Photo Hunt at Bent of the River - a photo group meetup

This past Sunday a few members from our meet up group had a fun day at Bent of the River Audubon Center in South Britain. Although the turnout was not large, the few who did attend had nothing but great things to say about the meet up. While it was a bit hot, the day actually turned out to be really nice and we all enjoyed the time there.

The original plan was to conduct a photo hunt but with the smaller turnout I thought something a bit more challenging, yet fun, might be in order. A list was handed out to all the attendees that talked about various design elements that are used to create an effectively visual image. The list contained six design elements with a specific goal to capture in each of the six elements. This is what was handed out to everyone;

• Line: Fence rail, fence line
• Shape: Circle, ball, round
• Form: Silhouette
• Texture: Rusty, corroded
• Pattern: Grid, checkered
• Color: Yellow

The purpose of the exercise is to force the photographer to slow down a little and put some thought into the subject and it's composition within the frame. So, if you browse through the group's photo gallery for this meetup and see notations about design elements, this is why.

One pleasant surprise was a little project Jeff D. was working on. I noticed that he had taken a picture, moved his tripod a few inches and took a picture again. He explained that he was generating images to make 3D images. What? Three dimensional images without the use of special cameras or prism lenses? According to Jeff, it's all in the manipulation of color levels on two images and then combining them to create a true black and white 3D image. To see the results you'll need the 3D glasses that have the red/blue lenses. You may have one laying in a dusty drawer somewhere. He has posted a few to the group's photo gallery for all of us to enjoy. Maybe is we ask nicely we can have Jeff teach the technique to us.

If you have never been to Bent of the River, I have to tell you that you should make time to visit there at least once sometime soon. The grounds are large and contain hiking trails that run through a variety of terrain. The area around the main office is beautifully surrounded by wild flowers, trees and a large assortment of bird feeders. I was amazed by the number of hummingbirds flitting to and fro. There is a nice observation deck that gives a great view of all the bird activity there. If you have children it's a great place to bring a picnic and have them exhaust themselves by running around the place.

We'll try to do this one more time before the cold weather gets here. If not you can be assured that it will be a meet up again next year. In the meantime, play around with the list above and feel free to create your own.