I f you have not already registered and made your reservations for the “Color at Reelfoot Lake” Adventure, October 16-18, there are just a few weeks to go! Do it

now while you are thinking about it. The photo ops should be wonderful at both Reel-foot Lake and the Discovery Park of America. You can find the details on pages 5-7, or

go directly to the 3CT website page. Re-member to mention that you are with the 3CT group when you make your reserva-tions for the pontoon boat rides directly with the Park. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet and share experiences with other like- minded photography buffs.

You have a bit more time to get your im-ages in for the 3CT Photo Contest, which are due October 31. If you don’t already have what you need to submit, you should be able to cover all of the categories at the fall adventure. The great thing about this contest is that you can enter anywhere from 1 to 10 image—your decision. Don’t forget this is a fundraiser for the Council, so if you believe in 3CT, please support it by entering. You can also find details for

the contest on page 3, or go directly to the rules and entry form HERE. Show us what you’ve got and, hopefully, walk away with some of the winners’ glory and prizes.

The Camera Club Council is so excited about both of these events, and the 3CT Board hopes

you are as well. Show us your support by getting involved! Register and enter now. ◙

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Volume 4, Issue 10

October 2015

Countdown to 3CT’s Fall Adventure and Photo Contest

Inside this issue:

President’s Message 2

3CT Photo Contest Details 3

Do You Know Your Birds of Prey 4

Schedule for 3CT Fall Adventure 5-7

Education Corner: The Exposure Triangle 8-9

CCOR Salon and NWTPC Contest Announcements 10

Recommendations from 3CT Members 11-12

AMPC Contest Announced and GSMIT Workshop 12

Reported Activities of 3CT Member Clubs 13-16

What’s Going On—October 2015 17-18

Club Spotlight: Photographic Society of Chattanooga 19-20

The Small World of Photomicrography 21-22

Club Contact Information 23-24

Wilderness Wildlife Week Presenters Needed 25

3CT ANNUAL BOARD MEETING

Save the date and be there if you can!

October 16, 2015, 2 – 5 p. m.

(In conjunction with the “Color at Reelfoot” Fall Adventure)

Hampton Inn, 2750 Mail Loop Rd., Dyersburg, TN 38024

We would like to have at least one representative from each member club attend, if possible. If you cannot send representatives, email your comments and suggestions HERE no

later than October 14. ◙

Photographed at Reelfoot Lake

Page 2 3 C T I N FO C U S

President’s Message by Sue Milligan, 3CT President

The Camera Club Council of Tennessee is proud to be

an active member of the Photographic Society of

America (PSA). Click here to learn more about PSA

and the advantages of being an individual member or

a club member of PSA.

F irst on the agenda, the Camera Club Coun-cil of Tennessee will be holding its Annual

Board Meeting before the start of the “Color at Reelfoot” Adventure October 16, 2015, from 2 to 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Hampton Inn, Dyersburg, TN. We would love to have at least one representative from each of 3CT’s member clubs present. This will be an opportunity for your club to make suggestions for ways 3CT can better serve its members. The Board Meeting agenda will include: a review of the year to date; workshops, outings and contest plans for 2016; a treasury report to date; finalizing a slate of officers for 2016; potential changes to the organizations’ Constitution and By-Laws; and last, but not least, consideration of your ideas to improve 3CT. If you cannot have a representative at the meeting, please address your thoughts and suggestions to me before the 14th of October. Individual Lifetime Members are welcome to attend or comment as well.

Next, October 16-18, is going to be a fantastic weekend, so I hope that those of you who plan to attend but have not already registered, signed up for the Pon-toon Boat Rides and made your accommodation arrangements, will go ahead and take care of that now. It helps to have an idea of how many people will be attending. We hope to have someone there from Peachtree Camera Repair to clean your cameras and lenses. Their work is excellent and their prices are rea-sonable. Again, all of the information about the weekend and how to register can be found in this newsletter or on our website linked above. I will look for-ward to seeing many of you there.

I’ve entered my images in the 3CT 2015 Photo Contest, have you? You have the rest of the month to get that done (midnight, Oct. 31), but my suggestion is that you go ahead and enter now, while you are thinking about it. Don’t forget about the Club Challenge. I can’t wait to see which club has the most entrants, the most entries, and the most winners.

Summer is winding down, and fall is in the air. Are you ready for the fall color? I hope each and every one of you will share your images on 3CT’s Facebook Page. If you haven’t already liked it, please do, and start posting your work for all our members to see. I see what you post on your own club sites and just wish that

everyone could enjoy your photos as much as I do. Happy shooting, all! ◙

http://3ct.org/

president@3ct.org

www.Facebook.com/CameraClub

CouncilOfTennessee

http://3ct.org/

3CT Governing Board

President: Sue Milligan

Vice President: Doug Wong

Secretary and Editor: Pat Gordy

Treasurer: Les Milligan

Membership Director and Webmaster: Brian Stamm

Education Director: Jeff Roush

Activities Director: Dola Beaty

Social Media Director: Tim Solomon

Member Clubs

Camera Club of Oak Ridge

Cookeville Camera Club

Crossville Camera Club

Digital Lunch Bunch

Dyersburg Photographic Society

Giles County Camera Club

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont

Hendersonville Camera Club

Huntsville Photographic Society

Jackson Photo Club

Kingsport Sr. Center Photo Group

Lawrenceburg Photographic Society

LeConte Photographic Society

Memphis Camera Club

Nashville Photography Club

Northwest Tenn. Photography Club

Paris Photography Club

Photographic Society of Chattanooga

Plateau Photography Club

Sequatchie Valley Camera Club

Southern Appalachian Nature Photographers

West Tennessee Photographers Guild

West Tennessee Shutterbugs Please send newsletter information to Pat Gordy by the 25th of the month prior to the publication month. ◙

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 3

3CT is sponsoring its Fall Photo Contest for its affiliate clubs and Individual Lifetime members. Browse through your greatest or favorites and enter them soon!

Four mainstream categories and a Southern favorite:

Portraits (human or animal)

Landscapes (including city & seascapes)

Wildlife (no domestic animals)

Monochrome–open (no subject restrictions)

Themed Category: “Down On the Farm”

Enter a single photo or up to two photos in each category.

Entry fee: a mere $2 per photograph

Prize money will be awarded in each category:

$50. - First Place; $25. - Second Place; $10. - Third Place)

Also a $100. Award for “Best of Show”

To learn more or to enter today visit: http://www.3ct.org/fallcontest/

Rules:

Photo entries must be the sole work of the entrant.

Photo must not have been a recognized winner in a 3CT contest prior to this event.

Recommended size of submissions: 1920 x 1080 or 1800 x 1200.

Entry fee must be paid at the time of submissions (through online PayPal/Credit Card)

No watermarks or copyright information will be visi-ble on the image.

Entrant agrees to allow their entry to be displayed in 3CT In Focus and on 3CT and associated online sites.

Club Prize:

The club with the most entries will receive a Free 3CT Membership for 2016.

Send Questions/comments to the Contest Chair, Doug Wong at vicepresident@3ct.org or 931-309-8060

ENTER HERE

3CT Fall Photo Contest 2015

Opens September 15 - Closes October 31

The Camera Club Council of Tennessee Board will meet just before the official start of the Fall Reelfoot Lake Adventure, October 16, 2 - 5 p.m., in the lobby of the Hampton Inn, 2750 Mall Loop Road, Dyersburg, TN.

The meeting will be open to anyone interested in attending. We encourage club Presidents and 3CT Reps to attend if at all possible. If not, please try to find someone from your club who will be attending the event, and let them represent your club’s interest. Individual Lifetime Members are welcome as well.

