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Editor: Sam Schaen - Email: Editor@NVPS.org
HAPPY NEW YEAR! It is hard for me to believe that 10 years have passed since we all worried about whether our computers would explode when the date changed from 1999 to 2000 (Y2K). Harder still to wrap my head around is how much photography has changed since then. For some, the changes have been very difficult and not necessarily welcomed. For others, the advent of digital has opened all kinds of new doors as well as creating a groundswell of interest. Clearly, membership in photo clubs has grown significantly as more and more people are buying digital cameras, taking classes and workshops, learning software programs, etc. The advent of digital has also created much discussion and ethical dilemmas concerning the question “what is a photograph?” Ask ten people what they would consider a photograph and what, if any limits should be placed on manipulation and you will get ten different answers. When does a photograph stop being a photograph? Just look at the different judges and speakers we have had and you can see the variation in personal tastes and interpretations. Like politics or religion, I don’t think there are right or wrong answers in this photography debate. As individuals, we decide our own interpretation, our own styles and our own personal vision. For me, I respect and am fascinated with all genres of photography from film/darkroom, monochrome/color, different effects from lenses (fisheye, lensbaby), computer manipulation with software and plug-ins, printing on different mediums (paper, wood, metal) etc. I love the “art” of photography and the ability to be creative or to simply document a scene or moment in time. To me, these are very exciting times. I also think that these are times when tolerance, open-mindedness and respect of differing opinions are paramount. As a club, NVPS has an obligation to try to meet the needs of its members. This is not an easy task given the diversity of ages, skill levels, and personal visions. We have seen a huge increase in all things digital; and that increase constantly challenges us to reassess our equipment, competition rules, programs, workshops/education and training, etc. I've been thoroughly pleased with the Board and our many volunteers this year. They've all been doing a terrific job that has made mine so much easier. Thank you, thank you, thank you! The Board will be having its mid-year meeting at the end of January. We will be discussing what we will be doing for the rest of the year, rules changes, purchases needed, etc. If you have any suggestions please talk to the appropriate Board member or to me. We will also be starting to look at the leadership and volunteers for 2010-2011. Please consider letting me know in person at one of the meetings or via email if you are interested in volunteering now or next year. Sandi Croan
Dreamscapes Portfolio
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Workshops,
Education, and Training |
On January 12th, 2010, the Workshop, Education and Training co-chairs will be hosting a Critique Night. Critique Night is generally done as support for themed competitions. The next themed competition will be held in January and the theme will be “Flash”. All paid members are welcome to submit images, in digital, slides or prints. The images can be anything that you would like to have critiqued; but we encourage you to consider submitting images that were taken with flash. 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 two judges: Sandi Croan and Tom Brett. To give the “critquers” adequate time to discuss individual images there will be a limit of three images per person.
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 your 1 - last name, then 2 - last name, or 3 - 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, January10th. As with the prints, all the ones will be shown first, then the twos, and if time permits, the threes.
This is meant to be a fun and positive learning experience, so please come and join in! Submit your images! If you are a new member and haven’t competed yet, this is your chance to show your images! Looking forward to seeing you!
Any questions, please email Ed Ruggiero, eruggiero@cox.net, or Melanie Marts, jasmarts@cox.net.
.Melanie Marts
jasmarts@cox.net
Ed Ruggiero
eruggiero@cox.net
Competitions |
On Tuesday January 19th, 2010, we will hold our fifth competition for the 2009/10 club year with Mary Ann Setton as our judge. This will be the second themed competition of the season. The theme will be Flash, which is defined as images where flash on or off camera is the principal light source The 2009 - 2010 Competition Themes are posted in the Competitions section of the NVPS website.
Mary Ann Setton is both a Past President and Past Competition Vice-president for NVPS. While an active member, she earned various competition ribbons including five Prints of the Year and Photographer of the Year, in both 2005 and 2006, in the category of Enhanced Prints. She has also won ribbons in the Vienna Photography Shows including Best in Show in 2001 and was presented with a prestigious Equal Award at the Art League of Alexandria’s gallery at the Torpedo Factory where she also maintained a bin for two years.
