Club Meetings Are Held on the 3rd Thursday of Each Month (except December)
Training at 6:00 PM and Program at 7:00 PM
West Plano Presbyterian Church - 2709 Custer Road, Plano, Texas
The aim of the Plano Photography Club is the enjoyment, mastery, and furtherance of photography through cooperation, effort, and good fellowship. Serving Plano and surrounding areas, we welcome photographers of all skill levels.
April 1 - 3rd Annual Shearing Fest: Alpacas & Artisans
April 1 - Topic of the Week submission deadline - ADVERTISING
April 15 - Final day for submissions to Heard Nature Photography Contest
April 20 - Monthly club meeting w/guest speaker Houston Brown
April 20 - Special Contests photo(s) submission deadline - OPEN (Electronic)
April 22 - Deadline for Distinguished Service Award nominations
April 25-27 - High Island/Bolivar Peninsula Field Trip
3rd Annual Shearing Fest – Alpacas & Artisans
The alpacas' coats are coming off! Come celebrate the fleece harvest with demonstrations, local artisans, live music, food, and fun activities.
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2023
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM CT
(NOTE: Alpaca shearing takes place from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM CT)
Location: TX-Ture Farm (venue map)
Address: 1833 Dr Sanders Road, Aubrey TX 76227 (map/directions)
On-Site Activities
Alpaca Shearing: Mark Loffhagen returns from New Zealand and will demonstrate the art of shearing.
Fiber Processing: Watch how the fiber is separated and prepared for the mill and then spun into yarn. Fiber artists will be demonstrating needle felting, macramé, and more.
Arts/Crafts Vendors and Demonstrations: TX-Ture Farm is proud to have a vendor market of local, handmade arts and crafts.
Alpaca Yoga: Experience yoga as never experienced before! Yoga with alpacas allows you a full hour, true all-levels vinyasa class, outdoors with the alpacas. Heather Liner instructor. Bring your mat if you can.
Barnyard Games: Challenge your friends to a game of barnyard Cornhole, Jumbo Jenga, or Jumbo Connect Four.
Festival Food & Beverage: Food trucks and multiple beverage options will be available.
Tickets and Registration
Event Tickets: $10 for Adults 13+, $7 for Kids 3-12, and Infants and toddlers free
You are responsible for obtaining your own tickets: BUY TICKETS
IMPORTANT: Those planning to attend will need to register with the PPC (click the button below) to receive all club communications related to this event.
REGISTER WITH THE PPC FOR ALL COMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO THIS EVENT NOTE: REGISTRATION CLOSED ON MARCH 21, 2023
Group Lunch
After the alpaca shearing is complete (at approximately 1:00-1:30 PM CT), plan to join other PPC members for lunch at the Prairie House Restaurant at 10001 US Highway 380 (E. University Drive), Cross Roads, TX 76227 (menu/directions).
If you have questions, please contact Club Activities Chair Cliff McKenzie via email.
Topic of the Week 13: Advertising
Monday, March 27, 2023, to Saturday, April 1, 2023
To participate, send ONE OR TWO IMAGES IN JPEG FORMAT related to this week's topic to clubphotos@planophotographyclub.com.
Submitted images will be displayed in the scrolling gallery seen at the right. Please note that no one is able to download copies of submitted photos.
Only the first two received will be included in the gallery if you submit more than two photos.
Please include YOUR NAME and the TOPIC in the file name(s) (e.g., PeggyOlson_Advertising_1.jpg).
The maximum dimension (long edge) for submitted images is 4096 pixels; the maximum file size is 10MB.
The photo submission deadline for this activity is SATURDAY, April 1.
Planning ahead? The topic for the next week will be ADVERTISING.
Visit the Plano Photography Club Facebook Page to Like your favorite Topic of the Week photos.
Full-Screen Views: Gallery | Slideshow | All Galleries and Slideshows
Dallas Arboretum Photo Shoot
On the morning of March 14, 2023, more than twenty members of the Plano Photography Club visited the Dallas Arboretum for a unique morning photo shoot.
We invite those who attended the event to SEND FIVE (5) IMAGES IN JPEG FORMAT to clubphotos@planophotographyclub.com for posting in the gallery seen on the right.
Note that no one is able to download copies of submitted photos.
Please include YOUR NAME and the TOPIC in the file name(s) (e.g., EveretteDeGolyer_Arboretum_1.jpg).
The maximum dimension (long edge) for submitted images is 4096 pixels; the maximum individual file size is 10MB.
NOTE: Submitted images will also be shared with the Dallas Arboretum, per our agreement with the organization.
NOTE: This activity is now CLOSED.
Winning Images From the February 2023 Club Contest
Topic: Fruit / Vegetable (Print)
(Click any image to see it full-screen)
Award recipients in the February Plano Photography Club contest were announced on Thursday, March 16, 2023, during the monthly club meeting.
The detailed results are listed below; the honored photographs are seen on the right.
