Volume 46 - No. 2
Founded 1965 - our 46th Year
October 2010
Banner
The Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society
Editor: Sam Schaen-Email: editor@nvps.org
 

Table of Contents

President's Message
Membership Coordinator
Monthly Program
Workshops, Education, and Training
Competition
Field Trips
Forum
Members Gallery
Board of Directors
Mid-Atlantic Nature Photography Expo
Member News
Announcements
   Exhibition Opportunities
   Events
   Workshop Offerings
Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs
For Sale

Calendar

10/2 Field Trip: Great Falls Park
10/5 Monthly Program: Mollie Isaacs and Mary Lindhjem, Silence the C.R.I.T.I.C.
10/12 Workshop: Image Critique
10/16 Field Trip: Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon, Wine & Music Festival
10/26 Forum: Matthew Schmidt—Montages: Interpreting Reality
10/26 Member's Gallery
  Prints:
Susan Breen
  Digital: Marilyn Gaizband
11/4-7 Field Trip: Huntington Beach State Park (Myrtle Beach)


Calendar

Note: You can click on the above links to go directly to the article; or you can scroll through the entire newsletter. You can also print the entire newsletter.

To protect our members from email spam, all email addresses in this newsletter have "@" replaced with "at". Please remember to substitute the "@" when attempting to contact any of the people.

All meetings for the club year will start at 7:30 PM at the Dunn Loring Fire Station. The doors will open at 6:45 PM for a "meet and greet".

Remember to lock your car and place valuables out of sight. Please remember to take seats immediately when the meeting starts and to silence cell phones.

President's Message

It was wonderful seeing everyone back from summer vacation and welcoming so many new folks.
Gayle Dennis, our Membership coordinator launched our new Member Welcoming Program with the assistance of Emi Wallace and a host of volunteer welcomers. The program was launched to help new and prospective members get acclimated to NVPS.

The finishing touches were put on the Member Resource Program which will be coordinated by Tuan Pham and Melanie Marts as part of Workshops, Education and Training. Check out the NVPS website (www.nvps.org) and various resource links.

We started the year off with a bang with an awe inspiring presentation from 19 year old Alex Mody. He is definitely someone to watch through the years!  Our own, Scott Musson presented a super workshop on Black Light Photography with lots of hands-on opportunities for all of us. The extensive set-ups and photo presentation by Tom Brett made for a very enjoyable and educational evening.  As we go to press, our first competition has been completed and our September Members Gallery and Forum presenters are about to share their images and Lightroom experience.

Please mark your calendars NOW, for November 13th and 14th for the MANPE/Natures Vision Exhibition. All the information is on the website. I encourage you all to submit your best nature photography to be juried. Whether your images get juried in or not, it is a weekend that you won’t want to miss. This is the highlight of the year for the 6 camera clubs in Northern VA. We will be needing many volunteers for this event. Please think about helping out.

Field Trips coming up in October are Great Falls and Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon, Wine & Music Festival. I encourage you all to enjoy the great weather and partake in these photographic venues.

We have a terrific year planned. I encourage you all to check our website regularly as there are new postings very often. I also hope that you will submit your winning competition, field trip, workshop, and other images to the editors to share with the rest of the club.

Many, many volunteers help make NVPS the best camera club in the area. I can’t thank you enough for your incredible service to NVPS.

Sandi Croan
pashli "at" aol.com

Up Button

Membership Coordinator

NVPS 2010-2011 Dues Reminder

The NVPS 2010-2011 club year is underway!  This, of course, means it is time again to pay your annual dues.   The dues amount is the same as last year's, $45.00 for individual and $65.00 for family memberships.  As always, membership in the Northern Virginia Photographic Society is open to photographers of every skill level, from beginner to professional.
 
Remember - dues can now be paid on-line via the NVPS website using PayPal.  Just click on or paste the following link to your web browser and follow the instructions - http://nvps.org/main/about/membership-information/.
 
Members can still pay in cash or by check at our meetings (checks strongly preferred, made out to NVPS).  Dues will be collected by our Membership Coordinators, Gayle Dennis or Emi Wallace. You may also mail a check to Gayle at 6 South Montague Street, Arlington, Virginia 22204.  If you are a new member or your information has changed, please include your completed membership application, also available on the NVPS website.
 
If you have any questions about membership, please e-mail Gayle.