Several items on the agenda will have a big impact on 3CT’s members: a new slate of Officers and Board Members for 2016/17; plans for adding educational workshops to our scheduled events; and considering other ways to assist Council member clubs and individual members. Any input will be extremely helpful, so if you can’t be there yourself or have a representative at the meeting, feel free to send your thought and ideas to me before the 14th of October.

This is your Council. 3CT exists to help photography clubs and individual photographers in our own and neighboring states. Please, get involved and tell us how we can better serve you!

Sue Milligan/3CT President ◙

3CT Annual Board Meeting Announcement

T here are many birds that feed on animals and insects, that, in a

broad sense, could be considered “birds of prey,” but ornithologists nar-row the list down to birds with:

very good eyesight for hunting

powerful talons for catching carry-ing and killing prey

powerful curved beaks for tearing flesh,

birds that prey on vertebrates quite large relative to the size of the bird.

Most will feed on carrion; vultures and condors predominately and the others occasionally. The distinguished lists of birds of prey are also known as Raptors. Here they are with a few facts that I found most interesting about them. They are linked to Wikipedia if you want to learn more about them.

Eagles: Of the 60 species of eagles only 14 can be found outside of Eurasia and Africa: nine in Central and South Amer-ica; three in Australia; and two in North America (the Bald and Golden Eagles).

Ospreys: The osprey is unusual in that it is a single living species that occurs nearly worldwide. The osprey and owls are the only raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two be-hind. This is particularly helpful when they grab slippery fish.”

Kites: These birds have long wings and relatively weak legs. They spend much of their time soaring. They will take live vertebrate prey, but mostly feed on in-sects or even carrion.

True Hawks: These raptors are believed to have vision several times as sharp as that of the human species, in part because of the great number of photo-receptor cells in their retinas (up to 1,000,000 per square mm, against 200,000 for humans), a very high number of nerves connecting the receptors to the brain, and an indented fovea, which magnifies the central portion of the visual field.

Buzzards: “Buzzards are similar to Hawks; in fact they share the genus Buteo, so many species of both groups cross over, so to speak.

Harriers: Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles or birds.

Vultures: This group, of scavenging birds of prey, has heads totally or par-tially devoid of feathers. It could have something to do with cleanliness or thermoregulation.

Falcons: All these birds kill with their beaks, using a "tooth" on the side of their beaks — unlike the hawks, eagles and most other birds of prey which use their feet. Also, Peregrine falcons have been recorded diving at speeds of 200 miles per hour (320 km/h), making them the fastest-moving creatures on Earth

Owls : There are about 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey, typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, bin-aural hearing and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diur-nal northern hawk-owl and the gregari-ous burrowing owl.

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn more about them and to photograph some of them at the 3CT/DPS Fall “Color at Reelfoot Lake” Adventure, Oc-

tober 16-18. I hope to see you there! ◙

Do You Know Your Birds of Prey? By Sue Milligan, 3CT President

Page 4 3 C T I N FO C U S

“If you haven’t already adopted photography as a hobby, it is because there must be a screw loose somewhere.”

~George Alexander Grant First Chief Photographer for the

National Park Service

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 5

3CT Fall Adventure: “Fall Colors at Reelfoot” Hosted by the Dyersburg Photographic Society

October 16 -18, 2015

Reelfoot Lake State Park and Discovery Park of America

Guest Speaker: Allan Detrich

Storm Chaser and Award Winning Photographer

Guest Speaker: Reelfoot Lake Ranger or Naturalist TBA

(David Haggard will not be available after all)

(Locations and Speakers are linked for your convenience.)

Register Here

Schedule of Events

Continued on Page 6

Friday, October 16:

Possible things to do for “Early Birds”:

1) You might want to visit another park in the area.

2) You might want to consider getting a two day pass for Discovery Park of America and getting a head start there. There is quite a bit to see and do. Note: Discovery Park is on the agenda for Sunday, but you might want more time there or be unable to go there on Sunday. 830 Everett Blvd., Union City, TN 38261. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat – Sun Adult single day $13.95…two day special $19.95 Senior single day $11.95…two day special $16.95 Special Attractions are extra: Earthquake Simulator, Starship Theater, The Tower, $3.95 each or a combo of three, $9.95 (All rates are plus tax.) No Backpacks allowed at Discovery Park, but lockers are available! There is a nice café at Discovery Park with a good selection of salads and sandwiches.

3) The Pelican Festival at Reelfoot Lake S.P. has been moved up to this weekend and various events related to it will be going on. Check their website for the schedule. 2595 Hwy 21 E, Tiptonville, Tennessee 38079

4) 2:30 p.m. – 2-hour Eagle Cruise: You must make advanced reservations for this directly with the Park. 731-253-9652. (We will meet at the visitors Center about 1:45 p.m.)

First Scheduled Event for the Group: 6:30 p.m. – Dinner/Meet and Greet: Shogun Restaurant in Dyersburg. 2730 Mall Loop Rd, Dyersburg, TN 38024 (Cost: Refer to Menu linked above.)

Page 6 3 C T I N FO C U S

Schedule . . . Continued from Page 5

Saturday, October 17:

First option:

6:30 a.m. – Sunrise Photography: Meet at the Visitors Center Parking Lot at Reelfoot Lake SP 2595 Hwy 21 E, Tiptonville, Tennessee 38079 (Sunrise 7:02 a.m.) It is a 45-minute to 1 hour drive from Dyersburg to Reelfoot Lake SP.

9 a.m. – Pontoon Boat Excursion around the lake – 1 hr.: You must make advanced reserva-tions for this directly with the Park, 731-253-9652. Meet at the Visitors Center about 8:30 a.m.

11 a.m. – Pontoon Boat Excursion around the lake – 1 hr: Meet at the visitors Center about 10:30 a.m. You must make advanced reservations for this directly with the Park, 731-253-9652. (When reserving your pontoon boat trip, be sure to mention that you are with the Camera Club Council of Tennessee group!) You must sign up for these. First come, first serve; two or three boats each departure time as needed for our group; max 15 passengers each boat. Cost: $6.00 per person.

12:30 a.m. – Lunch: There is a good selection of places to eat lunch in Tiptonville, just a 10-15 minute drive from the park.

Second option:

10 a.m. – Discovery Park of America: Meet at the entrance. You are welcome to join the group for the Sunrise Photography Op at Reelfoot Lake SP (details above) and then head to Discovery Park of America (45 min to 1 hr drive from the park to Union City), OR you can go directly to the Discov-ery Park from your hotel, at your leisure. Note: Discovery Park is on the agenda for Sunday, but you might want more time there or be unable to go there on Sunday. 830 Everett Blvd., Union City, TN 38261. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat – Sun Adult single day $13.95…two day special $19.95 Senior single day $11.95…two day special $16.95 Special Attractions are extra: Earthquake Simulator, Starship Theater, The Tower $3.95 each …combo all three $9.95 (All rates are plus tax.) No Backpacks allowed at Discovery Park, but lockers are available!

Lunch: There is a nice café at Discovery Park with a good selection of salads and sandwiches. Note: You might want to get back to Reelfoot Lake by 3 p.m. for the Bird of Prey Program (details on the next page). It is a 45-minute to 1 hour drive between Union City and Reelfoot Lake SP.)

Continued on Page 7

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 7

Schedule . . . Continued from Page 6

3 p.m. – Birds of Prey Program by Ranger or Naturalist TBA: Meet around the Visitor Center at Reelfoot Lake. This is a wonderful op- portunity to get some great photos of the rehab birds. They will be positioned in natural settings and the presenter will be able to answer any question you have about birds of prey. (Sorry to an-nounce that David Haggard will not be available after all.)

4-5:30 p.m. – Break for Dinner: Details TBA, perhaps back to Tiptonville

5:45 p.m. – Sunset Photography: Meet in the parking lot at Reelfoot Lakes’ Visitors Center (sunset, 6:17 p.m.)

