Photochrome Camera Club

Field Trip Attendees

On September 19, 2009 club members (Bob and Pam Nelson, George Gibbs, Alan Heald, Alice Steele, Martin Taylor, Sus Cho, Arthur King, Garrett Griffiin and Gary Larsen) walked through the neighborhood looking for elements of interest to photograph. Churches were high on the list for preferred architectural components. Other elements such as gardens, graffiti and people were also good subjects. After about three hours of shooting we met at Starbucks for coffee or mocha to talk about our field trip experiences to complete the field trip. San Francisco neighborhoods offer diverse photographic opportunities waiting for future exploration. Please send your suggestion of an area in the city you would like to put on next year’s calendar as a field trip. Please send to Gary Larsen at gelarsen@comcast.net by October 31st. Let’s do this again next year.

On September 3rd we had a open submission evening presided over by a visiting judge. These were his favorite images of the evening:

Story by Gary Larsen

On August 22, 2009 a group of Photochrome members visited Point Bonita Lighthouse as well as Battery Mendell. These members included Willis Zhoe, Bob Nelson, Jim Elliot, Gary Larsen, Burr Preston and his guest Alan Hotchkiss. Even with overcast weather, we managed to get a few good shots that were presented at our September 3 meeting.

The rustic brick structure is situated at the tip of Point Bonita, 124 feet above sea level. We photographed sea lions resting on the rocks below and sea gulls too busy watching tourists coming and going to even take notice of our interest in their close presence. The flashing lighthouse lens and the suspension bridge which resembled a miniature Golden Gate Bridge were also photographed at several angles by our group. Another element of interest was the hand carved 118 foot tunnel we walked through to reach the lighthouse. Red lichen growing on the side of nearby cliffs offered nice photographic opportunities as well.

We hung around Battery Mendell and the lighthouse for about three hours before calling it a day. Even so, some of us still stopped off at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center to check it out before going home. Across the road was a group of deer grazing in the field just begging to be photographed. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity, so off we went to shoot some deer. After filling our memory cards we quickly left for San Francisco to download our images and see if any photographic treasures might be amongst our catch of the day.

We’ll meet at Ebenezer Lutheran church in the parking lot prepared for another challenging field trip. We will search a seemingly common neighborhood of San Francisco for interesting photographic compositions.

Here are the boundaries:

• North: Cross Laguna Honda Blvd to Laguna Honda Hospital (northern side of Woodside Ave.)
• Southeastern: Cross Portola Dr. to Teresita Blvd, then Juanita Way to Miraloma Dr.
• South: Laguna Honda Blvd to Ulloa St, Kensington Way, cross Portola Dr. to Miraloma Dr. and Juanita Way.
• West: Laguna Honda Blvd from Forest Hill Station to Dewey Blvd, then continue on Laguna Honda Blvd.

Please note the Forest Hill Station is included in this field trip and as an added bonus Mt. Davidson Park is also included Tripods are OK. You may photograph anything you want from within the boundaries.

Select two of your best photos to show at our October 1 Open Pictorial/ PicTwo meeting.

Making a good quality print does require some additional skills, but those who participate find it a rewarding addition to the art of photography. It is very possible to make prints which easily surpass the quality of those “drugstore photos” which never quite seem to satisfy.

During a typical Print Night each print maker displays his/her “wares”, and there is lots of friendly discussion about the methods used in creating a particular print. As has become customary, the photographic theme is “anything goes”. This means you may bring in subject matter from anything from Nature to Creative, and anything in between.

We welcome you whether you are a print maker or not. Come and check us out.

Here’s the pdf version of  Color News, September 2009. If you are still receiving your Color News through snail mail and would prefer to get it electronically in your email (and save Photochrome a little overhead into the bargain) please email SFalice@aol.com and Alice Steele will sort you out.