Gayle Dennis
membership "at" nvps.org

Up Button

Monthly Program

SILENCE THE C.R.I.T.I.C.
Mollie Isaacs and Mary Lindhjem
Tuesday, October 5, 7:30 PM

The dynamic duo of Mollie Isaacs and Mary Lindhjem of Awake The Light Photo Tours and Workshops again

team up to provide you with their unique perspective on how to enhance your enjoyment of photography.  Many of you told me last year that Mollie and Mary delivered one of the best Programs ever, so mark your calendars for an evening to remember!  While creative techniques and practical tips are offered, the main message for the evening is to learn to accept your individuality, to help you clarify your own style, and to enjoy this wonderful quest to improve one's photography.

Silence the C.R.I.T.I.C. is about silencing the inner doubts and fears we all have regarding our own work and joyfully embracing the journey of photographic advancement.

Biography

Mollie Isaacs and Mary Lindhjem founded Awake The Light Photo Tours and Workshops because of their love of teaching photography.  Mollie's background is in portraits, abstracts, landscapes and macro, while Mary's expertise is in nature, wildlife, big game, and macro.  Combined, they provide an interesting mix of talents and skills.  More of their images can be found at:  www.awakethelight.com

Mollie is a professional photographer and experienced teacher.  She has studied with Ansel Adams, Joyce Tenneson, and others.  She has won the "Oscar" of photography, the coveted Kodak Gallery Award, fourteen times.  Several of her award-winning photographs have been exhibited at Epcot Center in Disney World, and her work is in the Permanent Collection of the International Photography Hall of Fame.  She believes that a  great photograph fully expresses what the photographer feels about what is being photographed, and therefore is a true indicator of what one feels about life.  She believes that photography is one way to achieve an ultimate happiness and faith, and a oneness with the world.

Mary has been a full-time freelance photographer for the past two decades following a career in education that encompassed teaching photography at the college level.  Since the onset of the digital revolution, she has taught Photoshop to a variety of groups and professional photographic organizations in Virginia, North Carolina, California, Colorado and Costa Rica.  Her fine art photography has been shown in several galleries and appears in books and magazines including On Safari by David Anderson.  She believes that the attainment of knowledge alone is valueless unless or until it is shared with others. She has dedicated her career to photography and to teaching. However, photography is not merely Mary's career, it is the voice of her soul. It is her passion. It is through the medium of photography that she most clearly communicates her intense appreciation of and love for the beauty this world has to offer.

Watch for an email announcement to determine if there will be a pre-meeting dinner with the speakers.

Mary O'Neill
mary.m.o’neill "at" gsk.com

 

Up Button

Workshops, Education, and Training

Image Critique
Tom Brett and Fred Chitty
October 12th

On Tuesday, 12 October, the workshop will be an image critique in support of the themed competition on 19 October, Power of 3.

NVPS is fortunate to have nearly a dozen NVACC trained judges amongst its membership, and two such members will provide feedback on images from the general membership.  Our two critics, Tom Brett and Fred Chitty, will provide critiques of up to three images from each member (time permitting).  While this critique session is scheduled so that members may get feedback for their competition images to be submitted for October's themed competition, any image may be submitted and all available time will be used to critique images.

Tom Brett is the Past President (for the 2nd year in a row) and was the NVPS President during the 2008 – 2009 camera club year.  He is a four time Photographer of the Year and recipient of  the NVPS Distinguished Service Award.  Tom has been a Board Member of NVPS for the last 11 years, serving in various positions such as the Vice President for Programs, the Vice President for Competition and Equipment Manager.

Fred Chitty has been an active amateur photographer off and on for over 25 years.  His interest in photography started in 8th grade shop class with a project to construct a pin hole camera.  As he watched the image come up in the darkroom developing tray, he was hooked for life.  His next big opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of photography was working in the UNC-Chapel Hill photolab.  There, he spent 20 hours a week for 18 months taking every type of photo and working in the darkroom.  It was also there that his physics professor and photo lab manager told him, in 1968, that digital photography would replace film in his lifetime.  Keep in mind that 35mm SLR cameras were cutting edge technology at the time, with the Nikon F1 struggling to replace the 4x5 Speed Graflex as the newspaper photographer's preferred camera.  Slide rules were the only calculator used by students.  A highlight of his college experience was attending two lectures by Ansel Adams.

Fred is very much an eclectic photographer, shooting nature, landscapes, portraits, macro, blacklight and travel.  While he still owns film cameras and has slide film in his freezer, he shoots with Nikon digital equipment.  His wet darkroom equipment is packed away in the attic, but his portrait studio is still in active use.  He has been fortunate, in that his career has taken him to many places around the world, but unfortunate in that many of his slides are now moldy.