7:30 p.m. – Guest Speaker, Allan Detrich: At the Park’s Visitor Center

Sunday, October 18:

First Option:

7:45 a.m. - Nature Walk at Reelfoot Lake.

10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Discovery Park of America: Meet at the entrance at 10 a.m.

830 Everett Blvd., Union City, TN 38261.

Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat – Sun

Adult single day $13.95…two day special $19.95

Senior single day $11.95…two day special $16.95

Special Attractions are extra:

Earthquake Simulator, Starship Theater, The Tower $3.95 each …combo all three $9.95 (All rates are plus tax.) No Backpacks allowed at Discovery Park!

Lunch: There is a nice café at Discovery Park with a good selection of salads and sandwiches

Second Option: 6:30 a.m. – Sunrise Photo Op at Reelfoot Lake for all the Early Birds. (Sunrise, 7:07 a.m.)

7:45 a.m. – Nature Walk around the park.

9 a.m. – Pontoon Boat Excursion around the lake – 1 hr:

11 a.m. – Pontoon Boat Excursion around the lake – 1 hr: (If you don’t want to go on to Discovery Park, possibly another eagle tour for those that missed out on Friday)

1:00 p.m.– Discovery Park: 830 Everett Blvd., Union City, TN 38261. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat – Sun Adult single day $13.95…two day special $19.95 Senior single day $11.95…two day special $16.95 Special Attractions are extra: Earthquake Simulator, Starship Theater, The Tower $3.95 each … combo all three $9.95 (All rates are plus tax.) No Backpacks allowed at Discovery Park!

Lunch: There is a nice café at Discovery Park with a good selection of salads and sandwiches. ◙

© Pat Gordy

Education Corner: The Exposure Triangle By Jeff Roush, 3CT Education Director

Page 8 3 C T I N FO C U S

Side 1: Aperture

The aperture or f-stop (interchangeable terms) is an open-

ing inside the lens. It has a variable size, like the pupil in

our eye. An open aperture (lower f-stop number) will be a

bigger opening and will allow more light to pass through

the lens. A smaller aperture (higher number) allows less

light to pass through the lens.

Many photographers wonder about all of these different f-

stop sizes and ask why we would want more or less light to

pass through the lens. The answers to this often asked

question has to do with the “Depth of Field”. Depth of

Field, or DOF, is a byproduct of f-stop choice. Larger open-

ings in the lens create out of focus backgrounds as viewed

in many portraits. Smaller f-stops create more “in” focus

backgrounds as viewed in most landscapes.

You should also note that most lenses are their sharpest

around f/5.6 or f/8. However, many photographers are

willing to trade some sharpness for the subject-isolating

effects of a wider aperture.

We should all be aware the most lenses are sharpest (due

to the physics of the lens) in the middle sized f-stops like

F8. However, most photographers are willing to give up a

tiny bit of sharpness in order to control the focus in the

background of an image.

You’ll figure out as you continue in this article the expo-

sure triangle is all about compromises and knowing what

you need to give up to successfully reach your photo-

graphic goal with your images.

Side 2: Shutter Speed

The shutter speed is how fast the shutter in the camera is

operating. This mechanical device opens and closes in a

split second when necessary. A fast shutter speed like

1/500 of one second gives the sensor a lot less time to

capture the light. The reverse of this theory, a long shutter

speed like 1/8 of one second give the sensor a lot more

time to capture the light coming through the lens.

Proper Exposure is our Goal

Proper Exposure is the Correct Amount of Light

Continued on Page 9

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 9

In this case, the reason we might want to use a higher

shutter speed is to stop motion, whether that be camera

shake or a subject that is moving, allowing us to maintain

sharpness. Remember, as long as the shutter is open, the

camera is essentially recording the position of elements in

the frame; if one of those elements moves, the result will

often be undesired blurriness.

Higher shutter speeds like 1/500 of one second will stop

motion (some running). This motion might be a moving

subject or it might be camera shake (caused by you). In

either case however, the motion, if not controlled with the

shutter speed will cause your image to be soft. This blurri-

ness is often confused with focusing problems, but as you

can see it is not. Slow shutter speeds like 1/8 of one sec-

ond can be used if you are trying to purposefully create

blurring or movement.

Some photography instructors and photographers feel

that shutter speed is the most important setting on the

camera. I whole-heartedly agree with this belief, and have

for all of my 40 years of teaching. A blurry image is usually

a “throw-away” image.

Side 3: ISO

ISO is the control on the camera that we can set to change

the camera’s sensitivity to light. We can set it for bright

lighting conditions (low ISO like 100) or we can set it for

darker / less light conditions like a night time football

game (high ISO like 3200)

Many of you don’t remember the “film days” when a pho-

tographer put a roll of film in the camera. We would buy a

specific speed of film depending on the assignment; 100

speed for outdoor sunlight / 200 speed for late evening /

400 speed for almost night / 800 speed for night-time.

When we loaded this roll of film we had to shoot it all, and

we didn’t have the flexibility that we now have with the

ISO settings on a digital camera. Photographers now can

change the ISO at any time.

So, in a nutshell increasing your ISO essentially allows you

work in situations where there is less light. However, as

always, there is a tradeoff we have to learn to deal with:

Increased ISOs result in increased digital noise and a

bit less detail.

Digital noise is the result of magnifications of the elec-

trical signal in the sensor.

This amplification causes this minor distortion in detail,

color, and adds “un-sharpness.”

The trick to using the proper ISO is knowing the limits of

your camera. Some student level cameras don’t do well at

high ISO settings, and the images are very grainy looking. A

lot of the newer pro line camera bodies DO handle higher

ISO settings.

So, why ever use a high ISO? Often, when working in lower

light, you will find yourself at a point where you are using

the widest possible aperture and the slowest shutter

speed you can to stop action. At this point, your only

choice is to increase the ISO. The lens cannot physically

open itself any wider, as discussed above, and sacrificing

sharpness and blurring for a slower shutter speed is rarely

advisable. I would rather have a grainy image that shows a

well-defined subject than a smoother image with a subject

lost in blur.

Putting this all together is confusing. Maybe these steps

will help you make the right choices in the elements of the

exposure triangle. It’s important to make the choices be-

low in the order written. If you use this guide you will some-

times find yourself going back to change your previous choice

because of the effects of the choice you have made.

Making the right choices (this is for hand-holding your

camera)

Make your choice of Lens

Make your choice of Shutter Speed (shutter speed needs to be the “lens length X’s 2”) A 200mm Lens required a 1/400 shutter speed

Make your choice of F-stop

Make your choice of ISO

As always, questions and comments are welcome. Email me at: jroush@roushstudios.com Enjoy !!! Jeff Roush

T he Camera Club of Oak Ridge is announcing its 67th Annual

Salon - one of East Tennessee's most prestigious photography shows and competitions. All photographers, amateurs and professionals, as well as students, are invited to submit their images. Entries chosen for display will be exhibited at the New Hope Center in Oak Ridge between November 9 and December 3, 2015. The community reception and gallery walk will be held on Friday evening, November 13.

Photographers may enter digital images, color prints or black/white prints in ten categories. Animals, Architecture, Botanical, Creative Development, Creative Vision, Inanimate Objects, Landscape, People, Scenic and a new category for this year: Science and Technology.

Selected prints from the Salon will be shown at the American Museum of Science and Energy for extended times. Digital images can be brought to the CCOR club meeting on Tuesday, Oc-

tober 13, at Roane State Community College, City Room, Oak Ridge or be submitted by email between Septem-ber 21 and October 13, to ccor.di.entries@gmail.com.

