We had the opportunity to have Jesse Thompson of Milford Photo for a return engagement on April 15th this year to talk about Portrait Lighting. We took him up on the offer. There's a rumor that this may be a workshop with a live model. More info on that as it comes to me.
This will replace the Painting with Light talk/workshop originally scheduled for this date.
Please make this change on your schedule.

I want you all to be aware that CCC gets a complimentary registration to the annual New England Camera Club Council conference each year. We may choose one CCC member who has never attended the conference to get free registration. This year the conference will be held July 17-19. It is always at UMass in Amherst. The latest details can be found here http://www.neccc.org/p/2015-conf.html
This is the 70th anniversary of the conference. Highlights include speakers Tony Sweet and Lindsey Adler. 
All eligible CCC members who would like to be considered for the free registration (worth $187) should contact me. A name will be drawn at random from the pool of interested members. I would like to do this before March so please submit your name ASAP. 
Registration does not include your room and board. Two nights in an AC suite (4 private bedrooms/suite) and meals (dinner Fri., 3 meals Sat. and breakfast and lunch Sun.) typically runs about the same cost as registration.
The 2015 conference is not fully put together yet but you can get an idea of what it may include if you look at the posting for the 2014 conference on the NECCC web site (There's a tab at the top).
The conference is well worth your time. 

Thanks to all the members who braved the cold last night for the Hi-Jinx meeting. It was a great opportunity to interact with other members and help each other. I think everyone had a good time and maybe even learned something. We'll be asking for a few of your best shots to show at a future meeting. Special thanks go to those who created the set-ups and especially to Archie for his well written "lesson plans" on exposure and ISO. Also thanks to Jesse Thompson from Milford Photo http://milfordphoto.com/website/publish/home/homeList.php  for the loan of some very nice professional lights. 
And thanks to those who stayed to help us break down the set-ups and load them back in our cars.

These hands-on type meetings are quite a bit of work to put on. If you want more of this type meeting please volunteer to do some of the work. 
The same kinds of interactions can happen at meet ups if we get enough people involved.
Those who may still be struggling with camera settings can get some one-on-one help when Archie (and others) offers Camera Basics workshops in the Spring.

Observations and tips:
1. I am guilty of this as much as anyone. I tend to use my zoom out to its fullest focal length. If you look at the lens test data for virtually any zoom lens you will see that image quality drops sharply at maximum focal length. It's something to keep in mind. If you can, get closer to the subject rather than zoom to full length.

2. If you paid attention to the set ups you saw that most were put together from non-professional equipment like clamp-on work lights and sheets or tablecloths or poster board backgrounds, cardboard stands for school presentations, a tripod as a light support and even a music stand for a light support. So you can put together these type of set-ups at home. Consider doing your own set up this winter when it's just too cold to get out and shoot. Also, window light is wonderful to use instead of artificial. You might need to soften it with a sheer curtain. Don't forget to try some type of reflector; foil covered cardboard, a shiny pot lid, a pie pan, white poster board or a purchased reflector (small ones are about $10 I think).

3. When working with black backgrounds you would be wise to set up your scene with the background as far as possible from your subject and at an angle where the light doesn't shine on it. You'll get far better deep blacks. 

4. Likewise, when working with a white background, besides light on your subject, you should try to have a strong light hitting the background to blow it out. And the further away the background is, the less likely you'll see any wrinkles or textures if you use only a small enough aperture to keep the subject sharp throughout.

5. Besides using your manual and the help of fellow members, there are books devoted to all the different camera models. They generally go into much more depth on all the functions and features and settings available on your model. If your camera manual leaves you still puzzled, consider getting one of these.

Our first competition night for the new year is January 21st. I thought I’d share with you how I make choices to submit.

With over 10,000 image files from 2014 alone (doesn’t count hundreds that were discarded! More need to GO!), I couldn’t possibly go through them all in the next 2 weeks. The decision process begins back when I upload files to my computer. As I edit and cull the bad ones I also mark the ones I like. I concentrate on these first; I edit them and I give them a rating. One of the best features of Adobe Lightroom, is the ease of assigning a rating. You can set it up any way you like; 1-5 stars, one of five colors, or simply flag it. A good rating doesn’t necessarily make it a competition worthy image. It just means I like the shot and think it might have potential. So over the year or so, I have quite a number of “good” images (roughly 2%). I’ve set up a Smart Collection in Lightroom that automatically compiles all the “good” images into a virtual folder. When competition time comes around I go to that folder to look for some to submit. I run through them looking for impact: clear subjects on uncluttered backgrounds, eye-catching color, unique subjects, eye-catching compositions or points of view. Now I look more closely. How’s the focus? How’s the histogram look? What might the judges pick on? Does it make a statement; is there an emotion conveyed; will it draw the viewer’s attention? Because they were taken maybe several months ago, I’m more emotionally distant from them now and can view them with fresh, critical eyes. I decide on a few. I come back another day to look again. With trepidation I make final decisions. Sometimes the judges agree and sometimes they don’t.

Another factor to consider is whether an image will be better as a print or projected. Will a print be good for club exhibits, fitting one of the categories? I try to imagine it blown up on the screen. Will that enhance the impact or emphasize minor flaws? Does it have general interest as fine art? I use these criteria to decide what to print and what to submit for digital projection.