We start out the month of November with the Nature Visions Photo Expo, November 3-5, at the Hylton Center for the Performing Arts at the George Mason University Manassas Campus.  Please see their website, http://naturevisions.org, for a complete list of speakers, workshops and vendors.  And while you are enjoying this wonderful event, please don’t forget to talk-up NVPS with photographers you may run into. This is great way to bring new members to the Club.

Out of doors, we see the progression of the fall season in our region as fall colors peak in the Piedmont plain. Our region also has spectacular indoor shooting opportunities at such as the National Cathedral, the Botanical Gardens, Longwood Gardens, and the Library of Congress.

 It is also time to think about indoor photos opportunities at home such as shooting close-ups in your basement using that under utilized tool, your tripod, and studio lights and exploring the fantastic world of focus stacking. 

For November we have another great line up of club activities as described below. And for those who were looking forward to Alan Goldstein’s presentation on drone photography “ Into the Wild Blue Yonder,” originally scheduled for Halloween night, we will be rescheduling his presentation in the Spring of 2018.

Bill Millhouser
2017-2018 NVPS President

Board of Directors

A full list of all current NVPS Board members and their club contact information also can be found at: http://nvps.org/home/?page_id=23

Monthly Program

November 7th: Creative use of WB and Color Temp
        with E. David Luria

A founding member of the Association of Independent Architectural Photographers and member of the American Society of Media Photographers, E. David Luria has had his images appear in over 100 publications, including Time magazine, Travel and Leisure magazine, Prevention, Washingtonian, Washington Flyer, Washington Spaces, “Food and Wine” and “Cuccina Italiana” in The Washington Post, the Hamburg Abendblatt, and the Tokyo Shinbum newspapers. He is also a Contributing Photographer to Where magazine and the NOW Guide, and since 1997 he has done over 3,000 property shoots for The Washington Post’s Apartment Showcase Magazine.

He has also been a frequent speaker and competition judge at local camera clubs in the D.C. area, including the Photography Committee of the National Press Club.

David is also a teacher of photography. A member of the Society of Photographic Education, he is founder and director of the Washington Photo Safari, through which he and his team of eleven professional photographers have trained over 32,000 clients on 4,700 photo safaris since 1999 in the techniques of travel and architectural photography. This program, annual winner of Trip Advisor Certificates of Excellence, is now one of the country’s largest providers of photography training field excursions. Prior to becoming a professional photographer, David had a long career in the U.S. and abroad as a senior executive with several international non-profit development aid and citizen exchange organizations, such as CARE, Partners of the Americas, Friendship Force, and Delphi International. An honors graduate of Amherst College and an Army veteran, David is fluent in Spanish, French, and German. David has also done work for most of the apartment management companies in the DC area. His work can be viewed at www.edavidluriaphotography.smugmug. com. He can be reached at 202-537-0937 and at edavidluria@juno.com.

The Presentation
Why do all of us enjoy photography so much?  Because it is interesting, it is satisfying, it is creative, and it is fun.  We feel satisfaction and pride when we have created a great image. So in this presentation David will give us examples of the many opportunities that exist in the D.C. area to have creative fun with our cameras. He will talk about the where, when, what, why, and how to get these pictures.

Among the themes of David's presentation are the use of techniques like creative white balance, the use of neutral density filters making people disappear or turning them into ghosts in graveyards, shooting the same scene in different seasons of the year, sunrise and nighttime photography, fun-filled fleeting moments like pillow fights, snowball fights, World War II airplane flyovers , presidential inaugurations, and folklore festivals, capturing abstract images in Adams Morgan and stained glass light projected on to the walls of Washington National Cathedral, or finding iconic “Paris on the Potomac” attractions in DC that have their counterparts in Paris!

The purpose of this presentation is to inspire us to get out there and have fun with our cameras.

D.C. Skyline in Full Moon
Georgetown at Dawn	Potomac Sunrise

Monthly Programs for 2017-2018

The VP for Programs for 2017-2018 is Willa Siegel.

