[Killietalk] Last Saturday in Indianapolis

["unclescott" <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

Finally got a chance to drop by ExClusively Killies' Hoosier Hospitality
(thanks to a last minute change in family plans.)

After the icy, sometimes treacherous night before, it was an uneventful
drive down I-65 (fortified with "foo-foo coffee" from one of the stops) and
easy with mapquest directions. It was gratifying to amble in the F.O.P. door
and be greeted by the smiling Al Anderson. One would have had to be a grinch
to not feel heartily welcomed by the ExK group.

It was a nice time of meeting some of the great newer (and younger)
individuals and couples from ExK and the Circle City Aquarium Society who
were there, often helping with the hosting and several of the midwestern
Killie Cadre whom I will never go tired of palavering with. I'm surely
missing somebody, but SLAKA, the original CKA ;), Michiana, GCKA, Michigan
KA, and Kalamazoo were among those groups represented. More importantly that
organizational representation, a bunch of killinuts showed up, eager to open
up boxes for the box sale, talk killies, ponder some AKA matters and how to
grow the hobby, just get acquinted/ reacquinted,  give Gary Wiley a hard
time as auctioneer ;) and observe through the photography discussion and
Charlie Grimes' presentation how we are learning to go digital in the 21st
century.

There are some photos of the festivities floating around. The web page
person for EcK is indisposed at the moment. If someone knowing how to slap a
page together were to contact Gary ... :)

I really liked how Joe Fleckenstine and Dennis Bradshaw set up the seminars.
Chairs were circled at one end of the room so participants could actually
look at one another. None-participants could forage and hold forth elsewhere
in the hall without much noise conflict. Circular seating can be easy to
expand to include people drifting in. With the mix of bright new faces and
grizzled, garulous veterans, the moderator wisely threw out a few good
leading questions and let the assembled run and run with them...

The roundtables were a lot like killitalk (which was frequently alluded to -
such is the power of the Net). Of course the responses, eb and flow were
quicker. Typos were few, teasing was up. :)


Probably because photography is one of the curves I will always be way down,
I paid especial attention to  "killikarl" Doering when he pulled out his
collection of hotshoes, tripods, his digital camera and the photography tank
carefully carried, unpacked and assembled.

Really appreciated the considerable preparation Karl put in. Many of the
following observations will be old hat to some, but this correspondent found
them significant:

If one has a small tank and a piece of glass which can be placed in the
tank - runnung end to end. Move the glass about 1/2 in or 2 cm from the
front of the tank. Include dark gravel. Use clothspins to hold the moveable
glass in place. Insert fish.

A piece of glass painted with flat black paint was used for a background and
placed behind the retaining glass.

A hotshoe (flash) on a wire to the side helped much more than a straight up
flash on the camera. Actually pretty good shotz could be taken without any
flash.

Manual focus is easier if one knows what the abbreviation on the camera is.
;)

Nobody just held the camera. Most rested the bottoms of their hands on the
table or set the camera on a stationary object.

The particular fish (a male Aphyosemion alpha) in the photo tank was
remarkably calm. We asked Karl why that fish was so laid back. He grinned
and noted that he put 4 drops of a commercial tranquilizer (Hypno) for
shipping fish in there. (That is about 1/3 the recommended dosage.)

The tranq worked though. If one leaned over real close to the tank and
almost put their ear on it, they could hear a tune. Listening even more
carefully ... "Scotch and soda, Mud in your eye! My oh my, Baby do I feel
fine!"

All the best!

Scott




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