Sports Photography
Jonathan Newton
April 6, 2010

Program

Our May 4 Program speaker will be Jonathan Newton, Washington Post sports photographer.  Jonathan has come highly recommended from other area clubs, and he’s keeping busy now photographing the winning Washington Capitals. 

Jonathan Newton is entering his 24th season as a professional photographer. He joined The Washington Post in the summer of 2000.

He started out at The Nashville Banner and after a little more than a year at the Banner, he moved to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he spent 10 years shooting assignments that included the Atlanta Braves. He joined the St.Petersburg Times when the town landed an expansion baseball team.

Newton has covered almost every major sporting event in the world, the Olympics in 1996 and 2008, The Kirkwall Ba in Scotland, baseball in the Dominican Republic, four World Series, NCAA Final Fours, The Preakness, The Kentucky Derby, Heavyweight title bouts in Las Vegas, college football championships, the Super Bowl and countless high school events.

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April Competition Images

Below are some images that received a first place award in the April competition. Clicking on one of the pictures will display a larger version.

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.

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April Competition Results

Overall standings will be posted on the NVPS web site.

Memorial Weekend & Motorcycle Rolling Thunder
Location: Washington, DC
Date: May 29-30, 2010

Motorcycle Rolling Thunder is an annual motorcycle rally that is held in Washington, DC during the Memorial Day weekend to call for the government's recognition and protection of Prisoners of War (POWs) and those Missing in Action (MIAs). Tens of thousands veterans will roar across Washington, DC on their motorcycles as a tribute to American war heroes. Some 3,500 riders from Fairfax participated last year. Local activities begin on Friday afternoon, May 28 culminating with the Ride of the Patriots to Rolling Thunder to DC on Sunday morning, May 30, 2010.

Parking is available and free at Fairfax Circle Center.

Marilyn Gaizband
Field-Trips@nvps.org
703-560-8365 (H)
703-402-6214 (C)

Tuan Pham
Field-Trips@nvps.org
703-354-3322 (H)

Bird Photography
Sam Schaen
May 25, 2010

Sam was introduced to serious photography when he met his wife, Marilyn, in 1983. She taught him photography and black and white processing. Much of Sam’s early photography was a combination of landscape and people photography.

Sam and Marilyn became fascinated by birds while staying with a friend in Maine around 2000. They combined this fascination with a renewed interest in photography.  In addition to local photography, the couple has photographed in Ecuador, the Falkland Islands, Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Argentina.

Sam has been a member of NVPS since 2003. He has held the positions of Competition VP, President, and FotoFax editor.

Anna Gomez
anna_gomez@verizon.net

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Prints
Anna Gomez
May 25, 2010

Anna Gomez’s photography experience has been winding journey of changing equipment and subject matter. She bought her first camera, a Kodak Instamatic, when she was 13 years old. As an art student, she viewed the camera as another way to express her creativity. At 19, her father brought her a fixed lens Canon from a business trip to Japan. Her father-in-law taught her some basics about aperture and shutter speed by shooting black and white film. Next in line, a Nikon SLR, was replaced with an automatic-focus Olympus IS-1 after her daughter was born. She wanted to capture those special moments lost during focusing. In 2005 she bought her first hi-end point and shoot digital; once again an Olympus, C-5060 wide zoom. Then, back to an SLR in 2007, when Anna purchased a Nikon D200. The switch to digital opened the door to becoming the Staff Photographer for her employer in 2008.

Currently shooting with a Nikon D700, Anna enjoys capturing many different subjects, from landscapes to abstracts. Working as a Digital Color Specialist and Staff Photographer, her photographic assignments consist of shooting conferences, Congressional events, Senate hearings, meetings, special events, and staff portraits.

Anna joined NVPS (Northern Virginia Photographic Society) during the 2007–2008 year, and has won numerous awards from the club, including 1st place in the Enhanced Print category at the 2009 End of the Year Banquet. Anna was also juried into the Meadowlark Show in 2009.

Digital Projection
Vivien Luu
May 25, 2010

Georgette Grossman
ggrossman@cox.net

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NVPS Annual End of Year Banquet
June 11th, 2010

Reminder: this year's NVPS End-of-Year banquet will be held on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at the Westpark Hotel in Tyson's Corner at the intersection of Rt. 7 and Westpark Drive. Cocktails at 6.   Buffet dinner at 7. See all the best of the best photos, see the best-of-the-year winning photographs, enjoy good food, and good friends and End of Year awards. Price is $40 per person in advance and $45 after May 25th.  Payment can be made on the NVPS web site using paypal or by providing a check or cash to the NVPS Treasurer, Fred Chitty.  Checks should be made out to NVPS.