Education & Training

November 14th: Creating Cards, Calendars, and
            Photo Books with Georgette Grossman

Georgette’s journey in photography began 11 years ago when her granddaughter, Ava, was born. Not capturing the cute smiles she wanted, she switched from a point’n’shoot to a DSLR (Nikon D80). She attended her first Nature Visions show at Meadowlark in 2007 and discovered there were camera clubs in the area! She joined NVPS in January 2008 and was hooked on photography as a hobby. She was the president of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society (NVPS) from 2014 to 2015.

Georgette advanced her photography skills by taking hands-on classes. Some of her instructors included John Gonsalves, Eliot Cohen, Corey Hilz, Nikhil Bahr, Josh Taylor, Mike Moats, and Denise Silva. By attending NVPS lectures, workshops, and field trips she believes her photography has evolved to a higher level. Participation in competition has helped to give her a critical eye when capturing and post-processing her images. She reads online columns daily to keep “up to date” on new camera equipment and software tips. Recently Georgette switched from a Nikon D7200 camera to a Fuji X-Pro2 to lighten her load.

Georgette captures moments she wants to remember. Her subjects include abstracts, people, places, and nature, but her favorite subject is flower close-ups and macros. Lately she is dabbling more with B/W images.

Seeing her images in print completes the photography journey. Georgette has shown her images at

• The Art League in Alexandria
• the Glen Echo Annual Labor Day Art Show,
• the ArtSpace Herndon Fine Art Photography Exhibit,
• Nature Visions annual exhibit,
• the Annual Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit,
• Beanetics Coffee Roasters coffee shop in Annandale and
• The 2016 and 2017 volumes of The Northern Virginia Review.

Georgette’s images can be seen at http://pixels.com/profiles/georgette-grossman. Georgette believes that part of photography is sharing your work beyond competition night. So many wonderful images are stuck in computers, note pads, and cells phones crying to get out.

In her program, she will demonstrate creating note cards using Red River card stock. Their website contains online tutorials and Lightroom templates for card making. They also provide printer profiles for common printers and the various paper types they sell. Red River is mailing her card stock samples and flyers to distribute to audience members!!!

Georgette also will explore creating your own calendars using VistaPrint. Sign up on their website to receive their discount announcements (Google VistaPrint.com for the most current information). Then select 12 of your favorite images and prepare them to send to VisaPrint when the “rock bottom” discount is announced; last year it was around Thanksgiving.

For members who do not print their own images, Georgette will provide a resource list for a variety of items that you can order online. These include books, canvas prints, mugs, mouse pads, playing cards, luggage tags, tee shirts, tote bags, ornaments, and iPhone covers.

Join Georgette on November 14th and give your images a new life outside your computer!

Education and Training Programs for 2017-2018

The Education and Training Coordinator for 2017-2018 is Ron Taylor.

Competition

November 21st: Judging by Don Becker

No theme.

Don Becker started his photography business in 1976, and is still operating as Don Becker Photography  (www.donbeckerphotography.com). He has had a number of one person and group gallery shows of his fine art photography images, and his fine art photographs reside in an art museum and numerous private collections all over the world. After the unfortunate demise of Washington School of Photography in 2016, where he taught for over 30 years, he and several partners started Maryland Photographic Workshops, a premier photographic educational organization dedicated to high quality classes and workshops (www.marylandphotographicworkshops.com). Don’s current primary photographic interests include: studio lighting techniques, beauty, fashion, dance (particularly ballet), macro photography, and scientific and technical photography.

Examples of Don's work:

Competition Themes for 2017-2018

Note: The Board reaffirmed that there will be three themed competitions per program year, but there will be no theme competitions in the months of December, January, and February. 

The themes for 2017-2018 are:

• Faceless Self Portrait - December 2017:
  This is not your normal selfie. Be creative and express your identity by taking a photo of yourself without your face.
• The American Experience –Americans at Work - March 2018:
  For this month's themed contest, show us your best photos of Americans at Work. This may be of a single person, or multiple people, at work. The person or persons and the work being performed must both be clearly evident in the photo. Let’s showcase Americans at Work by demonstrating their emotions, determination, strength and pride!

