CAPS- Chicago Area Photographic School sponsored by CACCA-Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association

Raptor Photography Hands On Workshop sponsored by Helix Camera & Video

This year at CAPS we are excited to be able to have a couple of photo workshops that you can participate in.  There is a macro shoot, a frogs and amphibians shoot and one of them is a raptor shoot.

For the raptor shoot the birds are from Wings and Talons of Itasca, IL who will be handling the birds.

Helix Camera & Video located at 100 N. Walnut Street in Itasca, IL is sponsoring this event.

The birds will be set up outside with some nice trees for a great background.  Some of the birds you may be able to photograph include: Red Tailed Hawk, Western Screech Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Great Horned Owl, American Kestrel.

This workshop will be on Sunday, November 24^th.  There is a $35 fee to photograph these beautiful birds.  You can register online for the workshop when you register for CAPS.  If there should be a couple openings on the day of the event, you could possibly ask at the registration desk when you check in for CAPS and sign up. You will then be given a special arm band to allow you into the workshop.

To see the CAPS website go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019

4 Easy Tips That Will Immediately Improve Your Images

Join Todd and Lou Nettelhorst for a lunch presentation which will introduce you to their signature learning model:  Inform. Practice. Feedback.  Bring your lunch and learn four easy tips that will immediately improve your images. Then learn about how a camera club clinic with Nettelhorst Images could boost the participation and involvement of your club members.  These unique individualized clinics are tailored to your club and may include a presentation at a meeting followed by shooting practice with coaching by Lou and Todd.  Following the presentation and shoot, the participant’s images will be reviewed at a separate feedback session. This session can be done at a club meeting with all members present or during an online interactive feedback session.  Don’t miss this informative lunch session!

About the Speakers…

LOU NETTELHORST

Lou Nettelhorst is first and foremost a photography teacher. He is also an award-winning photographer and stunning image-maker. He is a man on a mission – a mission to make photographing fun, creative and rewarding for others through his unique teaching style. The hallmark of Lou’s style is his eagerness to share his professional experience and techniques, while always providing encouragement, constructive feedback, and (often groan-inducing) humor. Lou has taught thousands of aspiring photographers. He literally gets goose-bumps when he sees the amazing images made by his students and counts their successes as his most treasured reward. One of his students recently commented, “You can be a great photographer, but not know how to teach. Lou is a phenomenal teacher and an amazing photographer!” A student of noted photographers Freeman Patterson, Sam Abel and Bob Sisson, Lou’s images have been published in Nature’s Best Photography, Outdoor Photographer, North American Nature Photography Association’s (NANPA) Member Showcase and Chicago Wilderness Magazine, as well as many newsletters. In 2010, he received the Kohout Outstanding Nature Photographer’s Award from the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association (CACCA). In 2019, Lou received the prestigious NANPA Fellow award for his significant contributions to the nature photography profession over twenty plus years.

Todd Nettelhorst

Todd Nettelhorst has had a passion for photography and videography much of his life. He started photographing at a very young age when his father gave him his first SLR camera. His appreciation of photography grew while photographing throughout the country during the family’s summer road trips. After starting a family with his beautiful wife Tambi, his photography gained notoriety as he began shooting for families and for a variety of commercial clients. From there, his creativity for capturing life evolved and still does today.  As he continues to engage in commercial work with new and established clients, Todd enjoys bringing his charismatic energy, unique photographic perspective and deep passion for the visual arts to others by helping them explore and develop the best of their creative abilities through education.

Lou and Todd will be giving their presentation at CAPS-Chicago Area Photographic School during the lunch periods on Saturday and Sunday, November 23rd and 24th.  You do not need to register for this presentation in order to attend it.