She is a graduate of the Washington School of Photography and has augmented that training with many photography and Adobe Photoshop courses including the famed Freeman Patterson’s Photography and Visual Design Workshop in 2007. She has experience as a program presenter, teacher, critique leader, and competition judge and completed Joe Miller’s Seminar on Judging in 2006.
Mary Ann and her husband had a part-time photography and video business and a studio in their home for several years before moving to the Shenandoah Valley area near Winchester in 2007. Since her move, Mary Ann has organized a Photography Club in her active-adult community and continues to teach, judge, mentor and present variations of her Digital Magic program. Her love of digital photo art is still her primary focus and she had an exhibit of her work in October.
Please join our judge, Mary Ann Setton for our pre-competition dinner at Chili's at 5:45 on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010. Please RSVP to Gerry at gerry.abbott@cox.net . Hope to see you there.
.
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.
In our continuing effort to improve the experience at NVPS for our members, we are going to test the displaying prints on the screen during competition. We hope that this will make it easier for the audience to view the prints while the judge is viewing the physical prints in the light box.
We are testing video and Live-View cameras prior to the competition, and will be using the club's digital projector to display the images on the screen. This will mean that the light box will not be on the stage during the competition and will instead be off to one side.
We will dry run the setup on January 12, during the critique. We hope to gain some valuable insight into the logistics that are required without extending the competition beyond the 10:00 PM mark.
Moving the light box will likely change your view of the prints during the competition, so you may want to arrive early on January 19. We expect that the average view will improve with the projection, but your favorite seat will not have the same view as it did during December's and prior competitions.
As in the past, you may want to bring some binoculars to view the prints in the light box directly.
Please direct questions to Matthew G. Schmidt at mgs@loreleistudios.com.
Matthew Schmidt
mgs@loreleistudios.com
Below are some images that received a first place award in the November competition. Clicking on one of the pictures will display a larger version.
Novice Digital
Advanced Color |
Novice Monochrome Advanced Digital |
First place winners in future competitions may be submitted to editor@nvps.org. Submitted photos should have maximum width and height of 1024 pixels and 768 pixels respectively. Images should be sent to editor@nvps.org by the Friday following the competition.
Award | Photographer | Title |
Novice Monochrome Prints | ||
1st | Roger Lancaster | Tree In Winter |
Advanced Monochrome Prints | ||
1st | Chuck Bress | Ladder |
2nd | William Haubert | Glade Creek Grist Mill |
Novice Color Prints | ||
1st | Bill Vanderpool | High Tea, Kiwi Style |
2nd | Georgette Grossman | Chicken Man At Fengdu Market |
3rd | Mike Whalen | Italian Fruit Stand |
HM | John Moore | Cloudy Skyline Drive |
HM | Pat Worley | Fall Leaf Abstract |
Advanced Color Prints | ||
1st | William Haubert | Mesa Arch Sunrise |
2nd | Jorja Feldman | Reddish Egret Landing |
3rd | Davis Balderston | Railroad Relic |
HM | Bob Friedman | Cars, Cars, Cars |
HM | Davis Balderston | Backyard Fall |
HM | Melanie Marts | Chincoteague No. 146 |
HM | Jenifer Elliott | Plaza de Toros, Sevilla |
Enhanced Prints | ||
1st | Georgette Grossman | Shanghai Morning |
2nd | Shawn Miller | Rural Entropy |
3rd | Bill Prosser | WRP - Line Drawing |
HM | Lorraine Chickering | Aspen Aspect |
Advanced Slides | ||
1st | Matthew Schmidt | Ascending Rose |
2nd | Luella Murri | A la Tiffany |
3rd | Amie Tannenbaum | Matyas Church |
Novice Digital Images | ||
1st | David Mosher | Queenstown Wharf |
2nd | George Williams | Seacave Supports |
3rd | Gayle Dennis | I Want That Bread |
HM | George Williams | Apostle Island Arch at Sunrise |
HM | Mike Whalen | Landing in Varenna |
HM | Mike Whalen | Vermont getaway |
HM | Tom Burden | Bai Yun |
Advanced Digital Images | ||
1st | Roger Novack | Toad Closeup |
2nd | Glenn Bernstein | Children of China - 1 |
3rd | Curtis Gibbens | Bear in the Ferns |
HM | Roger Novack | Tree Mushrooms Number 3 |
HM | Sam Schaen | Polar Bear on Rock |
HM | Sam Schaen | Rocks and Ice at Sunset |
HM | Tuan Pham | National Capitol Columns |
Gerry Abbott
Co-VP Competition
gerry.abbott@cox.net
Brian Payne
Co-VP Competition
BPayne45@yahoo.com
Field
Trips |
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden enlightens and inspires its visitors through its outstanding botanical collections, horticultural displays and landscape design. It is beautiful year-round. There is almost always something in bloom - and plants don't have to be blooming to be interesting! Barks, berries, foliage and seedpods are fascinating and often quite beautiful.
