04 apr 2012

APRIL MEETING:

DATE & TIME: SATURDAY, April 7, 2012 AT 6:30 P.M. Usual potluck supper followed by meeting.

PLACE: Eagles Lodge Community Room on east end of building next to Rosauers. 2420 South Avenue West. Hosts are Cindy Davis and Scott Burns-Drake

AGENDA: Discussion of possible June garden tour of member homes for society members only

"FYI" NEWS

A host home is needed for the June 2nd meeting. Call Carol Addeo at 251-5833 is you can provide the meeting location.

MEMBERSHIP LIST: Copies of the MIS Membership List for 2012 will be passed out to everyone in attendance at the April meeting. Members unable to attend will receive it in the mail.

GARDEN CHAT ARTICLES: Be sure to read the interesting article by member Carol Barbien on Photographing your Iris; it's at the end of this newsletter and on our website. This is the first of our series of articles to be written by members and posted in the newsletter and on our website. Following is the list of the volunteers who will write articles for the newsletter. We still need volunteers to write articles for October, November and December.

April: Carol Barbian

May: Ed Verplancke

June: Jim Sadler

July: Donna Dowell

September: Anita

October: _____________

November: ___________

December: ___________

Thanks to Pete Addeo, Missoula Iris Society now has a very nice Facebook page. Drop in to Facebook and add your comments and friend the Society.

It's Their Birthday!!....Let's Give 'Em a Cheer!!!

Happy birthday to Jim Sadler – April 2; Alverta Symes – April 3; Delane Langton - April 8; Ron Dunn – April 23, and Caorl Barbian - April 28. Have a happy birthday all.

TREASURERS REPORT

SAVINGS ACCOUNT:

The March newsletter reported balance was $11,750.87. I have transferred $500.00 to the checking account to pay bills which results in a balance of $11,250.67 as of March 27, 2012.

CHECKING ACCOUNT:

The March newsletter reported balance was $248.67. I have received and deposited 3 memberships from Pat and Nancy Ryan plus Lynn Weger. I have paid Alverta Symes $127.98 for the new sale card laminator and 50 laminate pouches; Donna Dowell $56.95 for a beautiful pictorial history book of 2011 MIS activities; and $50.00 to the Eagle's Lodge for the meeting room rental for April's meeting. Adding in the transfer of $500 from saving and 3 memberships totaling $530.00 and subtracting $234.93 in expenses results in a balance of $543.74 as of March 27, 2012.

Respectfully submitted,

Swede Gustafson, Treasurer

MINUTES OF THE March 3 MEETING:

Meeting called to order at 7: 08 P.M.. by Ed Verplancke at the Eagles community room. Ed asked if all read the minutes, Ed moved that the minutes be approved as printed in the news letter.

Swede read the treasurer report. Swede transferred $500.00 from Savings into the checking account, savings balance is now $11,250.87, Checking Balance is $748.67. Paid Alverta's Symes $127.98 for laminator and pouches. Current Checking Balance is $620.69. Received dues from the Ryan's. Swede also bought 4 Tables to be used for the show, fort etc., they are stored at the fort. Haven't heard from Elizabeth, Betty Ann sent a card to Lynn as a reminder. She will sent a card to Elizabeth. Jim asked about the 990 form, Swede stated that it will be sent by the AIS National Treasurer. Bob moved that the treasurer’s report be approved as presented Ron seconded it.

New Business: Betty Ann discussed show it is scheduled for Saturday, June 9, 2012. She passed out copies of the design categories. The Name of the Show is Jewels of the Garden. Designs are listed on the Missoula Iris web sight. Judy asked about a median show, Gary stated that the median show is every other year, so one will not be held this year but in 2013. Show schedule has been approved by the AIS with one change, which was made changing the historical date to 1983. Pete will get with Betty Ann to print the show schedule.

Alverta has bought the laminator, Ed has prints ready for laminating. In future months we will be scheduling card parties. Display Banner - need a committee for planning the logo on the banners., Bob, Alverta, Gary and Pete have agreed to do this. Gale, from the Dahlia society will go with the group to get the banners, discussion followed, the committee will get together soon to decide the logo. Pete suggested putting web site info on the banners.