Competition Themes for 2018-2019

• Geometry:
  Images where the predominant elements are geometric shapes — circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, etc. The compositional elements may be specific [subject-based], such as a wall with a door and doorknob and windows, or implied [design-based], where the photographer searches for designs, such as rectangles, circles, etc. without concern for the names of the objects. For example, subject-based could consider a scene with land, ocean and sky, whereas, design-based could see the same scene as three rectangles of different tones and sizes.
•  Reflections:
  Images which include reflections in water, buildings, mirrors, glass or any other reflective material.
•  Trains, Planes, Automobiles, and Trucks:
  Images of these subjects can be of new or old ones—ones in mint condition or in a state of ruin. Photos can be of the entire vehicle or parts, such as hood ornaments. Subjects can be in motion or at rest.

Competition Judges for 2017-2018

October Competition Results

Digital - Class 1
1st Place – Sidney Stone – Girl With Chicken
2nd Place – John Olsen - Remembering
3rd Place – John Murray - Despair

Digital – Class 2
1st Place – Ron Petricka – The Happy Musher
2nd Place – Lee Halvorsen - Tired
3rd Place – Kacy Turner – Far Away Wonder

Digital – Class 3
1st Place – Wayne Guenther – Blow Hard
2nd Place – Ginger Werz-Petricka – Sweet Nothings
3rd Place – Bob Friedman – Surprise!

Color Prints – Class 1
No Awards

Color Prints – Class 2
1st Place – Eva Lanyi – Hi Mom!

Color Prints – Class 3
1st Place – Kieu-Hanh Vu – Mommy Wipes Away My Tears
2nd Place – Bill Vanderpool – Masai Smile
3rd Place – Wayne Guenther – Proud Poppa

Monochrome Prints – Class 1
No Awards

Monochrome Prints – Class 2
1st Place – Jim McDermott - Elation
2nd Place – Ron Taylor – Save Me From Those Dust Spots

Monochrome Prints – Class 3
1st Place – Kevin Egan - Splashdown
2nd Place – Bill Corbett – My Kids Won’t Appreciate This

Digital Class 1 Sidney Stone Girl With Chicken	Digital Class 2 Ron Petricka The Happy Musher
	Digital Class 3 Wayne Guenther Blow Hard
Color Print Class 2 Eva Lanyi Hi Mom!	Color Print Class 3 Kieu-Hanh Vu Mommy Wipes Away My Tears
Monochrome Class 2 Jim McDermott Elation	Monochrome Class 3 Kevin Egan Splashdown

The Co-VPs Competition for 2017-2018 are Stan Bysshe and Chuck Campbell (competitions@nvps.org)

Competition Image Use

The NVPS Website has a gallery of past Competition winning images at http://nvps.org/gallery/v/competitions/. If your image placed first, second, third or received an honorable mention in a club competition, it is eligible for this gallery.  Images are not posted automatically, you must specifically provide consent for your image to be included in the gallery.

To have your winning image included in the gallery, email editor "at" nvps.org and provide the following information:

Your name
Image Category (digital, color print, monochrome print)
Image Class (1, 2, or 3)
Competition Date

Digital Winners: When you upload your image for the competition, you can check the box to grant permission for it to be posted if it wins.  

Print Winners: send a digital version of your print, sized as if it were for digital competition.

The FotoFax newsletter is usually finalized during the weekend immediately following the monthly club competitions.  If your image is a first place winner and you send it in before the Friday following competition, your image will be forwarded to the editor for inclusion in FotoFax.  If you have not provided permission before that deadline, another winning entry may be used.

Forum

November 28th: The St. Lawrence River with
                     Alan Goldstein

A member of NVPS since 2012, Alan has been involved in some way or other with photography for the past 55 years.  It all began with a science teacher instructing him on the art of film developing.  At that time, he was using a Kodak Brownie.  Veering off during his teen-age years to using an 8mm movie camera, he returned to still photography during his college years and while working as a reporter for his hometown newspaper.