Entry
- 1st: Preparation For My High Vitamin Meal - Eddie Yu
- 2nd: Fresh Cut - Jin Li
- 3rd: Nonna's Fruit Bowl - Ryan Hilton
Intermediate
- 1st: from farm to table - Parvin Stiles
- 2nd: Delicious Detail - John Copes
- 3rd: Eat Your Veggies! - John Eden
- HM: Smiley Fruit - Craig Rowen
- HM: Cactus - Fruit and Vegetable - Yes It Is - Clliff McKenzie
Advanced
- 1st: Farm To Table - Mary Kell Ruehle (also Best of Show)
- 2nd: I'm Gonna Cart Off And Sell My Vegetables - David Swinney
- 3rd: Roadside Fruit Stall - Clive Fernando
- HM: Pumpkin on Pumpkins - Siu Wong
- HM: Seeds Galore - Michael Farnham
Master
- 1st: Market Basket - Danette Volkmer
- 2nd: Halloween Decorations - Nock Wong
- 3rd: Fancy Corn - Marie Hansen
- HM: In The Bin Too Long - Dennis Fritsche
- HM: Peter Piper's Peppers - Alan Daniel
Full-Screen Slideshow | Gallery | Judge's Commentary
Standings: All Classes | Entry | Intermediate | Advanced | Master
Congratulations to those listed above and thanks to all the participants.
I'd like to publicly express gratitude to all the club officers and members who participated in the planning and execution of our successful 2023 Tabletop Workshop.
More than forty (40) people attended - thanks to all of you for coming! It was obvious how much fun everyone was having during the event. Be sure to check out the photo gallery on the club website to see the fruits of everyone's labor.
The Plano Photography Club is lucky to have such a dedicated and talented group of individuals as members.
The arrival of spring in North Texas is a great catalyst for all of us to rev up our photographic engines and start capturing some truly breathtaking images.
Plenty of warm, sunny (and sometimes wet) days are ahead, from which will follow the vibrant colors of blooming flowers, beautiful reflections available after a sudden storm, and the gorgeous patterns found on the wings of butterflies.
Whichever type of photography is your passion, I hope that you will grab your camera, head outside, and see what the season has in store for you.
- David Swinney (from the March 2023 issue of The FLASH!)
Program - 7:00 PM CT (Main Meeting Room)
Houston Brown - The 3rd Perspective
Houston Brown
Bio: I have been in photography for over twenty years and video for the last six. Photography was a means to an end for me back in the day when blogging had not quite kicked into gear.
I started documenting my weekends on Lake Texoma for a website that I had and over the years it grew in popularity. Subsequently, I was asked to shoot photographs of some friends and then homes and the rest is history.
In 2013 the first consumer drone was released but I never saw any compelling results from it. However, several years later the camera system became integrated and no longer required a GoPro and that is when things changed. I launched an aerial photography and video business aimed at ranches all across Texas in the real estate community.
Program Description: As photographers, our ability to change the perspective of a subject is somewhat limited. We can move the camera forwards or backward or right and left. With macro photography, you can move the camera above and below but for most other forms of picture-taking, we are pretty much restricted.
But with the advent of drones, the ability to capture images quickly, effectively, and efficiently from angles that would otherwise elude us became possible.
It is my honor to speak with you about getting into aerial photography; I will discuss both the technical and the equipment aspects.
Examples of Houston's Photography
The themes for the special contests are Nature, Portraits, and Photojournalism.
These contests are outside of the annual competition. No points will be awarded. Awards will be presented to the first three places in each contest. All competition levels will be judged together. There will be no judge's critique.
You may enter all three special contests, but you may only submit a single image for each. SUBMIT SPECIAL CONTEST IMAGE(S)
Entries must be uploaded to the PPC Competition Site before 11:59 PM CT on Thursday, April 20, 2023.
For a complete set of rules and guidelines, please visit the Special Contests page.
NOTE: You must be a Plano Photography Club member to submit an image to a competition.
Looking for old news or information items? If you don't see it below, check out our News Archive.
Nominations Now Open for Distinguished Service Award
The Distinguished Service Award may be presented annually to a Plano Photography Club member whose contributions of time, talents, and service have made a significant impact on the club and its membership.
Any member of the PPC may submit a nomination for this award, and we invite you to consider doing so, as follows:
Option 1: Download the PPC Distinguished Service Award Nomination Form Fill it out on your computer and send it via email (Word or PDF) to the Club President.
Option 2: Send an email message to the Club President which contains the following information:
- Name of nominee
- Description of why you are nominating this person for the Distinguished Service Award
Nominations are open through 11:59PM CT on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
PPC Members Recognized in the March 2023 GSCCC Competition
The following Plano Photography Club members received recognition in the March Gulf States Camera Club Council photo competition:
Color Projected
2nd: Stairway to Heaven? - Russell McGuire
1st HM: Spiraling Thanksgiving - Cliff McKenzie
To see the winning images and a full list of award recipients, please visit the GSCCC competition results page. Congratulations to those listed above.
Download The Free (But Dated) Version of the Nik Collection
During his March program presentation, Irwin Lightstone shared that his preferred software tool for black-and-white conversion was Silver Efex Pro, which is part of the Nik Collection plugins suite from DxO.
Google owned the product for a period of time in the early 2010s. When they chose to cease further development on it in 2016, they made their final release (known as Nik Collection 2016) available for free. They later sold the product rights to DxO which has since updated it multiple times and continues to sell it today.
DxO agreed to allow the continued distribution of the older version in hopes that it might drive customers to the newer product.
Club members may now download the Nik Collection 2016 from the club website if they want to try it out without the restrictions of a 30-day trial period.
Simply visit Resources | Photo Editing Software (Free) to access both the Mac (compatible with MacOS 10.7 and earlier) and Windows versions. Manuals for each of the included plugins are also available.
NOTE: This version of the Nik Collection is unsupported, and may not work with the latest versions of Adobe Photoshop.
Andy Post | Andy Post Productions
Linda Nickell | The Happiness Hour
Shari Hunt | Big Bend Night Photo Workshops