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Do you want to be a Nature’s Best Photography winner?
Lesliediana Jones

In March, Chuck Veatch, chairman of the Board of Nature’s Best Photography magazine and competition judge, led some members of our club on a tour of the Smithsonian exhibit of the winners of the Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition.  This annual competition, sponsored by Nature’s Best Photography (NBP) magazine, draws thousands of entries in 17 categories.  But, alas, there can be only one winner.  So, of the 22,000 entries submitted last year, how did the judges pick who would win?

That question was on my mind as I was not able to go on the tour.  I thought others might be interested in the answer so I asked Tuan to arrange for me to interview Chuck.  Little did I know that a phone call would result in, “I can do the interview now if you have the time.”  Throwing my lunch to the side and grabbing a notebook, I began the interview.  My notes were almost illegible, but I came away with a great understanding of what makes a photo a winner for this competition.  What follows are the highlights of our conversation.

Over the years, NBP has seen an increase in the number of entries.  Unfortunately, that increase in quantity has not meant an increase in quality.  With so many entries, the judges are looking for the photograph that not only is technically correct but also has that unique quality that makes it stand out from the masses. They are looking for art, not merely a snapshot.  The best photographs are those that tell a story.  In short, the viewer should be able to look at the photograph and know what the photographer is trying to say. 

Chuck emphasized that visual design is very important.  Good visual design happens when you slow down and compose well.  You must be in the right place at the right time.  Ask yourself if the colors are complementary.  Do you have a good background that is free of distractions?  Keep in mind that if an element doesn’t add to the image, it subtracts from the image.  The best photographs are those that are simple.  Does everything in the image say something about the subject and the story?  Try to look beyond the subject and think about line, shape, tone, texture, color and perspective.    Compose the image in camera with all of these factors in mind.  Do not have the attitude that you can snap away and fix the image in software later.  Bottom line -capture the image you want the first time.  Yes, there are exceptions to all of these factors but the key is in recognizing those situations when it is best to quickly get the image without consciously considering all of those factors. 

Exceptions to composition and to taking a gazillion images to get that one jewel did occur with the winning images.  To illustrate, I asked about two images, and Chuck explained why they passed the test.  The first was an image of a lion taking down a zebra.  In the corner was a distracting clump of leaves.  Chuck explained that cropping out the leaves would also involve cropping out the tail and flank of the lion.  This was a case when composition had to suffer a bit because of the immediacy of getting the shot.  Aside from this technicality, all other aspects of the image were superb.  The second image was of a puffin with smelt in its beak.  The photographer had taken over 2,000 images to get this winner.  In this case, with puffins being fast and hard to capture, the photographer didn’t have much choice but to snap away.  However, he had planned where to set up in order to get this shot, i.e. the right place at the right time. Moreover his technical skills were on point.   The image is sharp down to the eyes of the smelt and set against a perfectly neutral background.  

The world of digital cameras is a lot more approachable than in years past.  That said, a lot of people feel that they can rely on luck or on taking a gazillion images with the hope that one will be a winner.  It is a false hope.  Rather, as Chuck says, “luck is knowledge meeting opportunity.”  Know the technology of your camera well so that when the opportunity arises you are ready to go.  Moreover, don’t rely on software to compensate after-the-fact.  When the images have reached the final round of judging, NBP requests high resolution files and your RAW file, if available.  Any cloning or masking won’t make for a good reprint in the magazine, so, it is best if you try to “do it right the first time.”

Finally, with 22,000 entries, one has to wonder, do the judges really look at all of those images?    Amazingly, they do.  The first round of review is done by NBP staff who weed for obvious errors, such as focus and background issues.  At this point it is not one person looking at each and every entry.  However, there is one person who does review each and every entry including those in the rejected pile.   Steve Freligh, NBP Editor, takes the time to look at each and every photo with the sentiment that if someone took the time to send it he should take the time to review it.  It is possible that a jewel was overlooked.

So with all of this in mind, the question is, are you ready to be a Nature’s Best Photography winner?

Addendum:  After the article was posted Chuck made the following clarification.“There are only 17 categories plus the grand prize winner and the conservation photographer of the year, but about 95 additional images end up in the magazine as "highly honored", and the exhibition at the Smithsonian has a total of about 45 in print and an additional 40 in the video which also includes credits for each image. The point is that the odds of being a "winner" are a little better than just the first place images. It still takes a really good shot to be selected as you well know, but it is very doable. By far most of the images selected are by amateurs”.

