A flower knows the return of the butterfly

Deep in Prayer by Janet Ballard

Deep in Prayer by Janet Ballard

Black Beauty by Wayne Divoky

Black Beauty by Wayne Divoky

Janet Ballard

Spring is a glorious time in Arizona. Our blue skies and pleasant temperatures make it a great time to frolic around the state. There is so much to do and photograph: hiking, visit the zoo, spring training, catch a round of golf, outdoor concerts, visit national parks and monuments, attend several festivals including the Matsuri and Renaissance as well as hot air ballooning. There is so much activity for every level of photographic experience to capture both day and night. So, like the butterfly, take your time fluttering around knowing your flower awaits. A few websites to visit for information and events are as follows: wildinarizona.com (visit the blog), visitarizona.com/events, dbg.org, desertmuseum.org, phoenix.about.com/cs/events/a/festivals04.htm and flagstaff.com.

Featured Images: Black Beauty was taken by Wayne Divoky at the Desert Botanical Gardens’ Butterfly Exhibit. Wayne used great creativity by taking a 100-400 mm lens set at 400mm with an extension tube turning his glass into a macro-like lens. Graced with luck from the subject, his relatively slow shutter speed of 1/125 was able to battle any elements keeping his image sharp and a maximum aperture of f/6.3 allowed for its bokeh. Wayne finished in the editing room using Nik Collections’ Viveza and sharpening tools. Deep in Prayer was taken by Janet Ballard at Saint Mark’s Episcopal church. The church was built in 1905 and is located Nenana, Alaska, the infamous home to the ice classic lottery featured in two movies, Call of the Yukon and Balto. Jan used a Sony A7 ii with fe 16-35 lens on a tripod set to f/6.7, ¼ sec, 25 mm and 1600 iso.

Meetings: First club meeting will be held on Thursday, April 6, 2017, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with featured speaker Rick Jacobi, Arizona Highways Photo Workshops. End-of-Year award slideshow and banquet will be held on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Our EOY banquet will start at 5:00 p.m. with the image award show to follow immediately afterwards. Check the website, sunlakescameraclub.com, for details, updates and print drop-off time. EOY tickets can be purchased from Karen Melching through April 6.

Reminders: Summer session schedule begins in May. Check the website, sunlakescameraclub.com, for updates and details on meetings and events. Happy Easter season!

The Sun Lakes Camera Club (SLCC) meets the first and third Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the Navajo Room of the Sun Lakes Country Club from October through April. During the summer, the club meets the first Thursday of each month in the Ceramics Room of the Cottonwood Country Club. For more information about the SLCC and its activities, call SLCC President Burt Williams at 602-354-0266, Vice President Jan Ballard at 602-621-3344 or past President John Livoti at 480-895-6880 or visit our website at sunlakescameraclub.com.