All posts by Kathy

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Twilight Photography

By Bill Miller
Personally, I love travel photography.  That’s my thing, and my wife, Sandy, and I have had the good fortune to visit and photograph beautiful locations both around the world and in our great country.  Still, excellent photographs can be made at home, wherever you live.  The secret is seeing an interesting subject and imaging how it would look in different conditions . . . ideal conditions.
For me, I like photographing just before sunrise or just after sunset, a time when most people are still asleep or eating dinner.  For example, I’m sure thousands of pictures of the Cookeville Railroad Depot are taken every year, but I wanted to make an image that might look different.

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Backyard Photography

By Helga Skinner

Two years ago I entered a contest and won with my Hummingbird landing on a branch in my backyard.  It had its tongue hanging out. It ended up in the” Natures Best Photography” Magazine in the best backyards section.

A backyard can become a very fascinating place if one looks at it from many different directions.  Sometimes I move my camera while taking the picture, creating a sense of mystery and motion. Other times I print my image on cotton or blend fabric, and then add batting and quilt it. Stitching with metallic threads by machine creates another look of dimension. I use software to enhance my images at times but am still learning.  I give presentations on this technique as well as other topics. Continue reading →

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Christmas Forest Exhibit

Christmas Forest Exhibit Opens Dec. 9

 The Cookeville Camera Club will be one of fourteen local non-profit and civic organizations participating in the Christmas Forest Exhibit at the Cookeville History Museum.

Please join us at the open house from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on December 9, and enjoy holiday homemade goodies.  Come browse through the forest and see many unique ornaments!

The exhibit runs through January 2,

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open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at 40 E. Broad Street (it will be closed December 23)

 

education

Leading Lines

By Kathy Krant

An effective element of good photographic composition is the use of “leading lines” which draws the eye to a specific part of the frame or center of interest.  It might be a path, road or fence which winds through the frame to a vanishing point in the distance.  In nature it might be a shoreline, a river or row of trees leading you to your subject in the background.

First Place, Master
New York Subways on a Sunday by Gary Moore
Lining the Shore by Sandy Miller

Identify your strongest lines and consider how to enhance your image by creating depth and perspective positioning those lines from the foreground to the background.  Create a visual journey from one point in your image to another.  Position your image so the lines lead into the frame and never out of the frame.  Sometimes it’s as simple as moving yourself to change perspective and make your image more purposeful. Continue reading →

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Photographing the Milky Way

By Wanda Krack

author imageEquipment needed:

  1. A camera that allows manual settings
  2. A tripod, a sturdy one if there is wind
  3. Preferably a wide angle lens or a semi-wide angle. A lens that allows you to include all of the space that you want in the image.  I use a 14-24, and have used an 8mm fish eye to include the entire sky.  If you don’t have a wide angle, you can take several shots panned, and stitch them together using Photoshop or similar software.  If you do this, try setting the camera for vertical orientation, overlapping almost 50%, thereby capturing more of the foreground, or more of the sky.
  4. An external shutter tripper, or use the delayed shutter setting on the camera, to prevent any shake.

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education

Life Changing

Image

by Bettye Sue Austin

Before moving back to Cookeville, I used to take pictuaustin_bettye_1454976605res of my flowers with a small Canon point and shoot camera.   I never took a class so I really didn’t know what I was doing at the time.   I hybridize daylilies and wanted to run a daylily seed business after retirement.

With this plan in mind, I moved to Cookeville bringing my daylilies along with me.  My goal was to learn how to get clear images of the daylilies, so I could display the two plants I crossed on my web page. I bought a DSLR camera and signed up for a class taught by Bill Miller, a member of the Cookeville Camera Club.  IMG_8345

The class changed how I view my surroundings!  I learned to see angles, shapes, texture, and color in this beautiful world we live in.  I learned how to compose my images to make them more appealing instead of just taking a snapshot.  I learned how to take close-up “macro” shots of my flowers.  I also learned how to take portraits of my family members.  I really enjoyed shooting the images for each class assignment and looked forward to sharing them with the other members in the class. After I completed the class, I practiced what I learned every day. Continue reading Life Changing →

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Hong Kong – Where East Meets West

By Walt Carlson

 

Walt CarlsonHong Kong, a city I never expected to visit; but, one that I can’t believe I had a chance to go.