After graduating from college, Alan enlisted in the Navy, becoming a Navy Journalist and later a Public Affairs Officer.  His high school girlfriend had a Nikon SLR, and that became Alan's Holy Grail.  As a low-ranking Navy man, Alan scraped up the money and bought his first true SLR — a Minolta SRT-101.  As he progressed up the Navy ranks, he upgraded to a Minolta X700.

Fast forward to 2003.  Alan's brother-in-law was getting married and Alan was the photographer.  An acquaintance who was a Nikon rep loaned Alan a D100.   It was love at first click!  Since then, Alan has had a D100, D200, D300, D800 and now a D810, with a D850 on order.

Alan has also branched out to photography with a drone, and he'll be speaking about that at a meeting in 2018.

Alan is happy to spend his time making images.  He loves photographing just about everything, but really likes night scenes and landscapes. His photos have been used for greeting cards by non-profits, used for proposals by environmental entities, have been used by sports web sites, have appeared in newspapers, and even hang in a gas station.

Alan says he loves being a member of NVPS.  He has gained some great friends, enjoys the camaraderie, and has learned something new nearly every meeting.

Examples of Alan's work:

The Forum Coordinator for 2017-2018 is Kirk Johnson.

Upcoming Forum Presentations:

Members Gallery

November 28th: Digital images: Willa Friedman
                             Print images: Bob Friedman

Bob and Willa Friedman. As a teenager, Bob started his photography journey with a darkroom in his parent’s basement, which he inherited from his brother.  The first thing he did when we bought our house was to build a darkroom in the basement.

Willa first became involved in photography as an instructor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where she photographed wildlife in city parks for the NYC schools, and her images were published in a fourth grade text book. 

“If selling a few photos makes us pros, then we are pros.  Otherwise we are advanced amateurs. We have taken courses and workshops at Photoworks at Glen Echo, and with Freeman Patterson and Andre Gallant in New Brunswick, Canada, We have also had extensive courses in Photoshop. We have been members of NVPS for 12 years.

Our subjects are varied, but Bob does street photography and Willa finds reflections everywhere.  Both use a Fuji X-Pro2 with various lenses.”

Willa’s work is currently on display at the Art League in the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria and Alexandria City Hall.  She also has an image in the permanent collection in the Joseph Miller Center for Photographic Arts and had an image published in the Northern Virginia Review in the spring of 2015.

“Our current job is retirement – doesn't pay very well but it is a lot more fun then the “W” word. We have multiple images in the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. and have prints on display in various professional offices in the Metro D.C. area.”

Examples of Bob’s work:

Examples of Willa’s work:

The Member's Gallery Coordinator for this 2016-2017 is Laurie Kuyk.

Field Trips

November 12th: Colvin Mill Park

November may be a hectic month for NVPS members, Nature Visions and Thanksgiving are both November events, so we are going to keep the November field trip a low-key affair. We’ll be going to Colvin Mill Park, at the intersection of Colvin Mill Rd and Route 7 (west of Tysons) on November 12.

Colvin Mill (https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/colvinrunmill/), which dates to the early 19th century, has been on the National Register of Historic Places for 40 years. The park also has a general store which displays some articles that would have been sold there in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as grain that was ground in the mill and “sundries” – mostly candy and soda. Barn exhibits include farm and trade tools that would have been found in the area when the mill operated commercially.

On Sunday, November 12, the park will host the Ship’s Company, re-enactors who interpret life in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps between 1775 and 1865. At the park, the group will portray Navy life during the War of 1812, presenting “Eating and Fighting Live a Sailor.” The presentation will include canon fire.

The re-enactors will be at the park between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm. Since so many NVPS members have busy schedules during the month, we won’t have a formal “meeting time,” but encourage you to stop by during the Ship’s Company presentation and also tour the mill grounds and the mill itself. Admission to the park is free; mill tours are $7.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors.