Submission of Images for the Critique

Please submit your images by 6:00 pm on Monday, 11 October so that I can get the images sorted and copied onto media for Tuesday evening.  Images should be numbered in order of preference and have the photographer's name included for the critique, e.g., 1-JoeSmith.jpg, 2-JoeSmith, 3-JoeSmith.jpg.  Please size the images in accordance with the digital competition rules and email to critique@nvps.org.

For those who are new to the club, typical critique sessions will cover two images from all submitters and occassionally we get are able to get into the 3rd round of images before running out of time.  Please number your images accordingly and do not expect that three images will get critiqued.

If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Schmidt.

Matthew Schmidt
mgs "at" loreleistudios.com

The NVPS Portfolio Project 2010 – 2011

The Portfolio Project is a nine month project starting in September 2010 and running through May 2011. All club members of all skill levels are encouraged to participate in this project. The goal of the portfolio project is to conceive a theme, craft an artist statement, capture the images and the present them as a portfolio. This article is devoted to clarifying the details of the project and explaining what is contained in an artist statement. 

Your goal is to create a portfolio of your best images, primarily collected from June 2010 to May 2011, that exemplify the objectives of your theme and Artist's Statement. These should be images you would be proud to share with others for years to come. 

The beginning stages of the project entail picking a theme or concept and writing an Artist's Statement. In the "Artist's Statement" the photographer explains what he or she is trying to accomplish with the project. (See http://nvps.org/main/meetings/portfolio/nvps_portfolio_project_artists/ for more details about what should and should not be in an Artist's Statement.) The photographer makes images over the program year consistent with the statement and edits the body of work down to draft portfolio of approximately 20-25 images. (The draft portfolio may include some of the artist's earlier images consistent with the theme. Although the final portfolio may include older images, the bulk of it should be recent work.)

In the beginning stages of determining a theme, some members have worked on several themes at the same time. As time passed and their images piled up, they began to become more comfortable with one subject over others. You too may follow this model in your project. It is helpful to write an Artist Statement for all potential portfolio themes.

Draft Portfolios will be critiqued in March. The final printed portfolios (plus a digital Portfolio file) will be submitted in mid-April for the final critique. A May Portfolio meeting will be held when all portfolios will be displayed and discussed. The critic will comment on each final portfolio submitted. 

If there is sufficient interest we will try to schedule an informal review of potential portfolio images in December or January.

A final portfolio should contain about 12 to20 images. (Exact parameters may be specified later.) It may be bound as in an album or each image may be matted contained loose in a traditional portfolio box.  Printed portfolios may be obtained from such companies as www.mpix.com and www.MyPublisher.com.  Portfolio boxes and albums are available from B & H Photo, (www.bhphotovideo.com), Light Impressions (www.lightimpressionsdirect.com), and at Michaels and Penn Camera.) 

Each artist will be able to display a draft Portfolio for comment online using the club's website, www.nvps.org. The online version is the working, draft version, and intended to facilitate sharing images and comments throughout the portfolio's development. It also allows participants and other members to see and comment on all draft portfolios as they progress throughout the year. These comments will not only help participants improve their images, but in choosing their best work to be included in the final printed portfolio.

The online version of the portfolio is limited to about 30 images. This experience is an excellent opportunity to create a high quality portfolio to showcase your best work. There is a wealth of information on the web on creating a portfolio. A good starting place is the following link: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/portfolio-8.shtml.

To sign up for the Portfolio Project 2010 - 2011, please visit http://nvps.org/main/meetings/portfolio/

You can send email to the Portfolio Project Coordinators at portfolio@nospamnvps.org

Bill Prosser
703-821-2670
Scott Musson
703-278-2828
Paul Simmons
703-912 4862

 

Up Button

Competition

Judge: Josh Taylor
Theme:
Power of Three
October 19th, 2010

On Tuesday October 19th, we will kick off our first themed competition, “Power of Three” of the 2010-2011 season.  “Power of Three” is defined as images containing three (3) of an object or subject. Josh Taylor will be our judge.  

Here is some further clarification on the new competition categories:

  • In the digital competition, monochrome is Unrestricted
  • Images that are produced in camera by spinning the lens or panning or other such techniques, are Restricted as long as they are the result of a single capture.

Please note, we are going to change the order of competition for October.  We will first judge digital images, then the printed images.  If you submit a printed image, be prepared to stay to the end to take your prints home or have a friend take them.