Mounted prints will be accepted at New Hope Center on October 30, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and October 31, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For the 2015 Salon rules with informa-tion about categories, schedule, entry fees, and submission procedure visit

www.cameraclubofoakridge.org. ◙

The Camera Club of Oak Ridge Announces Its 67th Annual Salon

Page 10 3 C T I N FO C U S

The Northwest Tennessee Photography Club (NWTPC)

Invites Artists to

Participate in Its

Semi-Annual Photo Contest

All Winning Entries Will be Exhibited at

The Discovery Park of America (DPA)

Union City, TN

This online contest is open to amateur photographers only. An out-of-state, experienced panel of photography judges will be selecting our winners. Subject must be representative of Lakes, Rivers, and Streams of America and can be either in color or black and white. Photographs must be original and created by the person who enters that image.

Unlimited number of entries will be accepted per participant.

For complete details and to enter go HERE. ◙

From Sue Milligan, CCC/3CT: Do you know what Diptychs & Triptychs are? I must con-fess, I didn’t have a clue, so I looked them up and found a post by Elizabeth Halford @ http://digital-photography-school.com/diptychs-triptychs-5-prime-examples/ “Diptychs and triptychs are a brilliant tool for photo-graphic storytelling. They present two or three images which can be from the same session or they can be polar opposites to show opposition or contrasting ideas.” Check them out, and give them a try! (I am still learning something new every day!)

You might also want to check out the free photomaga-zine, South x Southeast, if you are interested in finding out what is going on in the photographic art world. It has some great articles! The Sep/Oct issue is online now at sxsemagazine.com

From Joan Field, Director PSA: Regarding the annual Photograph Society of America’s Newsletter Contest: “The number of newsletters entered over the years is decreasing, presumably because the club websites are picking up the slack. It should be pointed out that finding the equivalent of a newsletter on the website is an active process, requiring extra work by the prospective reader, while sending a newsletter by email requires a passive effort on his/her part. Having the information consoli-dated and forwarded directly to the member will certainly increase readership and knowledge of club ac-tivities. It is hoped that we are not seeing the demise of the club publication.”

From Sandy Miller, CCC: Regarding Photoshop Elements: “For anyone considering trying PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS (PSE), this program (in my estimation) has 85% of the functionality of the full version of PHOTOSHOP (PS) and 100% of what most photographers would use. If you have LIGHTROOM, there is some crossover functionality, how-ever one thing Lightroom doesn’t do well is more ad-vanced cloning - like if you want to clone out a person (in the distance, not a main subject) where it involves the in-tersection of multiple backgrounds.

If you want to get into more creative effects also, PS/PSE has filters and the ability to use various blend modes combining images. What PS/PSE doesn’t have is the Database functions that Lightroom has…but if you get

Lightroom and have PSE, you will have the awesome abilities of both programs. So if you are asking which program to get, consider Lightroom and this inexpensive PSE program.

PS can be overwhelming to learn and the full-version cost is really expensive (not counting the new monthly sub-scription system Adobe now has in place), so if you want to learn PS, I suggest PSE at this price first. It will allow you to start learning the tools, blending modes, how to use layers and layer masks, keyboard commands that are becoming more universal, channels and adjustment lay-ers, cloning, etc. without the high cost of the full version or months of (subscription) costs.”

“Also, saw this on Facebook, but haven't tried it (yet). But for PHOTOSHOP users, this should be an interesting ex-periment. Don't you just hate it when people interrupt your shots! This could be a way to eliminate that.”

Some Interesting Recommendations from 3CT Members From: Sue Milligan, CCC/3CT Board

Continued on Page 5

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 11

From Ruth Murphy, SVCC: “Thought of the Day: There are so many offers for pre-sets, plug-ins, and actions for editing in LR and PS. These are presented with gorgeous photos and seemingly low prices. And although sometimes they can add a cool look, sometimes they don't. It might be better to learn to use your editing software to create the look you want. I'm not saying don't get them at all, just be sure you are not ex-pecting the presets to transform your pictures if your ba-sics are off (composition, correct DOF, exposure, etc.).”

(Image from Timeline Photos)

From Dan Broadrick – HCC: First fall color posted for the 2015 season on the Foliage

Network. Check it out. ◙

Some Interesting Recommendations … continued from page 11

Page 12 3 C T I N FO C U S

From James F. Keck, C3 (Crossville CC): “Excellent thought for all things in life, but even more so in photography”:

The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition, in its 13th year, is announced. The contest website is https://www.appmtnphotocomp.org/

The competition has grown into one of the regions’ most prestigious, and celebrates the people, places, and pur-suits of the Southern Appalachians. There are multiple

prize categories with over $4,000 in cash and prizes total. The deadline for entries is November 20, at 5 p.m.

For more information and to submit images, visit the AMPC website or call Rich Campbell at 828 262-2475. Info may also be found at https://www.facebook.com/appmtphotocomp. ◙

Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition Invites Entries

Autumn Brilliance Photography Workshop October 23-26, 2015

Unlike many photography workshops, our price includes meals, lodging and instruction by one of the finest teams of photography instructors anywhere in the country. Com-bine that with the location inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park and it is a real steal. There will be demonstrations on Photoshop techniques, close-up techniques, and wildlife photography. And, of course, the concluding critique session of work completed during the workshop. In addition to the presentations and demonstrations, there will be an emphasis on photograph-ing in the field, one-on-one instructional interactions with instructors, free-time for those who want to do some work on their own, and an optional photographic trip to Cades

Cove. The workshop is designed for all levels of expertise, from serious beginners and beyond. Program lasts from Friday afternoon to Monday mid-morning.

Download the tentative schedule for fall photography work-shop.

Learn More About the Instructors Tom Vadnais (www.tomvadnais.com) Todd Moore (www.naturephotog.com) Ken Thompson (http://worldwithinphoto.photoshelter.com/index) Steve Zigler (https://www.facebook.com/SteveZiglerPhoto)

Cost: $611. (Includes meals, lodging and instruction)

Check out GSMIT’s other October activities at http://www.gsmit.org/calendar.html They have some serious

hiking adventures scheduled! ◙

Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont Workshop

Reported Activities of 3CT Member Clubs

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 13

Dyersburg Photographic Society Art Show By Therese Warmath

The Dyersburg Photographic Society held their first Art Show at the Dyers-burg State Community College Learn-ing Resource Center. “A Collection of Photographic Art” was displayed August 7-28, 2015.

More than a dozen of West Tennessee photographers proudly exhibited their art work in black frames or on canvas in 11x14 size or larger. The themes consisted of nature, family photogra-phy, sports, architecture, music, and animals. Dr. Karen Bowyer displayed two dozen framed photographs of her recent trip to Europe. As President of Dyersburg State Community College for thirty years, Dr. Karen Bowyer has been an influential member of the Dyersburg community. We enjoyed having her as a special participating guest.

An Artist Reception was held on the evening of August 11, 2015. There were over sixty guests that attended. Refreshments made by participating club members and a decorated cake were served. Those attending praised the photographers for their beautiful images on display. A few pieces were sold and there were inquiries about some of the photographer’s busi-nesses. Our club participants were excited at the attendance and thor-oughly enjoyed the experience.

Mrs. Susan Charley, the Dean of the LRC, expressed the many compliments and shared the enjoyment of the com-munity members and staff of DSCC that visited the exhibit throughout the month of August.

Dyersburg Photographic Society club has been in existence for nine months. The experience of this event enabled us to promote our passion for photog-

raphy and interact with our commu-nity as well. We are hoping the Art Show will become an annual event, and will encourage more photogra-phers, of all levels of experience, to become involved with this event and

our photography club. ◙

Cookeville Camera Club Helps With Putnam County Fair By Sue Milligan, Club Rep

Cookeville Camera Club members have been volunteering their time to work the Putnam County Fair’s Cul-tural Arts Photography Department for over 25 years. They set up the category display, help entrants deter-mine what categories their images qualify for, mount them if needed, log in the entries, place them on the view-ing boards, and reorganize the group-ings as needed.

