The Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society

Fall is definitely my favorite season. As I look out my windows each day I am in awe of the changing colors and hope you have been taking advantage of the many photographic opportunities that nature is providing us.

One of my goals this year is to help create even more of a sense of “Community” within our club. We all share a love of photography and learning. Starting on November 10th, I will be starting a monthly “Members Community Dinner” at Chili’s on the 2nd Tuesday ( WET -Workshop,Education,Training night) of the month for informal conversation on photography or just getting to know each other.  Please let me know (pashli@aol.com) if you are interested in coming on November 10th at 5:30-ish.

Thank you to all the board members, various committee members and volunteers for another terrific month of programs, workshops-education and training, competitions and members gallery/forum as well as coffee, equipment schlepping and set up, tech team support, newsletter, website, etc. It takes many, many volunteers to make our very active club run as smoothly as it does. I am proud to say that as of October 17th, we have 206 paid members in NVPS. Thank you, Gayle, for your magnificent smile and welcoming ways.  Also, thank you to the many members who go out of their way to talk to, welcome, and assist visitors and new members. We are getting new members almost every single week and I have heard from many that they joined our club because we went out of our way to make them feel welcome.

Thank you also to the Member Support Committee (Fred Chitty, Gayle Dennis, Emi Wallace, and Judy McGuire) for completing guidance on how the club should respond in times of illness and death of a member or their family. The completed guidance is posted on the website and in this issue of Fotofax.

Thank you also to the Competition Rules Committee (Sam Schaen, Scott Musson, Gerry Abbot, Bill Prosser, and me). We just put together and administered a survey to help us get started on the very difficult task of looking at our monthly competitions (rules, categories/classes, advancement, etc.). We are in the process of evaluating survey results and will get back to you all soon with the results and a meeting date where we can discuss it further. Please feel free to send any ideas, feedback to any one of us. We are all committed to serving our membership.

Finally, I would like to remind folks that flu is now rampant in our area.  We have many members in fragile health who can ill afford to be exposed. Please, if you are not feeling well or even feel that you might be coming down with something – STAY HOME! We will miss you, but not your germs.

Happy fall!

Sandi Croan
NVPS President
Pashli@aol.com

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November 10 , 2009
Critique

On November 10th, 2009, the Workshop, Education and Training co-chairs will be hosting Critique Night.  Critique Night is generally done as support for themed competitions, which in November will be “Opposites”.  All paid members are welcome to submit up to 3 images, in digital or prints.  The images can be anything that you would like to have critiqued.  For new members, please note, this is not a competition. No prizes will be awarded; it is meant to be a constructive learning experience.

For this particular critique, there will be audience participation!  There will be up to 30 actual voters in the audience, armed with green, red and yellow cards.  Please note that only paid members may vote.  It will be first come first serve.  After each image is voted upon, up to 3 constructive comments will be allowed from the voters.

For those who are submitting prints, there will be a table set up in the back of the meeting room, with signs labeled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice.  Please divide up your images at the signs.  The ones will be shown first, then the twos, then the threes.  For digital submissions, please label them with 1-your last name, then 2-your last name, and 3-you last name; example 1-Marts, 2-Marts, 3-Marts.  Size your images for competition, and send them to Ed Ruggiero, eruggiero@cox.net, no later than Sunday, November 8th.  As with the prints, all the ones will be shown first, then the twos, and if time permits, the threes.

Yin & Yang of Photoshop
Downloadable Document

A document explaining how to do each of the techniques presented in his presentation can be found at: http://nvps.org/main/f_stop/documents_from_presentation_on/

Melanie Marts
jasmarts@cox.net

Ed Ruggiero
eruggiero@cox.net

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Upcoming Competitions

On Tuesday November 17th, we will hold our third competition for the 2009/10 club year with xxx as our judge. The theme for the competition will be "Opposites". The 2009 - 2010 Competition Themes are posted in the Competitions section of the NVPS website.

