Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 12th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 19th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 26th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 10th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.  

Agenda / Summary

Tuesday is our day to discuss techniques used in modern photography and other Photographers/Newsvine operations.  The topic of  discussion will be long exposure photography.  At this first session, we will want to discuss the participants goals, view and decipher example photographs (please bring some of your own!), and make sure no participant leaves without knowing how to use their camera (please bring yours to the meeting!).

Participants will scatter into the "real" world, create long exposure images, and bring them for discussion in the second session two weeks later (April 24th). 

Then I thought the group could share the results with the greater Photographers community by writing an article about what each participant learned, displaying the results.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 12th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 19th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

No Rocky image this month.

This.challenge was inspired by the wildly successful Roll in a day group on Flickr.  The concept is simple but produces some interesting results:  "The rule is that ALL pics must be taken on the same day and ALL must be posted, duds an' all." 

This is "inspired by" because the group disallows the use of digital cameras.  Roll in a day doesn't allow them for good reason.  By imposing that limitation, the photographer is forced to put greater thought into their images before pressing the shutter button. With fewer restrictions than its traditional counterpart, digital photography's technology can be extremely distracting to the user, empowering them to hit the shutter willy nilly and put little thought into the outcome. 

NVP will just have to trust the participants are following the rules.

Any day in this month of April, equip your camera [pretending that it's using film if it's digital] and take 12 consecutive photographs throughout the day and publish the results, in order, duds an' all.

Articles should also contain:

• tags:  photo-challenge, 12-in-a-day
• The photo-challenge branding (further instruction).

http://photographers.newsvine.com/photo-challenge for previous challenges and entries. 

Photographers, as the spring rains arrive and wash the winter accumulation, the flowers prepare their yearly color display.  Let us celebrate the transition into summer with a flower-themed front page header.

There are already a few flower images in the pool so this one is partially complete.  The deadline is whenever Mal has enough photos (about seven) from as many people to finish it or two weeks.  Old photographs or new, it don't matter.

This a ongoing project that Mal explains here and, for ease of all, utilizes this Flickr Pool.  Photographs may also be emailed to photographers.newsvine.com@gmail.com.  If just signing up with Flickr, you can connect with other Photographers here.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 5th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 12th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 19th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

There is a general interest in using the Photographers GoToMeeting (GTM) software to hold "workshops" to learn photographic concepts, image processing techniques, etc. 

The first subject, due to expressed interest, is 'long/timed exposure photography'. There will be two sessions for this topic.

Wikipedia defines the technique as "using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements."

That means we'll be discussing how to go about photographing nighttime scenes, light painting, and "silky" waters. 

A tripod and a remote are helpful but one can do without. A steady surface and the camera's timer is all you need.

This won't be a boring lecture or demonstration.  With fellow Photographers at hand, participants will leave the workshop with some sort of idea of how to accomplish a long exposure.

The biggest challenge for most will be how to use the camera.  We'll stop the meeting and wait for you to retrieve your camera if you forget to bring it.

It's recommended, in preparation, that participants peruse the internets to find photographic examples of what types of images they would like to accomplish.

All Photographers are welcome to join the session, to learn, to listen, to share knowledge (and get smarter here). 

"Tutorial" sessions are held on Tuesdays.  We're looking at holding this one on April 2nd or 10th.  The poll results will determine which. 

Participants will be given two weeks to apply anything learned and bring the results to a meeting for discussion.

Any questions or suggestions?  Leave those below.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  March 29th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 5th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 12th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

After several previous attempts since 3/15 , halted because of visibility, wind or range-safety, NASA successfully launched five (5) ATREX rockets beginning at 4:58am Tuesday morning (3/27/12).

ATREX ,(Anomalous Transport Rocket EXperiment), is designed to study the ulta-high altitude jet-stream winds, "and their intimate connection to the complicated electrical current patterns that surround Earth". [source]

For explanations on the ATREX program, use this link, and the link above.

For explanations on Heliophysics, use this link.

[All images are property of the author, please respect the copyright and do not download with out prior consent].

by Samuel Gerald Firman

Since the days of mob leaders and chiefs, through Kings and Emperors, right up to CEO's and Bankers, the masses have always sent  their assets, money, produce and labor up to those entities in exchange for the necessities in life.  This tithing or taxing has continued because a few individuals keep managing to monopolize commodities and services so they can siphon wealth from the bottom up.  If the masses  would only educate themselves and realize they could live more abundantly  by harvesting their own food, building their own habitat, generating their own energy  they might at last retrieve control of their lives and let the current powers that be fend for themselves.

Alternative energy,  including solar, will become a world wide phenomena. It is just bound to happen. Believe it or not, solar energy has created all the other forms of energy we use. Oil, coal, gas and wood were all created by way of the Sun. Using solar power can cut out all the middle steps which sometimes take millions of years to change solar into burnables. A change in the philosophy of the masses can cut out all the middlemen and monopolizers of energy as  we know it today. Solar allows the masses to generate energy for themselves instead of owing allegiance and money to the utilities and conglomerates which they now pay on a regular basis.