Once the jurors come in, they log in the awards and attach the ribbons. It is a lot of work that they gladly do with thoughtful consideration for the benefit of the community. It is always

a very popular exhibit at the fair. For at least six years now members of the club have had their own display rather than compete with the general public. Even more categories were added this year, including an amateur and profes-sional salon that members were able to compete in. Needless to say, they

enjoyed the opportunity! ◙

Bettye Austin and Angie Leckington

keep busy registering images.

Bruce Harrison and CCC’s President,

Bill Miller hanging the images.

Helga Skinner headed up

the community project.

Page 14 3 C T I N FO C U S

©Rick Godbold

Some Nashville Photography Club members attending the August outing to

photograph Downtown Presbyterian Church.

Nashville Photography Club Brent Wright, NPC Adventure Focus Group Leader

In late August, the Nashville Photog-raphy Club Adventure Group had an outing to one of the historic sites in Nashville. We had 21 members at-tend, and we had two hours to pho-tograph in the Downtown Presbyte-rian Church.

The Downtown Presbyterian Church is a National Historic Landmark de-signed by William Strickland, archi-tect of the State Capitol. It is one of the largest and best preserved exam-ples of Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States.

Completed in 1851, the church was used as a hospital by the Union army during the Civil War; beds filled the sanctuary and ground floor. The building underwent extensive re-modeling after 1865.

Adelicia Acklen, the mistress of Bel-mont, donated the 4,000 pound bell, which served as the city’s fire alarm from 1874 to 1897. In 1882, the inte-rior was painted with colorful, sym-bolic designs and perspective paint-ing creating the impression of an Egyptian temple. The winged globe, repeated throughout the church, is the symbol for the Egyptian sun god

Amun-Ra and signifies eternity. ◙

© Brent Wright

© Hanako Kobayshi

© Trudy Wright

These are two recent sunrise photos from Clingman's Dome - the same day. They show how not staying stationary and

changing location slightly can give entirely different looks and images. ◙

LeConte Photographic Society

By Cindy Mitchell, President

In August and September, some members got up super early to head for Clingman’s Dome for sunrise and oth-ers did sunset, the meteor shower, and late night Milky Way photography from the same place. Being high up in total darkness with the stars shining bright is just a wonderful thing to experience. This is a great way to learn night photography from fellow club members and

have fun doing it. ◙

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 15

“When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“The sky is that beautiful old parchment in which the sun and the moon keep their diary.”

~Alfred Kreymborg

Page 16 3 C T I N FO C U S

Photographic Society of Chattanooga’s Rick Sammon Seminar By Pat Gordy, PSC Secretary

The Photographic Society of Chat-tanooga thanks all attendees of its Rick Sammon Seminar on “Creative Visualization for Photog-raphers” on September 19. Sev-eral 3CT members were there.

In addition to Sammon, who was sponsored by Canon, Berrie Smith was there cleaning sensors, and Gary Farber - of Hunts Photo and Video - was there selling photogra-phy equipment and related items. There were also door prizes.

Some of the crowd is shown in the

picture on the right. ◙

Note: We found it necessary to get the October issue out earlier than usual, so many of the clubs had not yet posted their October program plans. You can check these out for yourself by using the links provided to either their websites or Facebook pages.

Camera Club Council of Tennessee: Oct 16-18, 3CT/DPS Fall Adventure “Fall Color at Reelfoot Lake” (details on pages 5-7). Oct 31, deadline for the 3CT Fall Photo Contest (details page 3)

Camera Club of Oak Ridge: will have a Special Club Compe-tition: (not to be confused with the annual Salon). For the October 13 meeting, the club will sponsor a competition titled “Explore Oak Ridge” illustrating town features in the categories of science/technology, nature, history and the arts, taken within and be identifiable with Oak Ridge. Im-ages due by October 9. ORCVB will sponsor cash prizes and the winners will be recognized by the city of Oak Ridge. Participants must allow CCOR and City of OR use of the images.

Cookeville Camera Club: will review its “Reflection” con-test on October 14, and will discuss thoughts for 2016. On October 28, the group will be out on the town shooting night pictures. CCC member Jim Atnip and Walter Fitz-patrick will have a month long show of their images at the

Cumberland Art Council Gallery, opening on October 4, at 1:00 p.m.

Crossville Camera Club: October 19, Program: If permis-sion is granted from the Roan State campus to do some steel wool spinning on the grounds we will be playing with fire, if not, we will be doing something similar with LED’s. Mark Leckington, from the Cookeville Camera Club, will be assisting us.

Digital Lunch Bunch: will have its get together on October 14, with some great conversations and networking.

Dyersburg Photographic Society: On October 1, TBA Note: DPS meeting room this semester is DSCC Glover Building Room 103B, NOT room 109. There is a class this semester in 109. Special Note: The 3CT Fall event will be hosted by Dyers-burg Photographic Society, October 16, 17, 18; Photo Ops: Reelfoot Lake SP and Discovery Park of America; Keynote speaker: Allan Detrich.

Giles County Camera Club: No club

meeting in October.

Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont: October 23-26, Autumn Brilliance Photography Workshop (see details,

The Great Smoky Mountain Photo Summit (to the left), which will be held at the Tremont Lodge and Resort in Town-send, Tennessee, has been sold out, but keep it in mind for next year. Read all the details here. ◙

©Pat Gordy

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 17

Note: We found it necessary to get the October issue out earlier than usual, so many of the clubs had not yet posted their October program plans. You can check these out for yourself by using the links provided to either their websites or Facebook pages.

Camera Club Council of Tennessee: Oct 16-18, 3CT/DPS Fall Adventure “Fall Color at Reelfoot Lake” (details on pages 5-7). Oct 31, deadline for the 3CT Fall Photo Contest (details page 3)

Camera Club of Oak Ridge: will have a Special Club Com-petition: (not to be confused with the annual Salon). For the October 13 meeting, the club will sponsor a competi-tion titled “Explore Oak Ridge” illustrating town features in the categories of science/technology, nature, history and the arts, taken within and be identifiable with Oak Ridge. Images due by October 9. ORCVB will sponsor cash prizes and the winners will be recognized by the city of Oak Ridge. Participants must allow CCOR and City of OR use of the images.

Cookeville Camera Club: will review its “Reflection” con-test on October 14, and will discuss thoughts for 2016. On October 28, the group will be out on the town shooting night pictures. CCC member Jim Atnip and Walter Fitz-patrick will have a month long show of their images at the Cumberland Art Council Gallery, opening on October 4, at 1:00 p.m.

Crossville Camera Club: October 19, Program: If permis-sion is granted from the Roan State campus to do some steel wool spinning on the grounds we will be playing with fire, if not, we will be doing something similar with LED’s. Mark Leckington, from the Cookeville Camera Club, will be assisting us.

Digital Lunch Bunch: will have its get together on October 14, with some great conversations and networking.

Dyersburg Photographic Society: On October 1, TBA Note: DPS meeting room this semester is DSCC Glover Building Room 103B, NOT room 109. There is a class this semester in 109. Special Note: The 3CT Fall event will be hosted by Dyers-burg Photographic Society, October 16, 17, 18; Photo Ops: Reelfoot Lake SP and Discovery Park of America; Keynote speaker: Allan Detrich.

Giles County Camera Club: No club meeting in October.

Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont: October 23-26, Autumn Brilliance Photography Workshop (see details, page 12). Check out GSMIT’s other October activities at http://www.gsmit.org/calendar.html GSMIT has some serious hiking adventures scheduled!

Hendersonville Camera Club: will meet October 8. The guest speaker will be Larry McCormack, photographer from the Tennessean. Nominations for the 2016 HCC Board will be accepted at this meeting.

Huntsville Photographic Society: October 12, program will be “An Evening with Larry Perry.” The competition on Oc-tober 26, will be “open” subject.