Lastly, please put readable arrows on the back of your photo and please print your name on the sign in sheet.  We need to be able to read this information in a darkened room.

On competition night, please plan to join us and Josh Taylor for dinner at Chili’s at 5:30 prior to the competition.

Josh has presented photography workshops at the Smithsonian National Orchid Show, U.S. National Arboretum, U.S. Botanic Garden, Brookside Gardens, Virginia State Arboretum (Blandy Farm), American Horticultural Society Garden School, Adkins Arboretum, and Longwood Gardens. In addition to teaching in the Smithsonian Studio Arts Program and being a Canon Camera instructor at Ace Photo, Josh speaks at camera and garden clubs, judges photographic competitions, and exhibits his photographs in gallery shows. He is a member of the North American Nature Photography Association, Garden Writers Association, and National Association of Photoshop Professionals, and a member and past president of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society. Josh was voted best garden club speaker in 2005 and was a judge for the 2009 Garden Writers Association National Media Awards. archiphotoworkshops.com

You must be a paid up member to compete.

Again, please go to the NVPS website to review the new categories. At this site, you will also find information regarding eligibility requirements, number of images, types of images, sizes, deadlines and instructions for uploading digital images, etc. Also, please recall that the image capture date will need to be included on the image sign-in sheet.

September Competition Results

Competition results can be found here on the website. If your name or the title of your photograph is spelled incorrectly, please do not blame the VPs of competition. The simple reason is that you did not PRINT clearly. Please be more careful in the future. If necessary, our seven year old granddaughter has agreed to conduct a workshop on penmanship. As a bonus she will also teach you to program your ipod.

Competition Images

Prosser

Monochrome Print
Japanese Maple
Bill Prosser

Dennis

Advanced Unrestricted Digital
Red Beach Sunbathers
Gayle Dennis

Gooding

Advanced Unrestricted Color Print
Gothic Vault
Timber Gooding

Hancock

Restricted Digital
Fairfax Police Lineup
Jeff Hancock

 

Willa and Bob Friedman
Co-VPs Competition
willa-f "at" cox.net
bob-f "at" cox.net

Up Button

Field Trips

Great Falls Park
Great Falls, VA
October 2, 2010

Great Falls Park has many opportunities to explore history and nature, all in a beautiful 800-acre park. The Potomac River and the unique geological features have shaped the land at Great Falls for millennia.  Floods regularly occur along this stretch of the river, taking away soils and plants and depositing new silt and seeds to take their place.  This is a dynamic environment, home to rare plant communities and a variety of wildlife.

The park officially opens at 7:00 a.m., but I the gates are usually open by 6:30.  There is a $5.00 entrance fee.  I will be in the first parking lot on the right after the entrance gate, beside the Visitor Center until 7:15.  After that, I will start at Overlook #1.  Please wear appropriate shoes if you plan to climb on the rocks.

 Address  

9200 Old Dominion Dr.
McLean, VA 22102

www.nps.gov/grfa/index.htm
703-285-2965

Directions
  • From the Beltway (I-495)
  • Take exit 44 for Route 193 West, Georgetown Pike
  • About three miles down the road, make a right at a traffic light on Old Dominion Drive
  • This will dead end at the entrance station, about one mile down the road.

Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon Wine & Music Festival
Clark County, VA
October 16th

The 14th anniversary of the Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon, Wine & Music Festival will be held on October 15-17 on the spacious lawns and fields of Long Branch in Clark County, VA.  The festival brings balloonists and their colorful airborne craft from far and wide. In addition to the balloons, the festival provides a wide variety of entertainment such as lawnmower races, parades, classic car shows and monster truck rides. Please know that the balloons fly in weather permitting and there are no refunds

We will meet at 5:15 AM in the first parking at Vienna Metro and head out in carpools at 5:30.   This is the first parking lot on the right from Nutley Street (the 66 East bound side).  Please be ready to go by 5:30.

The 9:00 carpool at Vienna Metro is canceled because most people who signed up want to capture the sunrise launch. 

http://www.historiclongbranch.com/balloonfest/
877-868-1811

Directions

  • From the Beltway (I-495);
  • Interstate Route 66 west
  • Take exit 23.
  • Proceed on Route 17 north
  • Turn left on Route 50 at Paris
  • Just past Millwood, turn left on Route 624/Red Gate Road.