Competition Judge
Chuck Veatch
November 17, 2009

On Tuesday November 17th, we will hold our third competition for the 2009/10 club year with Chuck Veatch as our judge. This will be the first themed competition of the season. The theme will be "Opposites" which means that the image must present an opposite combination such as large/small, old/young, straight/crooked, round/square, animal/vegetable, dark/light, sharp/blunt, etc. The 2009 - 2010 Competition Themes are posted in the "Competitions" section of the NVPS website.

Chuck Veatch is a former member of NVPS and is one our region’s best photographers. He 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 every Washington area camera club. 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.

Please join our judge, Chuck Veatch for our pre-competition dinner at Chili's at 5:45 on Tuesday, November 17th. Please RSVP to Gerry at gerry.abbott@cox.net.

Chili's Bar and Grille

8051 Leesburg Pike
Vienna, VA
703-734-9512

From I-495/CAPITAL BELTWAY

1: Take the VA-7 W/LEESBURG PIKE exit number 47B-A toward TYSONS CORNER
2: Merge onto LEESBURG PIKE/VA-7 W toward TYSONS CORNER and move to left lane
   You will see Chili's almost immediately on the left.

3: Take a left at the first light "Fashion Square" (Tiffany's will be on the left and Tyson's
   Corner Shopping Center will be on the right) and an immediate left onto service road in
   front of Tiffany's, take your first right into Chili's parking lot.

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Gerry Abbott
Co-VP Competition
gerry.abbott@cox.net

Brian Payne
Co-VP Competition
BPayne45@yahoo.com

Field Trips

Steve Gawarecki has been a member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society since 1984. He started in photography when he was 10 years old, using a Baby Brownie, and slowly graduated to more sophisticated equipment over a period of 70 years.
Over time, Steve’s photographic technique and composition improved and soon he was regularly receiving major awards in competitions. Now he “considers himself a professional photographer.” Before digital photography became so popular, Steve shot slides of many artists’ fine art works.

Steve is a retired geologist from the U.S. Geological Survey where he used multispectral photography as well as infrared and radar imagery in the field of remote sensing. He has lectured and led workshops in both the scientific and artistic aspects of photography.

Personally Steve likes to photograph landscapes, seascapes, shadow patterns with textural contrasts, architectural abstractions, and still lifes. He feels that his best images have been produced with Nikon cameras, both film and digital. His secret for consistently good photos is the judicious use of an incident light meter.

Steve and his wife of 55 years, Carolyn Grossé Gawarecki, often exhibit jointly in shows. Carolyn is a nationally recognized professional watercolor artist and teacher. In the spring they exhibited at Green Spring Horticultural Center and currently they are hanging works at LMI in Tysons' Corner.

Judy first became interested in photography and travel when she was 10. With her Kodak Brownie camera in hand, she and her family explored the western United States. She took many snapshots over the years documenting family, friends, and pets. Eventually she got her first SLR and enjoyed slide photography for many years. In April 2007, she reluctantly gave up film photography and moved to digital. Currently Judy uses a Nikon D90 to capture her images.

Travel and nature photography are Judy's main interests. She loves to travel and takes photographs anywhere, searching out back roads as well as the obvious sites. She enjoys giving digital slide shows for various groups, and creates note cards and calendars using her photos. Her job as a private piano teacher (inching toward retirement) allows the flexibility needed for many and varied photo expeditions.

In September, 2001, Judy saw Luella Murri on one of the first "Photographers of Northern Virginia" programs. She phoned Luella after the show for NVPS information and became a member shortly afterwards. Since then, Judy has enjoyed the club’s many learning opportunities, covering all aspects of photography. She maintains that viewing outstanding photos and hearing speakers lecture on new topics inspire her to try new ideas and improve her own techniques.

Member Support Committee

In June, NVPS President, Sandi Croan, appointed a member support committee to develop guidance as to how the club will respond and acknowledge member and or family illnesses, deaths, births and other life changing events.  The committee members were Gayle Dennis, Emi Wallace and Judy McGuire with Fred Chitty serving as committee chairperson.   Over the summer, the committee developed written guidence and presented it to the NVPS Board on September 22nd, where it was approved.     Below is the guidence as adopted by the NVPS Board.

