Prez Message for March:
I just got a note from Jim saying that my message for March’s newsletter is due. He’s right; February just sneaked out the door and March has entered so quietly that I didn’t realize the difference. We all enjoyed taking snow pictures, well at least some of us did, but now we are hoping to find the first crocus or tulip popping out of the ground or new growth on trees and plants. Suppose that will happen this month? It would be great to get a picture of the first one seen since that always seems to be the most beautiful one in our minds. I have seen pictures of the early robins although I haven’t seen any out here at my home yet. I think at this point I would settle for a nice photo of anything that hints of green grass and warmer temperatures.

March portends to be a very busy month. There are chances to enter competitions – both for the Peacemaking Workshop and for the Central Plains Severe Weather Symposium’s 10th anniversary. I would love to see our club members have some fantastic shots both places. On March 27th at the Severe Weather Symposium we have the honor of being able to listen to several club members speak. Kelly Clark will enlighten us about Lightroom and Ken Plank will share his beautiful nature photography. Hopefully Tim Plasek will also have his fantastic lightning shots there. Steve Traudt will present on HDR during the day to whet our appetites for the workshop on Sunday. Many other weather-related presentations will also occur, so come on out and have a great time. By the way, the afternoon before (26th) I would welcome any and all who have sympathy for me and could help hang all of the pictures. We should be there between the hours of noon and 5 PM. That way you could have a sneak peek at everything entered for both competition and noncompetition.

On Sunday, March 28th, Steve Traudt will hold a 3 ½ workshop on HDR. This is tentatively scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM and should last for 3 ½ hours. It will be in room 901 of Hardin Hall (where we hold competitions). Cost is $99 and you need to have your own camera, tripod, and laptop computer. At this time we still need 5 to 6 more people to sign up to cover his costs. Please sign up for a very informative afternoon.

Our 4 X 6 pictures of the month don’t seem to be attracting too many people right now. Hope the pace picks up. I hate to be the only one with pictures on the current topic. If you have noticed not all of them are great so don’t feel you must be another Ansel Adams to have one there. This is strictly for fun; if you want it critiqued ask an individual. Otherwise we just enjoy what we have done. The topic for March is Wind.

Don’t forget that Darrell Watts is accepting pictures for critique each month. Please email him to get your name on the list if you would like to have the club see some of your fabulous work. Those last month were great and I felt they deserved praise more than critique.
At our March meeting we will have a presentation by Red River papers and if I understood correctly there are some giveaways to lucky people attending the meeting.

Have I forgotten anything? Probably, but the letter is getting long so I will just stop it here and say- See you at the next meeting.

Linda Graham, President