Sarnia Computer Users' Group, Digital Special Interest Group (SIG) is a group who discuss and help with many aspects of digital photos and photography.

Visitors are always welcome at our meetings Digital SIG meetings held on the second Tuesday of each month, excluding July, August and December.

The meetings are held at Adult Learning Center, 660 Oakdale Avenue, Sarnia.

For information contact: Digital SIG Leader


Digital Photography Special Interest Group

Meeting Information Index
September 08, 2010 October 13, 2010 November 10, 2010
December 8,2010  
January 12,2011 February 09, 2011 March 09, 2011
April 13, 2011 May 11, 2011 June 08 2011

June 08, 2011
Program Meeeting was CANCELLED
Meeting report No Report
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May 11, 2011
Program I am going to talk about the direction and viability of the Digital sig. Please think about different formats that we may try so we can keep and generate more interest. This is your club and your sig. How do you want to see it in the future?
Bring you ideas There are no dumb questions or dumb ideas, only dumb answers and dumb looks.
Please help Ed and I.
Jim La Pointe
Hope to see you there!
Meeting report After the meeting.
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April 13, 2011
Program Simple Portraiture:
How to get the best portraits possible from a point and shoot camera.
Please bring your cameras and tripods if you have them!
We will set up simple sets and show how to use your on-camera flash to set off a slave flash. Also we will learn how to use reflectors to balance the light and shadows.
I Hope to see you there!
Meeting report This month's Digital Photography SIG was well received with about fifteen members attending. Pierre started the meeting with a talk about existing light photography and flash photography with portraits. This was followed by a simple lighting workshop in which members tried different window lighting and reflector combinations to achieve pleasing portraits. For links to web pages talked about in the meeting, please visit the club website.

The Law of Light:
http://www.sublime-light.com/index.php/2007/06/25/portrait-lighting-for-beginners-laws-of-light/

DIY Photo Shoot Tips:
http://www.ehow.com/info_8049458_diy-photo-shoot-tips.html

Simple lighting:
http://www.sublime-light.com/index.php/2007/06/15/howto-light-when-youve-left-your-gear-at-home/

Home Made reflector:
http://www.sublime-light.com/index.php/2007/08/10/diy-make-your-own-light-reflector-for-5/

Reflector stand:
http://www.diyphotography.net/homestudio/blz/cheap-diy-reflector-stand

Homemade Photo Studio:
http://www.angelfire.com/art2/photographic/

General Photo Shoot Tips:
http://www.ehow.com/photo-shoots/
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Wednesday March 09, 2011
Program Pierre will continue will his talks on basic camera terms. He will talk about Scene modes, Travelling with your Camera, and more Photoshop magic.
Meeting Report A small but hardy group attended the March Digital Photography SIG this month despite foul weather. Pierre started the meeting with a talk on camera terminology. He referred to the website "dpreview.com" which has am excellent glossary of camera and photography terms. Then there was an informative discussion about "Travelling with your Camera". Some topics covered: camera insurance, how to pack your camera, what to take, x-rays, theft prevention. For more information, please refer to our website.
The next Digital Photography SIG will be held April 13th at the ALC. The topic will be: Simple Portraiture: How to get the best portraits possible from a point and shoot camera. Please bring your cameras and tripods if you have them! We will set up simple sets and show how to use your on-camera flash to set off a slave flash. Also we will learn how to use reflectors to balance the light and shadows.
I Hope to see you there!
Pierre refered to the following web links on the web:
http://cameras.about.com/od/travelphotography/bb/cameraflying.htm

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/glossary/

http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-care/traveling/inspecting/

http://photography.about.com/od/photographybyoccasion/a/travelwithcamer.htm

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Wednesday February 09, 2011
Program I will start the meeting with a simple talk about camera terms and what they mean. I intend to talk about exposure metering types. The second half I will show some Photoshop tips using Photoshop Elements 8.

Pierre
Meeting report This month's Digital Photography SIG was well attended. Pierre led the discussion with a talk on camera exposure modes, including metering types, how the camera meter can be fooled, how to overcome meter error, scene modes. This was followed by a demonstration of various techniques in Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.
Here are Pierre's references:
http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-photoshop-elements-8/
http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-modes/exposure-modes/
http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-modes/exposure-modes/
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January 12, 2011 7:00 pm
Program The Digital SIG meeting:
Pierre will start the meeting with a simple talk about camera terms and what they mean. He intends to talk about exposure metering types.

The second half he will show some Photoshop tips using Photoshop Elements 8.
Meeting report The January 12th Digital Photography SIG meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather. The topic was to be camera exposure settings and Photoshop Elements 8 tips.
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December 8, 2010
Program The topic will be: " Shopping for a New Camera". I will be looking at various camera review websites, on-line and store shopping tips.
Meeting Report The December 8th Digital Photography SIG meeting was well attended. Pierre led the meeting with a talk on what to look for in a digital camera. Various online review sites were shown including:
dpreview.com
henrys.com
cameracanda.com
The main questions to ask yourself when buying a digital camera: What are you going to be using the camera for and if you plan on manual shooting.
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November 10, 2010
Program Knowing your Camera

Members are asked to bring their cameras, and more importantly, their camera manuals. We will break up into groups by camera type and will discuss the various controls and functions.
Meeting Report This month's Digital Photography SIG was well attended with about twenty five members in attendance. There were also eleven volunteer members of the Sarnia Photographic Club attending, asked by myself to help out. The objective of this meeting was to "learn more about your camera". We arranged ourselves into groups by camera type. Each group had one or two SPC members answering questions and showing members about their cameras.

The meeting was an overwhelming success, judging by the feedback I have received from both groups. It has been suggested that we have another session in the near future. A special thank you to the members of the SPC which came out to help!

The next Digital SIG will be on Wednesday, December 8th, 7:00 Pm at the ALC. The topic will be: " Shopping for a New Camera". I will be looking at various camera review websites, on-line and store shopping tips.

I hope to see you there!

Pierre Houle
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Wednesday October 13, 2010
Program 1) An Introduction to Photoshop Elements 8 - Pierre will download and install a demo version of PSE 8 and go over some of the new features

2) Taking Pictures at Night - Bring your camera, manual and a tripod (if you like). We will go over how it's done and will go outside and try it!

Pierre Houle
Meeting report The October Digital Photography SIG was well attended. Pierre started the meeting with a talk on night photography and followed with a few Photoshop tips. There was much discussion and questions from members.

Pierre asked for ideas for future meetings. The next Digital Photography SIG will be held Wednesday, November 10th, 7:00 PM at the ALC. The topic will be "Knowing your Camera". Members are asked to bring their cameras, and more importantly, their camera manuals. We will break up into groups by camera type and will discuss the various controls and functions.

Come out and participate!
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September 8, 2010
Program Our first Digital SIG for the season

This month's program will be about the latest improvements in Picasa, the free Google photo editing and cataloging program.

Pierre Houle
Digital Photography SIG Leader
Meeting report There was a very good turn out for the first SCUG meeting of the year. Pierre started off the meeting with a demonstration of the new features of Picasa 3.8. The most noteworthy addition was an online editor called "Piknic". Picasa still lacks a "layers" capability as well as a decent clone tool. More discussion ensued about the various features of Picasa including it's non-destructive editing feature, it's cataloging capabilities, and it's ability to view and edit RAW files.

There were a few general questions and comments dealing with photography in general. Pierre asked for ideas for future digital meetings.
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Last Update: June 16, 2011