May 6, 2025

Despite a pretty powerful thunderstorm, we had an excellent turnout for our May meeting. Larry gave a very nice overview of Affinity Foto, comparing it to the Adobe suite of products. Overall, Affinity offers impressive features and serves as a solid alternative to Lightroom, especially for those looking for a more budget-friendly option. A big thanks to Larry for his great presentation!

Robert shared details about his experience at the GSCCC meeting last month. He provided information about their interclub photo competitions, sparking interest in participation. We’ll keep you updated with dates and more information.

Remember that May 21st is the last day to get your prints to Robert for the show. If you need assistance with printing or matting, please let me know. Thanks to everyone who signed up to help with the opening reception - Sharon will be getting in touch to confirm details and let you know if further assistance is needed. If your available, arriving an hour early to assist with setup would be greatly appreciated!

This month’s challenge theme was “Spring,” and we saw some excellent submissions. Tom Willis took first place with an excellent image of a bluebird emerging from a birdhouse. I was honored to take second place and Wendy took third place. Look for the entries on our Facebook page. Tom has chosen “Water” for our July challenge.

Susan created a beautiful slideshow featuring all the entries for the Gallery Show. There’s no doubt this will be an impressive exhibition! I’m grateful to everyone who contributed and proud to be part of such a talented group of photographers. Thank you, Susan, for putting this together.

Gallery show opening: June 6th at 6:00 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the Cole Center downtown. We hope to see you there – bring friends and family!

Next meeting: July 1st at 6:00 in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Center located in the SFA Pineywood Plant Center on Raguet Street. Robert Hinton will be doing a presentation on Astrophotography. Something to look forward to.