The Conservatory is the "Jewel of the Garden,” and houses exotic and unusual plants from around the world. Crowned by a 63-foot-tall dome, the Conservatory includes a central Palm House, a semi-tropical wing featuring orchid collections, and two wings with changing themed displays full of seasonal color and interest.
Admission fee: $10/person, senior $9/person. Parking is free.
Amenities: Garden cafe, dinning facilities, gift shop, restrooms.
Directions:
1800 Lakeside Avenue, Richmond, VA 23228, Main number: (804) 262-9887, www.lewisginter.org. From I-95 South take Exit 83B, the Parham Road Rt. 73 West exit. (Right before this exit you will see the brown Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden sign.) On Parham, quickly get into your far left lane. At the second stoplight, take a left onto Brook Road (also known as Route 1 South). At the third stoplight, take a right onto Lakeside Avenue. (At the light you will see a brown Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden sign.) As you go down Lakeside Avenue, you will see the Garden entrance to your right just before you reach the Hilliard Road intersection.
Marilyn Gaizband
Field-Trips@nvps.org
703-560-8365 (H)
703-402-6214 (C)
Tuan Pham
Field-Trips@nvps.org
703-354-3322 (H)
Jan Ponder Judy McGuire
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Willa Friedman
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Additional images can be found in the Photo Gallery on the NVPS web site at: http://nvps.org/gallery/v/fieldtrips/2009_2010/NationalArboretum/. Images from previous field trips can be found here.
Forum |
This short forum will reveal the benefits of using a polarizer to improve your images. Polarizers are for a lot more than skies, they can enhance colors and give you more control over your image. The presentation will be mostly visual, showing pairs of images with and without polarization. You the viewer can decide which looks best for your purposes. Also, how simple it is to use a polarizer on a point-and-shoot, Canon G-9. If you don't already own a polarizer, bring your camera to try it out afterwards. The Forum will be presented after the Members Gallery Presentation on Tuesday January 26, 2010.
John Naman, a recently retired researcher, joined NVPS in 2007 and has been researching and experimenting with the technical aspects of photography including image sharpness, digital noise, polarization and perspective control. Several of his images were on exhibition at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, Va. from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30
Anna Gomez
anna_gomez@verizon.net
Members'
Gallery |
A retired State Department Foreign Service Officer, John has been an enthusiastic amateur photographer since his high school days in Montana. Introduced to serious photography by a family friend, he pursued the hobby passionately throughout his adult years while on various diplomatic assignments in Washington, DC and abroad, including China, Burma, Switzerland, Singapore, Turkey, Brazil. Initially John used Nikon film cameras and a Rollieflex to create film images and explore the mysteries of the darkroom.. Ten years ago he converted to a digital SLR and currently uses a Nikon D300 (favorite lens a Nikkor 18-200mm) and edits primarily with Photoshop.
