Octobers Forum will be preceded by Members Gallery.

The October 25 Forum is "Visual Communication" presented by Joseph Miller. All photographers are visual communicators, i.e., visual writers, and this Forum will look at some of the parts of visual speech. A Chinese proverb says "a picture is worth more than a thousand words" If that is so, every time we press the shutter we visually write a thousand words. As examples, this Forum will include three visual essays, A Sense of Place, Flowers Inside. and The Lady in Black.

Joe Miller is a prolific writer and frequent speaker and judge for most of the camera clubs in the Northern Virginia area. He has authored or co-authored no less than twelve of the NVACC handbooks on photography, teaches workshops relating to photographic techniques and has trained numerous judges in the area. He is a mentor for many of us in the club and has taught us to appreciate the 4 C's of Visual Communication: Craftsmanship, Composition, Creativity and Communication.

A member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society, Joe has judged competitions throughout our region including the annual Meadowlark Exhibit on Nature Photography as well as serving as Year End Judge for our own club. In addition, Joe has authored articles for the NVPS publication series on improving one's photography skills. He has taught classes on being a more creative photographer in Northern Virginia Community College and in his own Photographic Center near Gainesville, VA, where a number of our members have taken his workshops. 

As a student and friend of Freeman Patterson, Joe Miller introduced many photographers in this area to the concepts and vision of Patterson, and continues to promote photography that goes beyond recording the visual world into the realm of photography as a medium for fine art. Toward this end Joe pushes the photographer to explore the visual world in new ways, to look beyond the familiar in seeking subjects, and to free the imagination by "breaking the rules" in the treatment of subject.