To see the CAPS website go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019

Michael Kobe will be sharing his photography skills at a table top workshop where he will show participants the close-up skills that he has mastered. Bring your camera and a tripod and Michael will provide a large variety of materials to photograph including: flowers, shells, fossils, seeds, plants, and a host of many interesting objects that should surely convey interest in your photographs. Come away with some pictures like these:

Michael Kobe is a retired Biologist. After teaching for forty-four years, he decided to pursue his interest in the out-of-doors through photography. He has mastered the skills of nature photography and shares them through extensive workshops, seminars, and field trips with others.  His photographs have been utilized extensively in Indiana Dunes National Park publications. He is recognized for his nature photography especially in his skills of capturing images of insects, flowers, and birds.  He has won many awards with his photographs and was honored by the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association with the prestigious Kohout Nature Award in 2009 and the Grace DeWolf Nature Photography Award in 2011. Michael also received the William J. Cody Award from CACCA in 2013 for outstanding organizations, teaching classes, and writing articles.

You can participate in this macro photography workshop at CAPS-Chicago Area Photographic School on Sunday, November 24th.

To see the CAPS website go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019

Still Photography Using a Drone

Drone photography is a new method of making images for me that has opened up a new way of seeing and imagining the world that I explore.  Like any new photographic tool, this new perspective of viewing the land is full of promise but demands fresh thinking and a new visualization of the entire concept of the landscape image.  There are new choices between the recognizable and the unknown.  The ambiguity of scale readily available in this new mode is especially exciting as suddenly the line between the literal and the abstract now can be even more blurred.  The shape and details of the land can look remarkably similar from close to the ground to high above it and the land can be distilled into line, shape and form without a sense of scale in a way that was never before possible and I find that to be very appealing.  The image now depends on a sense of strong graphic design and the familiar clues of size and scale can be eliminated if so desired.  Some may find that lack of easy interpretation difficult to accept as it demands closer attention and a deeper involvement of the viewer with the image but I consider this a positive.

We will discuss the following subjects:  

 

Drone Etiquette

Types of drones for photography

What is needed to begin

Rules, regulations and licensing:  where you live can make a big difference

Difficulty of flying a drone and the learning curve

Pros and Cons of Drone photography

Daniel Anderson is a Door County Wisconsin photographer living in Ellison Bay.  He has photographed widely throughout the United States and Europe.  He is the founder of the Door County Creative Photography Workshops, teaching fine art digital print making.  He teaches additional workshops at the Clearing and at the Peninsula School of Art.  He also leads photographic tours to many exciting locations in many parts of the world.

He began his photographic career after studying with Ansel Adams by making finely crafted black and white prints with an 8 x 10 view camera.  He has evolved into digital printing using the latest high-end digital equipment and technologies and now is able to produce both color and black and white prints to even higher standards than were possible in the film era. His latest venture is drone photography.

You can check out his work at:  http://www.danielandersonphotography.com/ 

Daniel Anderson will be presenting "Still Photography Using a Drone" at CAPS-Chicago Area Photographic School on Sunday, November 24th.

To see the CAPS website go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019

"Photographing the Great World Hikes" with Matt Sparapani and Alison Newberry

Hiking and photography are rewarding activities in their own right but combining the two can be challenging. Capturing high quality images in varying terrain and quickly changing conditions requires sound knowledge and careful preparation, especially when gear choices are limited. In this program, we will share best practices and tips for hiking photography that we have honed while hiking and documenting our experiences on many of the world’s most beautiful trails. 

In this program, you will learn:

• Optimal camera and photography gear for hiking and backpacking
• Useful apps for both photographers and hikers
• Simple photography techniques and tips to enhance your images out on the trail, no matter what kind of camera you use
• Pros and cons of different styles of hiking: guided cultural experiences, hut to hut trekking and wilderness backpacking
• Where, when and how to hike some of the Classic Hikes of the World

The purpose of this presentation is to inspire hikers to become better nature photographers and nature photographers to hit the trail. Whether choosing a guided cultural experience, a hut to hut trek, a wilderness backpacking adventure, or even a day hike, this presentation is designed to help you engage with nature more deeply and be more successful in documenting your adventures. No matter what kind of hiker you are, we encourage you to follow your passion and use your photography to capture the joy of being on the trail. 

Instructor Bio
Over the past decade, Matt and Alison have been on a mission to trek the Classic Hikes of the World. Their quest has taken them to six different continents and allowed them to photograph fascinating mountain cultures and stunning alpine scenery in places such as Kyrgyzstan, Peru and Iceland. With hundreds of miles under their boots, they have walked on some of the most beautiful trails on the planet. Matt and Alison recently published a book entitled Hiking Photography (Sandiburg Press). 