Jackson Photo Club: October 13 - Program: “The Exposure Triangle,” speaker: Jeff Roush. There are 2 themes for this month’s challenge: Fairs (county or state) and/or Motion. All photos must be shot this month. All photos must be submitted to the club by Oct 3rd, midnight. Please send your entries to the club’s new email address: info@jacksonphotoclub.org

Kingsport Senior Center Photography Group: will wind down its spring, summer and fall Fieldtrips with an active October. The group will be heading to Burke’s Garden and Crab Orchard Museum on 0ctober 12; have a SW Virginia Back Roads Discovery October 19; and end the month on October 26, with an outing on South Carolina Route 11 (Caesar’s Head, Table Rock, et al). The group’s winter will be just as busy but mostly indoors.

Lawrenceburg Photographic Society: Program on October 20, President, Barry Jackson, will demonstrate how to cut your own mats as well as how to dry mount a photograph. It will be a “hands on” class. Doug Wong, President of GCCC, is also on the guest list. The monthly competition subject for October is "Open." The club will have photo-graphs by several members on display during the month of October at the public library.

LeConte Photographic Society: October 6, photo competi-tion and critiquing. No Saturday program in October, so we can all be outside shooting the beautiful color. Besides leaf looking, the October outing will be Halloween night in Gatlinburg. For the past few years some LPS members have enjoyed going to Gatlinburg to see all of the people that come from all over the country dressed in their best Halloween costumes. They all pass through the villages and stores to do trick-or-treating. It makes for great photo

What is Going On – October 2015

Page 18 3 C T I N FO C U S

opportunities because everyone loves to pose for the cam-era. There are bands at some of the moonshine stores too, so lots of musical entertainment is also available to enjoy throughout the evening.

Memphis Camera Club: will start off the month with a photo competition October 1. On October 3, the group will meet up with KelbyOne’s, Andre Visagie, for the first World Wide Photo Walk in Memphis.

The club will have its Digital Class on October 8; a program by Photojournalist, Paul Anderson, on October 15; and it’s’ Basic Photography Class on October 22.

(If you would like to consider a photo walk in your town check out KelbyOne at http://kelbyone.com/photowalk/ )

Nashville Photography Club: NPC’s Basic Photo Class is in session on Thursdays through Dec. 17. The Adventure Fo-cus Group will be traveling October 16-18 to Garden of the Gods & Cave-In-Rock, IL. Their regular meeting on October 20 will host guest speaker Kris D’Amico and their Digital Focus Group will meet on October 27.

Northwest Tennessee Photography Club: will meet Octo-ber 6, Program TBA. The Fine Arts Group will meet Octo-ber 1. They currently are working their Semi Annual Photo Contest , deadline October 15 (see details on page 10).

Paris Photography Club: PPC will meet October 22, pro-gram TBA .They will have two safari “scavenger hunts” for capturing pictures to use for their Coffee Table Book Pro-ject. Members will meet on Saturday, October 24, at 2 p.m. and again on Sunday October 25 at 5 a.m. for sunrise photos, meeting up after at a member’s home to view the photos taken during the two days.

Photographic Society of Chattanooga:October 15, PSC will have its annual Open House, with Bill Fortney as the spe-cial speaker, refreshments, and prints on display. Bill’s topic will be “How I Gave Up Photographic Prostitution for the Joy of Becoming a Serious Amateur Shooter!”

Plateau Photography Club:October 8, Photo Editing Work-shop, Oct 15, The assignment is to bring three images of wildlife. Also the "Hit the Trails" Festival is coming up Oc-tober 3, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mirror Lake. The Plateau Photography Club will be one of many featured at this out-door event, which is at Mirror Lake near Wyndham on Peavine in Fairfield Glade.

Sequatchie Valley Camera Club: Oct 13,The evening will be spent reviewing the Photo Challenge submissions from September; reviewing what we learned from Pat Gordy

regarding judging; and making changes to our current judging system. There will also be open discussions and sharing time.

Southern Appalachian Nature Photographers: October 27, Program will feature Len Rue, Jr. a nature photogra-pher who has had hundreds of images published over the last 35 years. Check out his website to see his amaz-ing body of work at http://rueimages.com/.

West Tennessee Photographers Guild: October 8, Pro-gram TBA

West Tennessee Shutterbugs: October 22, Program TBA West Tennessee Shutterbugs are selling 15 month calen-dars (October, 2015 to December, 2016) to honor one of its founders, Luke Bell. Luke has been diagnosed with ALS and now resides in South Florida. He is a well-known wild-life photographer and we have selected some of his favor-ite photographs for this calendar. The calendar contains 8-1/2 x 11 color photographs. The cost is $15.00 per calen-dar, plus $5.00 shipping if the order cannot be picked up or delivered. All profits from the calendar sales will go to Luke. Order your calendar(s) from any Shutterbug Mem-ber, through PayPal, or by sending Check or Money Order to: West Tennessee Shutterbugs, c/o Bennette Brou, 1555 Leach Road, Cedar Grove, TN 38321. We will begin delivery and shipping no later than August 1st. Thank you for sup-

porting a great friend, teacher, and photographer! ◙

PSA’s 77th Annual Conference is currently being held at

West Yellowstone, Montana, but plans are now being

made to be in San Antonia, Texas in 2016. Watch in fu-

ture issues of 3CT in Focus for more details. ◙

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 19

Spotlight on Clubs: Featuring Photographic Society of Chattanooga

By Pat Gordy, APSA, PSC & 3CT Secretary

F ounded in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1952, the Pho-tographic Society of Chattanooga (PSC) is a non-profit

501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting the ad-vancement of photography as science and art and to edu-cating the public and the Society's members about photog-raphy and photographic techniques.

PSC's membership (over 200 members) consists of photog-raphers of all levels of expertise – beginners, amateurs, advanced amateurs, and professionals – who associate for the learning of and the mutual enjoyment of photography. With such a diverse membership, PSC caters to a wide range of photographic interests.

The club gives its members opportunities for the enjoy-ment of photography as well as opportunities for learning, whether it be at the monthly meetings (where profes-sional photographers from around the Southeast and be-yond are invited to present the programs) or during PSC Field Trips, Socials where members' photo programs are shown, Beginners' Boot Camp, Seminars, or by submitting prints to the club's Gallery at Blackwell exhibits.

PSC is a club member of the Photographic Society of America, the Camera Club Council of Tennessee, the North Georgia Camera Club Council, and ArtsBuild of Chattanooga.

As a club member of PSA, PSC participates in the Interclub Competitions of the PSA Nature Division and the Projected Image Division; competes in the PSA Website Contest and the PSA Newsletter Contest for clubs; holds a Youth Pho-tography Showcase locally and sends winners to the PSA YPS to compete against students across the world; and it holds the annual Scenic City International Photo Exhibi-tion, which is recognized by PSA. Several PSC members usually represent the club at the PSA conferences.

PSC has several community service projects throughout the year for which it will receive the PSA Club Service Award at the PSA Conference in West Yellowstone in Octo-ber. It also received this award in 2010.

The most prestigious community service activity was in 2009, when the club was asked by the Sister Cities of Chat-tanooga Association to organize the judging of images submitted for an exhibit in a new art gallery in Wuxi, China, a sister city of Chattanooga. PSC members were also asked to submit images as well and had a significant

number of images selected to send, even though other community photographers could enter as well. In ex-change for Chattanooga sending images (about Chatta-nooga life and landscape) to Wuxi, the people of Wuxi send an exhibit of prints of their life and landscape to Chattanooga about eight months later.

This exhibition was a joint venture of the Chattanooga Sis-ter Cities Association, The City of Chattanooga, the Photo-

Chattanooga representative, Virginia Webb, speaking at the

opening of the Chattanooga exhibit of photographs at the

new art gallery of Wuxi, China.

