Eastern Maine Camera Club

The Eastern Maine Camera Club will host Mike Leonard of Portland on Jan 5th at 6:30 pm at 647 Main St Bangor. His topic is: Introduction to Digital Photography both for those who received a new camera for Christmas and those who are not sure of certain settings on their existing cameras. The public is invited.

Last Christmas I decided to try sending a photograph to Snapfish for printing and pickup up at Walgreens in Brewer.  It seemed like a great idea to me.  They have some really good prices and I wanted to see how the quality was.  So I came up with a plan to print my own, then print one at Walgreens and compare the two. 

So, first I prepared a file to print, which is where the color space part of this story comes into play.  I’ve always heard that it’s best to use the Adobe RGB color space for printing, and the sRGB color space for photos that I plan to display on the screen.  So following that logic it made sense to prepare the photo for printing by setting its color space to Adobe RGB. 

So after preparing the file using AdobeRGB I printed it on my Epson 1400.  In case your wondering, yes I have color corrected my monitor using an inexpensive Eye One calibrator.  I took my time making sure that all my printer settings were correct, used Epson gloss paper with the correct profile.  The results were great.  The picture was very vibrant, just as it appeared on my screen.    

Now that I had a nice color corrected file that printed well my next step was to upload it to Snapfish and order a print.  I ordered the same size which was priced significantly less then what it costs me to print it at home.  I also specified that I would pick it up at my local Walgreens. 

Later that day I took a trip to Walgreens and picked up my picture.  At first glance it looked pretty good in the store.  I didn’t take time to study it closely until I got it home.  Then I was able to compare it to the one that I had printed.  Boy was I disappointed.  It looked nothing like the one that I printed.  The colors were much more dull and muted. 

At that point I was ready to give up on the Walgreens printing until I accidently stumbled on to something very curious on the Snapfish web site.  At the same time I uploaded the test print file I also uploaded some other files from the same series that I planned to use to make some gifts.  Quite by accident as I was looking at them I noticed the test photo appeared muted in the SnapFish album online, and the other ones I had uploaded looked quite vibrant.  After scratching my head for a while I realized that the difference was the color space applied to the photo.  The vibrant ones in SnapFish were sRGB and the muted ones were AdobeRGB.   Here’s a snapshot I took of two of the images as they appeared in snapfish:

Figure One.  Screenshot of Two Pictures from a SnapFish Album View

So let me review what happened.  I printed the file with the Adobe color space at home and it came out vibrant, exactly like the picture on the right. 

I sent the Adobe color space photo to SnapFish and the print came back muted, like the picture on the left.  So the key is that the SnapFish print matched exactly how it appeared on the screen when I uploaded it to the site.

Another interesting fact.  If I look at the two photos side by side in Photoshop Elements or LightRoom it’s impossible for me to tell the difference.  They both look like the photo on the right above.  It’s only when I look at them on the SnapFish web site that I can see this difference.

The next logical thing to do would be to order a print using the sRGB color space.  But I got busy and this project dropped off my radar.  Fast forward a year and a few days ago I came across this blog (from 2007) that explains exactly what causes this behavior in detail.   I highly recommend reading this blog if you're interested in this problem.   http://www.photographybay.com/2007/04/12/the-mystery-behind-color-spaces-adobe-rgb-vs-srgb/

The bottom line is this.  If you have prints coming back from a printer that look dull and muted you might want to check into what color space they are expecting you to use. 

I’m going to give SnapFish another try.  I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Last Thursday was our special meeting on Slideshows.  I've tried to capture all the links we talked about.  If I missed one or if you have any questions just use the Contact Us form to send an email and either Chuck, Joel or I will get back to you.

Joel did a presentation on creating a slideshow with a free program called FastStone Image Viewer.  You can download FastStone here: http://faststone.org/

Joel reminded everyone that if you plan to you music in your slideshows, make sure you have the proper rights to it.  He told us about a website where you can get public domain music: http://musopen.org

Next up was me (Kevin).  I did a slide show with Lightroom version 3.5.  You can download a trail version here: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

I also created a slideshow with Adobe Elements 7.  I don't think you can get version 7 anymore, but you can  download a trail of version 10 here: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

I also threw together a Picasa slideshow.  Picasa is free from Google.  You can find it at http://picasa.google.com. 

The final (and probably most impressive) presentation was by Chuck Rohn.  Chuck demonstrated ProShow Producer.  ProShow producer and ProShow Gold can be found at:   http://www.photodex.com/proshow/gold

Here's the slideshow that Chuck put together with Proshow Producer:

Those of you that attended the first meeting may remember me talking about the possibility that our Facebook group was scheduled to be archived and that we hadn't been given the option to upgrade it, which was necessary to avoid losing our membership list.

Good news. Shortly after the meeting the button to allow us to upgrade appeared, so I did that and our group was updated without losing our members. So everything that I said about our Facebook Group in the last meeting…well…never mind. We're good to go.