Going solar doesn't mean we can do away with power companies. We will still require a grid to help make electrical energy transportable and reliable. What will change is that those companies will only receive payment for use of their grid plus a small amount to  ensure an available backup source. Going solar will mean the most effecient and effective use of our Sun and its abundance. Going solar will help keep our Earth from the ravages of current abuse of her resources. We will go solar.

Think about it. This change in viewpoint could reverse the flow of wealth in this world. Individuals would become master of their destiny. Localized generation of energy would lead to stronger communities through joint operation of systems. Our world can be a better place.

Previous in this series.

Other such articles. 

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  March 22nd, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, March 15th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 22nd @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Buildings.  Lines.  Shapes.  Stories.  Ceilings.  Patterns.  Abstracts.  Murals.  Homes.  Stories...  Let's see what the Photographers can do with buildings!

If you don't mind contributing these images to the front page header, please also add them to the Newsvine Photographers Flickr Header Pool. 

Articles should also contain:

• tags:  photo-challenge, buildings-architecture,
• The photo-challenge branding (further instruction).

http://photographers.newsvine.com/photo-challenge for previous challenges and entries. 

Pololū (Hawaiian spelling: Pololū, stressed on the final 'ū') is the Northernmost of a series of erosional valleys forming the east coast of Kohala Mountain on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The word Pololū means long spear in the Hawaiian language.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  March 15th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 2:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, March 15th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 22nd @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  March 8th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 2:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, March 15th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 22nd @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Being on a tropical island presents so many more location opportunities than the everyday scene back home (though I probably would have tried hard to find a fantastic location in Minneapolis).  These were shot on the Kohala Mountain Road Lookout.  Unfortunately, there are not many places to stop and take photographers on what is probably the most scenic drive on the big island of Hawai'i but near the eight mile marker there is a 'scenic point' to park, near the highest point of the road, over 3500+ feet in elevation. 

There have been two truly cloudy days in the last two weeks and Leap Day was one of them.  Frowny face.

I didn't read anywhere that this place was sacred to the Hawaiians but there were several offerings lying about.

To make up for such a lackluster sunset, I'm including this shot of the sun setting in Kona, off of King Kamehameha III Rd.  This was taken Monday, February 27th.

Same shot, further out.
From the lanai of where I'm staying in Kealakekua, February 23rd.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  March 1st, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 2:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, March 8th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 15th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  February 23rd, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 2:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, March 1st @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 8th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Former Representative Pete Hoekstra (R) who is running for the US Senate hired Lisa Chan to portray someone in China who was ostensibly thanking his opponent for sending jobs to China.  This ad caused quite an uproar, even garnering criticism from other Republicans. Not long after the ad was aired the actress issued this apology.

I am deeply sorry for any pain that the character I portrayed brought to my communities. As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions.
- Lisa Chan

I feel this is a pretty darned good example of an apology.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  February 9th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 2:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, February 23rd @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 1st @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our dear friend Sydney-5 passed away last night, very early this morning. 

My prayers are with her family, and my heart is with her, my dear friend.

I will be writing a memorial/tribute article.  A celebration of her life-- I'm working on a video, and hopefully will have it up soon.

Right now, it is all I can do to talk...  So, please forgive me, but I won't be around much this afternoon and evening.

Our dear friend Grisham, has also suffered a terrible loss-- his father passed away yesterday.  My thoughts and prayers are with he and his family today, too.

The last words I said to Sydney-5 were, "I love you."  I still do, my friend, that will never change.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  February 16th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 2:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, February 23rd@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 1st @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Ben has requested that I produce a map for us, showing the locations of all our pictures that we take on Leap Year.  Therefore, here is the first map!

If you would like to participate in the Leap Year Photo Challenge-- you may visit this article, HERE, to learn more about the challenge.  If you would like to let everyone know where your picture was taken, just leave a comment here including your screenname, city and state!  I'll put a dot on for you!

The dots will be place on your city-- no addresses, please, just cities, states, and if another country, the country!  I'm looking forward to seeing all the pictures around the world, on Leap Year, Feb. 29th!

Please join me in wishing all Leap Year babies Happy Birthday!  (This includes my college friend, Neanderthalis sweetieus!) 

 Thanks for your participation!

Thanks for coming by!

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  February 9th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 2:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, February 16th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, February 23th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Part 1 of this series can be found here.

Tags are a way of organizing your online articles into a searchable database using key words and expressions.  Most people choose their tags based on personal preference, and that’s fine, but if you want others to be able to use tags to find your articles, you need to plan out your strategy.

What is abstract photography?  That's an extremely good question with a wide-range of answers and no standard definition. The two most common definitions are 1) abstraction relies more on lines, shape, and form than recognizable subjects, and 2) anything presented in an unnatural way. 

Some common techniques to create abstract images are listed on this website.

If you don't mind contributing these images to the front page header, please also add them to the Newsvine Photographers Header Pool. 

Articles should also contain:

• tags:  photo-challenge, abstraction,
• The photo-challenge branding (further instructions).

Come to a virtual-vinemeet if you need ideas! 

http://photographers.newsvine.com/photo-challenge for previous challenges and entries.