Portland Macintosh Users Group

Another MacCamp, number 43 to be exact, has come and gone. Our only regret is that it passed too quickly. The weather was gorgeous, only a bit chilly and some fog; but we didn't have to worry about rain on our computers. Almost everyone was able to arrive Friday in time for dinner, and get their computers set up before orientation.

After a hearty Saturday breakfast of eggs, Polish sausage and hash browns we all set off for our classes. The two morning classes got off on the right foot. One of them focused on Adobe Illustrator, learning how to use layers and brush strokes to make simple images more interesting. We did not need to use Bezier curves to use the program. Many people from this class got to sit down with the instructor Terry Shellenberger and do one on one after the class. In fact Terry had one of the most popular tables in the Cedar Lodge. Meanwhile the Basics of Photographic Portraiture was one of the most well-attended classes at Camp. Duane Hansen had used Friday evening to set up all his lights and backdrops for a brisk three hour intro into lighting for portrait photography.

After lunch we had the MacCamp group picture taken by Duane as well as several other professional and amateur camera users. For those worried that this may be too advanced, you should know that Duane was using a box camera with black and white negatives.

On to the afternoon fun with Rob Griffiths of MacOSXHints.com doing Favorite Apps and Utilities. This was a great class with lots of fun and useful programs and utilities to make your computing more fun and easier. If you would like to see what Rob thought of MacCamp go here: http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2006/10/maccamp/index.php. Meanwhile in the other classroom Bill Trent was busy showing people that Photoshop is their friend when it comes to repairing photos.

At dinner MacCampers discussed the classes while dining on pork loin, baked potatoes and salad. And that berry pie! Ahh, such a hard life. After dinner we returned to our cabins where no matter if we had a MacBook or an eMac, we connected to the network to exchange pictures and do things like Bonjour Chat and video conferencing. We then met down in Lower Smith conference center to draw for a copy of Microsoft Office and a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse donated by The Oregon MacPioneers User Group. The hardest part of being at MacCamp is going to bed as few want to give up and call it a night.

Sunday morning starts out with French toast, eggs and sausage washed down with lots of coffee. Then off to the classes; again Campers must pick between two classes. Podcasting by Steve Riggins was very popular. Steve has been Podcasting for over a year, so he has lots of good ideas and hints to pass on to those just starting out. In the other class, Rory Bowman got so excited about his Windows on Intel Macs he ran twenty minutes over before someone pointed out that we had to be out of the cabins in ten minutes.

Lunch was sandwiches and salad; followed by farewells to new and old friends from all over. Oregon User Group members from Black Butte MUG (Sisters), SMUG (Salem), MUGport (Newport), CMUG (Corvallis), eMUG (Eugene), ASHMUG (Ashland),and AppleVan (Vancouver, WA) as well as PMUG members from as far away as Idaho and Seattle. PMUG would like to thank The Mac Store for providing three Airport Express units and an Airport Extreme base station for networking MacCamp; as well as Steve Walsh of the Oregon MacPioneers User Group for providing the Microsoft door prizes. As MacCamp director I would like to thank the volunteers for all their hard work to make MacCamp happen year after year. See you all in the spring: April 20-22, 2007.