Lesliediana Jones
ljones@law.gwu.edu

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Minnie Gallman

Minnie won 1st prize in the U.S. Lighthouse Society, Chesapeake Chapter, in the Special Effects Category for a photo of Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse.She was also awarded Honorable Mention in the Preservation Category for her photo of Hooper Strait Lighthouse. Minnie's photo, "Full Moon", was selected for the Maryland Federation of Art Artful Photography National Juried Exhibition.  The exhibit will be held at the Circle Gallery located at 18 State Circle in Annapolis from May 19th - June 13.  The juror was Catriona Fraser, owner of the Fraser Gallery.  The reception will be held Sunday, May 30, 3-6 PM.

Minnie Gallman
pggallman@verizon.net

Will Haubert

Congratulations to Will Haubert. Will's picture The Twins received a merit award at the Glennie digital photo exhibit sponsored by the Merrimack Valley Camera Club of Andover, Massachusetts. There were more than 380 images submitted for competition in the "bird" category. Will's image and the other images submitted by NVPS for the competition may be viewed in the photo gallery on the NVPS website.

John Quigley
jhquigley@msn.com

Lucile Renola

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Exhibition Opportunities

Nature's Best Photography

The deadline for submission of photographs to Nature's Best has been extended to May 5. All winners and highly honored images will be published in the Fall Nature's Best Photography magazine. See www.NaturesBestPhotography.com for guidelines, new categories, and prizes.

National Wildlife Photo Contest

The National Wildlife Federation is now accepting entries for the 2010 National Wildlife Photo Contest. Cash prizes of more than $30,000 plus other gifts will be awarded to the winners in seven categories in three separate divisions. Submit up to 25 images in 7 categories: Birds, Mammals, Other Wildlife, Landscapes/Plants, Connecting People and Nature, Backyard Habitat and Global Warming. The submission deadline is July 6, 2010. Winning images will be published on the NWF website and a selection will appear in the December 2010 issue of their magazine. Go to the entry page for more details and the complete rules. http://www.nwf.org/photocontest/default.aspx

Submitted by Matthew Schmidt

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Blue Ridge Mountain Photographers

The Blue Ridge Mountain Photographers (Blue Ridge, Georgia) invites you to enter its National Juried Wildlife and Nature Exhibit, which will be on display in our historic courthouse, The Art Center, from September 4 through October 8. Deadline for entries is June 30, 2010. The show is open to photographers of all levels. Nationally known nature photographer and teacher Milton Heiberg will judge the exhibit and monetary prizes totalling $2500 will be awarded. For further information and the official entry form go to brmphotographers.net

Joyce Dumas
BRMP Program Chairman

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Adam Lister Gallery

This is an international open call for artwork to be exhibited in the upcoming summer group show in the Adam Lister Gallery.  This exhibition will run from June 4 through July 18, 2010.

This open call will be juried by the gallery board of directors and gallery staff.  All artists that are selected will be featured in a six week show in the gallery. The entry deadline is May 1, 2010.

For more information, visit: http://www.adamlistergallery.com/submissions.html

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Events

Women's International Juried Photography Exhibition

Laura Howell had 2 images juried into the 12 12 Gallery Women's International Juried Photography Exhibition 2010 - River Bend and Inner Harbor Reflection. The exhibit will be held at the 12 12 Gallery, 12 East 12th Street, Richmond, VA 23224 - the opening and reception will be on May 2 and the exhibit closes on June 20, 2010.

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Workshops and Tours

Josh Taylor and Corey Hilz

Josh Taylor
http://www.archiphotoworkshops.com
703-536-9112

Corey Hilz
http://coreyhilz.com/workshops/brookside.html
703–473–4618

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Nikhil Bahl Photography

Nikhil Bahl
240-246-6654
nikhil@nikhilbahl.com
www.nikhilbahl.com

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Corey Hilz

Frank Van Riper

Contact: GVR@GVRphoto.com or www.glenechopark.org

http://talkingphotography.com/archive/2009/photowork.htm

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West Mill Photography Workshop in Southern France
George Munday

Kirsten Apple of
Falls Church, VA at
703-969-7633
info@thewestmill.com or
www.thewestmill.com

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Awake the Light Photo Tours
Mollie Isaacs & Mary Lindhjem

Mollie Isaacs
757-773-0194
awakethelight@cox.net
www.awakethelight.com

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Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs (NVACC)

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.

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