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Inside Monthly Program Note: You can click on the above links to go directly to the article; or you can scroll through the entire newsletter. You can also print the entire newsletter. November 6 , 2007 Chip Clark has had the honor of photographing the archeological excavations of skeletal and other remains at the Jamestown Fort, as part of an upcoming Museum of Natural History exhibit on the first English colonists. He will discuss photography and the use of forensic science to learn how the settlers lived and died. ... In retrospect, Chip Clark should have anticipated an unusual life... In his childhood, Chip was fascinated with science and drawn to photographs
of scientific and natural history subjects: lightning, volcanoes,
close-ups of insects, and underwater images in science textbooks and magazines
like National Geographic and Life. By age 10 he had reached the technical
limits of his family's Kodak Brownie box camera, processed and contact
printed black and white negatives; by age 14, he had a home-made
enlarger made from tin cans; in high school he discovered 35mm SLR
cameras, Kodachrome film, and girls.
At Virginia Tech (in lieu of studying) Chip discovered caving, scuba
diving, electronic flash, push processing, fireworks, four- wheel- drive
vehicles, and girls. Despite the distractions, he managed to graduate
with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1970. Chip’s first gainful employment was teaching high school science in Newport News,Virginia; he spent all his expendable income on an Alpa 10d 35mm SLR cameras and macro equipment. In 1973, Chip joined the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and began photographing the behind-the-scenes activities and objects. Now, almost 35 years later, he still calls it the greatest job in the world! He photographs just about everything at the Museum: the building and exhibits, scientists and staff, collections, artifacts, research projects, animals, vegetables, and minerals. Over the years he has traveled extensively with the scientists documenting field research in a host of "way-off-the-beaten-path" locations around the world. The majority of Chip’s images are used for publication in the scientific literature, popular market and textbooks, and various Smithsonian publicity projects. Chip has managed a modest amount of freelance photography for publishers like the National Wildlife Federation, National Geographic Society, W.H. Freeman & Co. (Scientific American), Time-Life books, and a host of other magazines and science textbook publishers. Chip Clark loves his job and photography. You are invited to join Chip Clark for dinner at Chili's at 6:00PM, 7 Nov., in the Tyson's area. Please RSVP to Scott Musson via email (smusson@mindspring.com) or by phone (703-278-2828). Tom Brett Message from the President I would like to thank all the members who took the time to respond to the NVPS survey, it was a big success. Lots of valuable information about our members preferences, pleasures and problems with NVPS have been recorded and will be shared anonymously with the board of NVPS both this year and in years to come. I believe this will be a tremendous value to current and future boards in making decisions. Congratulations to Vivian Luu & Kelly Wilson the lucky winners in the Penn Camera gift certificates. I would like to ask everyone to give Joe Miller a special thank you for his tireless effort of cultivating, training and encouraging new judges for local photographic competitions. Without Joe’s efforts the pool of competition judges would be getting about as dry as our local reservoirs. Joe has worked with Steve Passman (our NVPS judge in April 2007), creating the Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs site which contains information about the judges who have been trained and ready for judging local competitions. Quite a few are NVPS members that you will likely know or recognize. You can see information on the judges at http://www.NVACC.org. While fall colors were a little disappointing this year, they still were enjoyable. The tendency for many folks is to put their gear away until the weather warms again or until their families get together during the holidays. As we lose daylight savings and night comes even before some of us get home from work a new photo opportunity awaits us, and that’s night photography. Before it gets too cold and with the waning hours of daylight it’s a great time to consider night photography. A tripod, cable release and a thermos of your favorite warm beverage is all you really need. Architecture, traffic, all sorts of things are fabulous subjects for night photography. Here’s a website that might give you some additional inspiration for night photography. As you look at these images keep in mind these images were taken mostly at dusk and no image manipulation (other than color correction and dust spotting) http://www.lostamerica.com/. Photography vs. Photoshop I recently was reading Tim Grey’s “Digital Darkroom Quarterly” as I regularly do, along with his daily email and many of his books, and his editorial on Photoshop verses Photography really struck a chord with me. I asked Tim for permission to reprint this article in Fotofax and he graciously agreed. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think. Scott Musson