NVPS Member Support Guidance

Purpose

To provide guidance for club response and acknowledgement of member’s (and/or immediate family) serious illnesses and death.

Guidance

1. When the NVPS board becomes aware of a serious illness or death of an active NVPS member, death of immediate family of an active member (i.e. spouse or children of the member) or former elected officer or member, it should acknowledge the situation as follows:

a. with an appropriate announcement during a club meeting (in the case of serious illness, the member’s desire for privacy will be fully respected)

b. with an appropriate card, signed by club members

c. communication to the membership of the proper address in order that individual members, who desire to do so, may send their own cards

d. in the event of a death, an email to the membership, advising of arrangement details, and acknowledgment in Fotofax will be made

2.  Acknowledgement beyond that listed above such as flowers and/or charitable donations, etc. should be made by voluntary donations of the membership.    However, it is envisioned that in the case of the death of former elected board members, such additional acknowledgement should be coordinated and made by the membership chairperson if a volunteer does not step forward. 

3.  Financial – NVPS club dues should only be used for cards and postage.  Other types of acknowledgement (e.g. flowers, charitable contributions, etc) should be paid for by individual member volunteer donations specific to the event.

4.  Any member, at their individual discretion, may advise the board of the serious illnesses or death of an active member or former elected officer or former member of NVPS.   That member should be asked if they would be willing to coordinate NVPS acknowledgement of the event, within the guidance above,  to include purchase of an appropriate card, obtaining member signatures, mailing the card, collecting donations for flowers &/or charitable donation in the club’s name, etc.   If that member is unable to provide coordination and no other member volunteers, then the NVPS membership chairperson should coordinate the appropriate response and acknowledgement by the club.

Fred Chitty
703-690-2467
chittyfc@bp.com

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Stephen and Beverly Vogel

Stephen and Beverly have been submitting their images over the past several years to "The Brethren Press". Beverly has gotten several book covers published and Stephen has gotten numerous bulletin covers

Beverly Vogel
Bevsphototreasur@comcast.net

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Laura Howell

Laura Howell had the image, "Luray Detail", juried into the Maryland Federation of Art  - Small Wonders Show.  This image was one of the 105 pieces selected from the 418 submitted.  The show will be on exhibit in the MFA's Circle Gallery, 18 State Circle, Annapolis, MD from November 27 - December 27.

Laura Howell
lhowellphotos@yahoo.com

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Wayne Wolfersberger

During September Wayne Wolfersberger presented a program (Photographing Yellowstone) and judged a competition for the International Photographic Society in Washington DC. He also presented a program (Photographing Wildlife) for the Third Annual Claude Moore Photography Expo in Loudoun County. He served as judge for the September competition with the Manassas-Warrenton Photographic Club. During the month of August, Wayne won awards in four of the five categories of the Yellowstone Employees Photo competition. There were hundreds of entrants, but only one entry in each category was allowed. There were cash awards and Wayne won two firsts, a third and an honorable mention. He was the only multiple winner.

Wayne Wolfersberger
wayne.wolfersberger@gmail.com

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Copyright and Photographs/Images

The following link provides frequently asked questions on the subject of photograph/image copyright:

http://www.photolaw.net/faq.html

Jeff Evans
http://gallery-west.com/
http://evansimagesandart.com/

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Early Openning at Meadowlark Gardens
November 7, 2009

As part of FotoWeekDC, Meadowlark Gardens will be open from 6:00AM to 6:00PM on November 7th. 
http://www.nvrpa.org/parks/meadowlark/index.php?pg=events.html

Bob Friedman
r.friedman.1@alumni.nyu.edu

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The Photographic Society of Rhode Island has announced its 5th Annual Ocean State International Exhibition of Photography. This Exhibition is recognized by PSA which allows accepted images to count toward PSA star ratings. Over 18 medals and awards will be given.  They are a DUAL PROJECTION exhibition and we welcome film photographers to enter slides and digital photographers to enter electronic files.   Individuals can enter slides or digital, but not both. Time is of the essence, the deadline for entries this year coming up soon, Oct. 31th 2009. Information and entry form can be found at: http://www.psri.us/.