Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be at the Pin & Cue Bowling Alley in Whitefish, MT. at 6:30PM Thursday, March 13th.
Minutes from February
Everyone's favorite photographers Becca Rapelje, Dee Blank and Jane Timmerman made outstanding contributions to our Feb. meeting with some really nice flowers, shots from Canyonland and excellent bird pictures.
Larry Stolte stayed closer to home and shot some Pheasants along with some real nice West Valley shots.
Rossella, who never lets wading around in the snow stop her from finding nice pictures did some nice fence and snow pictures.
Steve Mitchell is another club member who always does nice work and did not let us down. He shot Antelope and the old barn near Procter.
Digital
The raw digital guys had a very interesting and productive meeting on the 3rd Thursday. It was well attended and everyone learned something new. For some it was all new and the smart kids were kind enough to share with the rest of us.
Other News
hi ed,
would you please put this item in the newsletter. "the conservation group headwaters montana is holding a photo contest on thursday april 10, 2008 at the o'shaughnessy center in whitefish. prizes of $100, $75 and $50 will be awarded the top 3 photos. all submitted photos will be auctioned off by silent auction with the proceeds going to headwaters montana. the photographer can deduct the amount the photo sells for as a tax free contribution to the organization. there will also be a photo show in the auditorium of works submitted by 12 photographers. each photographer will be submitting one photograph for a live auction. food and refreshments will be for sale. the doors open at 6:00 with the program starting at 7:00 pm." thanking you in advance.
i forgot to include that the entry deadline is march 31 and for information to contact me at 857-2599 or by email at mspence59922@bresnan.net.
mike
Mike Spence
P.O. Box 239
Lakeside, MT 59922
(406)857-2599
To whom it may concern,
My name is David Walburn. I am working with Glacier Park Inc. and we are looking for staff photographers to work at Lake McDonald Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel for the summer season. There are four positions left. If you know of anyone who might be interested, they can e-mail or call me for more information.
Thanks,
David Walburn
cabinsouth@centurytel.net
406-862-0037
Cell 250-9415
Should You Capture Digital Photos In Raw or JPEG?
By Steve Bohne, Master Craftsman Photographer www.bohne.com
There is so much misinformation about RAW and JPG that even many professional photographers and graphics designers are confused. I won't name names, but there are several so-called "experts" who spout misinformation on the web and at seminars, and they are sponsored by brand name companies.
I'm a full time professional photographer. I work with JPG files every day. I never shoot Raw for my day-to-day work. That does not mean everyone should work just like me, but you should know some facts and forget the fiction.
1) If you're working with images that are vitally critical, shoot RAW: any major exposure or color correction is easier to make.
2) No, Raw files will not be sharper than the JPG files, and anyone who says they will doesn't know what they're talking about.
3) The secret to using JPG files is: Set a proper White Balance, make a proper exposure.
Read your camera's manual to do this - it's not very involved on most of today's cameras.
If you are using Auto White Balance (AWB), you may find your color is not consistent from one file to the next, so set a custom white balance.
Once you set a custom white balance for your studio work, you will not have to change it when working in the studio. Most cameras today permit you to have 2 or 3 custom white balances. Outdoors (or even in the studio) a product called the ExpoDisc can make this an easy process.
If you include a gray/white/black card in the first scene, you can set your color balance and density in Photoshop on the first image, then apply that curve to each following image. Much faster than RAW.
4) If you photograph in JPG, the file does not degrade with each subsequent opening of the file. If you:
A. open a JPG
B. save it with a new name
C. work on it
Your original has not been degraded, and there is nearly no change to the overall pixel quality of the new file. Remember that working on any digital file is basically discarding data. You can't add data - no way, no how! You can only alter or discard it.
5) Your files will be sharp if printed in JPG - in fact, if you send files to a lab via FTP, most insist on JPG. I belong to a group of photographers who, back in the pioneer days of digital, took the same image in Raw and JPG. They made a 30x40 from each file, and had the lab keep a note of which was which (they mounted them on different substrates). Not one professional photographer - including several who owned labs - could tell the difference!
In my own situation, I sent a 24x30 family photo to a lab for printing. They made a display print and put it on display in their lobby. Everyone, including the lab owner, thought it was film. It was a JPG from a Fuji S2 - the owner thought I had scanned the film and sent him a TIFF on CD!
6) Here's a biggie: you do not have to photograph on the least compressed setting when you photograph JPG to get the best image quality! I normally photograph weddings and portraits of groups of 3 or less in medium JPG on my Canon 20D. You will not be able to tell the difference - regardless of how large you print - between the "high" and "medium" settings!
Why? Because you are still taking all the information from the sensor and it is being oversampled. I did not realize this until I spoke to my friend, Claude Jodoin. Claude is a technical editor and contributor to several professional digital imaging magazines, as well as an equipment tester/reviewer. He told me to try it on a wedding with 2 cameras. So I took (back then) 2 Canon 10D, and shot the altar groups twice: once with a camera set at High JPG and the other set at Medium JPG. I then returned to my studio and made a file 16x20 @ 268 dpi. I printed an 11x14 section of this image on my Fuji 4000 printer. The two prints were indistinguishable!
Does this mean you should never photograph in Raw mode? NO! Some cameras don't even have JPG mode (such as the Sigma SD9 and SD10). Others have a color bias in JPG mode: the Canon 1Ds Mark II and 1D Mark II being examples. If I photograph with my 1D Mark II in JPG mode, the file is noticeably saturated in the reds. I can correct it in Photoshop, but I would avoid this if I photographed in Raw. So maybe even I will end up photographing in Raw some of the time!
I hope this has cleared up some of the confusion and myths that are still rampant.
Steve Bohne has been a full time professional photographer for over 30 years. He holds both the Masters Degree and the Craftsman Degree from the Professional Photographers of America, and is a member of the American Society of Photographers. He is a recipient of the Art Leather/Brides magazine "Wedding Photographer of the Year" Award. He lives and works in Michigan, photographing with Canon and Fuji digital cameras. His studio does portraits, weddings, and commercial images. An album of his photographs resides in permanent display at the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
From Jane Timmerman
Web Site
How many of you have looked at the: www.glaciercameraclub.com
Web site lately.
There are some really nice portfolios on it. Take some time and really look it over. I know you will enjoy it immensely.
Send me news
If you have news items or stuff to sell, email me the stories. I try to get them in the newsletter.
Buffalo Hills Terrace
Larry Stolte has found a home. He is doing a really great job at Buffalo Hills. We need your help for April and on into next year. Please volunteer now.
Classifieds
Ed,
Here is the ad I would like in the newsletter.
For sale: Dry mounting press. Seal Masterpiece 300. Press surface 26"x32". Very good condition. Includes 32"x50' roll Fotofloat mounting tissue. Price; $400.00, or reasonable offer. Telephone: 406-888-5634. Mail: Box 202, West Glacier, MT 59936.
Thank you for your quick reply.
Jim Jokerst
Larry Stolte March
The 344 Gallery
John Kyle has some wonderful panoramic photography hanging at the Gallery. Please stop in soon for a look.
The Gallery schedule:
Please get in touch with me if you want a show at the gallery. Everybody in our club has nice photography to show and this is a fun way to show the world. April, May, and June are the next available months. We like to hang the shows for three months. If April is too soon then you tell me what months you want and I can change the schedule. Depending on the size of prints you have, you need between ten to twenty mounted, not frame prints. They can be framed if you want, but it's not mandatory.
PROGRAMS
Pady Dusing April 2008
Greg Thigpen June
Bruce Ruby August
