Next meeting will be Thursday, May 19^th, 7 pm, at First Lutheran Church of San Marcos, 130 West Holland Street in San Marcos.

On the agenda

• Welcome
• Member News Share and Discussion
• Upcoming Exhibits and Field Trips
• Program
• Photo Share

Program

“Before-and-After” photos. Here is your chance to share and discuss your photo editing techniques with other photographers. This is a popular program because we all learn and interact with each other. Jerry can even set you up in Lightroom and PhotoShop to demonstrate your process. Send in two sets of before-and-after photos to photos@jerrysargent.com by the end of Monday, May 16th. In other words, a total of four photos. For example, name them as follows:

1Linda_Avitt_Before
2Linda_Avitt-After
3Linda_Avitt-Before
4Linda_Avitt-After

Photo Share

You may send up to two images to share with the group.  (You can send in any photos taken with any camera.  It doesn’t have to be the monthly theme.)  Tom Delaney has given us the following photo theme.

May theme: Fauna. If you look up the definition, fauna doesn’t just mean all animal life, but it refers to all the life in a particular region. So this month’s topic is our local Hill Country fauna, not photos from your exotic travels.

For the Photo Share, send one or two images to photos@jerrysargent.com by the end of Monday, May 16^th, and put May Photo Share – Fauna in the Subject line.

To prepare your images, we no longer have to resize our photos! Save them with the color space sRGB, and name them 1FirstName_LastName and 2FirstName_LastName.  For example, 1Linda_Avitt.

Calls for Entry

“Electric Easel” Round Rock Arts at the Downtowner
Individuals
Exhibit 9/14 – 11/11
(Art forms created with digital tools, technology, or innovative non-traditional art materials.)

Structures of the World: Works on Paper
The call for entry is now open for the TTU Office of International Affair’s summer exhibit – “Structures of the World: Works on Paper”. Eligible mediums include drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, and of course, photography. Full details can be found at Structures of the World. Thank you, Wes Odell, for sending us this Call for Entry!

Naturescapes
Full details can be found at Naturescapes 2022
Jeff Parker, Juror
Call for Entries: April 4th through June 27th
Notification of acceptance: July 25th
Dropoff: August 27th
Awards Reception: September 17th
Exhibit ends: October 28th
Pickup: October 29th

Club Companion Exhibit to Naturescapes
Our club always puts on a members-only companion exhibit to Naturescapes. If you’ve never entered a photo exhibit, this is a great opportunity to participate and learn what all is involved. At the April meeting we decided to have the theme be “Bridges”. You can interpret “Bridges” any way you want, but it cannot be a nature photo (so it can’t be mixed up with Naturescapes). Submit up to three images, and you’re guaranteed to have at least one accepted.

Field Trips

Pioneer Flight Museum, in Kingsbury
The Pioneer Flight Museum, is located at 190 Pershing Lane, Kingsbury, Texas. The Museum has a fly-in scheduled for May 7th. This will be a fantastic photo op.
This isn’t an “official” club field trip, but it’s a fun, interesting place to visit. I highly recommend making a trip out there.

San Antonio Botanical Gardens, Tuesday, May 3^rd. Alice Le Duc will lead us through these beautiful gardens. She has her Ph.D. in botany, is a wonderful teacher, and it will be a real treat to have her as a leader. Tripods are NOT allowed in the Gardens unless you apply for a photographer’s license, which is $150!
Admission is $15. Meet at the ticket office at 10 am. For more information, contact Alice at aliceleduc45@gmail.com

Hill Country Photo Club Table, Art Squared Market, San Marcos, Saturday, May 14^th. Come spend an hour or two at our table at Art Squared. We’ll be advertising our club and our May exhibit with the SM Art League. These kinds of events can be a lot of fun, so come on down!

For more info contact hcphotoclub@gmail.com. Please let us know if you’re able to table-sit for awhile.

Member News

Jerry Sargent has been interviewed by LVnTheLife. He’ll post a link to the video on our Facebook page as soon as it’s available. If you’d like to know more about LVnTheLife, here are a few links.

https://www.youtube.com/c/LVnthelife
https://www.instagram.com/lvnthelife/
https://www.tiktok.com/@lvnthelife?lang=en
https://www.lvnthelife.com/

Alice Le Duc has recently been honored in the Cornell Lab Bird Spotter Contest. Wild Birds Unlimited, sponsor of the contest, chose Alice’s photo from over 2,000 contest submissions, and it may be used in the 2023 Wild Birds Unlimited calendar. Congratulations, Alice!

Social Media

We have two Facebook Pages — Public and Members Only.  Since we don’t currently meet in person, the Members Only page is the best way for our club to stay in touch, interact, and share photos,  It’s an active page, and you can post your photos and ask for advice, feedback, or a critique. (If you’re a new member, you’ll need to request access to the group.)   

If you have any news or stories you’d like to have included in the newsletter, please send them to hcphotoclub@gmail.com.

