We'll be starting the New Year with a bang, a program by a longtime friend of NVPS, Chuck Veatch, who'll be speaking about the Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Photography Contest and the winning images.  Many of the images shown will be in the exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History which opens in April.  Chuck will discuss how the judging process works and demonstrate some creative ways to present images.

 

One of our region's top photographers, Chuck Veatch was former member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society, and judged our 2008-2009 Year-End Competition. Chuck 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 presentations 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 Washington-area camera clubs. 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.

 

Happy Holidays, and I look forward to seeing you on January 4th!

 

Mary

Mary O'Neill

VP Programs

Northern Virginia Photographic Society

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