Kansas City Zoo Photo Club Meeting Minutes

January 15, 2001

Dan Paulsen called the meeting to order around 7:20 p.m. He said Wayne Hickox, our treasurer would not be here tonight, and he will miss next month as well due to a prior commitment.

Dan asked if there was any old business.

Chris Nederman explained that Wolf Park in Indiana has five dates open in the spring, all Saturdays - March 10 through April 7. March 10 and March 31 are completely open. She talked to Monty at Wolf Pork and he said that if we pick a date that's not booked at all, they could take more than seven or eight of us. If there are too many photographers, it gets very crowded. There are four to five staff members involved, too. They only do this in the spring and fall, because in the summer, the wolves' coats are shaggy and not very photogenic.

Chris said it costs $150 to go, and it starts at 10 a.m. They do a quick talk to explain the rules, give photography tips, and explain wolf behavior. Then you get a quick lunch. At 1 p.m., you go out with the wolves. You get to spend about an hour and 45 minutes with them, in two sessions. The wolves actually pose for you. They are wild, so Chris said she saw a fight among them when she was there. And a wolf grabbed one of the photographers by the arm. But you also get to pet them.

There is a hotel nearby - the Holiday Inn. They have a special rate of about $40 a night and its 10 minutes from the park The park is in Battleground, Indiana, near Lafayette.

While there, you can also drive through Park County, where there are 32 covered bridges.
You send the money in advance and there are no refunds. They only cancel if it is pouring rain. It's an eight- to nine-hour drive, so we'd want to go up the day before and stay overnight. It'd really be a two-night trip.

Chris asked for a show of hands by those interested. About 12 people expressed an interest. Chris said she would try to finalize details next month. The group felt a trip toward the end of March would be best. Dan said he would check into getting a van for the trip, for those that want to go up together.

It was also noted that the Great Plains Nature Photography meeting will be April 28 in Wichita. Art Wolfe is coming On the following day, the 29Th, they may have a photo shoot with Art.

Linda Williams passed out handouts on mat cutting from a recent Northland Photography
meeting. Thanks, Linda!

Dan said we had several guests tonight - Evelyn Meissner, Amy Crouse, Raye Blair, Brian Dowell and Denny Medley (sorry for any name misspellings).

Dan welcomed them and said he hoped they liked our group and would decide to join. Feel free to come to two or three meetings, then sign up if you like us!

Evelyn also told us about free print judging that the Professional Photography Association does, for those interested in portraiture. Members and nonmembers can be judged. Their next meeting is at Johnson County Community College on Sunday, February 11, from 8 to 5. If you receive enough merits, you can put "Master Photographer after your name. Their Website address is gkcppa.com.

Chris said she took the print rack over to Deja Zoo. Anyone having any prints to show should let Chris know. Linda brought in some matted pictures tonight, and Terry Fretz sold a couple of pictures recently. Way to go!

Jim Rendina said he had nothing new to report on our Website. He hasn't talked to Malinda. He wants to set up a Website with thumbnail pictures of our work. If anyone knows about Websites, talk to Jim - this is a cheap way to get a membership!

Jim said he also brought a couple of old prints that Marie Bohndorf had asked him to restore. He thought folks might enjoy seeing what can be done with Photo Shop. As you look at these, he asked that you please handle the old originals carefully.

Marie told us about a class on photo restoration. It is held at the Area Vocational- Technical School in Kansas City, Kansas, at 59"' and Parallel. It runs from March 8 to April 26 on Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m.. and costs only $35. You don't have to be a Kansas resident to take the class.

Chris said she saw an article about Overland Park opening a new convention center. They are spending a certain amount of money on art for the center and will accept up to ten slides per person if you have been in juried shows or galleries. Entries had to be in by January 26.

We looked at some prints that members brought in - Chris had some wolf pictures (from guess where?), Dan had pictures of the Tournament of Roses, and Marie brought in some hippo and leopard prints, among others.

Our program was given by Dee Carlisle. She gave a slide show on her recent trip to Africa! She went there with Dr. Mark Wourms, the director of the KC zoo. There were ten people in their group. They went to Capetown first, then to the Okavango Delta and Botswana, and ended the trip at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. They cruised down the Zambezi River.

She took a Sony digital video camera (plus other cameras). This proved very easy to use. It was good to have it, since things happen so fast. She said pictures could be printed up to 8 x 10 on a good printer. Custom Color does good work with digital images. Dee said the more pixels, the better the camera.

They saw dolphins, whales, penguins (close to Antarctica!), cranes, elephants (they did get charged once), saddlebilled storks, warthogs, lions, zebras, black-backed jackal, hippos, hyenas, bush baby, hammerkops, wildebeest, kudu, baboons, giraffe, Cape buffalo, and fruit bats. It is rare to see wild dogs, but they did see two packs eating a gazelle. At Capetown, they went to a cheetah preserve, where you could pet the cheetahs.

They stayed in luxurious tents with real beds, floors, and showers. There were lots of bugs, and they do bite! They were there in the spring, when it was not real hot —about 85 to 90 degrees. She said it got chilly at night; they needed sweaters, blankets, and warm pajamas. It is hot between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., and most animals are not active at that time. They were there for two weeks. She said there was lots of flying - KC to Atlanta to Cape Town to Johannesburg to Botswana. Many were single-engine plane trips.

She said our zoo exhibit is close to what it looks like! They saw four of the big five animals of Africa - elephant, lion, hippo, Cape buffalo, and rhino (they saw all but a rhino). Dee summed up by telling us that if you ever get the chance, go! The light there is wonderful, and there are no bars to shoot through!
We took a short break and had treats brought by Barbara Chase. Thanks, Barbara!

We then saw member slides. Chuck Tipton had some of ice sculptures on the Plaza from four or five years ago. Linda Hanley had some underwater shots of Chuck Lagoon in Micronesia from November 2000. Marie shared some zoo animal slides, including the koribustard and the rhino baby (now over 500
pounds!), as well as Squaw Creek from the day after Thanksgiving. Chris had some of Wolf Park. Terry had some slides from James A. Reed Wildlife Preserve.

The meeting adjourned around 9 p.m. The next meeting will be on February 19 at 7 p.m.