The photo Crested Caracara in Flight, by John Tubbs, placed third.
Denny Huber took second place with his photo Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Jeff Krueger won first place with his photo Double Crossed.
The Photo Club of Quail Creek continued with its quarterly member’s challenge with quarter four having the topic of “Looking Up” or “Looking Down.” Each club member could enter up to three photos taken during the quarter. This subject was a very popular one for the members and drew 38 entries. All of the photos can be seen on our Flickr site tinyurl.com/4r6sxk7n.
Jeff Krueger won first place with his photo Double Crossed. Jeff commented, “I attend a number of airshows every year and do some shooting on base at several Navy and Air Force bases. This photo was taken at the Nellis AFB Aviation Nation airshow in Las Vegas last November. As I have photographed the USAF Thunderbirds several times, including their practice flights, it helped me set up and be ready for one of their signature over-the-crowd cross patterns. These are difficult to get, as timing is critical and, in all honesty, even knowing what is going to happen, I miss as much as I hit. This photo was taken with a Canon R5 mirrorless camera and a 100-500mm lens at 300mm, shutter speed 1/2500 sec at f/5.6. I always shoot shutter priority for ground to air shots so I can control the sharpness of the image, and depth of field isn’t all that important, which is why the wider f/ stop.”
Denny Huber took second place with his photo Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Denny commented, “We and some friends went to Phoenix to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in December, and we had seats in the very last, uppermost row, so we were looking quite down on the stage. They put on a great show, but be forewarned, as we were, wear earplugs!
The light show was pretty spectacular, and I knew the lights could result in some great images. I find that my iPhone does a better job at indoor lighting than my big rig Canon, so I took about 150 images. My favorite shot was one where the moving yellow spotlight was shining right at us, lighting up the heads of the people in front of us, providing at least a little foreground. I also liked the balance from the many yellow lights scattering in all directions.” Denny used his iPhone 13 for this photo.
The photo Crested Caracara in Flight, by John Tubbs, placed third. John said, “This image was made at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM). The bird is one of their “raptor free flight” program birds and is a beautiful animal. ASDM has behind-the-scenes classes through their Art Institute, and this was taken in one class. Flying birds are always a challenge, so I shoot with burst mode to look for the best shots and a fast shutter speed to freeze motion. Post processing was slight cropping and a couple of overall adjustments.” John used his Sony shooting at 279 mm, f/13 with a shutter speed of 1/3200 sec.
The Photography Club of Quail Creek has a monthly photo contest for its members and schedules numerous photo field trips for members throughout the year. Meetings are held the second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Kino Conference Center, Mesquite Room. Room venue could vary each month. Consult the club’s constantly updated website www.pcqc.org, as well as the weekday HOA What’s Happening for additional information.