Catch of the Day - Bruce Fryxell — *Catch of the Day* - Bruce Fryxell

This weekly list of OPCC events, reminders, and news is compiled by Lori Moilanen. Please send information on upcoming events, news items, and corrections to opcc4mail@gmail.com. This newsletter is currently published weekly on Sunday evenings. The deadline for new submissions for the following week is Friday at midnight.

MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER

This week’s cover photo is “Catch of the Day” by Bruce Fryxell. The Great White Pelican featured in the photo is one of the largest flying birds in the world, standing more than 5 feet tall and having a wingspan of up to 11 feet. This image was taken on a harbor cruise in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Bruce began taking pictures at about age 10, primarily on family vacations throughout the US and Canada. His first teacher was his father, who was an avid photographer. In high school, Bruce took pictures for the school newspaper and yearbook, for which he had to learn darkroom techniques.

As a youth, Bruce started out with a Kodak Brownie and a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex. He got his first SLR’s in high school, switching from Pentax to Miranda to Minolta to Nikon. When Canon introduced their EOS line of cameras, he was extremely impressed with their autofocus capabilities, and has been using Canon cameras ever since, switching from film to digital in 2006.

Bruce’s main interests are travel and nature photography. He became interested in travel at an early age and has visited more than 100 countries on every continent and every state in the US. He always enjoys shooting birds and other wildlife, although landscapes, architecture, and local people (especially indigenous tribes) also attract his attention. He’s had the opportunity to travel with numerous National Geographic photographers, including Ralph Lee Hopkins, Jay Dickman, Brian Skerry, Tim Lehman, and Sandesh Kadur, who kindly shared their considerable knowledge and experience. His primary goal for 2021 is to switch to a mirrorless camera system, although he has not yet decided which one.

Bruce was the OPCC 2020 Photographer of the Year and had the OPCC Image of the Year in 2019 and 2020. He currently serves as OPCC Membership Chair and OPCC Acting Vice President.

NEWS

Quote of the Week

“I really believe there are things that nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” – Diane Arbus

A reminder from OPCC President Jonas Benjamins on the April 20 Board Meeting

The next OPCC Executive Committee Board Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday April 20 at 6:30 PM via Zoom. All the OPCC Committee Chairs will have an opportunity to discuss, old and new business, make motions for changes in the rules, and other important things that we will decide on as a team. The link to join this meeting is available on the OPCC Website Zoom Codes webpage by clicking HERE.

A New “Your Photo My Way” Image Has Been Posted

Thomas Hightower’s old homestead photo from our last Member Share Night has been selected for this month’s “Your Photo My Way” editing exercise. Make your creative edits to this photo and submit the results for the May Member Share Night by Thursday April 29. For the downloadable image version and complete instructions on downloading, editing and submitting the final result click HERE.

Free Bird Photography Webinar - Registration Required

OPCC Program Chair Ardythe Wendt has shared information about a free webinar by well-known instructor Matt Kloskowski. She has selected a club webinar date of Wednesday May 5 at 3:00 PM PDT (6:00 PM EDT) for OPCC from among the available options. Please see description and registration instructions below. This event is sponsored by Sony.

Description:
Join Matt for a 75 minute live webcast on improving your bird photography for photographers of all levels. You’ll even get a free PDF “Bird Photography Field” guide, that you can keep on your phone, for a quick reference while out shooting. In this webcast, we’ll talk about how bird photography can be one of the hardest types of photography, but also incredibly rewarding to have a fun look in to one of natures most interesting animals. During this session we'll dive in to the various gear, tips, tricks and settings to help make your bird photos stand out from the crowd. You'll even learn some photo editing tips to help with light, noise and distractions, so that you end up with beautiful razor sharp bird photos to share. PS: Yes, this will be recorded :-)

Members must register individually for this event. To register:

Cut and paste this link into your browser - https://alphauniverse.com/alpha-workshops/bird8/
Every member will have to sign up individually and create an account.
Once the account is created you are registered. You will not receive a confirmation from the webpage but will receive an email confirmation.

If the May 5 date and time to do not work for your schedule, visit alphauniverse.com for alternate dates and times.

A Warm Welcome to Our Newest Members…

Please welcome our newest family memberships, Allan and Judy Byrd of Sequim and Daniel Houk and Jenny Buchanan of Sequim. This brings our membership to 75, an all-time high!

Thanks to the Following…

Thanks to OPCC Secretary and Competition Chair Suzanne Anaya for her contribution to the OPCC Speaker Fund. She joins OPCC Executive Committee Members Susan White, Bruce Fryxell, and Lori Moilanen as 2021 Speaker Fund donors. Contributions can easily be made through the OPCC website using PayPal. For more information click HERE.

Thanks to Rebecca Hanson, Colleen Bittner, Lori Moilanen, and Bruce Fryxell for representing OPCC at the April 17 Northwest Council of Camera Clubs (NWCCC) Networking Workshop. Rebecca, our NWCCC delegate, served as a session moderator and Colleen, Bruce, and Lori participated as session panelists.

Congratulations to…

Congratulations to Witta Priester for a Judge’s Choice medal and a Bronze medal In the Coachella Valley International Exhibition for her image “Doll View.” For more information see Witta’s post in the OPCC Facebook Group.

“Doll View” -Witta Priester — “*Doll View*” -Witta Priester

COMING UP THIS WEEK

Deadline for Submitting Images for the Virtual Southwest Field Trip - April 22 by the End of the Day.

Please consider submitting up to 10 images per member from the Southwestern US for this virtual road trip. Images will be displayed on the OPCC Field Trips webpage and in the OPCC Facebook Group. For more information on this event click HERE. Submit photos in jpg format (width 1200-1500 pixels) to OPCC Field Trip Chair Sandy Woods (opcc4fieldtrips@gmail.com). For information on resizing photos for display on the OPCC website click HERE.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Member Share Night - Monthly Themes and More

CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR THEME TITLE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. For questions, contact Share Night/Projection Chair Susan White at opccphotos@gmail.com.

Virtual Field Trips

There is currently one Virtual Field Trip in progress. CLICK ON AN IMAGE OR FIELD TRIP TITLE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. For questions or to suggest a new Virtual Field Trip idea contact Sandra Woods (fieldtrips4opcc@gmail.com).

In Focus: April 19 - 25