Womens Walking Group

The ladies will be walking Monday Sept. 2nd. which is Labor Day. Please bring ideas for hikes
that will cover, come rain or come shine. Meet at the Legion at 9:30 am.     VM.
Photos taken on Shawnigan Mill Bay Road in previous years.

Get ready, here comes fall.

Men's Walking Group

My offerings from our Kingbourne/Koksilah Park walk today.  Some GPS issues but distance shows 5Km which sounds reasonable.  I missed putting in waypoints so mapping not perfect.

Green line is GPS trace (these IIIIII not part of walk). Forgot to mark Mine Shaft as waypoint.
Broken orange line is park trails shown on map. Gray Lane is street name.

Google Earth version.  GPS not showing actual winding trace as in some previous
maps.  Something else to figure out the why's of.

River level very low but also very calm.

Water bugs making waves.

An even dozen - enough for a meal?

Inside the mine shaft. "Any GOLD in here??"

"Down by the riverside."

A very scenic and enjoyable walk for the group.

YSAGS Comuter/Photography group

Hello YSAGS photographers,

We have talked about editing or post production of our photos after they are moved from the camera to the computer. Some cameras allow you to edit in camera but my experience is that the image is much too small on the camera monitor to work on and most camera's editing capabilities are quite limited. There are however many editing programs available and some free ones are great to become familiar with the various possibilities without being overwhelming. I can suggest a few if you are interested.

A photography site called Cambridge in Colour has many great tutorials. I'll talk about one that outlines a good procedure on post production for your images once they have been downloaded to your computer. Below are their suggestions in 10 steps.

You can find it online here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-photo-editing-workflow.htm

Lori Treloar - Curator of the Shawnigan Lake Museum will visit us during this meeting. She will talk to us about the museum and how we can participate as photographers.

Check the Museums website here: www.shawniganlakemuseum.com

AND as usual we will talk a bit about computers and/or try to find answers to questions that any of us might have.

Ed

Womans Walking Group

We had great weather and a good walk along the Esquimalt Lagoon. Always a large variety of birds
to see. We then went on to the Mychosen Café for our lunch and a walk to see the animals and fowl
that are kept in an enclosure near by. Thank you Marianne for being the driver. The walk for Monday
Aug 26 is cancelled. Please see the Blog on a decision for Monday Sept 2nd which is Labor Day. V.M.

Men's Walking Group

My offering from our walk today is two versions of the track from my GPS.  Still very much a learning process - but interesting.  A very enjoyable outing.

Had to print and then scan this GPS image in order to load it into my picture files.  Editing information a little difficult.
Bridges were labeled Bridge A and Bridge B.  BX1 was another bridge. This is a picture of the GPS screen.

GPS track superimposed on Google Earth map.  Push-pins with labels added with Google Earth program - other printing done with Picasa.

Men's Walking Group

Today we started our walk from Shawnigan Beach Estates, Gregory Road in search of a trail that would get us to the Quarry. Well, with the effort of a lot of "leaders we made it and did it in good time for coffee at the Chippery. We figure the distance walked at just under 7 km(Right Denis?).
Here are some pictures.

I just had to share this with everybody.

YSAGS Computer/Photography group

Hello All,

1) On our last meeting we started a discussion about how much is visible to others when we log on to the internet via WiFi on other than our home network. We found there is a lot that other computers can see about our computers when the settings are not set for privacy. Let's spend some time checking each of our computers when connected to the Legion router and see what others can see about us and what settings will work to hide our information.

2) Up for discussion. Just how many firewalls, antivirus programs and spam filters does one need? Is there one good program out there that will cover the whole problem? Come prepared with your opinions and ideas and what you are using. Do you feel secure and protected with what you have.

3) We all hear how important backing up your files is. For years I have backed up my computer files. (Not in a good organized manner). I have never needed to actually retrieve files and I'll admit, I might not know how when and if the crunch comes. Do you know how to manage your back up system and how to retrieve the files?

4) Our blog needs to have some maintenance done and maybe redesigned. I need your advice and suggestions. Please send me an email listing your thoughts and ideas. If you see an issue but don't tell me your thoughts it won't get fixed.

Ed

Womens Walking Group

Seven walkers did 6 K through Hemer Park passing by Holden Lake. We met walkers, runners, and
animals. We saw wildflowers, ducks, and a snake. We then went on to the Crow and Gate for lunch.
Next Monday the 19th. we will be in Victoria at the Esquimalt Lagoon. After the walk we will have
lunch at Mychosen Café. Meet at the Legion at 9:30 am.       V.M.   

YSAGS Photography, August 10, 2013

Hello Fellow YSAGS photographers,

For our upcoming meeting I am asking that we bring our Kinsol Trestle pictures(looking up) to share with the group.

Mike and I talked to Lori Trelour at the museum last week and she would be interested in us sharing historical Shawnigan Lake pictures and also current pictures with the museum and the Shawnigan Focus. After further discussion with Lori, I have tentatively arranged for her to come to our photography meeting on Aug. 27 to further detail what she has in mind.

You probably are aware that on Aug. 12 and 13 there should be a great display of meteor showers. I practiced some night photography a few nights ago at 3:00am. It was beautiful, warm and the stars were sparkling. See attached picture.

Making the assumption that we will have clear skies next week, if you want to try it, here are some guidelines.

1) Use a tripod for your camera

2) If you have a remote control or a delay function, use that so you don't shake the camera.

3) Use Manual settings if your camera has that as follows: ISO about 400(this actually will vary a lot, depending how well your camera handles ISO. As low a fstop(wide open aperture) as your camera setting allows. A time exposure of about 30 seconds.

Each camera is different and results will vary so play around with the settings and check the result after each picture. Oh yes the meteor shower comes from the north east of the sky, so that's where to point the camera. Meteors are not predicable so you may end up with just stars, stars with a jet going by or satellites creating a nice long arc.

Attached is a night shot. All I have is stars although I did see 2 or 3 meteors(the camera of course was not on just then). I also saw a satellite go by but it wasn't very bright and does not show on the picture.

We will also have a short discussion about computer external hard drives and how they can be used as a back up device.

See you all Tuesday.

Ed

My attempt to get a meteor picture - just stars so far.

Womens Walking Group

Only 3 walkers but we had a great morning exploring. Railway trails, the overpass, and different
beaches along the lake. We had our lunch at a picnic table at the lake watching swimmers, skiers,
kayakers, and boaters. Next Monday the 12th. we will walk at Hemer Park and have lunch at the
Crow And Gate. Meet at the Legion at 9:30 am.    V.M.