Photography Verses Photoshop Originally Published in Digital Darkroom Quarterly - Autumn 2007 As I wrapped up an article for my new print newsletter, Digital Darkroom Quarterly, showing how to reproduce in Photoshop the effects of various filters you would normally put in front of your lens, I started thinking about the difference between photography and Photoshop. I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying, “I’ll fix it in Photoshop”. Many of us have probably even uttered that line when we knew current conditions or limitations of our digital camera were going to result in an image that didn’t quite match our photographic vision. While I love that Photoshop and other software tools enable us to exercise tremendous control over our photography, I also realize in many cases it can be used as a crutch to replace less-than-optimal photographic skills or situations. As someone who helps photographers learn to produce the best results in Photoshop, I realize I may be perceived as contributing to this problem. It’s actually something I think about regularly. Whenever I’m writing or speaking on the subject, I try to reinforce that you need to start with the best captures possible (aesthetically and photographically), and that Photoshop should be seen as a tool for making your great images amazing, not for salvaging your challenging captures (though it is indeed very useful for that as well). Considering all this, I find it exciting that there seems to be a renewed interest in focusing on photography again. This is a trend I’ve noticed recently. It seems photographers are in large part getting to the point that they have at least a basic understanding of how to use digital tools in their workflow, and now there’s a renewed interest in “getting back to photography” and making a priority of improving photographic skills first and foremost. I’m sure there will always be a need for more education on digital technology (and for my livelihood, I certainly hope so!), but it is encouraging to see photographers focusing more on photography than Photoshop these days. November 20 , 2007 For the November 20, 2007 "Open" Competition, NVPS will welcome back as its judge Sunny Reynolds, award-winning photographer AND Director of Biotrek Adventure Travels based at Studio 19 in historic Old Town Warrenton, VA. Sunny's world travel experiences plus her professional photography background (which includes such areas as corporate advertising,portraiture, travel, publishing and fine art photography) have not only contributed to her versatility as program speaker, teacher and judge, but have contributed greatly to the success of her Biotrek Tours which she personally organizes and leads into Guatamala, India, Morocco, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, Tanzania and the Galapagos. She lectures on travel and photography throughout the Washington, DC area, and offers photography classes for students at all levels of expertise. Sunny can be reached at Studio 19 in Warrenton (540.349.0040) or visit her website at http://www.biotrektours.com As director or Biotrek, she iscommitted to delivering a blend of excellent accommodations, enticing food choices, and heightened environmental and cultural awareness. To guarantee the best accommodations and provide personalized attention to clients, group sizes are small, with a maximum of ten people per tour. Geared toward all who seek travel, Biotrek ensures unparalleled wildlife encounters, mind-broadening experiences and adventure travel in comfort and style. Reynolds has been a consistent winner of awards for her photography. Nikon’s International Contest, which attracted more than 38,000 entries from all over the world, honored Reynolds as one of 35 prize winners. Her photography was selected for the Nikon calendar of the year. Due to the earlier starting time of 7:30 p.m. for ALL NVPS meetings, members are URGED to allow sufficient driving time to arrive safely and to have all entries properly registered and submitted fifteen minutes BEFORE the start of the competition.
Amie Tannenbaum VP Competitions
717-398-9705 miladyamie@aol.com
We were able to get the projector calibrated using a Spyder2Pro and have located a settitng on the projector that can autonomously reset and will cause the projector to produce overly bright images. It is now part of the setup routine to check that particular setting, so hopefully that aspect of the projector producing so many “blown-out” images is gone for us. We are still working with the projector to see if we can produce a richer
color palette than the default settings provide. In the projector's current
configuration its color space is noticeably narrower than the standard
sRGB color space. Since we now have a well documented configuration and
can get back to that configuration on very short notice, I feel that it
is time for some experimentation. If additional configuration changes can
provide a slightly wider gamut, then I believe that it is worth pursuing.
