January 26 meeting notes:

At the January 26th Landscape SIG meeting, we discussed the regularly scheduled meeting time. Friday is apparently the only day of the week that has open times we could reschedule to. Some of the members present indicated that Friday afternoon meetings would not be a good time because of the frequency that members include Friday into a trip when they leave town on trips, for the weekend or on vacations. Therefore, we will retain the 4th Thursday of the month for our regularly scheduled meeting.

We continued our discussion of completing a Calendar project. Group concensus was that - with COSTCO and online companies - it is relatively easy for anyone to construct their own calendar and special training or help isn't necessary. Therefore, the Landscape SIG formally dropped the idea of completing a Landscape SIG calendar.

The group decided to include a discussion of "Smart Phone" applications and neat gadgets in the February program. Identified topics include:

- The Photographer's Ephemeris - Currently available for FREE on your computer or for $8.99 as a phone application from

< http://photoephemeris.com/about >

- Google Earth - Available as a FREE download. It includes some neat tools for photographers.

- Depth of Field Master - Free download - it is used to calculate the actual depth of field for several popular camera and len combinations. It is available on line at < http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html > and there is a phone application for it.

- Skyview - a phone application for $1.99.

- Expo Disk

SIG members were requested to suggest additional apps and present segments on their favorite apps. However, due to a scheduling conflict, I had to cancel the February meeting on short notice.

March 22 meeting notes:

Seven members attended the March SIG meeting. In lieu of a presentation on the holdover "smart phone applications," Larry showed a sample DVD received from Outdoor Photographer that was available for only a short time. The magazine apparently sent out copies to its subscribers to provide an example of its new series of instructional videos, with a discount offer to subscribe to the series. Since it was only available for a short time, the DVD replaced the scheduled program.

Next SIG meeting - April 26:
Please bring your camera and flash (if you have one) for the April 26th Landscape SIG meeting. We will feature instruction and practical exercise in the use of fill light for outdoor subjects. There are several methods and equipment items we can use to reduce the contrast within an image and provide a more evenly lit subject. SIG member Gene McDermott and John Macy will provide a discussion of on-camera flash, off-camera and remote flash as well as the use of white and gold reflectors. A little bit about diffusers and shades. All the reflectors demonstrated all cost less than twenty bucks. After the discussion we will move to the plaza area to practice using fill light on outdoor subjects with our cameras.
Next SIG meeting - April 26:

Please bring your camera and flash (if you have one) for the April 26th Landscape SIG meeting. We will feature instruction and practical exercise in the use of fill light for outdoor subjects. There are several methods and equipment items we can use to reduce the contrast within an image and provide a more evenly lit subject. SIG member Gene McDermott and John Macy will provide a discussion of on-camera flash, off-camera and remote flash as well as the use of white and gold reflectors as well as some information on diffusers and shades. All the reflectors used in the demonstration cost less than $20. After the discussion we will move to the plaza area to practice using fill light on outdoor subjects with our cameras.

Pre-work for our next SIG:

1. Please Review your camera instruction book for information on how to use your on-camera flash and off-camera flash (if you have one). Then take some fill flash images and bring them on a flash drive (preferably) to the SIG meeting for a discussion of what worked well and didn't work well. The main intent of this exercise is to familiarize you with how your camera works in fill flash mode, so the discussion will make more sense and you will more quickly pick up how to make adjustments to the settings for fill flash.

2. Bring a sampling of landscape images you have taken over the past two months - whether or not you were able to find flowers - to share with the group.

3. We will discuss a range of "summer SIG projects" you can work on whether you remain or travel far from Grand this summer. Please bring ideas for summer photography assignments you think would be of interest to the group.