Portrait Mini Workshop

The Eastman Camera Club is sponsoring a mini workshop on portrait photography.   This is a great opportunity to learn the basics and become familiar with some of the photographic equipment the club has available for rent, including backdrops, studio lights, radio triggers, and the monitor calibrator.

We have rented a great room upstairs at Stir Fry on Broad Street.   We're asking each person to pay $10 to help defer the cost of the room.  

The workshop is being taught by Jamie Aiello and other members of the club

For more information contact Jamie Aiello

Opportunity to photograph vintage trains in Bristol

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is offering train excursions this spring as part of Norfolk Southern's "21st Century Steam" program.   Power is scheduled to be ex-Southern Railway 2-8-0 #630 built in 1904 and recently restored to service by TVRM in Chattanooga.  Two of those excursions will be leaving from Bristol Virginia.   Both are sold out, but they offer the opportunity to photograph steam engines and vintage train cars.

Saturday March 9 - Bristol to Radford Virginia
Departure location will be from the Old N&W Depot on the corner of State St. and Martin Luther King Blvd., adjacent to the Tennessee/Virginia State Line.  They will be departing at 8:00 AM and returning approximately 7:00 PM.

Sunday March 10 - Bristol to Bulls Gap Tennessee
Departure location will be from the Old N&W Depot on the corner of State St. and Martin Luther King Blvd., adjacent to the Tennessee/Virginia State Line.  They will be departing at 9:00 AM and returning approximately 5:00 PM.

Updated information -
The trail will be at the Bristol Depot about 30 minutes before departure.  That might be a great time for early light photography.   There will be a diesel engine right behind the steam engine but you should be able to get some great shots without the diesel if you plan it right.


More info about the routes and times available here

Test Driving A Lens

I write a blog at The Siggins Photography Blog and occasionally I will write something that might be of interest to members of the Eastman Camera Club.   I'm going to start linking to some posts to let you know where there is something new over there.   If you like the posts you can sign up on that blogsite to get email notification when a new blog is posted.

Here's a recent post on renting lenses - http://thesiggins.blogspot.com/2013/02/test-driving-lens.html

You can view the latest blogs at http://thesiggins.blogspot.com

What to see something in particular?  Drop me a note - r.siggins@charter.net and let me know what you would like to see

Some Photo Contest Tips

I hope you're thinking about what photos you want to enter in this year's Eastman Camera Club Photo Contest.   Here's some websites that offer tips to improve your chances:

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-win-a-photography-competition

http://www.nyip.com/ezine/contests/contest-tip-collection.html

http://www.pixiq.com/article/how-to-win-a-photography-contest

http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/guidelines.asp

The Eastman contest is judged by three professionals who are not club members or officers.   They have varying photography backgrounds and interests.  No, we are not going to tell you who they are.  You are welcome to attend the judging and listen to their discussions.   It can help you understand what makes a winning photo.