We still see that red saturation is an area where we could improve, and
there is a very slight green cast to some of the middle whites. I ask a
for a little more patience while we try to optimize the performance of
the projector and increase the color gamut to be the widest possible for
our projector. I'd also like to express my gratitude to Bill Adams, Bill Prosser, Scott Musson, Sam Schaen, Marilyn Gaizband, Paul Simmons and Gene Wells, for locating resources for me, providing a “watchful eye” by comparing their images displayed at the club to their calibrated systems at home and providing some very useful feedback. Many of these individuals have arrived extra early or stayed extra late at club meetings to help me test various aspects of the projector's capabilities and it has been an enormous help. Thanks for all of the interest and patience while I try to produce a better and more consistent digital projection experience. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at 703.975.6342 or mgs@loreleistudios.com. Images for Digital Competitions must be uploaded by 6 PM on the Sunday preceding the competition. The upload location is: http://nvps.org/dc/. Help for uploading can be found at: http://nvps.org/main//misc/digital-competition-info/ . Matthew G. Schmidt
Raptor Photographic Event Subject - Nature Join us for an amazing time in Cunningham Falls State Park, in Thurmont, MD, photographing stunningly beautiful birds of prey. For two hours, from 9:00 – 11:00 on Saturday, November 11, 2007, we have reserved a session to “shoot” raptors in their natural setting. These are live non-releasable birds of prey, so they happily spend their lives posing for cameras, and you don’t even need to have a long, long lens to do it. Don’t miss it this opportunity! “Many people consider it a tremendous thrill to catch a glimpse of a mysterious owl as it flies across a dark country road at night, or to see a majestic hawk soaring high in the sky on a bright clear day. Fewer people have seen these creatures from merely a few feet away.” This is exactly what we will do. The fee will be $5.00 each from everyone attending. Please pay me beforehand, or bring it with you. We will car pool to Cunningham Falls from the Dunn Loring Fire Station, leaving promptly at 7:30 a.m. Please park along the street or at the school next door, since there may be other activities scheduled at the fire station. To get to the park from the fire station, follow I-495 North to I-270 West. Follow I-270 for 37.5 miles where it turns into US-15 North in Frederick Maryland. Follow US-15 North for 14.6 miles to the Manor Area of the Cunningham Falls State Park. Turn left into park. Drive past the entrance booth and then follow the road left to the Visitors Center parking lot. We will be having lunch at the Cozy Country Inn in Thurmont. To get there follow the park road across US-15 and continue straight. The road will dead-end into Catoctin Furnace Road where you turn left. Follow Catoctin Furnace Road North for 2 miles. The Cozy Country Inn will be on the left.
Images from Monongahela Field Trip Click on any image below for larger version
Sign-up InformationYou can sign up at a club meeting,
by e-mailing me at tek7@cox.net or
by calling me at (703) 938-6391 most evenings. Although email is
preferred, if urgent call my blackberry (day) or cell (eves) at (571) 201-0497
and (571) 217-1010 respectively.