PSC President Milton McLain (4th from left) in 2010, is

shown with the delegation from Wuxi, China, at the opening

of their city’s exchange exhibit at the Hunter Art Gallery in

Chattanooga.

Page 20 3 C T I N FO C U S

graphic Society of Chattanooga, Allied Arts, and the Hunter Museum. This project proved to be enlightening to all.

In 2006, PSC started sponsoring the Youth Photography Showcase for high school students in the Chattanooga area and continues to do so. This year's contest had the largest number of entries with 553 images. PSC gives more money and time to this project each year. In addition to

the entries and judging, PSC has an Awards Program that is well attended by students, teachers, parents, and other friends and relatives of the students. Teachers are excited about YPS, and some even require their students to enter. As a result of a PSC member who docents at Chattanooga's Hunter Art Gallery, the student prints are hung in the gal-lery for the community to see for a month. Parents and teachers tell of how students' self esteem goes up when they even get Honorable Mentions. Up to 12 members have been involved in the YPS events. The images earning the highest scores are sent to PSA to compete with other students from around the world.

PSC meets at the St. John United Methodist Church, and the church proposed two of the community service pro-jects, which the club has done since 2011: photographing children with Santa at a Christmas-time function of the church; and photographing participants in the Upward Bound Basketball and Cheerleaders program of the church. In both instances, PSC provided photographers and all the necessary tools to take the photos and then gave each child a set of photographs - absolutely free - at the expense of the club. Usually these programs take four to seven photographers and a coordinator or two.

In 2011, Dr. Cauley Hayes, a PSC member as well as a PSA member, brought two community service projects to the attention of the PSC Board: Help Portrait and Kids and

Pros. Both involved photographing people and giving the photos away. Both were extremely beneficial to the com-munity involved, and ex-tremely fulfilling to club members who volun-teered to help.

This year, PSC added pho-tography for Chattanooga Hydrocephalus.

PSC welcomes opportuni-ties for its members to use their photography skills to help the community, and it encourages other clubs to get involved in their

communities. ◙

Shown above are some of the students in the 2015 Youth

Photography Showcase.

Scene at a Kids and Pros Event

A group from PSC that helped photograph a Help Portrait

session. Help Portrait provides the homeless with photo-

graphs to send to loved ones, etc.

PSC members teaching photography to girls at Girls, Inc.

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 21

The Small World of Photomicrography By Walt Carlson

I n November of 2012 I read an article in Coastal Living magazine about Dr. Gary Greenberg, who has a Ph.D. in

biomedical research. Dr. Greenberg takes photographs using a microscope. The article referenced a book he had written, A Grain of Sand: Nature’s Secret Wonder, about photographs he had taken of sand from around the world. The photographs really hit my hot button to the point I wanted to take photos like that.

As I pondered the idea of photomicrography, I remem-bered that my son had left his microscope from his studies in college. I could use my wife’s new DSLR camera and my son’s microscope to get started. I did some research and found all I needed was an adapter lens to join the camera to the microscope. Adapter lenses are available on Ama-zon for $60 and up. By talking with members of the Cookeville Camera Club and my son, who is in his ad-vanced studies in molecular biology, I have been able to merge the camera and the microscope together.

I started out with a compound microscope, also referred to as a biological microscope, which I found out quickly was limiting by only being able to take photographs of micro samples of small, flat and very thin subjects due to the depth of field and transmitted light. Because there is not a port to attach the camera, the eyepiece is removed in order to attach the camera.

The depth of field available to work with is measured in microns. To put this in perspective, there are 1,000 mi-crons in one millimeter (a sheet of printing paper is about 100 microns). Most subjects are between 5 and 100 mi-crons thick. Setting the compound microscope on the low-est power, which is usually 4X on most microscopes, the depth of field is 50 microns. Therefore, if the subject is under 50 microns, you can get good focus. If you have a thickness of over 50 microns, then you need to use a stacking program to be able to get everything in focus.

The other problem is transmitted light coming up from the bottom of the microscope. The subject must be very thin to allow this light to come through. You can have an opaque subject with an irregular surface, but it gets diffi-cult. You must create your own top light and use a stacking program to get the entire subject in focus. I once took a photo of citric acid crystals that required 27 photos to get everything in focus.

To solve some of these problems, I use a stereo or dissect-ing microscope, which has only a 2X and 4X power and much greater depth of field. This stereo microscope also has transmitted light (light from the bottom) and top light and is used in labs to dissect insects and plants. Because of the lower powers, (there is greater depth of field and width of field), the stereo microscope is easier to use. Even at that it took over 90 photos of a fly stacked in order to get everything in focus. This much stacking creates other problems such as fringing. Anyone interested in photomi-crography might find it easier to start with a stereo trinocular microscope as it is easier to use. The trinocular microscope has a separate port to attach the camera.

My interest in photomicrography is for the art, not the knowledge; however, picking up knowledge is unavoid-able. For instance, I did not know that moths and butterfly wings are made up of scales or that a dandelion stem is hollow. The deep center of a flower looks as if another flower garden exists. I have seen grains of sea salt that are so square they look like they were cut by a stonemason. Shapes, colors, and textures are mind blowing.

Microscopy is big on DIY. You can learn to make your own filters and light sources and in some cases how to hook your point and shoot camera or smart phone to the microscope.

Since giving my first talk to the Cookeville Camera Club on the subject of photomicrography, I have been a featured speaker at Nature Fest at Tennessee Technological Univer-sity the last two years. Also, I did a workshop with the Jun-ior Ranger summer camp at Burgess Falls State Park this

Walt Carlson

past summer. I work with the Scouts and there has been interest with some grade schools. I tell parents that for what they spend on video games, they can get into photomicrog-raphy. This is a great way to bond with their children.

In the future I will be offering a workshop for members of the Cookeville Camera Club. I am anxious to share this type of photography as I have not yet met another photographer who does photomicrography, although it has been around since about 1837. There is no end to its worth because of the contribution to society in science, industry, and medicine.

There are few books on the subject of photomicrography. The best I have found is Practical Digital Photomicrogra-phy by Dr. Brian Matsumoto who has his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology, which required the development and re-finement of techniques for microscopy. An excellent source of information is in an online magazine, Microbe-Hunter Microscope, and its links. Also, Nikon University gives technical information on microscopes.

The Nikon Small World Photomicrography contest is a worldwide contest for light microscope photographs. Their website shows all winners and honorable mentions dating back to 1975. The images are unbelievable. Winning im-ages have been shown at the Oak Ridge museum each of the past three years.

If you have any questions regarding photomicrography, please feel free to contact me, Walt Carlson, at carl-

sons33@charter.net. ◙

Tissue of Dog’s Tongue at 80 Plus Magnification

Cross Section of a Carrot

Sea Salt

Shed

Skin

Of a

Python

All photos in this

article are by

Walt Carlson.

Page 22 3 C T I N FO C U S

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 23

To see when and where 3CT member clubs meet and what they have on their agenda for this month, check out their web-sites and Facebook pages. The contacts below are linked for your convenience.

If you are not a member of any of the clubs listed below, sign up for a 3CT Individual Lifetime Membership for $25.00 and be eligible to participate in all of 3CT’s events, contests and to receive the newsletter monthly. http://www.3ct.org/membership/individual-membership/

Camera Club of Oakridge: http://www.oakridgecameraclub.org http://www.oakridgecameraclub.org/meetngreet.shtml http://www.facebook.com/groups/cameraclubOR/

Cookeville Camera Club: http://www.cookevillecameraclub.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cookeville-Camera-Club/182373583284

Crossville Camera Club: http://www.facebook.com/groups/246977455381146/ http://www.crossvillecamclub.com crossvillecameraclub@gmail.com

Digital Lunch Bunch: Email Larry Perry at: larryperry11@comcast.net Note: If you do not subscribe to “Larry’s Notes,” which are up-dated weekly, you are missing another great source of infor-mation regarding club/council activities, workshops, contests and photo equipment for sale. Everyone is welcome to take advantage of it and will find something of interest. If you want to subscribe, or get your club and its activities listed, or if you have photo equipment for sale or are looking to buy, contact Larry Perry.

