On Tuesday November 17th, we will hold our third competition for the 2009/10 club year with Chuck Veatch as our judge. This will be the first themed competition of the season. The theme will be "Opposites" which means that the image must present an opposite combination such as large/small, old/young, straight/crooked, round/square, animal/vegetable, dark/light, sharp/blunt, etc.   The 2009 - 2010 Competition Themes are posted in the "Competitions" section of the NVPS website.

Chuck Veatch is a former member of NVPS and is one our region's best photographers. He has attended workshops with Freeman Patterson and the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. He has won many awards, exhibited throughout the area, and published a book of beautiful images shot in and around Reston, Virginia.  Now in its second printing, The Nature of Reston encourages us to look for photographic opportunities in the familiar and often overlooked natural areas all around us.

Chuck has given presentation and judged contests at the North American Nature Photography Association's National Convention, the New England Council of Camera Clubs, the Meadowlark Photo Exposition, and every Washington area camera club. He is involved in all aspects of Nature's Best magazine and Nature's Best Photography Contests, including photo selection and editing for the exhibits at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

With regard to his personal artistic statement, Chuck wrote: "Two ideas dominate my image making and judging. First, simple is better. That means that any element in an image that does not add to the message the artist wishes to convey, subtracts from it.  Second, images should be created using the rules of visual design. This means that the subject matter is often subordinate to the use of line, shape, color, texture, tone and perspective to capture the essence of the artist's vision. Photography is art and should be judged that way."

Involvement with non-profit and environmental organizations in Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley occupies much of Chuck's and his wife Beverly's time.  Although he still maintains a home and office in Reston, Chuck's home on Cedar Creek in Shenandoah County has been the inspiration for many photographic projects. 

Please join our judge, Chuck Veatch for our pre-competition dinner at Chili's at 5:45 on Tuesday, November 17th. Please RSVP to Gerry at gerry.abbott@nospam!#*&^#)type address - don't copy spam protection(*@.@nospamcox.net . Hope to see you there.

Gerry Abbott

Co-VP Competition

gerry.abbott@nospam!#*&^#)type address - don't copy spam protection(*@.@nospamcox.net

703-967-9677 

Brian Payne 

Co-VP Competition

BPayne45@nospam!#*&^#)type address - don't copy spam protection(*@.@nospamyahoo.com 

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Chili's Bar and Grille

8051 Leesburg Pike

Vienna, VA

703-734-9512

From I-495/CAPITAL BELTWAY

1: Take the VA-7 W/LEESBURG PIKE exit number 47B-A toward TYSONS CORNER

2: Merge onto LEESBURG PIKE/VA-7 W toward TYSONS CORNER and move to left lane 

   You will see Chili's almost immediately on the left. 

3: Take a left at the first light "Fashion Square" (Tiffany's will be on the left and Tyson's

   Corner Shopping Center will be on the right) and an immediate left onto service road in

   front of Tiffany's, take your first right into Chili's parking lot.