Teresa Klinkosz Great Smoky Mountain National Park This field trip is being coordinated by Bob Friedman. For those of you who have not been to the Smokies, there are old deserted farms, mills and churches, mountain vistas, wild flowers, flowing streams and water falls. Bob has reserved eight rooms at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites Parkside (was Comfort Inn in 2007) in Townsend, TN. They are the last eight non-smoking rooms available. The rooms have two queen beds. If you are interested, call to make your room reservations, 1-865-448-9000. The rooms will be held until April 12th. Just ask for the rooms held for NVPS. Use Bob's name if necessary. Econo Lodge Inn & Suites Parkside , 7824 E Lamar Alexander Parkway (along US-321) in Townsend, TN 37882 - Phone: 1-865-448-9000 The cost is: $53.99 + tax for the first two nights Please let Bob know if you are going to be there. He will make some dinner reservations for at least the first night. Call Bob if you have any questions. Bob Friedman November 27, 2007 The November 27th Forum will focus on basic image processing using Adobe Lightroom. Lightroom was designed to meet the workflow needs of digital photographers. It addresses transferring images from your camera to the computer, assigning keywords, “developing” images and presenting them as slideshows, prints, and/or web galleries. Paul even has it tracking all his archived images. Paul will discuss the various steps involved in processing images in Lightroom’s Develop Module. He will then process several images explaining each step as he goes. There will be correctly exposed, underexposed, and overexposed images used as examples. Also, Paul will cover several of the special tools in Lightroom that quickly allow you to select your best images. Much of Paul’s 37-year career with the U.S. Forest Service was spent either writing software for their mapping center or processing and analyzing satellite imagery. Paul retired in 2003 and spends his time collecting and processing digital images. Mary O'Neill
Paul Simmons – Digital Projection Swallow Falls State Park, Maryland is one of my favorite places. The images in this slide show were collected the first week in August over the last four years. You might say these are vacation pictures, since they were all taken while vacationing at Deep Creek Lake with my son, Scott, and his family. Early morning fog is prevalent in midsummer at Swallow Falls and Scott and I make the 15-minute trip through the fog to the Park at 6 AM every morning. On the rare occasions that it is sunny, we switch from shooting landscapes to shooting macro images. The serenity of the place is broken about 9 AM as swimmers begin to arrive. We pack up and head home, discussing who made the better images (sometimes I get a good one) and planning tomorrow’s shoot. At this point it is appropriate to list all of my photographic accomplishments and awards; however, there are none. I’ve not even taken a course in photography or attended a workshop. I do read photographic magazines and books. I believe that NVPS has influenced my photography more than anything else. If perchance you see something you like in my show, thank yourself; I learned it from you. Photography is a natural extension of my love for travel. While I’ve taken pictures all my life, it wasn’t until I was older and could afford to travel that my passion for photography truly developed. I love the whole process of photography— planning a shoot, getting up early to catch the light, processing the images (nowadays digitally), printing and matting. In the last several years I’ve discovered underwater photography while snorkeling which unfortunately I only get a couple of chances a year to work on. I’m the President of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society, and am a past board member as well. I received NVPS’s “Versatile Photographer of the Year” award for 2004-2005, “Novice Color Print Photographer of the Year” and “Advanced Color Print Photographer of the Year” for 2006-2007”. My wife Emi and I have published a calendar for the last 7 years and I have had images appear in local Northern Virginia newspapers. I also attended a Freeman Patterson/Andre Gallant workshop this past fall which was one of the most inspirational and rewarding experiences of my photographic carrier. I’ll be presenting some of my images captured this past summer and fall. After being hobbled by a torn achilles tendon for half the year, I’ve been very inspired the second half of this year and have lots of new work that I’m looking forward to share with the membership. Scott Musson