Discussion followed about making our web site more informative. Such as doing a column about gardening. Maybe a message from the President, many clubs are doing face book pages. Maybe we can look into doing this. Create and then friend us, so we know what's going on, many mixed feeling on doing it. Pete can had pictures on the site, create a gardening corner, further discussion followed. Betty Ann sent around a paper with months for members to sign up to write a column for the site.

Old Business: Alverta has been working with Great Falls, they will let her know where they will be meeting on April 25, 2012 to talk about the AIS, judging, etc. This would be a day trip, a small group will be car pooling up , so far Alverta, Bob, Gary, Ron, Donna, Swede, Betty Ann and possibly Jim Sadler, if he gets permission from Linda will be going.

Ron joined the Eagles, so now the use of their meeting room is free. The yearly membership was $30.00. Club offered to reimburse him, he declined.

Need a meeting place for April, Carol will check to see if the Eagle's is available. Will let us know.

Linda Sadler won the March Rhizome

Bob moved to adjourned the meeting , Judy seconded.

Submitted by Cindy Davis, Secretary

TIPS ON HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR IRIS by Carol Barbian

When we were still using film cameras with a limited number of exposures, the temptation was to get everything in each exposure so that we could record EVERYTHING with each roll of film used. Thank goodness for digital. Now we can take as many photos as the memory card will hold-often more than 500-immediately see what we've captured and delete those deemed less than desirable.

This article will focus on a few tips for photographing your iris. I am by no means an expert, but I was fortunate enough to win the first annual iris photography contest and I am interested in producing a calendar for our Society, so perhaps what artistic knowledge I possess I can pass on.

Iris are beautiful flowers with a distinctive shape. The French fleur de lis is based on the iris shape. Showing that shape to best advantage may be your first challenge. Get eye level with the iris to capture its profile. Let one perfect blossom fill the whole frame, but leave a small space around the flower to show its form.

Viewpoint is a special consideration. If you stand above the flower and look down at it, you will not capture the shape to best advantage, but you may end up with a semi-abstract close-up of the throat or beard or stripes like a Georgia O'Keefe painting, capturing two or three in various stages of opening would be interesting.

Backgrounds may detract from your perfect photo. Learn to see everything in the frame. If your camera can blur the background while sharply focusing on the flower, that would minimize detractions. A plain gravelly background will showcase your bloom. Having a few leaves in the picture puts it into context. Donna Dowell had a lovely photo taken at a show of an iris in an arrangement with the plain fabric background.

Contrast will greatly aid the readability of your photo. Light colored iris will look best against a dark background. This may not happen in a natural setting. A piece of poster-board behind your bloom may bring out the best of the flower. Having an assistant to hold the poster-board works better than trying to juggle camera, shutter, background, point of view, etc. with only two hands. Of course, some of you may use a tripod which holds your camera absolutely still.

Exposure and focus may be automatic with your camera as mine is. If you can manipulate these on your camera, you know more than I do. I believe that sharp focus produces much better photos than fuzzy or soft focus. If you are photographing outside and there is a slight breeze that causes the petals or stalk to sway, your focus will not be sharp. You also cannot control outdoor lighting. Cloudy overcast will result in No shadows and softer prints than strong sunny midday times. The best lighting occurs in early morning (may be stiller) or late afternoon when the sun is oblique not overhead (which washes out color). You may want shadows on your flower. You may want some backlighting (which can result in a more unusual photo and therefore more interesting).

If you want more than one iris in your photo, be aware that each bloom will command attention and the overall effect may be diminished. Odd numbers are usually more pleasing as is differing sizes. The same kind spaced out is more interesting than bunched multi-colors. The wide view of the whole garden will show off abundance but not the beauty of each iris. There is a place for that kind of photo, however, in the splendiferous display of rainbow color.

I hope these tips will help you get the very best photos you can of your iris that our Society can produce a top notch calendar fund raiser and object of beauty for our own homes as well as provide lots of competition for the next photo contest.

Carol Barbian