To see the CAPS home page go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php 

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019

"The Art of Flower Photography from Start to Finish" by Sheri Sparks

When photographing flowers, where do you begin?  You could be driving down the road and see a field of bright flowers, but taking a shot of the entire field of flowers may not be the best shot.

Most of the time you need to get closer and take a look at what interesting compositions you can find.  I wanted to take a shot of sharp sunflowers in the foreground that just faded off into a sea of color.  This is a grouping I found where one sunflower was a bit closer to me and the others stood farther off. I shot at f6.3, the lowest I could go with the zoom lens I had with me and focused on that one flower in the front right.  It was an overcast day and so I didn't have to worry about the sun washing out the colors of the flowers or harsh shadows.  However, it did leave the flowers a little dull

dull.  I also had some distractions in the lower part of the photo.  Enhancing your photo is the other part of photography.  Taking the photo is just the beginning.  You can get some nice shots, but you may want to tweak your picture with some photo editing software.  When I opened the photo in Photoshop Elements, I did a little tweaking with camera raw to add a little contrast and vibrance.  Then I cropped the bottom of the photo, cloned out the distracting dark plant and a little of the lower sunflower that was left and cloned in some petals on the sunflower on the left to get rid of the distracting leaves in front of it.  If I had gotten out my tripod, it would have slowed me down to take a little better look at what I was photographing.  Instead these were taken hand held.  So, next I darkened in between and around the flower I wanted to emphasize with the burn tool.  I then made a selection of the flower on the right and lightened it with the dodge tool and then sharpened just that flower.

That wasn't the only picture I took that day.  I looked around and found many different angles.  One thing I always say is to move in closer.  And if you are working in someone else's space, you may not be able to physically move in closer, but you will have to zoom in closer with a telephoto lens.









And don't stop, but move in closer yet.

You need to keep looking around and see how many things you can see.  With some practice your vision will expand and you will be looking at flowers like you never have before.

But you really wanted a picture of the whole sunflower field.  OK, here is one, but I had to come back on another day in the early morning when the lighting in the sky was nicer and I had to look for an interesting composition.  And you may have to do that to.  Get what you can on one day and come back on another day to get something different.

Want to learn more?  Sheri will be presenting "The Art of Flower Photography from Start to Finish" at CAPS on Saturday, November 23rd.

Sheri enjoys photographing the world around her, especially nature.  She has been active in CACCA- the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association and several of the local clubs including Riverwoods Nature Photographic Society, Lake County Camera Club and North Shore Camera Club and is the newly elected president of the Chicago Chapter of PSA - Photographic Society of America.  Sheri has won numerous awards for her photography including the Kohout Nature Photography Award for excellence in nature photography and teaching about nature and nature photography.  She has sold a number of her pictures to the local hospitals and doctors' offices near her.  Sheri has given many programs to camera clubs and garden groups and is happy to be sharing this year at CAPS.

You can see her pictures on flickr:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheriks/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sheris1/

To see the CAPS home page go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php 

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019 

"Creative Vision, Fine Art Photography, and the Post-Processing Playground" by Joanne Barsanti

For me, the click of the shutter is just the starting point of an artistic adventure. The camera is only one of many tools in my arsenal; which includes a variety of software programs, a collection of good and bad photos that I have created in the last ten or so years, and a growing assortment of paper and fabrics to hold the final images.

(an Egret seen three different ways)

The most important tools, however, are those that money cannot buy: imagination, creativity, and a sense of play. It’s all about experimentation, losing your fear of failure, and a desire to come up with something unique that you are proud to share with the world.

Keeping in mind that cameras are imperfect devices, and the post-processing world has come a long way from the days of film and the dark room....

Two ordinary shots.....

Combined to make something interesting and beautiful....

I invite you to come with me to the playground, let your imagination run free, and learn some new techniques for having fun with your photography. I will guide you using examples of my own original images, and show how they are transformed into works of fine art. I will share what I have learned about both digital and physical textures, and how the selection of output media can enhance your work.  