Over the years John’s primary subject interests have been his large family and the unique scenic opportunities presented by overseas assignments. He is working on a project to scan his archive of negatives and slides produced in those days. Of late John has focused his attention on images in nature and his surrounding world that contain appealing abstractions and strong design elements. Subject matter is secondary; John’s goal is to recognize and carve out “rectangles of beauty” and “aesthetic vitality” in our complex, everyday visual world.
Though he has taken a number of film and digital photography courses in the Washington area (Smithsonian, Corcoran, etc.) he had never been interested in exhibiting his work outside his home until joining NVPS in September, 2006. He would classify himself as a fairly skilled amateur with a drive to use his camera and all available technology to produce artistic photographs pleasing enough to hang on his own walls and, perhaps, elsewhere!
Digital Projection
Tuan Pham
December 22, 2009
Tuan Pham became involved in photography very late in life. He bought his first SLR, a Nikon D-70, when he was approaching 70 years of age.
In 2005 he joined NVPS and has learned a great deal from the club, particularly from club members Joe Miller, Corey Hilz, Ed Funk, and Paul Simmons. He has also advanced his knowledge by attending workshops taught by Freeman Patterson, Andre Gallant, and Tony Sweet.
Tuan has earned many club’s ribbons including Novice Digital Image of the Year (2008) and Novice Digital Projection Photographer of the Year (2009). His first image was juried into Meadowlark Annual Exhibition in 2008. In May 2009 Tuan was promoted from Novice to Advanced in the Digital Projection category and developed a self-study workshop called Contemplative Photography: Seeing with Renewed Clarity—an embodiment of Eastern contemplation and Western arts, and a manifestation of the art of mindful seeing and mindful-living. His goal is to create pleasing images with a good balance of seeing, feeling, and thinking
Tuan’s photography plan is threefold: (1) to document the growth of his twelve grand children, (2) to use the camera to learn to see without a camera, and (3) to teach a workshop in contemplative photography.
In 1995 Tuan took an early retirement from international banking and began a part-time career in conflict resolution. He has continued in this career and also teaches a workshop in Buddhist contemplation to tame disturbed emotions.
Georgette Grossman
ggrossman@cox.net
Tech Talk |
Submitted by Bob Friedman
The other day I installed the latest Nvidia driver update. Since then Bridge has caused the BSOD "Blue Screen of Death" when I closed it. Long story short, I found an entry on the Nvidia forum that someone else had the same problem after installing the latest update. I restored my PC to a week ago, replacing the new driver with the previous driver, and the problem has gone away.
Bob Friedman
Member
News |
During the month of December, Wayne Wolfersberger gave a program for the North Bethesda Camera Club
Wayne currently has 18 images on exhibit at the Herndon Art Space which is located just several blocks from the Town Center and is next to the Herndon Library. They will be there into January. Some of them are new images from Yellowstone. For directions and hours refer to the web site: http://www.artspaceherndon.com/index.php
Wayne Wolfersberger has a "Highly Honored photograph in the Zoos and Aquariums category of the current Nature's Best Magazine's Windland Smith Rice International Awards. For this prestigious competition, Nature's Best receives thousands of entires from around the world. Wayne's image was made at the National Zoo in Washington DC. and is of a student looking at the Giant Pacific Octapus.
Wayne Wolfersberger
wayne.wolfersberger@gmail.com
NVPS Executive Board 2009-2010 The elected and appointed board members for the 2009-2010 club year can be found at http://nvps.org/main/about/board-members/. |
Announcements |
The 7th Holland International Image Circuit entry period ends soon. The closing date is January 10th 2010
Submissions due by January 5. Filling the walls with 100 prints (10 X 10) Entree fee $10 per print. Prints must be framed and ready to hang. See www.glenechophotoworks.org
www.glenechophotoworks.org
kwkeating@comcast.net
Saint Patrick's Episcopal Church, 3241 Brush Drive, Falls Church, Virginia 22042, will hold an art show in conjunction with the Shrove Tuesday Dinner on February 16, 2010. All artists in the area are invited to participate in the exhibit, which will be open during the dinner. Art work may be delivered to Saint Patrick's on Sunday, February 14th, between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Artwork submitted by adults must be framed. Artwork ubmitted by children (12 years of age and under) must be matted or framed. The number of entries is limited to three for adults and one for children. Fees: Adults will be charged a fee of $3.00 for each piece of art submitted; children will be charged a fee of $1.00 for each piece. A 20% commission will be charged for artwork sold. For any further information, please call the church at 703-532-5656.
