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Editor: Sam Schaen - Email: Editor@NVPS.org
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. October 7, 2008 Have you ever admired those "strange" black and white images with dark skies and light foliage? Have you ever wished you could make interesting landscape images in harsh mid-day sun? Have you been thinking about converting an old DSLR for infrared photography? Do you have an almost insatiable desire to learn about your photographic options? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you'll want to attend Alan Sislen's workshop on digital infrared photography. Alan is an Associate Artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia and a Resident Artist at the Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts (VisArts) in Rockville, Maryland. His work can be seen at the Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, at his shared studio at VisArts and at his home studio in Bethesda, Maryland. Alan is a former board member of the North Bethesda (Maryland) Camera Club. Through juried competitions, in 2006 and 2007 he was named Photographer of the Year – Advanced Color Prints. He was also chosen Photographer of the Year – Electronic Images in 2007. In 2008 he was named Photographer of the Year in Black and White prints. His work has also been included in many juried exhibits throughout the greater Washington, D.C. area. His website is www.AlanSislenPhotography.com Alan's outline for the evening workshop indicates a comprehensive
discussion of technical and aesthetic issues related to infrared (IR)
photography. He'll discuss the infrared spectrum, best subjects for
IR, shooting IR images with film vs. digital, using a point and shoot
digital camera vs. a DSLR, using filters vs. having your digital camera
converted for IR, white balance and focus issues when shooting IR,
and much more. Mary O'Neill
Andy Klein and Bill Prosser, both certified judges, will critique your photographic images October 14. The workshop will begin at 7:30 PM at the Dunn Loring Fire Station. Critiques are designed to give you educational feedback on your photographic efforts. We encourage you to submit images that are eligible for the October themed-competition, silhouettes, that were taken on field trips, or that respond to recent program or workshop topics. In order to give the judges adequate time to discuss individual images, you are limited to three images per person. To maintain the educational intent, if too many images are submitted, we may limit the comments to two images per person in order to ensure sufficient time for each image critiqued. We hope you will be able to learn about good visual design/composition and other aspects of good photography from observing this critique. You are encouraged to submit images as digital slides or bring film slides, rather than prints, because they are easier for everyone in the viewing audience to see. You may, however, bring prints for critique if you wish. (Binoculars also help one to view prints.) Please designate your priority preferences—one, two, or three. For images submitted for digital projection, designate the preference first -1, 2 or 3; followed by your name, and title (optional); e.g., 2-Bill Prosser-(Senica Window.) (Please use 1, 2, or 3, not 01, 02, 03.) Please email digital .jpg images no larger than 768 x 1024 pixels to Bill Prosser (prosserwm@aol.com) no later than Sunday evening, October 12. The judges will critique all the 1’s before moving the 2’s. For film slides (and prints) we will have three trays (stacks) designated, 1, 2, and 3 for you to sort you pictures into. If you bring film slides or prints, please arrive several minutes early to get your images in the correct tray or stack. NVPS is planning to start an activity to be called Problem Solvers to help answer member photography questions. We are maintianing a website (http://www.flickr.com/groups/thenvps/) where members can ask questions about photography, software, and equipment. Other members will answer these questions or try to provide guidance about where answers might be found. To make this activity a success we need to identify Facilitators and Problem Solvers. Facilitators will monitor the website to make sure that questions are answered in a timely fashion. They will be assigned specific days or weeks (to be determined) that they will check the website to see that all questions more than a day or two old have been answered, or acknowledged for a later response. If not, the Facilitator will try to find a Problem Solver from the Problem Solvers’ Inventory who will try to help the person with the problem. Problem Solvers are people who have volunteered to help try to answer member questions. If you are willing to monitor the website a few days a month and be a Facilitator, please contact one of the Workshop Coordinators-Melanie Marts, Bill Prosser, or Ed Ruggiero- that you would be available and how many days a month you would be willing to check out the website for open questions. If you have certain photographic skills and knowledge that enable you to be a good tutor to beginning photographers and others with problems, please volunteer to be a Problem Solver. The table below is designed to give you a conceptual framework to think about the talents that you have which could be added to the Problem Solvers’ Inventory. For example, Joe Miller has signed up as a Visual Design/Composition Problem Solver. Tom Brett has signed up for Flash, Macro, Black Light, and Nikon; Tom Hady for Black and White Printing. Don’t be shy, add your name to the Inventory list. It is fine, even advisable, to have multiple names for various skills—No one knows everything, everyone knows something. Think of skills narrowly, dodging and burning, or broadly, PS CS-3. Then, please volunteer to help others to find answers to their photography questions. Contact Melanie, Bill or Ed if you are willing to be a Problem Solver and list what skills you have or types of questions you would be willing to try to help with.
