November President’s Message – Mike Whalen
Remembering Bill Prosser
Last month was a sad time for NVPS. We lost our friend and longtime member, Bill Prosser. Bill passed away unexpectedly on September 23 while travelling in China with his wife, Ann.
Bill was very active in NVPS. He was a passionate, talented and respected photographer who joined NVPS in the 1990 and had won numerous awards including “Photographer of the Year” on multiple occasions. He received the honored “Joe Atchison” award for service in 2008. Among other things, Bill was responsible for starting and managing the Portfolio Project at NVPS which continues to be a very popular activity. He came up with the creative and unique idea for what was to be his final portfolio, titled “Sea Sculptures” while recently vacationing in Nova Scotia. Here, he photographed figures found in seaweed that had washed up on the beach! See his figures and patterns left temporarily by nature. Member, Jeff Hancock, created a photo tribute to Bill, a slideshow of some of his recent NVPS competition winnings that can be downloaded here.
Bill was also a volunteer photography teacher at McLean HS, and a founding member of the McLean Photo Club where he contributed for 30 years. One of his colleagues there, George Albright, created this very nice tribute for him. More thoughts and comments for Bill can be found here on his Facebook page, and his obituary in the Washington Post is here.
Bill will be fondly remembered by the many people he touched and guided through the years. His service and contributions to NVPS have been unmatched. We give our sincere thanks to Bill for all he has done for our community. We will not forget him and we offer his wife and family our deepest sympathies. May he rest in peace.
Nature Visions
The most important event for November is the Nature Visions Photography Expo on November 8-10 in Manassas, VA. This is a big deal for all photographers in the Washington area and should not be missed. The 3-day expo features an outstanding photography exhibit of over 300 juried nature images from 6 area photo clubs plus a second exhibit of non-nature prints. Nature Visions (NV) is not just about nature photography; NV is an excellent learning opportunity for all types of photographers regardless of skill level. Come and participate in some of the lectures (L) or classes (C) and I guarantee you will come away with fresh ideas and feeling inspired.
Noted commercial photographer of 30 years, Bryan Peterson, will be the keynote speaker. Bryan has published 8 best-selling books on photography including the classic, “Understanding Exposure”. He will present a full day seminar on Learning to See Creatively on Friday, November 8, and an evening keynote address on “Creative Use of Ambient and Artificial Light” on Saturday, November 9. The expo also features back-to-back lectures and classes (both paid and free) from various talented photographers all weekend.
Be sure to register for the various options online. Do it early as a number of the classes and lectures are already sold out. Note that general admission to the photo exhibits and a few of the lectures and classes are free but you still must register. A brief list of the weekend schedule is presented below. I hope to see you there.
Saturday Schedule
8:00A Shooting Raptors w/ Alan DeFelice (C)
9:00A Fundamentals of Nature Photography (C)
9:00A The Creative Hand of Man (C)
10:30A Composing Images of the Natural World (L)
12 Noon The Business of Nature Photography (C)
12 Noon Creative IPhonography (C)
1:00P Wildlife Photography-Artic to Tropics (L)
2:15P Birds, Mammals and Macro (C)
2:15P Creating Great Artwork with Macro (C)
3:00P Discover the Power of Presence and Flow (L)
4:00P EXPO KEYNOTE – Flashes of Inspiration
Sunday Schedule
8:00A Shooting Raptors w/ Alan DeFelice (C)
8:30A Free – More Time Behind the Lens (L)
10:30A Lightroom for the Landscape Photographer (C)
10:30A Florida Everglades (L)
1:30P Nighttime Landscapes (L)
2:15P Seeing Your Way to Better Pictures (C)
2:15P Photoshop for the Landscape Photographer
3:00P Macro Beyond Flowers (L)
4:30P FREE – Through the Eyes of Julieanne Kost (L)
November Field Trip – Bombay Hook
Our November (16-17) overnight field trip to Bombay Hook, DE offers a unique opportunity to photograph migrating birds, potentially many thousands of them. If you have never experienced a bird migration, it is an absolutely awesome experience. The sound of this many birds such as swans or snow geese honking can be almost deafening. This is a perfect time to use your long telephoto lenses. If you don’t have at least a 300mm lens, consider renting one.
Final thoughts
As we transition from fall to winter, this is a good time to start planning for winter photo projects. Consider setting up a small indoor studio; become familiar with off-camera flash; learn a new post-processing technique; experiment; try something different. Nature Visions Expo is an excellent place to come away with some new ideas.