do.
He also recommends to utilize YouTube as a resource. Search for your particular phone and photography.
Thank your very much Herb!
…………
A iPhone video example, 20 minutes:
Here is a list of places to go for photo opportunities and photo club field trip ideas compiled by Lorraine Feldhausen, Diane Kinney, and Howard Carson.
Scroll through document:
Lorraine Feldhausen sends us this from somewhere in the ether. Thanks Lorraine1
Posted: 04/05/2025
Related note: with flowers in full bloom this publisher is offering their Flower Photography Guide at 68% Off
Armed with the four simple, yet very effective strategies that I will share here, you can venture out to capture tulips, or any flowers, in a captivating and impressive manner. These quick tips can be applied to any type of floral photography, of course. By keeping these tips in mind and by applying them, you will find yourself producing fewer average images and many more “keepers.”
One of the characteristics that makes an image strong is the presentation of a scene in a way that we don’t normally see it. As you walk through life each day, you see everything, for the most part, at eye level. As beautiful as a tulip may be, if you photograph it from your normal standing position, it will look like every other tulip you have seen over the years. Beautiful? Yes. Unique or interesting? Probably not so much.
Photo by Traveller_40; ISO 200, f/8.0, 1/80-second exposure.
Look to present tulips in a way they are not usually seen. When was the last time you got down on your belly on a nice day and gazed upward at the flowers? Maybe never, right? By gaining a different perspective than what you are used to seeing, the image now possesses the unique and interesting factor that makes it visually appealing.
If you happen upon a scene that contains a field of tulips as far as the eye can see, or one where there’s a glorious mountain or sunset as the backdrop, well then you’re pretty much golden to start shooting away. However, for the other 99 percent of the time, you will be faced with less than glorious surroundings. This is when it is important to manage the scene. Even the most dazzling flowers will not be as appealing when you see parked cars, campers, stores, etc. behind them. Unless the background elements support your photograph, they should not be included.
There are several ways in which you can remove distractions from your background. One is by simply walking around your scene and finding a vantage point from which the less than desirable background elements are not visible. An example might be to shoot upward from a very low vantage point. By using the sky as the backdrop, you have avoided any existing distractions. In addition to getting down low, you can attempt to photograph the flowers close up with a tight crop. Any items that may have been behind the floral subjects are nowhere to be seen, and the focus of the image is on only the tulips.
Photo by alcidesota@yahoo.com-OFF; ISO 250, f/2.8, 1/250-second exposure.
Depth of Field (or DOF) is basically the distance between the nearest and farthest elements in a photograph that appear sufficiently sharp in focus. When an image has a large depth of field, most elements in the scene from front to back will be in sharp focus. If an image has a shallow depth of field, the subject of the photograph will be sharp, while elements in front or behind it will be out of focus.
Controlling DOF can be a powerful tool in creating strong images. Let’s go back to the previous tip, regarding backgrounds, for example. In addition to the strategies we discussed for removing distracting background elements, you could also use depth of field to your advantage. By throwing a background element out of focus, you will draw less attention to it.
Manipulating the depth of field can assist in producing a strong and dynamic image. For example, with an out of focus foreground and background, you can keep the attention on a single tulip just by keeping it sharply focused.
Photo by Christine Jackowski
Controlling depth of field is a technique that deserves its own article. In short, however, there are a few ways of controlling it. One of the most common ways is to use a large aperture (lower f-stop number) for shallow depth of field and a small aperture (higher f-stop number) for greater depth of field. This means you will have to get yourself out of automatic mode and choose either manual mode or aperture priority mode on your camera.
As mentioned earlier, when you offer the viewer a perspective that is different from what they’re accustomed to, you have a greater chance of producing a unique or interesting photograph. One such way this can be achieved is by focusing in on the small details, or just a part, as opposed to the whole.
You might aim to fill the frame from edge to edge with color and a close up view that provides an interesting perspective, void of any distracting background elements, all while keeping the depth of field fairly shallow. As a result, the eye will be drawn to one specific area of the tulip (such as the stamen), which becomes the subject of the photograph. The subject matter has now been presented in a unique, interesting, and obvious manner.
There you have it. Keep the ideas presented here in mind as you venture out to capture some stunning floral photographs!
About the Author:
Robert J Rhatigan Jr writes for btphotoschool. Photography first became a passion of his back in the mid 1980s. He spent many hours in the dark room and found that the creative outlet this craft provided stirred his soul. Although the basic principles of photography remain the same today, the technology has changed in unimaginable ways. Now, over 25 years later, the joy of photography continues to stir his soul, while providing him with countless hours of pure enjoyment.
Have you ever wondered how amazing flower photographs are created? I wondered as well… And then, I found this amazing, and gifted, flower photographer- who not only knows HOW to create dynamic flower photography- she also knows how to TEACH those tricks and techniques to other photographers through this in-depth eBook. It is currently 68% off today with all the flowers blooming if you want to check it out.
Flower Photography Guide (Take a Peek Inside)
156 page practical guide packed with Assignments, Key Lessons, and Self-Check Quizzes! (15 assignments, 26 key lessons, & 70 self-check questions!) With this guide, you’re getting a complete system for producing beautiful flower photographs. And, it’s at a fraction of the cost of an in-person workshop. Plus you can re-read the material anytime you want, whenever you need a quick refresh.
Deal ending soon: Photographing Fabulous Flowers at 68% Off
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM at the forest.
Herb Thompson will be our guest speaker.
Born: Morocco, Africa (1954) Raised: Indianapolis, Indiana
Military: U.S. Air Force | Food Service Management (1973-93)
Tours of Duty: Grand Forks, ND | Oxford, UK | Cheyenne, WY | Cambridge, UK | Bellevue, NE
Career: ConAgra Frozen Foods | Pizza Hut | Pentagon Federal Credit Union | USPS (1996-2020)
Public Exhibitions: (1999 – 2024) Omaha City Hall | ConAgra | W. D. Clark Library | Union Pacific | Offutt AFB | UNO Library | Hildegard Center for Arts | Sump Memorial Library | Papillion City Hall
Past Sponsors: Nebraska Arts Council (NAC), Omaha Public Schools, Herman Cain, Union Pacific, ConAgra
Publications: (1987 – 2016) RAF Upper Heyford AFB Magazine | Omaha Star | Lenswork Magazine | Inspirations of Water | Omaha World Herald
Past Projects: Omaha Star | African American Leadership Awards | Holland Performing Arts Center | Omaha Jazz & Blues Festival | Rose Performing Arts | Orpheum Theater | Omaha Fashion Week | NAC grants | Conducted smartphone photography workshops for UNO and LinkdIn
Current Projects: Smartphone, Micro 4/3, Medium & Large Format Photography
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herbthompson2
Facebook: www.facebook.com/herbthompson1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herb-thompson-4335991a
Website: https://artbyherb.com/
Herb asks how many have iPhone s and how many have android phones. Please comment below which one do you have and a subject matter you would like to hear about when taking photos with your phone.
Contest rules have been posted and can be found at the top of the website page titled “2025 Photo Club Contest”
We have changed out photos at the forest (mammals) and at the Bellevue Library (sunrise and sunsets)
I hope to see you all at the April 17 meeting. Comment below. Who has iPhone, who has an android phone.