First Place: Jim Burstrand – Circuits
Second Place: Bill Martone – Short Circuit
Third Place: Steve Piepmeier – Cold War Hot Button
Robert Thoresen
April’s contest theme was electronics. Two of the three top finishers took apart circuit boards to create their images. Third place finisher Steve Piepmeier approached this topic from a much larger geopolitical scale.
Jim Burkstrand’s first place photo Circuits was taken April 1, 2016. Jim had an old electronic weather station that had stopped working some time ago. He removed the back cover and got access to the circuit board. “I tried a number of shots, mainly focused on the board at different magnifications and angles.” Jim didn’t really like any of them. Then he got the idea to print out a circuit diagram and lay the board on it. After a few shots, he got this one which he liked the best. Let’s hope he got his weather station back together and operational. This writer’s home weather station does not accurately measure rainfall but in all other respects is accurate. Jim’s photo was taken with a Canon 60D mounted on a tripod, using a Tamron 16-300 mm lens with vibration control; shot at 87 mm, 1/15 sec, f/16.0, ISO 200. It was shot in RAW and processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
Bill Martone has always been fascinated by the intricate designs and detail in modern computer circuit boards. For this contest Bill’s goal was to photograph not only the circuitry but also to highlight the board to which the circuits are attached. The solution was to backlight the circuit board in a darkened room and to pass a dim light across the surface. The result, Short Circuit, is a glowing green translucent board topped with various electronic components. Camera: Canon EOS 60D, Canon macro EF S 60mm f/2.8 lens, shutter speed 3.2 sec (camera tripod mounted), f/18 and ISO 500.
The Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita is the only remaining Titan II site open to the public, allowing one to relive a time when the threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union was a reality. The Titan II was capable of launching from its underground silo in 58 seconds and could deliver a nine megaton thermonuclear warhead to its target more than 6300 miles (10,000 km) away in less than thirty minutes. For more than two decades, 54 Titan II missile complexes across the United States stood “on alert” 24 hours a day, seven days a week, heightening the threat of nuclear war or preventing Armageddon, depending upon one’s point of view. Steve Piepmeier’s third place image, Cold War Hot Button, of the open silo taken near ground level in December 2014, reflects the sophisticated electronics that at a push of a button (actually turn of a key) the missile would be launched. Congratulations to Steve at interpreting the big picture. Camera: Canon PowerShot SX260HS, 1/20 sec, f/3.5, ISO 400.
The Photography Club of Quail Creek has a monthly photo contest for its members and also schedules numerous photo field trips for members throughout the year. Meetings are open to all Quail Creek residents and are held the second Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the Anza Conference Center.