On 9 May the Club members met at Sam Staffan's shop, in Mackinaw City, Michigan, with Show & Tell and many Bring Back items for the raffle. Here are some pictures of the items. First pictures are of the Bring Back items.
Bring Back items on the right.
Bring Back items included blanks of Ash and Cherry.
Many of the Bring Backs were finished items to share with members thru the raffle. This is a top view of some of the items.
Here are some of the many Show and Tell items.
Many of the items have cut and polished stones incorporated.
The diversity and ingenuity are amazing and members freely explain how they did it.
Jim Rutledge is center background.
Carvings added to the items lids add character.
Steve Promo had an interesting story for this item. The vase is end grain turned and thru the crack you can see the wall thickness. However, Steve said he made the top and bottom caps fit snug inside the openings so when the vase contracted it had resistance as it compressed around the caps. The stress was relieved by the wood cracking.
After the Raffle there were two presentations / demonstration of using a skew and alternates to make rounded beaded sections on a spindle. Part I was done by Jim Rutledge and Part II was done by Steve Promo. Here are the videos of the demonstrations.
First Part I by Jim Rutledge.
Part II of the Skew discussion was by Steve Promo and follows: Many thanks to the members who brought things in and to Jim Rutledge and Steve Promo for doing the demonstrations and discussing making beads on a spindle.
Last Friday Gloria and I visited the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior AZ. WE had been there before, but it has been awhile. WE got on the road pretty late so it was nearly 11 am by the time we arrived. This wasn't a photography outing. so the harsh light wasn't a biggie ...but I did bring a camera.
There are a lot of very large Eucalyptus trees there and in fact Gloria is sitting on a cutoff from a tree that was cut up.
Our trip to Yosemite was timed for the Dogwood blooms. But the dogwoods were a bit impatient this year and by the time we got there the blooms were wrapping up. I did find a few blooms still in decent shape. One is pictured here. The Pacific Dogwood flowers are quite large, 3 - 6 inches across and are more creamy in color.
I found out about this nesting site a few weeks ago and didn't have a camera with me. Yesterday I was back in that area and checked the nesting site and she was still on the nest. The male was near by as well but in heavy foliage, so no pick. This was shot with a 500mm prime so I didn't need to get too close.
I grabbed a few quick shots and left the area. Fortunately she was looking my way in couple of them.
The proud parents. Image was made last Saturday morning during my photo walk at Desert Meadows Park in Green Valley AZ. A pair of Gambler's Quail with their chicks.
While visiting the Yosemite Valley area last week we were in the Swinging Bridge area of the valley our first morning. That is where this dead tree, lit by natures spotlight, t caught my attention. So naturally I photographed the crap out of it. So the result is this little portfolio.
This image was made just as the sun was rising. We were standing just off the road in th eTunnel View parking lot of Yosemite National Park. In the image are th lesser know Silver Strand Falls. They are a seasonal water fall in a few weeks will probable stop flowing. Because of the fresh bright snow the smaller falls kind of are lost in the image. Hopefully the v shape to the ridge line will guide your eyes to cascade. The bright colored leaves of a single tree could be a distraction, or a secondary interest point? As for myself, I can't decide...keep it in or tone down the red/orange leaves?
I made this image of a bobcat while at Yosemite Falls. It was very near the lower falls, just maybe 10 yards off the paved trail. There is a story to go with this cat sighting that I may share in a future post.
Leica SL3 with a Sigma 500mm prime, 1/800sec, f/5.6, iso 8000, handheld.
The 11 April 2026 club meeting met at Sam Staffan's shop. There were extensive Show and Tell items as well as bring backs. All who bought tickets for the raffle went home with an item.
Some of the Show and Tell items and some of the Bring Back items for the raffle.
Jim Rutledge brought in several wonderfully carved items.
More wonderful member items. Carved fish and birds.
More wonderful items that were discussed including a bowl made to look like a volcano with lava flow.
This bowl has multiple curves top and bottom.
Another view of the carvings. Note the leaves on the bowl topped with a bird.
Sam explained his magic floating candle. Look close and you can just make out the fishing line.
With the right background the fishing lines are very hard to see. It looks like candle holder is floating. Neat work.
Sam make this bowl look like a volcano with lava flowing down. Very nice, indeed.
Sam was nice enough to explain how he did the work on this bowl.
There was a demo by Steve Promo of making a bird feeder from nothern white cedar.
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