Membership Dues

Reminders

Next meeting will be Thursday, March 17th, 7 pm, at First Lutheran Church of San Marcos, 130 West Holland Street in San Marcos.  (Masks are required at the church.)

On the agenda

• Welcome
• Member News Share and Discussion
• Upcoming Exhibits and Field Trips
• Program
• Photo Share

PROGRAM

Plum Creek Walkabout, presented by new-member Mike Davis.  Mike will show pictures of birds he’s encountered in his walks around the Plum Creek Lake/golf course and in his back yard.

Photo Share

You may send up to two images to share with the group.  (You can send in any photos taken with any camera.  It doesn’t have to be the monthly theme.)  Tom Delaney has given us the following photo theme.

March: Curves and snaky lines are often used in photos, so let’s see what we can do with the opposite. The theme is angular, crooked, jagged, zigzag.  Most often you’d find these lines in architecture, but also maybe a tree branch, or pavement, or a path.

For the Photo Share, send one or two images to photos@jerrysargent.com by the end of Monday, March 14th, and put March Critique – Angular, Crooked, Jagged, Zigzag in the Subject line.

To prepare your images, we no longer have to resize our photos! Save them with the color space sRGB, and name them 1FirstName_LastName and 2FirstName_LastName.  For example, 1Linda_Avitt.

CALLS FOR ENTRY

DeWitt County Shutterbugs Annual Open Contest, (Cuero, Texas)

Individuals

$5 per entry, no limit on entries

Ten Categories

Prizes

Entries being Accepted Feb 16 through March 23

ONLY 11 x 14 mounts with prints of various sizes, and with some unique requirements on presentations.

Entry rules attached to this email

“Electric Easel” Round Rock Arts at the Downtowner

Individuals

Entry Deadline:  August 10  (Call for Entry not yet out)

Exhibit 9/14 – 11/11

(Art forms created with digital tools, technology, or innovative non-traditional art materials.)

Georgetown Public Library for next year (2023)

Individuals and Groups

Call:  Open March 1 – May 15

Library.georgetown/art    (then look under:  “Exhibiting your work in the library”

Some question about HCPC having a tent and promoting HCPC membership.

Hill Country Spring Photo Show, San Marcos Art League

Open to members of Hill Country Photo Club

$10 entry fee

Open theme

Exhibit will be during the month of May

Call for Entries:  February 20th through March 28th (extended date)

This will be very similar to the photo show with the Art League last November.  Everyone who participated really enjoyed spending time at the Art Center and meeting all the “artsy” people.  Again, participants will all be expected to work as a docent at the Art Center, but the hours will be reduced.

Field Trips

Art Squared Market, on the square in San Marcos, Saturday, March 12th.  Here’s a chance to test your street skills!  This will be a fun and informal field trip/photo contest with the San Marcos Art League.  To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Art Squared Market, members of our club are invited to mingle and take photos at the market.  Then you can submit two of your best photos, and the Art League will choose the photo(s) that best capture the flavor of the market.  This will be very informal, and all entries will be used by the Art League for advertising, Facebook, etc.  The payoff will be recognition for your work.  Exact details for submitting photos TBA.  
For more info contact hcphotoclub@gmail.com

Llano Earth Art Fest, Grenwelge Park, Llano, March 11-13.  This isn’t an official Field Trip, but we talked about this at a meeting.  The Galloways showed some pictures taken there, and it looks really amazing.    Llano Rock Stacking Festival

Pioneer Flight Museum, in Kingsbury, Saturday, March 26th.  David Olson has put together a joint field trip with the Kissing Tree Photo Club at the Pioneer Flight Museum, located at 190 Pershing Lane, Kingsbury, Texas.  This will be on a Saturday, when volunteers will be there working on cars and planes.  We’ll be allowed to take pictures all around the place and of people working on the old planes and cars.  Most of the volunteers arrive around 9:00 am and will take a lunch in Luling.  The Kissing Tree group will arrive about 10:30.   
You also might be interested to note that the Museum has fly-ins scheduled for May and November.
For more info contact David Olson at photos@mtnolson.com

Hill Country Photo Club Table, Art Squared Market, San Marcos, Saturday, April 9th.  Come spend an hour or two (or three!) at our table at Art Squared.  We’ll be advertising our club and our May exhibit with the SM Art League.  These kinds of events can be a lot of fun, so come on down!  
For more info contact hcphotoclub@gmail.com

We have two Facebook Pages — Public and Members Only.  Since we don’t currently meet in person, the Members Only page is the best way for our club to stay in touch, interact, and share photos,  It’s an active page, and you can post your photos and ask for advice, feedback, or a critique. (If you’re a new member, you’ll need to request access to the group.)   

If you have any news or stories you’d like to have included in the newsletter, please send them to hcphotoclub@gmail.com.

Membership Dues

Reminders

Hello, everyone!

Just when it seemed like everything is getting back to “normal” — Omicron!  As of this writing, we still plan to have our regular January meeting, but we’ll keep a close watch on the latest statistics and regulations.