November 13 The workshop will give you a chance to learn about basic digital imaging techniques and to question knowledgeable practitioners about problems you are having with major digital imaging programs: Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Lightroom. The evening will start off with a presentation about typical important steps needed to prepare a digital image for printing. This will be followed by time for you to ask specific questions about problems you are having in your own work. Several “experts” will be available with laptops to provide hands-on tutoring and problem solving. You may bring an image or two on a thumbnail drive to help facilitate your discussion. If you have questions you may contact us by email or phone: Workshop Coordinators:
Hendry House The annual Hendry House exhibit for NVPS will be November 9 through 11. See the September issue of FotoFax for more information. Jan Ponder
Photographers of Northern Virginia Repeat programs of Photographers of Northern Virginia are now being shown on a regular basis on Fairfax Public Access Channel 30 every Monday at 3:30 p.m. and every Friday at 3 p.m. They will no longer be shown on Channel 10. The coming schedule is as follows:
Luella Murri
Carla Steckley and Corey Hilz Exhibiting at Marymount University Marymount University's Barry Gallery will exhibit Nature Photography: Three Views by Matt Dunham, Corey Hilz, and Carla Steckley from Nov.9-Dec.12, 2007. The Artist's reception will be held in the Gallery on Friday Nov. 9 from 5-7:30 PM. The public is invited to attend the reception and visit the exhibition at any time during the Gallery's hours of operation. The Barry Gallery is located in the Reinsch Library on the University's Main Campus, 2807 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA. The Gallery hours are M-Thurs, 10 AM- 8 PM, and Fri. and Sat., 10 AM- 6 PM. Directions to Marymount University can be found at: http://www.marymount.edu/map/directions/. National Geographic LandScope National Geographic and NatureServe (a
spinoff of TNC) are collaborating to develop an online atlas called LandScope. Landscope's
goal is to encourage private landowners and public entities to conserve
America's natural places. The multimedia website will feature photography,
mapping technology, video, audio, personal accounts and a variety of other
tools. By visually detailing the richness of natural lands, we hope
to increase private appreciation and inspire personal investment in land
preservation. Miriam Stein
Frans Lanting will be the keynote speaker at Meadowlark Photo Expo on Friday Evening, February 8, 2008 at the Marriott Hotel at Tysons Corner. “Frans Lanting has been hailed as one of the great nature photographers of our time. His influential work has appeared in books, magazines, and exhibitions around the world. For more than two decades he has documented wildlife and our relationship with nature in environments from the Amazon to Antarctica. He portrays wild creatures as ambassadors for the preservation of complete ecosystems, and his many publications have increased worldwide awareness of endangered ecological treasures in far corners of the earth.” His work can be seen at: http://www.franslanting.com/ Ticket prices and details will be available shortly. Tickets will be sold at NVPS meetings and on the Meadowlark website, http://www.meadowlarkphotoexpo.org. What is Meadowlark Photo Expo? It is a juried exhibit of nature photography. There will also be manufacturers' displays, lectures, special sales by local camera stores, photo critiques, a raptor shoot and other activities. Go to www.meadowlarkphotoexpo.org to find out more. When is Meadowlark Photo Expo? In 2008 the Expo will be held on Saturday, February 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The keynote speech will be at the Marriot on Friday evening, February 8. The keynote speaker will be Frans Lanting. How do I enter images? Images will be collected at the first two NVPS meetings in January. Photos must be securely matted. Mats must be white! Check the Meadowlark website, www.meadowlarkphotoexpo.org for size limitations, mat widths and other requirements. Images must be of natural subjects and may have been taken anywhere in the world. Judging will be on Saturday, January 19 by a panel of three judges who are well respected professional photographers. What is People's Choice? This year the topic selected for People's Choice is Dogwoods. There is no limit on where or when the photo was taken. The members of each club will select one Dogwood image to enter. NVPS will do this by a vote at a meeting in January, at date to be announced later. Each of the six participating clubs will display one Dogwood image and the winner will be selected by vote of those attending the expo on Saturday, Feb. 10. The winning image may be used to publicize the Northern Virginia Regional Parks. What can I do to help? NVPS will again be responsible for collecting tickets to the lectures and introducing the speakers. There will be sign up sheets at meetings—we need lots of help! We also need volunteers at the club table to represent NVPS and to handle club sales. Corey Hilz’s 2008 Location Workshop Schedule Corey Hilz’s 2008 Location Workshop Schedule
Details about each workshop (and photo galleries) can be
found at www.CoreyHilz.com in the “Instruction” section.
