May 2019 Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society
Meeting date: May 13th, 2019
Intro:
President Mike Pabst opened the meeting at 7:30. There were 28 members and 3 guests present. (for those of you that knew him, a past member Roland Settle, recently passed away.)
Old Business:
1. Scott Steele reported on field trips to the American Rutile mine in Nelson County & the trip to Franklin, NJ to see the Sterling Hill mine with fluorescent minerals. He had some samples to view. He was very pleased with the attendance for the trips – several new members have participated.
2. Bob Helt, a club member, donated some Apache tears (obsidian) from CA and some old issues of the Rocks and Mineral magazine..
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New Business:
1. Mike Herrick volunteered to do our program in June about flat lapping stones. He will do a demonstration with his equipment.
2. Scott Steele is working on some field trips in the next few months. He would like to go to the Dept. of Mines, Minerals & Energy in Charlottesville; Rose River; & a site in Timberville. Information will be sent out by email as it comes available.
3. Debbie Grimm reminded everyone that on July 8th the meeting will be held at Coyner Park pavilion in Waynesboro. It is a carry-in picnic at 6:30 pm.
Program Report:
Michelle Jascot provided an interesting and informative program on Macrophotography, which is making small objects appear large.
Her camera is a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) with various lens and filters.
She suggested that at times certain filters may cause distortions around the edges of objects.
Natural light in the morning or evening is best to prevent sharp shadows, and cloudy days are even better!
When photographing minerals, she showed us how to build a simple “light box” with cardboard and tracing paper to use as a background. White or black paper may be used, depending on the color of the specimen. LED lighting is best for indoor shots.
Her cell phone and a desk lamp worked well also.
She showed us some of her photos of minerals she collected from Sugar Grove, WV and some beautiful shots of birds and flowers.
Mike Pabst explained that he does photos of micros using his Olympus camera, with either a macro lens or attached to a stereomicroscope, or with a bellows.
Photoshop can sharpen a picture that is fuzzy due to shaking.
The camera can take 25 pictures with one click at different focus depths, and then a computer can merge them to get better depth-of-field, a process called “stacking”.
There are also lens for sale that can be added to cell phones (with cover removed) that work well also.
Mike Herrick informed us that the Hubble telescope uses layering and computer programs to see objects in space and it takes many months for the photo to be designed. A black hole was recently photographed!
Thanks, Michelle, for taking the time to prepare & present this program for us! Her best advice – use your camera and practice with it!
Field Trip Info:
Please refer to “SVGMS Field Trips News” documents you receive from the club secretary for a description of the current status of field trips and details about upcoming trips.
If you are a club member with paid-up dues and you do not receive the “Field Trip News” document when they are emailed, please contact the secretary at loverocksandminerals@gmail.com or at a monthly meeting to correct this issue.
This will be the principle way information about field trips are distributed to members, so we want to insure everyone is correctly addressed.
Next meeting:
One of our members, Mike Herrick, will do a demonstration on flat lapping using his equipment
Looking ahead:
Annual club picnic!
Remember that the lapidary shop is open the Saturday following a regular meeting and on the second Saturday after that. Leo, Charlie & Jack can assist you. Open from 9 am to noon.
There are several slab saws and trim saws. Keep in mind that safety is a priority, and wear closed toe shoes, safety glasses, with no loose hair or long sleeves. Children must be supervised and closely monitored to insure they are safely using the equipment. Check this page to see what you can learn to do!
If you’d like to present a program, please talk to an officer at a meeting.
Be sure to keep up with our website www.shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org and our Facebook page Shenandoah Valley Gem and Mineral Society for updates and information.
Deborah Grimm, Secretary
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Club Officers and Staff 2016-2019
President – Michael Pabst
Vice President – Leo Cloutier
Show Co-Chairs – Dean Hostetter/Scott Gregory
Educational Outreach -- Deborah Grimm
Secretary/Newsletter -- Deborah Grimm
Field Trip Coordinators - Wayne Petersen/Scott Duresky
Treasurer – Scott Gregory
Web Site Coordinator – Jack Glenn
Club web site: www.shenandoahvalleyrockclub.org
Club Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShenandoahValleyGemMineralSociety
Club email: svgem-min-club@live.com