Here's a link to our Facebook Group (members only): 

http://www.facebook.com/groups/105932616322/

Hope you've all had a great summer and have taken lots of pictures for this years upcoming contests (see our schedule here), 

All our registered members should have received a letter in the mail from Jeanne Caron, this seasons President.  I'm posting a copy of the letter here for your convenience and also for those who may not be on our mailing list yet. With no further ado, Jeanne's letter:

August 2011

To: Eastern Maine Camera Club current and prospective Members

From: Jeanne Caron, EMCC President

Welcome back!  I hope everyone is having a fun and productive summer.  With September fast approaching, it is time to turn our attention to a new year of learning, competition, and camaraderie with the Eastern Maine Camera Club.

With a variety of speakers, the lecture series promises to provide an opportunity to learn and see what others in the field are doing.  The competitions allow us to hone our skills in photography and presentation in a supportive and friendly environment and get valuable feedback to improve our work.  They challenge us to get outside of our comfort zone with varied subjects and to get out and photograph often. 

Remember, September is also club dues time (form here).  Please make the many tasks of bookkeeping as smooth as possible for our Club Treasurer Larry Sherwood.  Send in your completed registration form and  check prior to the first meeting.

Our first meeting will be on September 8th at 6:00 p.m. We will meet at the Bangor Parks and Rec building on Main Street (the old armory, click here for a map) in the "senior" room.  This is also where all our regular club meetings are held.   We will enjoy a dinner together before our first meeting.  The main dish will be catered by Dysart's.  Everyone should bring a salad or dessert to share as well as your own preferred beverage.  Please RSVP if you plan to come: (click here to send an email, or use the email address in the printed letter)

I look forward to the new 2011-12 season and my new position as President.  I will do my best to facilitate a great year!  We will have many opportunities for field trips, camaraderie, and the chance and challenge to increase our photography skills.  Please see the current calendar on our great new web site.

Come and join us!

Thanks you, Jeanne Caron

 In case you folks missed Don's email about the NECCC trip I've pasted it below.  Enjoy.

****

You folks missed a fine weekend in Amherst, Mass at the NECCC Annual Conference.  Starting Friday afternoon through Sunday morning the presentation activity was very intense.  Most areas of the photographic experience were covered (capture, processing, printing, marketing, networking, travel photography, architectural photography, night photography, lighting, model shoots, etc)  It was a full weekend.

We even had time for some social activity.

 

 

We had such a hard time to find someone to shoot the group shot...... 

 

 

The conference can be quite an experience.

 

 

UPDATE:

We got some submissions for a new web banner.  I went ahead and picked one to bring us into summer.  You can see all the submissions here: http://easternmainecameraclub.org/photo-galleries.aspx (members only)

-Kevin

HI Everybody,

I think it's time to switch out our header image on the web site with something more "summery".   I thought we could use our contest entry form to allow everyone to enter images for consideration.  So I've set up a competition and posted some directions below.   I've set the date for 7/1/2011, so if you want to submit some photos you'll need to get them in by 6/30.  (our competition entry form closes the day before the contest date)

Once we've got some photos I'll post them all in a member only gallery so everyone can see what was submitted.

If you have any other ideas on how to do this, or any other suggestions for the web site please let me know.  You can comment on this post or use the contact us form to send an email to Joel and I.  OK, enough jabber, here's the detail:

Photo Details:

Photos should be 998 pixels wide, and 175 pixels tall.  The words Eastern Maine Camera Club will be horizontally centered on the image and right justified.  Images should account for that by having clean space on the left half of the image.  Look at Mary's fence image at the top of the page for an example. 

To enter a photo in the contest follow these steps:

1. Log in to the website (contest is open to members only).
2. Navigate to the Competition Entry Form (click here to go there now).
3. In the Competition Date dropdown list select "7/1/2011 6:30 PM" (circled in the image below).
4. In the Format dropdown list select "Digital Projection" (circled in the image below).
5. Use the browse button to locate your image on your computer (circled in the image below).
6. Click Submit to complete the process.  Repeat to enter a second photo.  Two is the maximum number of entries per member.

While you're there you might want to sign up for Don's Somewhat Weekly news letter, shown with the arrow pointing to it in the picture below. Just check the b    ox, enter your email address and hit the Subscribe button.

The programs scheduled for Thursday March 31, and Thursday April 7 have been
switched. So please check your schedule and try to attend both sessions they
will be well worth your while.

Since we have 5 Thursdays in March we have an extra meeting scheduled. The
extra meeting on March 31 was to have been a viewing of the digital circuit
photos and commentary. This topic has been moved to the April 7th night.