Joanne Barsanti has been a member of Chicago area Camera Clubs, Photography Groups, and Artists Guilds since 2010. She has learned and grown; benefiting greatly from these groups, their members, outings, presentations, and other opportunities. As a former Geek who is an artist at heart, it should come as no surprise that she likes to play with her images on the computer.

You can learn more by checking out her website ​https://www.joannebarsanti.com​,

following her on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/joannebarsanti/,

or liking her artist page on facebook ttps://www.facebook.com/JoanneBarsanti.Artist/

Joanne Barsanti will be presenting "Creative Vision:  Fine Art and the Post Processing Playground" at CAPS on Sunday, November 24th.

To see the CAPS website go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019 

"Why Photograph Birds?" by Emma England

My love of birds started at a very young age when my parents bought me an illustrated field guide. This passion for birding and later bird conservation led me to bird photography.  

My “spark bird” (a bird that sparks your interest) for bird photography was a Great Gray Owl. A close encounter with this magnificent bird started my obsession with owls and led me to the decision to make bird photography my specialty within nature photography. 

In my program I will share my knowledge of how to find and photograph owls in the wild and give you tips to capture images of these elusive birds. 

There are many reasons to try your hand at bird photography. It is challenging, you will get a fascinating insight into bird behavior, and if like me, you combine your photography with volunteering for a bird conservation organization you will be helping to protect species in need. 

A distraction-free background is important in all genres of photography and can be particularly challenging in bird photography in the field when you are dealing with branches and foliage which is reflective. My program will give tips on how to achieve clean backgrounds in your bird images. 

During my presentation I will be reviewing what is in my camera bag and different locations for bird photography including information on the habitat preference of bird species. The best place to start is in your own backyard. You can attract birds by feeding them and careful placement of feeders can lead to natural-looking award winning images. 

Zoos and nature centers are also excellent places to try bird photography that are less challenging than birds out in the field. For raptors Stillman Nature Center in Barrington and Springbrook Nature Center in Itasca are both great. They have raptor shoots where the birds are posed outside for photographers. 

Milwaukee and Brookfield Zoo have really good aviaries with free flight areas where you can get good images without the difficulty of shooting through glass or fences. 

There are many stunning birds in North America that make terrific subjects, but traveling to more exotic locations can add to the challenge and will mean that you are rewarded with a wide variety of spectacularly beautiful birds in a rainforest environment.

My birding trips to Ecuador and Costa Rica were a dream come true for a birdaholic like myself. In my presentation I will share tips about birding on vacation and recommendations on birding tour companies. 

At the end of my program you will be eager to take on the challenge of bird photography in the field, but be warned, birding and bird photography can be addictive! I am always chasing that next bird for my life list and have target birds of which I aim to capture great images. Attend my presentation and learn that there is no need to wing it!

Emma has always loved nature, but her passion for photography developed much more recently.   She is an avid birdwatcher and the prospect of being able to photograph so many new species of birds is very exciting to her.   She is one of LCFPD volunteer photographers providing them with nature photographs taken in the Forest Preserves and a LCFPD Education Volunteer that leads bird and nature walks.  She is president of the Lake County Audubon Society (LCAS).  She is also Vice President of the North Shore Camera Club and is active in Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association (CACCA).  She received the Kohout Nature Photography Award in 2018 for teaching nature photography and her promotion of nature and conservation efforts.

These conservation activities have led her to some fantastic opportunities to develop her photography skills.  She also specializes in zoo photography, capturing portraits of endangered species to highlight the importance of their conservation.  Emma would like her images to convey her passion for nature and hope that they inspire people to appreciate the beauty of the planet on which we live.

You can check out her work at:  https://www.emmaenglandnaturephoto.com/

Emma England will be teaching, “Bird Photography, No Need to Wing It” at CAPS on Saturday November 23^rd.

To see the CAPS home page go to:  

https://www.caccaphoto.org/caps/caps_home.php

To register for CAPS go to:  https://cacca.regfox.com/caps-2019