Saint Patrick's Episcopal Church
3241 Brush Drive
Falls Church, Virginia 22042
703-532-5656.
Submitted by Carolyn & Stephen Gawarecki
The Baltimore Camera Club, oldest camera club in the U.S., is bringing Brenda Tharp to the east coast for a 1 day seminar in March 2010. Brenda is a nationally known photographer who specializes in both nature and the outdoors, and travel photography. She wrote and photographed Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography (2003), with a revision due out in March 2010. Brenda has been published in a wide variety of national magazines deal ing in nature and travel photography, and her stock photographs are represented by Danita Delimont and Getty. For more information, visit her website, www.brendatharp.com.
$80 in Advance (14 days prior), $90 at the Door
Camera School Coordinator
www.baltimorecameraclub.org
Starting December 29, 2009 and continuing through February 28, 2010 Tom Billone will be presenting This Land Is Your Land—Scenes From Across America at:
Prizes Include:
First Prize - Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi outfit (18-55mm EF-S IS), $600 value Second Prize - Full Day in the VisArts' Shooting Studio, $300 value Third Prize - $150 Cash Prize
Submissions must be postmarked by January 4, 2010
To download the application, go to www.visartscenter.org/PointsofDeparture.pdf
VisArts
Rockville MD 20850
www.visartscenter.org
301-315-8200
Jan25-29 |
Photograhic Creativity Explored – Bill Campbell - $899 |
Feb 22-24 |
Fine Art Creations – Bill Campbell - $599 |
March 6 |
Make Lightroom work for you- Rob Sheppard - $99 |
March 8-10 |
Lightroom hands on- Rob Sheppard & Bill Campbell - $599 |
All events held in Oak Ridge, TN, just outside of Knoxville, TN; approximately 1 hourr away from Great Smoky Mountains NP
Bill M Campbell
865-805-9142
bcphoto3@mac.com
April 6-27, 2010 |
Master Class with Dr. Flash ($300) Four-week hands-on studio class at Glen Echo PhotoWorks helps you master small flash units and studio strobes. Students will learn still life, tabletop and portraiture techniques in step-by-step demonstrations and individual exercises with professional flash gear. Level: Intermediate. 7-10:30pm. |
Thurs. eve., April 22-May 20, 2010 |
Tasting Menu: Photography from A to Z ($325) Spend an enjoyable five weeks learning all aspects of photography from an acclaimed photographer/author. Frank will cover a different subject each week, including basics, portraiture, flash, still life and landscape, in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Film or Digital. All levels 7-10:30pm |
Thursday, May 27th or Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 |
Flash Photography Demystified ($95) Intimidated by your flash? One-evening short course will help you beat it into submission. Practical tips, creative ideas from lighting master Frank Van Riper. All levels. 7-10pm |
Sunday, March 7th or Sunday March 21st, 2010 |
Field Trip: National Gallery of Art, East Wing ($150) Rain or shine, endless opportunities for shooting--people, architecture, abstracts--all in wonderful light. Lunch at gallery cafe for ongoing critique and discussion. A brief organization meeting a week before; final critique during potluck dinner at Frank's home. A very popular event. All levels. 11a-4p |
Contact: GVR@GVRphoto.com or www.glenechopark.org
Summer, 2010 Starting Mondays: July 12th, 26th |
New Summer Photo Workshops in Down East Maine Nationally acclaimed husband and wife photographers Frank Van Riper and Judith Goodman have inaugurated a series of week-long summer photography workshops in the picturesque town of Lubec, Maine, the easternmost point in the United States, featured prominently in Frank’s Pulitzer-nominated book Down East Maine/ A World Apart. Limited to only six participants a week, will cover all aspects of photography: landscape, portraiture, documentary, product, flash, etc. Tuition is $550. Program administered through the SummerKeys Music Workshops. www.summerkeys.com |
http://talkingphotography.com/archive/2009/photowork.htm
