Please join us for the last Program of the year! May meeting speaker will be fine art photographer Bert GF Shankman of Olney, Maryland. Mr. Shankman creates expressionistic interpretations of flowers grown in his gardens. His works have been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally.

Mr. Shankman is a fine art photographer whose specialty is flower photography. He grows his floral subjects at his home in the many gardens he tends. With his work close at hand, he photographs his subjects in all phases of development and in all kinds of weather. His images entail the use of a tripod to get multiple exposures for each composition. He also varies the focus points and the amount of light on his subjects. This enables him to compose an image controlling the clarity and the tones of the picture to correspond to his visualization of the final product. His intent is to use the flowers to evoke a wide range of emotions. All of his works are limited to editions of 25.

In 2009 Bert was chosen by the review committee of the Lishui Photo Festival to speak and present his works in a solo show in Lishui, China. The Lishui Photo Festival is a biennial photography festival held during the last week of November. Mr. Shankman was one of approximately 100 invited photographers from the U.S., Europe and China. He has also spoken to numerous photography clubs in the Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia area.

The talk will start with a few pictures showing the Lishui Photo Festival. Then Mr. Shankman will describe how he uses Focus Stacking in the creation of pictures including those for the festival. He will also talk about the different focus stacking software available today.

On a personal note, I want to thank the membership for the privilege of allowing me to serve as your VP Programs for the last four years. It has truly been a rewarding experience to be part of an organization with such a highly engaged and talented group of members