Huntington Beach State Park &
Brookgreen Gardens

Myrtle Beach, SC
November 4th - 7th

Huntington Beach State Park

The park’s freshwater lagoon, salt marsh, maritime forest and beach are outstanding examples of the state’s natural coastal environment. These also provide such prime habitat for birds that the park is widely recognized as one of the best birding sites along the East Coast. Surrounded by some 2,500 acres of native flora and fauna, the park offers many observation decks and walking trails to further enhance your trip.

That’s not all Huntington Beach State Park has to offer. There is also Atalaya, the picturesque, Moorish-style winter home of Anna Hyatt and Archer Huntington, sculptress and philanthropist, respectively, who left the park and adjacent Brookgreen Gardens as their legacy.

Nature lovers also will enjoy the park’s Environmental Education Center and wide variety of programming, including the chance to see loggerhead turtles and other endangered plant and animal species up close. The park’s freshwater lake is a sure-fire place to see alligators and sometimes even a mink or two. Admission is $5.00.

http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder/state-park/1020.aspx
843-237-4440

Brookgreen Gardens

Brookgreen Gardens is the floral jewel of South Carolina’s coastal community.  The land is a diverse mix of forested swamps, salt marsh, sandy ridges and fresh tidal swamps.  The 9,200 acre property is a testament to the natural landscapes that surrounded this site in 1921, when Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, founded Brookgreen Gardens. 

Today, Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark with the most significant collection of figurative sculpture, in an outdoor setting, by American artists in the world, and has the only zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on the coat of the Carolinas. Admission is $12.00.

Address

1931 Brookgreen Drive
Murrells Inlet, SC  29576

843-235-600
800-849-1931 (Toll Free)

http://www.brookgreen.org/

I have eight rooms reserved at the Holiday Inn Express in Murrell’s Inlet, SC., but rooms are going fast.  If the eight rooms are taken, the hotel information is:
 
Holiday Inn Express                                                                                                        
1303 A Tadlock Dr.
Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
(843) 357-0100

Curtis Gibbens
gibbensc "at" verizon.net
703-802-6283

Images from Brookside Gardens

Curtis-1

Curtis Gibbens

Curtis-2

Curtis Gibbens

Note: Clicking on any of the images above will display a larger version of the image. Simply hit the "back" button in your browser to return to the newsletter.

Up Button

Forum

Montages: Interpreting Reality
Matthew Schmidt
October 26th

Join us for this month’s forum presentation entitled "Montages: Interpreting Reality".   This presentation will discuss the styles and techniques of Montages.  The styles are different artistic interpretations of the subject(s), while the techniques discussed are Photoshop actions that are adapted from film.

One of Matthew’s first NVPS awards was a reverse montage of a rock and fall leaf.  But it wasn't until June of 2009 when he attended a workshop with Andre Gallant, that he truly adopted montages as an expression of his photographic style. Now he takes the time to shoot textures almost every time he goes out to shoot.

Of all of the montage styles, the Orton Effect is his favorite.  A composite of a sharply focused image and a blurry image of the same subject gives a glow and saturation to the subject that many find truly appealing.

Matthew Schmidt is an amateur photographer and a professional computer weenie.  He has been photographing off and on for nearly 35 years, but began to take a serious interest in developing the craft into an art about seven years ago, a goal that he is still working towards.  He shoots action sports most frequently and is working toward bringing an artistic style to subjects like automobile racing. 

Matthew joined NVPS in early 2006 and took a board position as the Digital Competition Coordinator for the 2006 - 2007 camera club year.  He has held various volunteer positions at NVPS every years since and is the current Workshops, Education and Training Coordinator.

Tom Burden
TomBurden "at" me.com

Up Button

Members Gallery

Prints
Susan Breen
October 26th

Susan is an independent artist from Ashburn and a resident of Northern Virginia since 1988.  She has been involved in photography since 2000 and a member of NVPS since 2004.  During this time, she has won numerous awards for her fine art photographs and was named "Photographer of the Year" by NVPS for 2009-2010. 

Her photographs are regularly displayed at the Hermitage Gallery in McLean and have been showcased at the Italian Store in Bethesda, the Color Wheel in McLean, Damon Galleries, Art Masters Gallery in Vienna and the gift shop of a governmental agency. Many of her photographs have sold to private, corporate and governmental clients. 

Susan enjoys creating digital paintings from her photographs.  Since adopting her dog, Heidi, in April 2010, she added pet photography to her portfolio and creating digital paintings from the photographs taken of our "furry friends."

To create her images, Susan uses a Nikon D90 and favors using her 18-200mm lens.  She prefers low light and long exposure photography and using very light photo equipment. 

Susan has recently retired from federal government service.  She has three married daughters and five grandchildren.  Her future plans are to, hopefully, expand her pet photo paintings into a business.