Dyersburg Photographic Society: http://facebook.com/groups/DyersburgPhotographicSociety Special Note: The 3CT Fall event will be hosted by Dyersburg Photographic Society, October 16, 17, 18; Photo Ops: Reelfoot Lake SP and Discovery Park of America; Keynote speaker: Allan Detrich. Mark your calendars!

Giles County Camera Club: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Giles-County-Camera-Club/166869216694818 http://pix.eosphotoman.com/gccc https://www.flickr.com/groups/gccc/ or Email Doug Wong at: eosphotoman@yahoo.com

Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont: http://www.gsmit.org https://www.facebook.com/GSMITremont

Tremont eNews Email us to sign up for our bi-weekly enewsletter including Tremont and park information and articles by our naturalists.

Walker Valley Reflections Hear more about what's going on in Walker Valley before you come or after you leave. Our newsletter is full of articles from Tremont staff. Check the latest edition here.

Hendersonville Camera Club: http://www.hendersonvillecameraclub.org/ http://www.facebook.com/groups/144835535679/ Email Emily Helms at: emilyhelpsphotography@gmail.com

Visit the HCC online projected image gallery: http://www.hendersonvillecameraclub.org/wp/?fancy-gallery=jul-2015

Huntsville Photographic Society http://www.huntsvillephotographicsociety.org/ https://www.facebook.com/HuntsvillePhotographicSociety

Jackson Photo Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/155119344018/

Kingsport Senior Center Photo Group: http://www.scphotogroup.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/1653363521563672/

Lawrenceburg Photographic Society http://www.facebook.com/groups/365370508658/ Club Contact Email: jbarryj@bellsouth.net

LeConte Photographic Society: http://www.lecontephotographic.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/150834268285095/

Memphis Camera Club: http://www.memphiscameraclub.org http://twitter.com/MemCameraClub http://www.facebook.com/MemphisCameraClub

Nashville Photography Club: http://www.nashvillephotographyclub.com http://www.facebook.com/NashvillePhotographyClub

3CT Club Contact Information Compiled by Sue Milligan, 3CT President

Page 24 3 C T I N FO C U S

Northwest Tennessee Photography Club: http://www.nwtnphotoclub.com http://www.facebook.com/NorthwestTennesseePhotographyClub Check out the winners of NWTN’s Spring 2015 Photo Contest .

Paris Photography Club: http://www.parisphotographyclub.org http://www.facebook.com/groups/408318365955275/ President: Jeff Roush at: jroush@roushstudios.com

Photographic Society of Chattanooga http://www.chattanoogaphoto.org https://www.facebook.com/chattanoogaphoto info@chattanoogaphoto.org

Plateau Photography Club http://www.ppcuginc.com/PhotoClub/2015/home.htm https://www.facebook.com/groups/325328404319724/325335850985646/?notif_t=like https://www.flickr.com/groups/2700169@N25/

Sequatchie Valley Camera Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerabug/

Southern Appalachian Nature Photographers http://www.sanp.net

West Tennessee Photographers Guild http://www.westtennesseephotographersguild.org https://www.facebook.com/WestTennesseePhotographersGuild

West Tennessee Shutterbugs

http://www.facebook.com/groups/wtnshutterbugs/ ◙

HCC: Oct. 8, - Speaker: Larry McCormack – highly respected and talented photojournalist, currently with the Ten-nessean. lmccormack@tennessean.com <lmccormack@tennessean.com

HPS: Oct. 12, - “An Evening with Larry Perry”

JPC: Oct. 13, - Jeff Roush: “The Exposure Triangle’

LPS: Oct. 20, - LPS President, Barry Jackson will demonstrate how to cut your own mats as well as how to dry mount a photograph. We will have a matt cutter and a dry mount press for a “hands on” class.

MCC: Oct. 15, - Program by Photojournalist, Paul Anderson “My photographs are a representation of how I attempt to understand the world.” “Whether it is a landscape or a football game, the idea is to find the story that needs telling and try telling it“

NPC: Oct. 20, , Speaker Kris D’Amico – Since 1998, Kris has been creating images to help companies show and tell. His small shop in Franklin, TN is made up of a network of freelancers that straddle the line of traditional advertising with new media. He is classically trained in photography, and he has a very impressive list of clients

PSC: October 15 - Speaker, Bill Fortney, “How I Gave Up Photographic Prostitution for the Joy of Becoming a Serious Amateur Shooter!”

WTS: Oct 24, - Member, Tina Pierce Bruce will do a program on Using Mask in Photo Shop, so bring your laptops.

September Speakers we missed:

CCOR: Members, Douglas Hubbard and Lee Smalley, presented two different ways to mount Salon prints on foam-core boards using a spray adhesive and Scotch positional mounting adhesive sheets.

HPS: Tom and Pat Cory presented their new program titled “In the Sky” “Our program looks at what happens in the sky and how to image it…from birds to sunsets, from northern lights to airplanes, from butterflies to the Milky Way…we will examine these subjects and more. We' will also discuss what equipment we use with an emphasis on imaging birds on a budget.”

C3 (Crossville CC): Club Member Matt Daugherty covered the basics for utilizing Adobe Lightroom. ◙

Look Who’s Talking – October Speaker Information Compiled by Sue Milligan, 3CT President

Camera Club Council of Tennessee

Created to Foster a Spirit of Fellowship, Sharing, and Competitiveness Among Member Clubs

The Camera Club Council of Tennessee (3CT) is dedicated to the advancement of all things photographic to the

citizens of the State of Tennessee through its member clubs and their respective memberships.

Through the sharing of the experiences and events of its member clubs, 3CT intends to be the source of

insights, information, and inspiration to all of Tennessee’s photographers regardless of their skill levels.

By accumulating and sharing information on, and offering: speakers, workshops, field trips, seminars,

competitions, and exhibits, 3CT hopes to create a dynamic, interactive exchange forum that will enrich each

member club’s activities. ◙

I nstead of being in January, the 2016 Wilderness Wild-life Week has changed dates to begin on Wednesday,

May 18 and conclude on Sunday, May 22, 2016. Brandon Barnes, Pigeon Forge’s Special Events Coordinator for WWW, is seeking photographers to present at the event.

Due to cutting back the number of days of the event, Smokies Through the Lens will no longer be a two-day tract; however, photography classes can and will be sched-uled daily. Additionally, please note with cutting back the number of days Wilderness Wildlife Week is especially in search for programming highlighting not only the local and regional area, but specifically topics relating to Great Smoky Mountains National Park as this is the centennial

anniversary of the National Park Service. As such, pro-grams focusing on the Smokies, Southern Appalachians, and regional heritage are paramount for the 2016 incarna-tion of the event.

If you would like to present at the 2016 WWW, please contact Brandon ASAP. He needs possible presenters to fill out some forms and get them in to him by Friday, October 16, 2015. Contact Brandon Barnes at: Office: (865) 429-7396; Fax: (865) 429-7392

Email: bbarnes@cityofpigeonforge.com ◙

2016 Wilderness Wildlife Week Seeking Presenters

V O L U M E 4 , ISS U E 1 0 Page 25

The Photographic Society of America has online mentors for its individual members to learn about various types of photography at no additional cost? Each one covers a different aspect of photography. Some of these are:

Architecture

Cell Phone Photography

Composites

Detail

Advanced Digital & Photoshop

HDR

Impressionistic Flowers

Landscape

Macro

Panoramic

Portrait

Portrait Enhancement

Still Life

Underwater

Storytelling

3D Photography

Water Drop Reflections

Zoo

Join PSA at www.psa-photo.org.