We also welcome your comments about how to improve this request to members to be Facilitators and Problem Solvers or the Problem Solvers activity. If you have any questions or concerns about Workshops, contact
Reminder: there is a theme for the October Competitions (Silhouettes). A discussion of what constitutes a silhouette can be found in the September issue of FotoFax. Please do not forget that new competition rules will be in
effect (http://nvps.org/main//about/rules-of-compettion/) and that only paid members may
enter competitions.
Competition Judge Theme: Silhouettes Warren Standley is a Massachusetts native who has been fascinated with photography since the age of 12. He started with a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye and moved to 35mm (Miranda, Ashai Pentax, Olympus, and Nikon) to document the world around him. After years with film, including a home darkroom, he is now 100% digital; shooting with a Nikon D200 and a D70. Warren is an eclectic photographer and enjoys shooting people and places. He especially enjoys roaming around new places and capturing unique patterns and lighting situations. Over the years, he has been active in local photo clubs as a member, president, competitions chair, and field trips coordinator. Warren is currently the editor of the monthly newsletter for the Vienna Photographic Society. He has done several photographic projects with students in Northern Virginia, but is proudest of his involvement in the Columbia Heights West Teen Photo Project, an activity that used photography to motivate at-risk teens to be good citizens by documenting Arlington's rapidly-changing ethnic neighborhoods in photographs and oral history. He "graduated" from full-time employment and, in January 2007. He and his wife Barb moved to their newly-constructed home in Bentonville (VA) to share the quiet of the Shenandoah Valley with the turkey, deer, coyote, bear, and an occasional cougar that were here long before they arrived. Please plan on joining Warren for dinner at Chili's at 5:45 prior to the competition (Sandi will send out a separate dinner reminder closer to the date). If you have any questions, please contact Sandi Croan at pashli@aol.com or Matthew Schmidt at mgs@loreleistudios.com.
September Competition Results
Center for the Photographic Arts Note: Sign-up is required as attendance may be limited
The Arboretum covers 446 acres and contains 9.5 miles of winding roadways. In
addition to fall foliage, the plants of interest in October include firethorn
in fruit, hibiscus, autumn crocuses, water-lilies, crapemyrtles, viburnums
in fruit, conifer foliage and cones, dogwoods in fruit, boxwood, herbs,
annuals, ornamental grasses, native witch-hazels, fall blooming camellias,
toad-lilies, chrysanthemums and others. More
information can be found at http://www.usna.usda.gov/index.html
Additional
information about the NWR can be found at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/chinco/introduction.htm Gerry Abbott
October 28 It is never pleasant when a judge is critical of our images when they are entered in a camera club competition, and we soon learn that judges have certain reasons to dislike images. OUT is a dreaded word. What would a camera club judge say if some famous paintings were entered in a camera club competition? On the October 28 Forum night, Joe Miller will "judge" well known paintings from famous painters (from Cezanne to Wyeth and from Dali to da Vinci) using camera club criteria. It will be a fun evening to hear OUT to a Rembrandt, a Picasso or a van Gogh when camera club criteria are used. Gayle Dennis
Digital Projection Paul will be displaying a digital slideshow of images collected at Brookside Gardens and the Washington Mall. Paul enjoys all types of outdoor photography particularly flower photography. Paul has developed his photographic skills by shooting a lot of images, reading photographic magazines and books, and attending NVPS. He feels his NVPS experience has been the biggest help in improving his images. Prints Luella Murri Changes to the By-Laws Pass A ballot vote was taken on the evening of Sept 16th, 2008 to consider the proposal to change the By-Laws of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society. During the NVPS summer transition board meeting, a motion to modify the definition of a quorum that was approved to be brought before the membership for a vote. The proposal was to lower the requirement for a quorum from “not less than one-third of the entire membership” to “not less than 15 percent of the entire membership”. The reason for this recommendation was to address the difficulty we had with establishing a quorum for the election of officers and for the changes to the Constitution and By-Laws and the rules of Competition in May 2008. Of the 133 paid members as of Sept 16th,2008, 60 ballots were cast by members in good standing or who were current with their dues, which constituted a quorum under the By-Laws as approved on May 20, 2008. A change to the By-Laws requires a simple majority and 57 votes were in favor of the change, 2 were opposed and 1 voted present. 8 invalid ballots were cast by members who had not yet paid their dues. An updated version of the Constitution and By-Laws of NVPS can be found on the NVPS website here. Scott Musson