This coming Thursday on March 31, we have Arthur Vaughan coming from Mass.
to give us a presentation on Macro Photography with a twist in the use of
creative lighting. Here is what Art says about his presentation:

"My presentation describes a process for shooting macro photographs using
lighting provided only by the standard "pop-up" flash found on many cameras.
Using the simple home-made bounce-flash and support bracket shown in the
program, you can produce amazing macro images having true "studio" quality
lighting, for a fraction of the cost of a system utilizing multiple flashes,
ring lights, or expensive factory made support brackets. The techniques
demonstrated work perfectly whether you use a conventional macro lens, or a
variety of close-up lenses, extension tubes, or stacked add-on lenses. The
set-up described provides maximum portability for hunting down and following
small insects and spiders who aren't going to sit still for photographers
using cumbersome tripods.The system also works beautifully with inanimate
objects and botanical subjects."

Art is the Print Competition Director for NECCC and does a great job in
presenting his material. You don't want to miss this presentation.

Then on April 7 our regular presentation night we will be looking at the
images and the review/commentary from the NECCC digital circuit. This is a
great learning opportunity as we view, discuss, and listen to professionals
critique the images.

 See you there!

Chuck Rohn, President

 Congratulations to Steve Foster our winner of the NECCC Conference sponsorship. Steve’s name was drawn at random from the list of members requesting consideration. I have submitted his name to NECCC and they will be sending him a special sign up form. Each year the club is allowed to choose one member that has never attended the conference and that member receives the conference enrollment at no charge. Steve will still be responsible for transportation and the room and board fees for the conference weekend but the registration is paid in full. Generally between 5 and 10 club members attend this conference every year and we often car pool as much as possible which helps keep the cost down. This conference a fantastic value, everyone that has attended will attest that it is a great time, with lots of learning opportunities, and a chance to experiment and hone your skills. For more information see the NECCC website http://www.neccc.org.

We are still accepting applications for the Frank Howd Scholarship. Please talk to your friends, teachers, and others in your circle of influence and help us find the best candidate we can for this scholarship. It is hard to get the word spread and we don’t want to spend any of the money advertising, it is better spent as part of direct award to a student of photography. For more information see my last blog “School Enrollment Opportunities”  or our page on the scholarship at http://www.easternmainecameraclub.org/frank-h-howd-scholarship.aspx.

On another note are you ready for this coming weeks competition. The category is “Pets.” Please don’t wait till the last minute to use the competition page to get your entry numbers, upload your digital image submissions, and prepare your prints. We are scheduled to hold a training session on judging starting at 6:00 PM a half hour before our regular meeting starts. Come learn the concepts behind how we score the images, or come and refresh your knowledge of this way to view images.

Also take a moment to watch the opening slide show of our website. The images are all new and they are really really good. You will enjoy taking a few extra minutes to watch the whole sequence.

Hope to see you Thursday

Chuck Rohn - President

Frank H. Howd Scholarship $1,500 towards a week at Maine Media Workshops

NECCC Convention Sponsorship for a High School Student

NECCC Convention Sponsorship for a Club Member

We are very pleased to have three educational opportunities available for us to give away.

The first is the Frank H. Howd Scholarship which is money we raise through fund raisers to  help promote and educate budding young photographers. This scholarship program was started a few years ago in memory of a member that helped shape the club into the vibrant organization that it has become. It began with seed money that came to us in his memory from Frank's family and friends. We are working hard to preserve that memory by continuing to raise money and periodically give out this scholarship.

First the particulars, then some more background on the program. Application notices went out to area high school art teachers this week, we also issued press releases to the local newspapers.

One time award of $1,500 will be granted for a course at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport Maine.

Open to greater Bangor area high school students, recent high school graduates, and home schooled students who are in this age range.

Application required and must be postmarked by May 1, 2011. Here is the link to the application. http://easternmainecameraclub.org/frank-h-howd-scholarship.aspx

This amount doesn’t always go very far toward formal education programs even though it is a tough job for us to raise this much for our small group. In the hopes of supporting not only a Maine Student but also a small but world renowned school right here in Maine we specify the award is to be paid to the school on the students behalf. Most of the Maine Media Workshop’s classes are 1 week long and this scholarship would cover most of the expense for the week including the course fees, and on campus room and board for the week. Here is a link to the schools website and course listings. http://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/

The second is the NECCC Convention Sponsorship for a High School Student. The NECCC convention is held every summer at UMASS – Amherst, Ma. This is the largest convention of its type in the United States, and this is its 65^thyear. This three day (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) convention is a fantastic opportunity to learn, experiment, and immerse yourself in world of photography. Some of the top photographers, photo journalists, and photo educators of the world participate in over 100 workshop sessions throughout the weekend. Only 6 sponsorships are available. Sponsorship includes:

Resistration

Room and board

Chaperons

Does not include transportation to and from Amherst but arrangements can be made to ride with a club member that is going.

Contact Chuck Rohn through my cell phone 949-0757 or email president@easternmainecameraclub.org

Third, is a NECCC Convention Sponsorship for an existing club member that has never attended the convention before. This sponsorship only includes the registration fees and does not include transportation or room and board. Contact Chuck Rohn through my cell phone 949-0757 or email president@easternmainecameraclub.org if your are interested in being considered for this years convention sponsorship.

Thanks for listening. Chuck Rohn - President