Digital Presentation
Marilyn Gaizband
October 26th

Marilyn’s interest in photography began at age 30 when her sister gave Marilyn her first 35mm camera.  She then studied at the Corcoran School of Art where she specialized in black and white photography.  There she developed a method for using infrared film to produce images which looked like impressionistic pointillism.  Over the next ten years, Marilyn’s work appeared in several fine art photography shows throughout the Washington area.

As lovers of the outdoors and nature, Marilyn and her husband, Sam, got their first taste of birding on a trip to Maine about 12 years ago.  From the start, they were hooked.  Photography combined with birding was a natural fit for them and their interest mushroomed.  Over the last decade, they have traveled throughout the U.S. and abroad.  The two have been to Churchill, Canada to photograph polar bears; Kenya, Africa on a photographic safari; the Falkland Islands to photograph penguins and other birds; Costa Rica to photograph exotic birds; and to Argentina and Brazil.  In a hunt for new nature subjects, they have visited numerous National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges in the U.S.  Marilyn has also been to Alaska and New Mexico several times.

Marilyn has recently used her expertise in Photoshop to explore new graphic and design ideas for her images.  A few years ago, while driving home, she had a vision of many, many eyes layered on one another looking at her.  When she got home, she created the first Kaleidimal.

The couple became members of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society in 2003.  Marilyn was Co-Vice President for Competitions during the 2004-2005 season and Field Trip Coordinator during the 2009-2010 season.

Marilyn’s digital slide show has three sections. The first consists of “straight” bird portraits. The second section is of “artsy” photographs using slow shutter speeds to create interesting blurred images.  The final section shows a number of Kaleidimals she created using Photoshop.

Marilyn mostly shoots with a Nikon D300 using a 200-400mm lens with a 1.7 x teleconverter.

Charlotte DeFuria
cdefuria "at" yahoo.com

Up Button

Board of Directors

A list of current Board members and their contact information can be found at nvps.org/main/about/board-members.

Meet Your Board Members

As part of a continuing series on our board members, we continue with biographies for Bob and Willa Friedman and Georgette Grossman.

Bob and Willa Friedman
Co-Vice-presidents for Competition

Bob and Willa Friedman have been members of Northern Virginia Photography Society since the fall of 2004.  Bob and his brother had a darkroom at home when they were growing up, while Willa came to photography very suddenly, shortly after Bob and Willa were married.  After graduating from college, Willa was an instructor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.  She was given a choice of several assignments including such things as cleaning animal cages.  One choice was photographing wildlife in city parks.  She chose the photography and was handed an SLR camera and light meter.  Over the following weekend, Bob taught her enough to have the result published.  So much for formal training!

 Bob continued to pursue his hobby with a dark room in their home, and supported the hobby by photographing weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.  Eventually, with pressures of work and children, the darkroom became a storage closet.  Bob spent his career in computers, much of it in the basement of Pentagon doing “stuff”.  Willa was involved in teaching, retail management and sales and is also retired.

As they approached retirement, and started to have some spare time, they both drifted back into photography and have taken courses in the basics of photography with club members Corey Hilz and Ed Funk, and Photoshop classes with Eliot Cohen as well as a workshop with Freeman Patterson.  They both use Nikon equipment.

Bob shoots scenery, wildlife and the grandchildren.  Willa tends to include architecture, city life and flowers as well. 

 Willa and Bob are waiting for the Pulitzer Prize winning photo (or at least for most of their photos to be properly exposed and in focus).

 

Georgette Grossman
Secretary/Historian

Georgette's love of photography began in earnest when her granddaughter, Ava, was born in 2006. Before then she had played with point’n’shoot cameras but never understood what was really going on "inside the box." The following year, when Ava began to move around faster than Georgette's point-and-shoot could capture the todler's smiles, it was time for Georgette to buy and learn how to use a DSLR (Nikon D80 was her first). She took a class through the Fairfax County Adult Education center and her first instructor, John Gonsalves, was wonderful. Georgette can remember him telling the class on the first day that we all had expensive cameras with lots of automatic features, but we were going to learn how to shoot manual! Initially Georgette was terrified, but somehow the concept of aperture, shutter speed, and exposure fell into place. Tell a story he would say; fill the frame!