Sandi Croan Sandi Croan will be a featured artist at both Broadway Gallery and Meadowlark Gardens in October. Please join Sandi at Broadway Gallery for an artists reception on Saturday, October 4th from 5 - 8 PM. Info available at www.broadwaygalleries.net. Her work will be featured for the month of October at the Fairfax gallery and at the Alexandria gallery in November for Fotoweek. Her work will also be on display in a solo show at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens from October 8th through November. Sandi Croan 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 October schedule is as follows:
The schedule can also be found on the NVPS website (http://nvps.org/main/upcoming/tv_program_photographers_of_no/). Luella Murri
FotoWeek DC, the first annual celebration of photography in the nation's capital, will take place November 15-22, 2008. It will bring together photographers, museums, universities, and others involved in the profession across the metro D.C. area. FotoWeek DC will feature a photography contest and juried exhibition open to professional and amateur photographers, along with gallery openings, lectures, educational workshops, portfolio reviews, book signings, and special offers on photographic services and merchandise from local area retailers. The week-long celebration will culminate in a gala awards ceremony hosted by FotoWeek DC sponsor National Geographic, recognizing area photographers across several genres, including photojournalism, commercial, fine art, amateur, and student photography. For more information on FotoWeek DC, please visit www.FotoWeekDC.org. 5th Annual Fall Wildlife Festival The Friends of the Potomac River Refuges to ask for your involvement in the 5th Annual Fall Wildlife Festival on Saturday, October 11, 2008 from 9 am to 3 pm to take place at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The festival, sponsored by the Friends of the Potomac Refuge Refuges (www.foprr.org) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, is part of the National Wildlife Refuge Week celebration.As in years past, the festival will feature artists, craftsmen, children's activities, live wildlife shows, environmental education exhibits, and hay rides. There is a $50 fee for vendors and we ask, that due to our limited supply, that you bring your own table, chairs and tent. In return, we can guarantee that you will have a highly visible space among the other vendors and exhibitors. I sincerely appreciate your consideration. If you are interested in participating in the festival, please feel free to contact me at my personal email address kobedog@hotmail.com or Annette Baker-Toole, President of Friends of the Potomac River Refuges at: info@foprr.com or call 703-408-5269. Lisa Graham Annette Baker-Toole
Friends of Banshee Reeks, Inc., announces their first photo contest, Banshee Reeks: Nature’s Oasis. Banshee Reeks is a 700-acre of nature preserve that is operated by Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services. It is supported by the Friends of Banshee Reeks, Inc., a volunteer, nonprofit organization. Photographic opportunities abound in forested, hillside, meadow, wetland and streamside landscapes. Banshee Reeks is open on weekends (8 am – 4 pm every Saturday and Sunday). This contest runs September 1, 2008 to April 16, 2009. Cash and gift certificate prizes will be awarded. Guidelines are available on-line at www.bansheereeks.org Gallery West National Juried Show Gallery West will be sponsoring its 12th Annual Juried Show in February. The prospectus is at www.gallery-west.com. It will be held at Gallery West in Alexandria Virginia from February 4th to March 2nd 2009. The Juror is Joey P. Mánlapaz. Entries must be submitted on CDs. There is a fee of $35 for 1-3 images. The deadline is November 20, 2008. Total awards will be $1000. Linda Bankerd, Show Chair Christine Kent Bowles (CKB Photography)
Christine Bowles Jim Clark
Jim Clark Henderson Fine Art
Colleen Henderson Alaska Photography Cruise
Lisa Glover Costa Rica Photo Tours
Additional information about itineraries can be obtained by contacting Frank Scott. Frank
Scott Nature Photography Workshop
amarchan@gmu.edu Workhouse Arts Center The long awaited Workhouse Arts Center at the old Lorton prison has finally opened. It has artists studio's of all types including photography. They also offer classes. Check out the web site for more information. Classes start Sept 29th. http://www.workhousearts.org/ Loudoun Photography Club Manassas Warrenton Camera
Club McLean Photography Club
TrekPod - designed to be a Walking Stick, Monopod or Tripod. Asking Price is $50.00 Contact Glenn Bernstein, gbernstein@aol.com. |