Victoria’s Peak is the highest point in Hong Kong with breathtaking views of the city, especially after dark.  The iconic Big Buddha sits on a mountaintop in an area accessible by sky gondola, bus, or an all-day hike to the top while cows can be found roaming free in the gardens at the base of the site.Many locals Big Buddhatravel by ferry on weekends and holidays to visit the nearby fishing village islands where they select their dinner from the open-air fish market.  The meal is then prepared at the restaurant next door and ready to eat approximately 30 minutes later, served on large lazy Susan tables which are typical of Chinese dining. Continue reading →

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The Best Ways to Use Drones in Photography

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HeadShot300x450By Steve Kuss

Drones are one of those new technologies that can be an indispensable tool, a toy, a photographer’s dream, or perhaps the latest scourge unleashed by your neighbor. New models seem to come on the market weekly, each with a whirlwind of specifications, making an intelligent purchase decision nearly impossible. If one is purchased, the buyer becomes the neighborhood whiz kid, or the purveyor of all that is evil in the world.

 Drones come in all shapes, sizes and costs. Some areGOPR3689-Pano-2 just for sport. They exist purely for the fun of piloting an aircraft by remote control. Others are built for speed. They have motors, so there is a huge group of people involved in racing the beasts. Then there are those used in law enforcement, mostly in the search and rescue sector. Contractors, farmers and surveyors use them with infrared sensors for incredibly detailed mapping applications. While drones are most known for shooting video, they take still shots as well. As such, they make a nice transition vehicle for the casual photographer looking to start shooting video. Many women are helping to lead the charge. (www.2dronegals.com) There are even Facebook groups devoted to drone photography. Continue reading The Best Ways to Use Drones in Photography →

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Saturday, April 22nd Storyfest

Please join us at Dogwood Park for Storyfest on April 22, 2017.  Storyfest is an annual event sponsored by the Cookevillestoryfest History Museum featuring many talented storytellers performing throughout the day. A large tent with plenty of seating is available for you to come by and listen to their tales.  Cookeville Camera Club will be part of the Artist Alley from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, newly added this year along with food trucks.  We will have note cards for you to send to your family and friends for special occasions. We have many  different types of images available, so you will be able to find the perfect card for any occasion. Our images range from local landmarks to flowers, landscapes, travel photos, humming birds, other animals and many more.  Look for our sign! Please invite your family and friends to stop by any time throughout the day.

*In case of a rain out, the event will be moved to the  the Christian Life Center at the First United Methodist Church. We will ONLY use this plan in case of a TOTAL rain out.

education

Are We There Yet?

 leannBy Leann Walker

“Are we there yet? How much longer? I am BORED!” These are all common phrases heard by most parents on any car trip longer than 30 minutes. While we commonly think that this is something that only children do, at a recent camera club meeting I felt like I was in that car with some of my fellow photographers. Phrases of “I hate winter… my images are so bland, It’s too cold outside; there’s nothing for me to photograph, I’m so tired of shooting the same old stuff!” These comments took me back to the days of creatively entertaining my three daughters on a road trip. I felt like there had to be a way to be creative and inspire others during a magical time of year – Christmas.

While obviously not my creation, an internet search revealed a 365 photo-a-day project as well as a photo of the month project. These projects presented a topic or subject to be captured each day and received a new subject the next day. The subjects presented were so simple or so common and with very little creative thought; I felt like our new members were craving knowledge as well as inspiration. Armed with a slew of ideas from different photo-a-day programs, my plan was born. I decided to create and implement the “31 Days of Christmas.” With input from the board of directors and Camera Club President, Helga Skinner the project came to life. Each day was to be a different theme. There were no rules, except to be creative and look at the topic through the eyes of a photographer. The topics were very broad such as “together” or “looking up” to allow maximum creative exploration but there were also educational topics such as bokeh (intentionally adding blur to a background or image), macros or close-ups, landscapes and reflections.

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