3/31 - 4/7/2010 | Paris. Spend a glorious week in Paris next spring with Chan Chao, an exhibited and published photographer. Participants will take photographs and participate in critiques on a daily basis to gain knowledge and experience. $2,800 w/o airfare. |
Angela Iovino
202-669-1562
chantchao@verizon.net
info@culturalstudyabroad.com
http://culturalstudyabroad.com/europe/paris/
Feb 3 – Mar 10, 2010 |
“Photographic Creativity Lab, Series 1:Exploring Reflections” In this class we will develop your sense of creativity by exploring how to capture unique images of reflections. Each week we will learn a variety of different techniques and experiment with different reflective surfaces including glass, mirror, water, metal and mylar. In addition we will discuss the use of color, texture and lighting in compositional design. Tuition $225 (early bird discount if registered by January 15, 2010) or $259 afterwards. $10 discount given to previous BVP students or NVPS members (use promo code NVPS when registering). |
Mary Louise Ravese
(540) 882-9354
mlravese@bellavistaphotography.com
http://www.bellavistaphotography.com/classes_f1_03.htm
http://www.bellavistaphotography.com/CreativityLab_InfoRegistration.pdf
1/11 – 1/17 | Photo tour to Bosque del Apache and White Sands, New Mexico - Visit Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, the world-famous winter home for tens of thousands of migrating Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese. Next travel to White Sands, famous for its undulating white gypsum dunes, dotted with solitary yucca plants for beautiful landscape photographs. Fee includes all instruction in the field, lodging and all meals $2295 |
1/18 – 1/24 | Photo tour to Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Antelope
Canyon Arizona - Photograph in the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon at first
light, the towering buttes of Monument Valley with its spiritual Indian
feel, and inside Antelope Canyon, the most beautiful slot canyon in
the southwest. Unique rock formations, gnarled trees, and fiery orange
rocks make these locations exciting and moving at all times of day.
Fee includes all all instruction in the field, lodging and all meals $2495 |
4/18 – 4/24 | Photo Tour Great Smoky Mountains, Tenn. - Waterfalls and Wildflowers - With one of the greatest varieties of wildflowers in the world, this mountainous park bursts forth in an unrivaled display of blossoming color. Also see some of its most beautiful and accessible waterfalls, and enjoy the many streams that tumble over smooth rocks on their journey down the mountainsides. Fee includes all instruction in the field, lodging in a luxurious private lodge overlooking the Smokies, and all meals $1895 |
10/9 – 10/17 | Photo Tour and Photoshop / Lightroom workshop, Outer Banks of NC - Two separate workshops, take one or both. The photo tour segment is a blend of photographic instruction and a pristine location. The Photoshop segment will improve your knowledge of Adobe Bridge, Camera Raw, Lightroom and Photoshop and increase your workflow efficiency. Fee includes all instruction, lodging at a luxurious beachfront house, and all meals. $1175 per segment |
Mollie Isaacs
757-773-0194
awakethelight@cox.net
www.awakethelight.com
Josh Taylor offers classes for Canon camera owners, field trips, and photography opportunities for all skill levels and camera models. Also, check out Josh’s blog for tips on how to shoot dramatic images, creative post-processing techniques, and where to find and access the some of the best places to shoot. Added for 2010 are Canon camera classes and Meet and Shoot photo trips at Ace Photo and photographing orchids workshops at the U.S. Botanic Garden and Longwood Gardens. To see 2010 workshop/class/lecture schedule, just go to: www.archiphotoworkshops.com
Josh Taylor
archiphotoworkshops.com
The NVACC web page can be found at: www.nvacc.org. The combined calendar for the NVACC can be found at: http://www.nvacc.org/Calendar.html.