....you sometimes have to head straight into the storm. Strange, huh?

Lost Spring Canyon was added to Arches Nat'l Park in 1998. I had the honor of being 'the designated pterfogger' for the dedication that was held to commemorate the addition. There we were, on a northern rim, a rag-tag group of eight or ten various Muckety-Mucks (Arches' Chief Ranger, a few Moabian folk --the Mayor, some Town Council-critter person or other--), a Utah State Senator, me, and (I think) some guy who was hopelessly lost and had followed the rest of us out to where we went. It was pretty cool; to that point I'd never actually been in Lost Spring Canyon, and had, at best, merely eyeballed it from inside the Park, in Upper Salt Wash.

But this photo isn't of Lost Spring Canyon. Its from a trip into Lost Spring Canyon a friend and I did not long after the 'dedication.' Or more accurately, its a photo I shot while trying to get the heck out of the area north of Lost Spring Canyon. Before the storm we could sorta suspect (being in a canyon limits your ability to see much except 'up', and definitely not 'out') was approaching, and actually hit. Which would've made the road (yes, we'd driven in....) as slick and slimy as snot, and not been very nice at all. As it turned out, the storm hit in earnest a mile or so before we got to pavement. And we just barely managed the remainder of that. Whew!

Its an old scanned .jpg I just came across while looking for something else. Figgered I'd post it, 'cuz what the heck.

From personal experience, with the Sydney and Newcastle "Focus" (Australia) groups, the internet has made things a lot easier, especially for more informal "clubs".

See this.
https://focusphotographers.org/about-focus-photographers/

Normally they have dawn shoots, mostly on weekends, at coastal locations. We will meet, at the location, about 1/2 hour before first light to set up. We will usually leave about 20 minutes after sunrise, depending on the light, and go and have breakfast at a nearby cafe, where one of the subjects discussed will be photography. During the shoot participants may help each other and it is good to see how people work. It is a great start to a weekend.
Images are usually posted to Flickr or facebook. They do have longer workshops at distant locations both locally, interstate and internationally. I havn't been on any of those workshops.

They are a great group to shoot with.

As we look back and consider 2020, how did your photography change? We probably all made less trips. Did you visit / revisit new subjects closer to home? Did you change your camera bodies or focal lengths? What changes will you make for 2021?

What is a resolution?
A firm decision to do or not to do something.

Will you learn to better use your current equipment?

Will you learn your processing software?

Will you organize your legacy images?

Will you organize your new images?

Will you sell your unused and outdated equipment?

Will you ask for help?

Will you answer a request for help?

Will you use selective focus with an off-center AF point placed specifically on the subject?

Will you investigate higher ISOs?

Will you use your flash?

Will you use your tripod?

Will you try Back Button Focus?

Will you change to mirroless?

Will you create an image over the next 365 days that achieves your resolution?

• I am aggrieved by witnessing the crookedest election in my lifetime and probably in the history of the country.

• I am aggrieved by seeing the most accomplished President for positive good for America, helping create the strongest economy in history for all Americans and the only president in the last 40 years who never started a war not being given a second term.

• I am aggrieved by witnessing a 4-year government coup d’tat plot against a duly elected president.

• I am aggrieved by witnessing the Constitution our founders gave us and for which our officials took an oath to uphold being not-followed, ignored, and reversed.

• I am aggrieved by witnessing the death of honest journalism in the Main Stream Media and having it replaced by Left-wing activism and seeing that become the ‘enemy of truth’ to the American people.

• I am aggrieved by seeing the President of the U.S. not acknowledged for his leadership during the pandemic of this novel China virus taking more actions to combat it including executing an unprecedented operation to develop a vaccine all of which will help more people survive this than any other person in the world.

• I am aggrieved by seeing the establishment elites such as Big Tech (FB, Google, Twitter, Amazon), Big Pharma, Big Corporations, Big Main Stream Media, and the Deep State Swamp take down a president who was the only one who had the guts to stand up to Communist China’s attempts at global domination.

• I am aggrieved by seeing candidate Joe Biden and his family shown to be selling out America by pedalling influence to China, Ukraine, Russia, and Iran and clearly being compromised by them disgracing America.

• I am aggrieved by seeing the daily blind seething hate for our president baselessly and mindlessly spewed out by members of this Attic who represent a tiny misguided microcosm but think they speak for the majority.

That's not a helpful answer. I did follow the instructions (available on the web - no written ones with kit) I used a tripod for my camera, 25mm per mm of focal length (17.76" for the wide shot), I aligned the target as best I could using the reference marks behind the front target, used f/4 (the biggest aperture), put the front target on and used focus assist to doublecheck, and shot with with a 10 second delay to avoid camera shake. I don't have an optics laboratory at my disposal or any studio-type lights to illuminate the target more evenly.