Georgette learned about NVPS at Meadowlark in February, 2008 and joined shortly thereafter. The club has been a source of endless people who loved photography as much as she did—folks who were willing to share their talents to help me improve mine. The meetings provided wonderful programs and hands-on workshops that made learning fun. She especially remembers participating in a Portfolio Project where Joe Miller announced that in this day of digital technology almost anyone could take a decent picture, but it took effort to capture great images. What a true statement! Monthly competition has been a way to learn about what makes an image better. Watching images being critiqued, both hers and others, has been a useful learning experience.

Last year Georgette was named NVPS Photographer of the Year for Novice Color Prints and was moved into Advanced Prints for 2010–2011. She currently is the NVPS Secretary/Historian.

Georgette currently shoots with a Nikon D-90 and a variety of lenses. Her 18-200mm lens is her go-to lens for traveling. She can usually capture anything, near or far, with that one. Georgette recently treated herself to a Nikon 105mm lens for macro work and has been chronicling the spider “condos” in her front bushes. She shoots RAW format for maximum post-processing flexibility. She has been using Lightroom since it was first marketed, and recently upgraded to Lightroom 3.0. With each upgrade, Adobe has built in more features that can be applied to images non-destructively. The program catalogs her images and she can search for images using their metadata feature. She also upgraded from Photoshop 3.0 to 5.0 but has not “played” in it much. She hopes to shoot and practice with HDR this coming year. Her printers are the Epson Stylus Photo 2880 and the Epson Artisan 810.

Georgette's career path has been varied: she attended the University of Connecticut (her home state), majoring in Zoology. Because her fiancé (now husband, John) was in medical school in Rochester, NY, she completed training as a Medical Technologist there and worked in Microbiology. The couple moved back to Connecticut and stayed for a few years. That is where Georgette launched her career in motherhood. She has a daughter who lives in Maryland and a son who lives in California. Georgette and her family moved to Northern Virginia in 1976 where she continued with motherhood plus volunteering at their church and the kids’ schools. She taught clothing construction for Fairfax County Adult Education. Subsequently, Georgette went back to school at George Washington University and took classes to become an Information System Specialist. Initially, she used her newly-found computer skills to teach WordPerfect and PowerPoint to military clients. Afterwards she employed the same skills to create documents for a variety of companies. Her current day job—Report and Proposal Production Assistant for the Logistics Business Unit of LMI—takes up much of her weekday time. She has used her photography skills to shoot some of the company's in-house events and to edit photographs for incorporation into documents they produce. She wishes the weekends were longer!

Up Button

Mid-Atlantic Nature Photography Expo

 

 

The  Mid-Atlanic Nature Photography Expo (MANPE) NatureVisions Exhibit will be held November 13-14, 2010, at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, Prince William Campus, George Mason University, Manassas, VA. Noted travel photographer Bob Krist will deliver the keynote address on Saturday evening November 13th. Tickets for the Expo are now available for sale on the NatureVisions web site at www.naturevisions.org. Package deals represent a substantial savings over individual ticket purchases. The only activities not covered in the package deals are the Saturday and Sunday workshops.

Tickets

Tickets are available for sale on the website www.naturevisions.org or at the box office at the Hylton Performing Arts Center. See the web site for details.

Image Submission

Prints will be collected at the September 28, October 5 and 12 meetings. Each print must be submitted in a clear plastic sleeve and labeled as specified in Exhibitor's Guidance, Paragraph III, Labels.

Willa Friedman will collect prints at the September 28 and October 5 meetings. I will be back to collect them on October 12.

Please refer to the NVPS website at http://nvps.org/main/exhibits/october_16th_2010_-_midatlanic/ for information about the submission requirements as well as the required submission form.

John Quigley
MANPE Representative
jhquigley "at" msn.com

Up Button

Member News

Minnie Gallman

Two of Minnie's photos were published in the August issue of Spinsheet magazine. The article was called Eye on the Bay and featured photos of Summertime in Chesapeake Country. One of her photos has been accepted for the 2011 Burke & Herbert Bank Calendar. The photo was taken during an NVPS field trip to the Virginia Gold Cup. It shows a horse floating over a jump just like a real Pegasus.

pggallman "at" verizon.net

Chuck Bress

Chuck, upon learning of President and Mrs. Obama's fondness of Wynton Maralis, sent a picture taken 20 years ago to the White House. The photo was taken by Chuck at Blues Alley. President and Mrs. Obama responded with a personal card "extending deepest thanks and appreciation for the generous gift".

Wayne Wolfersberger

Wayne had a photograph published in the September 2010 issue of Shutterbug Magazine. It was in the Picture Thissection and was illustrating Leading Lines. The image was of a bull elk walking down the middle of road in the fog with a receding yellow center line.