The mill was built circa 1811. It is the sole surviving operational 19th-century water-powered mill in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and its restored mechanism is a nationally significant example of automated technologies pioneered in milling and later adopted across American industry. The mill was abandoned in 1934, and highway development caused the mill to be cut off from any near-by water source. The mill was later acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority, repaired, and made open to the public.

Please email us for questions and to let us know that you will be going: field-trips@nvps.org

Field Trip Coordinators for 2017-2018 are Jim and Jerri McDermott

Membership

2017-2018 Membership Dues

We now have NVPS business cards for you to hand out. Stop by the membership table and pick some up to keep in your camera bag! They are FREE for you to spread the word about our club.  Be sure to write your name on the back of the cards that you hand out; let’s see who brings in the most prospects!

Remember, in order to participate in the monthly competitions your membership dues must be current. The grace period has expired.

Membership dues for the 2017-2018 year are as follows:

There are three forms of payment. Checks and cash are preferred by NVPS:

• Check: make out your check to NVPS. Complete and print out the Membership Application (http://nvps.org/home/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NVPS_application_2015-2016.pdf). Please either mail both to our Treasurer, Tom Brett, 4216WynnwoodDr, Annandale, VA 22003 or bring your membership application and check to a meeting.
• Cash:Complete and print out the Membership Application (NVPS Membership Application 2017-2018 ) with your current information and pay our Membership Coordinators (Kacy Turner or Judy Graham) or our Treasurer (Tom Brett) at any future meeting.
• PayPal: use the link on our website: http://nvps.org/home/?page_id=114. Please note that NVPS must pay a fee for this method of payment!

Questions, please email membership at membership@nvps.org.
We look forward to seeing you at upcoming club meetings and events!

Stay Connected with NVPS

Email: If you are not already receiving NVPS emails, there are two ways you can sign up to join the list. Click on the following link and sign up by entering your name and email address. Click on join the list. http://nvps.org/home/?page_id=31. Or you may stop by the Membership desk at the next meeting and they will be happy to assist you. It's important to note, you will receive an "opt-in" email from nvps.org. If you do not receive it, check your spam folder. Please respond to this email within 72 hours or the verification link will expire.

Facebook: If you are on Facebook, please join the NVPS private group. Search on Northern Virginia Photographic Society Social Group and request to join. Members post everything from their photos to interesting articles on photography to requests for recommendations. You will find the group informative and fun!

Kacy Turner
Membership Coordinator

Announcements

Notice: The information about workshops and events not sponsored by or affiliated with NVPS are provided as an informational courtesy to Members. Individuals should review the detailed rules and conditions for contests and gallery shows to determine what impact entering an image has on the photographer's rights and ownership of the submitted images. Review the descriptions of workshops to see whether participation in a particular workshop would actually meet your personal learning goals. NVPS attempts to screen events for legitimacy and quality; however NVPS does not recommend these events and cannot assume responsibility for their ultimate quality. We recommend due diligence and encourage you to share your experience with other club members.

Exhibition Opportunities

Announcements of workshops, exhibitions or contests are provided for information purposes only. There is no actual or implied endorsement by the Northern Virginia Photographic Society.

Eighth Annual Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit

May 5 – May 28, 2018

The Joseph Miller Center for the Photographic Arts takes great pride in announcing its eighth annual juried abstract exhibit. ALL interested photographers are invited to submit entries for this much anticipated spring event. Submissions to the First Annual JM Abstract Exhibit were limited to local NVACC-related clubs; however, over the years, because of the influence these exhibits have had in encouraging and promoting abstract photography and due to their reputation, recent JM Abstract Exhibits have been attracting entries from national as well as international photographic artists.

The Joseph Miller Center will begin accepting entries for the upcoming Eighth Annual Exhibit on Saturday, December 23, 2017.

The deadline for submissions will be Friday, February 23, 2018.
 
A detailed prospectus containing all relevant information regarding the exhibit can be found on the Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs website at nvacc.org