Next meeting will be Thursday, January 27th, 7 pm, at First Lutheran Church of San Marcos, 130 West Holland Street in San Marcos.  (Masks are required at the church.)

On the agenda:

• Welcome
• Member News Share and Discussion
• Club Officers for 2022
• Program
• Photo Share

PROGRAM:  The Oregon Coast, presented by Bill Galloway.

Photo Share:  You may send up to two images to share with the group.  (You can send in any photos you’d like.  It doesn’t have to be the monthly theme.)  Luckily, Tom Delaney has agreed to be in charge of the monthly photo themes.  As always, they promise to be challenging and thought-provoking. Here is what he says:

For the new year, I’m hoping to set monthly themes quarterly, so folks have a bit more time to contemplate the idea. So here are the themes for the next three months.

January:  It’s the birth of a new year, so the theme is beginnings, birth, dawnings.  Think the bud of a flower to be, the dawn of a new day, a new foal, fawn, or kitten starting life.

February:  I’ve been waking up to a lot of fog recently, so this month the theme is fog, smoke, steam, cloudy.  Can be actual fog, or steam from a hot water tap, or a thermal pool, or anything that obscures but not blocks out the scene.

March: Curves and snaky lines are often used in photos, so let’s see what we can do with the opposite. The theme is angular, crooked, jagged, zigzag.  Most often you’d find these lines in architecture, but also maybe a tree branch, or pavement, or a path.

For the Photo Share, send one or two images to  photos@jerrysargent.com by the end of Monday, January 24th, and put January Critique – beginnings, birth, dawnings in the Subject line.

To prepare your images, we no longer have to resize our photos!  Save them with the color space sRGB, and name them 1FirstName_LastName and 2FirstName_LastName.  For example, 1Linda_Avitt.

Jerry, our Technology Coordinator, says “any size is good, including raw files.  We can go big”!

CALLS FOR ENTRY:

Lois Schubert and Wes Odell have suggested the following Calls for Entry.

500px Global Photography Awards.  Entry cut-off for this is 1-13, so you’ll need to hurry!  Rules and info here.

2022 Dewitt Country Shutterbugs Photography Contest and Exhibition.  Accepting entries 2-16 through 3-23. Rules and info here.

Membership Dues

Reminders

Our monthly meetings are getting off to an excellent “semi-post-covid” start.  The new location is working well, and Jerry Sargent has volunteered to be our Meeting Technology Coordinator.  That means we can start having “real” programs and member photo shares.  Thank you, Jerry!

Next meeting will be Thursday, October 21st, 7 pm, at First Lutheran Church of San Marcos, 130 West Holland Street in San Marcos.  (As of this date, the church requires masks.)

On the agenda:
Welcome
Member News Share/Discussion
Naturescapes, Curves & Circles, HCPC Fall Photography Discussion

PROGRAM:  Atypical Wildflowers:  a collection of color mutations and morphs of Edwards’ Plateau wildflowers, presented by Neil Decker

Photo Share:  You may send up to two images to share with the group.  The theme is “Fall” — or whatever else you want to share!)

For the Photo Share, send one or two images to photos@jerrysargent.com by the end of Monday, October 18th and put October Critique – Fall  in the Subject line.

To prepare your images, resize the long side to 2000 pixels, resolution of 72 ppi, color space sRGB, and name them 1FirstName_LastName.jpg and 2FirstName_LastName.jpg.  For example, 1Linda_Avitt.jpg.

Membership Dues

Reminders

We hope you’ve had a chance to get out and enjoy our spring weather and all the spring photo opportunities!

As you know, the 17th Annual Naturescapes Photography Contest and Exhibition is open for business!  Entries are currently being accepted, so it’s time to start going through your favorite nature photos from the past year.  Changes from last year include the new SMGA award and Barbra Riley will be the juror.

Our members-only companion exhibit to Naturescapes is receiving entries through July 15th. The subject is Curves, Circles, Spirals, or Spheres.  You’re free to put whatever interpretation you want on that, but the subject of the photo has to beCurves, Circles, Spirals, or Spheres.  Within this theme, be sure the image does not look like it could be a part of the Naturescapes Exhibit.  In other words, no nature or landscape photos.  No entry fee.  

As you know, we have two Facebook Pages — Public and Members Only.  Since we don’t currently meet in person, the Members Only page is the best way for our club to stay in touch, interact, and share photos,  It’s an active page, and you can post your photos and ask for advice, feedback, or a critique. (If you’re a new member, you’ll need to request access to the group.)   The Facebook photo theme for the month of May is “Flight”!  Planes, birds, insects, kites, etc.

If you have any news or stories you’d like to have included in the newsletter, please send them to hcphotoclub@gmail.com.
You may renew your 2021 membership at Paypal using this link.  Dues are still only $12, and this year we will likely have to pay for a meeting space.  A gentle reminder. . . you need to be a member to be part of the Facebook Members Only Page and take part in the Naturescapes companion exhibit.

Membership Dues

Reminders