Up Button

Announcements

Exhibition Opportunities

The Power of Color II
Entries Due October 31st

The Power of Color II is an exhibition that will explore color in the creation of artwork. Sometimes artists use the same colors in all of their work, avoid others and use others to cue our viewers in to our meaning in creating a specific piece. Sometimes they make statements with color. The exhibition will consider all fine art 2D media: drawing, painting, photography and mixed media in all styles. All artists must live within the Washington DC metropolitan area. All work must be for sale, original, and created by the artist. Deadline for receipt of entry forms, fee and work is Sunday, October 31, 2010.

Gallery West
703-549-6006
www.gallery-west.com

Gallery West 14th National Juried Show
Entries Due November 12th

Gallery West is announcing a call for entries for its 14th annual national juried show. The all media show will be juried by CD, awards to total $1000. It will be juried by F. Lennox Campello. The exhibit dates: February 9, 2011 - March 6, 2011. The eEntry deadline isNovember 12, 2010. For more details, go to: www.gallery-west.com

Events

Analogue Photographs Master Darkroom Class Exhibition

There will be an exhibition at the Photoworks Gallery at Glen Echo Park through October 26th. The exhibition will feature the work of students in the Master Darkroom Class being held there. Openning reception is September 24th, 6-8 PM.

www.glenechophotoworks.org

Alan Sislen

Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia presents New Heights, an exhibition of works on Chile's Atacama high desert, by area photographer Alan Sislen. The Atacama landscape is extraordinary. Unlike areas of Death Valley that are below sea level, the Atacama is a “high desert,” with mountains exceeding 20,000 feet in many locations. The photographs in this exhibit were taken at heights of 7,500 feet to 15,800 feet. This exhibit will run from October 5th through October 31st, 2010. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, October 9th from 2-4pm.

Alan "at" AlanSislenPhotography.com
www.AlanSislenPhotography.com

Workshop Offerings

Roy Sewall

One-on-one Coaching: This coaching is intended for novice and intermediate photographers. Coaching sessions are tailored to an individual's specific needs, and the scope is flexible. Representative topics are: how to operate a digital SLR, equipment selection, photo critique in a private setting, on-computer demonstration of photo improvements, and field technique. Roy judged an NVPS competition in October 2009.

(301) 530-6720
roy "at" sewallinc.com
www.roysewallphotography.com

Nikhil Bahl Photography Workshops

Workshops offered at local destinations. Nikhil is an NVPS member and presented a forum in March 2010.

www.nikhilbahl.com
240-246-6654
nikhil "at" nikhilbahl.com

Josh Taylor, Jr.

Fall workshops, classes, and lectures are posted at archiphotoworkshops.com. Please take a look and hopefully, you will find something of interest, including Canon camera classes. Josh is an NVPS member and most recently presented a workshop in March 2010.

jtaylorj "at" verizon.net
archiphotoworkshops.com

Awake the Light Photo Tours and Workshops
Mollie Isaacs and Mary Lindhjem

Join two well-known professional photographers on their exciting and educational photo tours. For 2011 they are offering trips to Alaska's Denali National Park and Katmai National Park, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley in Arizona, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Acadia National Park in Maine. All tours include extensive photographic opportunities in the field, as well as personal one-on-one assistance and classroom instruction. Mollie and Mary gave an NVPS Program in October 2009.

Mollie Isaacs and Mary Lindhjem
www.awakethelight.com
757-773-0194
awakethelight "at" cox.net

Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs (NVACC)

The Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs (NVACC) is an informal entity started in 1997 by Joseph Miller with the assistance of Dave Carter and Ed Funk. It purpose is to promote communication and cooperation among area camera clubs. NVACC is made up of Member Clubs and Associated Member Clubs.

NVACC publishes a monthly Calendar of Virginia Member Club Events that can be found at www.nvacc.org/Calendar.html.

.NVACC has published a Field Trips Guide Book for Photographers, which provides information about nearby areas that camera clubs might wish to visit (http://www.nvacc.org/Field%20trips%20Guidebook/NVACCPublications.html).

Up Button

For Sale

Nikon AF VR ED 80-400mm f4.5-f5.6 D lens The lens is in excellent condition. It is in 100% perfect operating and cosmetic condition without a mark anywhere. Included with the lens, is a UV filter, tripod ring mount, lens hood, front and rear lens covers and a Nikon ballistic nylon lens case. $1,100 Susan Breen 703.999.6412

 

Up Button