Beautiful old south setting, big, exciting, wild animals, and great weather...

By John VanSteenberg

It's no secret that the first hint of winter has been signaling its onset. So, last week, we did what most cold sensitive folks do; we headed south, to work in warm weather one last time.

We had three major objectives: 1) Do a presentation for the Greater New Orleans Camera Club. 2) Spend a day shooting images and loaning out lenses to practice what we discussed at GNOCC and just to have fun. 3) To visit dealers around town who were starting the holiday sales season.

Thursday night, Jeff Allen and I presented a two hour seminar about making the final image you capture match the image in your head when you are in the excitement of the moment at the scene. (Sort of a 'Beyond the 11 Simple Secrets'.) Friday we visited stores and scouted the fabulous location where we would meet Saturday (The New Orleans Audubon Nature Institute).

Here is a shot of us just before we opened up Saturday morning. We had planned a group photo, but right from the start, we were so busy and the participants so anxious to get started, we couldn't get it done.

Saturday, we had about 70 photographers show up and they borrowed over 200 individual lenses to try (an average of 3 each). The situation was ideal. The Audubon is visually spectacular and the weather was perfect.

The old live oaks, dripping with moss, created a beautiful 'deep south' backdrop to the event. The animals were active and entertaining. The photographers probably entertained them, too. The exhibits were easily accessible ad permitted great access to good vantage points.

by Jean Francis

by Linda Vinsanau

by Tom Longmire

by Tom Oelsner

by William Pino

We are presenting just a few of their images here. They have an entire gallery going up on "www.myphotoexhibits.com" too.

Right after the holidays, we are going to start a series of about 30 free in store classes to help people get the most out of their 2012 picture taking opportunities. Look for one of us at a store near you. We will also be at WPPI, Imaging USA several PSA camera club councils and PSA's National Convention and many other events around the country. Stop by and visit us, if you can. A complete and evolving list of our attendance is located at:"www.tamron-usa.com/events"

Looking forward to seeing you all in 2012.

John