Feel free to contact Corey with any questions: corey@coreyhilz.com or
703.473.4618 Frank Van Riper Fall/Winter Classes, Field Trips at PhotoWorks Frank Van Riper, longtime Washington Post photography columnist, author and lecturer, will be offering a full plate of workshops and field trips this fall and winter at PhotoWorks at Glen Echo, Park, Md. Frank is one of PW's most popular teachers, who emphasizes hands-on, no-pressure, instruction in everything from studio lighting, documentary photography, to mastering your on-camera flash. His classes fill early, so early registration via the Photoworks website is strongly recommended. Upcoming offerings include:
See Glen Echo Park website for further classes and registration: http://www.glenechopark.org/. Frank also can be contacted directly: GVR@GVRphoto.com Va Digital Photo Safaris Calendar
10% discount for repeat participants 10% discount for camera club members To sign up for a Va Photo Safari go to www.vasafaris.com. Jack Nevitt & Alan DeFelice
World Press Photo Award-Winning Photos A photo exhibit that is accessible on the web, but which
unfortunately will not be coming to Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz Exhibits at the Corcoran Gallery There will be an exhibit of Ansel Adams works including some famous and some rarely-exhibited prints at the Corcoran Gallery from September 15, 2007 to January 27, 2008. Her professional work along with some of Annie Leibovitz's personal photographs will be on display from October 13, 2007 to January 13, 2008. Tickets are required. Visit the Corcoran website ( http://www.corcoran.org/index.asp) for further information. Dreamscapes and Destinations - Andre Gallant The Manassas-Warrenton Camera Club is sponsoring a full day of tips, techniques, abstracts, montages and instruction by Andre Gallant. The seminar is November 3, 2007 from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM and the fee is $60 before September 30th and $70 afterward. For information call 703-590-5921 or 540-347-0006 or visit www.mwcc-photo.org. Costa Rica Costa Rica awaits, come photograph BATS, birds and more with
Wildlife Photo Tours in 2008. Costa Rica is home to all three species of
Vampire bats and we hope to photograph all three. Additionally, Costa Rica
is home to some of the most magnificent birds on the planet! Other tours
for 2008 include Bosque del Apache, Aransas, TX for Whooping Cranes, and
bats and venomous reptiles in Arizona and New Mexico. Visit our website
at www.wildlifephototour.com for additional tour information. Loudoun Photography Club Meetings are held on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays at 7:00 pm at theCascades Library (aka Eastern Regional Library) or as indicated.
Manassas Warrenton Camera
Club
Program: On Nov. 19th we will have Don Johnson from the Gaithersburg Camerta Club making a presentation on Zoo Photography. Please check out Don's web site at www.sunspotimages.com Competition: LRA has an all media show in Nov. Please check out www.leagueofrestonartists.org for details.
Self-Improvement Outing: Sat, 11/10 @ 8:00 a.m. (Green Spring Gardens Park, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria) … This is a small, fixed group of photographers … the November assignment is “Rectangles” … for more information, contact Dan Feighery at VPS_Dan@cox.net
Jobo lift CPA 2/CPP2 developer Jean Grefe, the McLean HS photography teacher, has a donated JOBO color developer (Jobo lift CPA 2/CPP2 developer all parts and in great condition) that the school cannot use. She will give it to anyone who can use it. If the person wants to donate something to the student fund in return she would be happy to accept it, but that is not a condition for giving the JOBO away. For more information, contact Jean Grefe jgrefe@hotmail.com or Bill Prosser prosserwm@aol.com. Bogen/Manfrotto 3275 Compact Geared
Head (Quick Release)
with plate. Photogenic Studio Lights (2 lite heads) with power pack, 400 watt seconds power; great for a first time studio set-up. $1400. Erwin Siegel 703-960-6726 anytime.
Equipment assistant – someone to control the lights at meetings, move prints on competition nights, transport the print display box and to learn and/or help with the presentation equipment. Contact Scott Musson, smusson@mindspring.com Feature Editor - one or more people to write articles of interest to the membership for the monthly newsletter. Digital photography, film photography, specialty photography, articles about members, etc. Contact Sam Schaen, editor@nvps.org Members Gallery Board Member - Due to personal reasons, Sandrah Pederson has resigned her position as the Members Gallery Coordinator. We’re sorry to see he go, but we understand how personal matters can take priority and we wish her the best. In light of this NVPS needs someone to coordinate Members Gallery for the remainder of the year. The position requires asking members to show their work (one person for prints and one for slide or digital projection), collecting the members bio, sending the bio to the Fotofax editor and introducing the members when they show their work. It’s a great way to get more involved with the club and give back to a great organization. It’s also a good way to get to know more of the members at NVPS. Please talk to Scott Musson at a meeting, via email (smusson@mindspring.com) or by phone (703-278-2828). Other volunteers - needed for a number of temporary and permanent positions, are always needed at NVPS. You are encouraged to enhance your experience at NVPS by volunteering; there are always a number of people needed. If you have any special interests or care to help out, please contact Scott Musson at smusson@mindspring.com or speak to him at one of the weekly meetings. |