Rowlett, Texas Photography Club Meetup

On the fourth Saturday of every month, (except this one in September) a gathering at the Dallas Arboretum, followed by an on-site lunch.

The Arboretum, always different, offering photographers everything from landscapes to micro, from scheduled events to ongoing changes with the seasons, to plants, art and Mother nature.

For beginners to old heads, for worker bees to retired folks, a chance to spend time with other RTPC members, maybe a learn a thing or two without long drives, and perhaps a monthly challenge.

The Arboretum is now charging for non-member parking. We'll coordinate parking and entry fees here on Meetup.

Gather at 0845 at Gate 1.

You know you've been waiting for this - here's the official announcement!

I'm starting a Fourth Friday Low Light event. You'll learn how to do amazing things like:

• Beat your camera's internal light meter into submission
• How to get vivid colors at night
• Stopping motion (for fast things, like water drops and bullets)
• Blurring motion (a/k/a dragging the shutter)
• Feel confident using all of those "little used buttons" that you've been dying to master

What you'll need to succeed:

• KNOW YOUR CAMERA AND MANUAL. Learn where all of the modes are selected and what the buttons do and where they are, even if you don't understand what they do. I'm a Nikon guy - don't ask me for Canon / Sony / Leica advice. :-)
• A stable tripod. We want stability here, not wishy-washy-wobbles.
• Neutral Density Filters for the lenses you will be using. It's like Bogart once said: “You'll need them. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”

I will send out details to the attendees as we get closer to the event date - this allows me to pick out a fun spot to play. And when it gets too hot to go out, we can possibly reserve a classroom somewhere and do indoor things, like the famous water droplets and the like. So for now, I've selected the Rowlett DART station, but that's not where we're going to be going!

Do you like talking about Photography? Do you like hearing others talk about Photography? Are there burning questions you have about the world of Photography? Do you have philosophical opinions about subjects such as Artificial Intelligence? Anything Photography!!

If you answered Yes to any of the previous questions then this meeting is for you. It is designed for open discussion about any topic regarding photography. It can be your opinion about something, or a question. It can be theoretical or practical.

It is not a show and tell. There will be no presentations or instructional training. Just a lot of fun discussing Photography.

Come join us around the table and immerse yourself in photography discussions for a couple of hours.

For our October photo walk, I'm planning something a bit different! It's been a while since there was a photo walk planned to shoot from Reunion Tower (in fact, I didn't make that one in 2017 because I tripped and face planted on the concrete at the EBJ DART station before getting there and broke my nose). I did go several weeks later on my own.
Anyway, here is the plan:
Meet at the Rowlett DART station on the train platform about 5:10 pm or whatever time will allow you to be on the 5:21 pm train. We should arrive at EBJ Union Station at 6:03 pm so if you are riding the train from another location, plan to arrive at about that time. If you are driving, there is tower parking at 601 Sports Street for $10 for up to 4 hours.
Purchase your ticket ahead of time to ensure you are able to get in (https://reuniontower.com/). Ticket should be purchased for 6:30 pm entry on October 9; the cost online is $20.57 for seniors (65+) or $23.82 for adults. Tickets are not refundable; however, they can be rescheduled for another time if bad weather derails us or you are unable to attend.
Sunset on October 9 should be at 7:01 pm so going in at 6:30 pm should enable us to get some sunset shots (pray for a good one) followed by nighttime shots. I anticipate being there for about an hour or so. Tripods and monopods are NOT ALLOWED so don't even try and bring them; however, you should be able to get some great shots anyway with a steady hand and/or camera with good stabilization features.
Depending on how much you want to carry, I would suggest your normal shooting lens, a wide angle, zoom, and/or specialty lens for some interesting effects. I just looked at my photos from 2017, and I shot with a 24-105, 70-300, and a 14 mm.
Once we have had our fill of shooting the city, we will get back on the DART train and get off at the Akard Station for a two block walk to Patrick Kennedy's Irish Pub in the One Main Place building at 1201 Main St. #100. This place has really good reviews and should be a fun place for dinner and drinks.
If you are driving instead of riding the DART train and want to go to dinner with the group, you might want to park at a surface lot somewhere about half way between Reunion Tower and the restaurant. It's about a 17 minute 0.75 mile walk between the two locations so that might be more convenient so you're closer to your vehicle after dinner. Looking at google maps, there are several parking lots that would be convenient, but you'll have to research this on your own.
I expect we would be getting back to Rowlett about 9:45 - 10:00 pm.
I hope this sounds like a fun outing and, hopefully, some of the working folks might be able to join us on this "daytime" photo walk.