Prints – Willa Siegel

Photography has become Willa’s passion.  She is drawn to color, texture, and luminosity: soft focus macro and abstract photographs.

 

Willa joined NVPS in May of 2011, after working for almost 40 years in the Federal Government’s national Head Start Program. Her last position was Head Start’s Literacy Specialist.

 

 

 

She tinkered with photography earlier in her life, but for her it was more snapshots than photography.  In 2011, Willa took up photography seriously.

 

Willa considers herself a novice, because while (IMHO), she made some beautiful photographs, her technical skills are still developing.  She has no formal schooling in photography, but has taken classes and workshops in macro, flower and landscape photography, as well as Lightroom.

 

She considers herself a serious amateur.  Her images have been juried into various shows, including Nature Visions and the Joe Miller Abstract Show.  Last month, one of her photos, Mysterious Calla, was sold from the Vienna Art Society show at Greenspring Park.

 

Willa’s favorite subjects are soft focus macro shots and abstracts.  Since she is still working on her focusing abilities, her favorite subjects are ones that stay relatively still… mostly flowers.  They don’t care how long it takes her to compose her shots.

 

She have recently switched from Olympus to Fuji, and currently shoots with a Fuji XE1.  Not sure if it is technically a gadget, but her favorite accessory is a Canon 500 D close up lens.  It allows her to travel without taking a dedicated macro lens.

 

Willa is married to David Siegel, and has a stepdaughter, Lauren, 31.

 

Willa hopes to keep learning more, both in terms of her skill level and her ability to ‘see’ and that her passion for photography continues to grow.

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Digital Images- Kieu-Hanh Vu

While photographers usually learn to take pictures first and then learn how to edit their pictures using post processing tools, Kieu-Hanh went the unconventional route.  She first learned about the editing tools when she took a computer graphics course in college, and because she was so interested in those editing tools, she began learning about photography so that she could apply her skills.  She first picked up a point-and-shoot camera in 2006, and learned how to take pictures at the Vietnamese Photographic Society in Falls Church, Virginia.  She has since moved on to several SLR digital cameras, and currently uses a Canon 7D Mark II.

 

Kieu-Hanh joined NVPS in 2008.   She is also a member of Photographic Society of America (PSA) and the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP).

She considers herself as an avid amateur photographer.  She always travels with some kind of camera, big or small.  To her, the best camera is the one she has with her.  She uses photography as ways to relax and to reduce the stress from her hectic lifestyle.  Her main interest is nature photography and photojournalism.  When creating an image, she focuses on making the image unique so that it stands out from similar types of image.  She also tries to convey an idea, message, or thought in her images.

Kieu-Hanh has earned two Bachelor’s degrees – one in French Literature and one in American & British Literature from the Polytechnic University of Saigon, Vietnam. She also holds a Master’s degree in Information Systems Technology from the George Mason University, Virginia.

She is currently working as a Systems Analyst at Department of Housing’s Office of the Inspector General (HUD-OIG).  She lives with her husband in Fairfax, Virginia.

Kieu-Hanh has won numerous competitions and awards for her photographs at international, national, and local competitions. Some highlights of the awards she has received are:

• Gold medal in 2012 Photographic Society of America (PSA)’s Individual Creative Competition.
• Gold medal, “Best of Creative,” in 2012 PSA-Mid-Atlantic Chapter.
• Photographer of the Year in 2010 NVPS’s Novice Digital category.
• Two images that won “Image of the Year” in 2009 and 2010 at NVPS’s End of Year Competition, in Novice Digital category.
• Honorable mention awards at the Coachella 2012 International Exhibition of Photography, 2012 Tropical Image Exhibition, 2014 Southern California Council of Camera Clubs, and at the 2015 Greater Lynn International Exhibition.
• Her images were also accepted to many international exhibitions of photography in the U.S, Ireland, Serbia, Argentina, and the U.K.
• Her photographs were also juried into the Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit of 2012, 2013, and 2014.Kieu-Hanh’s photography plan is to continue to improve her photography skills via NVPS’s education and training presentations.