Prints – Fran Bastress

Fran has been involved in photography for decades as a hobbyist but, like many NVPS members, had a hiatus while tending to family and career.  She initially became engrossed after buying a secondhand Hasselblad and taking a photography course in Boston, where she developed her darkroom skills.  Her walls are covered with the black and white pictures she took during her years in New England, and some themes in those photos continue in her work today: the natural world and landscapes that incorporate water and things related to the sea.  These interests attracted her in recent years to Canada’s Atlantic Provinces, including New Brunswick where she took the Andre Gallant/Freeman Patterson’s photography workshop.  Fran credits it with heightening her ability to see the world around her.

It was an Annie Leibovitz exhibit in 2006 that prompted Fran to reengage in photography and enter the digital age.  She shelved her old Canon Rebel, bought a 30D, and took courses from

Eliot Cohen.  She recently moved from a Canon 7D to a 5D Mark III.  She does her own printing and matting and has participated in workshops and tours.  But now, she and her husband do extensive research and networking to create their own photography tours.  With extended family in Vermont and Phoenix, they’ve traveled repeatedly to the Northeast and Southwest, but during 2015 they plan to focus on the Northwest.

Fran has been an NVPS member since 2010 and is grateful for all the information and encouragement she has acquired from the club, and she credits it with reigniting her passion for photography.  She serves on the board as secretary/historian and is participating in the Portfolio Project.  Last year she was awarded print of the Year (Class 3) for her Monk in Bhutan Doorway.

Many of the prints on display are ones that placed in NVPS competitions, as well as those juried into other exhibits: ArtSpace Herndon, Nature Visions, including their traveling exhibits, and Joe Miller’s Abstract Exhibit.  Later this year Fran has a solo exhibit scheduled.  She’s recently updated her website and suggests visiting it to see the photo slideshows with musical accompaniments: www.visionsbyfran.net

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Digital Images – Kip Holdridge

Kip Holdridge learned “the basics” of photography at a young age. At 6 years old, his mother taught him the mechanics of using an SLR camera and the rules of composition. After a childhood behind the lens, Kip and photography slowly grew apart as after school activities took up more of his time. After finishing college and starting a career, he found his way back to photography with a little nudging from his mother. He purchased his first DSLR in early 2008 and joined NVPS in the spring of 2009. Kip was the recipient of the NVPS “Photographer of the Year” and “Image of the Year” awards in the Novice Unrestricted Digitally Projected Images category for the 2010-2011 competition year and the “Photographer of the Year” award in the Advanced Digitally Projected Images category for the 2012-2013 year.

Kip’s photography can be seen online at http://www.flickr.com/krhphotography

The Great American Horse Drive

In a small town in Northwest Colorado, history and traditional endure in one of the largest annual horse drives in the country. A herd numbering over 400 strong, one of the largest in Colorado, is driven from their winter range to a ranch through 60 miles of countryside over two days. Kip’s presentation will chronicle several years of the horse drive, including the herd, riders, and working cowboys and cowgirls in action. The presentation will also feature Northwest Colorado’s other equine attraction, the majestic wild horses of Sandwash Basin.