Volume 51 – No. 6	Founded 1965 – our 50th Year	February 2016
The Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society
Editor: Alan Goldstein – Email: editor" at "nvps.org
Table of Contents President's Message Monthly Program Education and Training Competition     January Competition Results Portfolio Members' Gallery Field Trips Board of Directors NatureVisions Membership Announcements    Members News    Other Local News    Exhibition Opportunities    Workshop Offerings Want Ads Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs Editor Calendar 2/2 Monthly Program: Sports Photography              with Mitchell Layton 2/9 Education & Training: “Bring Your Camera               Night" 2/16 Competition: Judging by Corey Hilz 2/20 Field Trip: Rawlings Conservatory, Baltimore, Md. 2/23 Members Gallery:           Digital Images by Rick French           Prints by Andrew Savino     Quiet Night After the Major Storm
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. (The more that you read, the more things you will know - Dr. Seuss ) To protect our members from email spam, personal 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 start at 7:30 p.m. at the Dunn Loring Fire Station. The doors open at 6:45 p.m. for a "meet and greet" with meetings on non-competition nights beginning at 7:30 p.m. Note for Competition Nights only (Third Tuesday): Competition begins at 7:15p.m. All prints must be checked in no later than 7:30 p.m.  Although we have not had any problems for many years, do remember to lock your car and place valuables out of sight, as we should in any public parking area. Come early and visit, but when the meeting starts, PLEASE take seats immediately and silence your cell phone, pager or any other device that might make noise and distract listeners or interrupt speakers. Please check the website and FotoFax for the club's policy on weather closings. Check WTOP www.wtop.com or Fairfax County School systems web site for closings. You can also sign up for emails or cell phone alerts: http://www.fcps.edu/news/emerg.shtml

With December being one of the warmest on record, you knew we were due to get some cold weather in January or February. Enter the Blizzard of 2016 with over 30 inches of snow in some areas. I had plans to get out to the monuments of D.C. to take pictures, but I it may be days before a snow plow makes it to my street and liberates me from the confines of my living room. In the meantime, I must be content with the view from my back yard and the steady stream of backyard birds who are visiting the bird feeder.

February’s field trip will be to Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens http://www.rawlingsconservatory.org in Baltimore, Md. This will be a great opportunity to photograph indoors in a variety of garden settings.

We are at the halfway point in the NVPS season. We have had great Programs, Competitions, Fieldtrips, Forums, Education & Training sessions, and Member’s Galleries. Meeting attendance has been good and we hope to continue strong for the second half of the year. NVPS succeeds because of its dedicated group of Board and Key Volunteers. I am continually amazed at the level of dedication and competence shown by these individuals. As President, they make my job very simple. I am extremely grateful for the work they do.

It is time to start thinking about next years Board and Key Volunteers. The NVPS is in its 51st year of existence. It has endured because many people have continued to volunteer. Each year, we look for a mix of some experienced members, along with some newer members to fill the “slate”. If you are interested in “giving back” please consider helping NVPS by volunteering for a position. Just send me an email if you are interested ( president at nvps dot org ).

Jamie Kiechlin
NVPS President

Monthly Program

February 2nd: Sports Photography, including
              Children's Sports, with Mitchell Layton

Mitch Layton will do a presentation on Sports Photography.  He will use his photographs and talk about different aspects of shooting sports.  He will talk about DPI, light, shutter speed, as well as  looking for the moment, opening your eyes and thinking outside the box.  

Mitch has been part of the Washington D.C. and Baltimore photography world for over 30 years.  He has distinguished himself as an established and well-respected photographer known for his creativity, reliability, and dedication.

Long standing relationships with George Washington University, American University, Georgetown University and the Verizon Center have established Layton as the area's leading photographer for sports and entertainment.  His relationships with many Baltimore and Washington independent schools has lead to another creative avenue for him.  His photos are represented by Getty Images. In recent years, his work (an image of Abe and Irene Pollin) was part of an exhibit (“Glimpses of the Neighborhood”) at the National Portrait Gallery that documented the changing neighborhood around the then, newly built, Verizon Center. A planned traveling exhibit sponsored by the National Portrait Gallery will feature more of his work.

His venture into creating a photographic file for colleges and independent schools has brought a different element to his work. Layton recognizes the vast differences among these schools’ mission, traditions and philosophies and works with each school to develop a catalogue of pictures that can be used to promote itself.

In addition to his work with schools and local sports teams, Layton has had the opportunity to cover three Olympic games, as well as every major sporting event in the United States including, but not limited to Super Bowls, Stanley Cup Finals, NCAA Championships and World Series.  Layton’s photographs have appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, USA Today, Time, Newsweek and National Geographic. His work also appears regularly on sports web sites that include Sports Illustrated.com, ESPN.com, Yahoo.com and Fox.com, as well as in many print publications that are read worldwide.

Examples of Mitch's work:

Monthly programs for 2015-2016:

The VP for Programs for this year Willa Siegel.

Education & Training

February 9th: “Bring Your Camera Night”

This will be a night of special fun so bring your camera and your tripod.  We will have stations around the room for photographing abstracts so consider bringing a macro if you have one.  With the Joe Miller Abstract Exhibit coming up this will be an opportunity to get some images to enter.  We will also have several areas for photographing water drops and drips.  And to round out the evening we will have a model for you to practice photographing, the emphasis will be on catching the model in motion so this will be fun.  Plus TBD, if it is warm enough to get it there we hope to have a motorcycle and a fog machine! 

This promises to be a lot of fun!  See you there.

The Education and Training Coordinator for this year is Ginger Werz-Petricka.

Competition

February 16th: Judging by Corey Hiltz

There is no theme for February's Competition.

Corey Hilz is a professional photographer specializing in nature and travel photography. He finds the diversity in nature and cultures around the world offer boundless opportunities for new images. Corey approaches his subjects with an artistic eye, looking for a fresh perspective. He goes beyond the documentary image to show a unique perspective using color, shape and line. He strives to share the beauty of a destination you have never seen and provide a new perspective on a familiar subject. While Corey has collected diverse images from extensive travel, he also finds some of the most interesting subjects close to home.

Corey is a published author and his work is seen in magazines, books, calendars and catalogues. His photographs are also seen in exhibits and his prints are found in private collections. Corey has written six books, including two books on digital workflow and the first book dedicated to Lensbaby.

Corey has a passion for sharing his knowledge. He helps others improve their photography through group and private instruction. Corey's instruction enables photographers to improve their photographs technically and artistically. He leads workshops to locations in the United States and abroad, plus offers photography classes and software training.  Find out more on Corey's website: http://www.coreyhilz.com/

The Co-VPs Competition for 2015-2016 are Tami Stieger and Kevin Egan (competitions@nvps.org)

Competition Themes for 2015-2016

Note: The Board reaffirmed that there will be three themed competitions per program year, but there will be no theme competitions in the months of December, January, and February.  

The themes for the remaining 2015 – 2016 season are:

• Creativity - March 15, 2016
  This theme is meant to push the boundaries of your creativity through use of in-camera and or computer processing techniques. Examples being, multiple exposures, zooming and camera manipulation, panning, layering with textures, lighting techniques, digital painting, anything goes! A time to show off your processing techniques.
• Architecture - May 17, 2016
  Images of man- made structures including bridges, buildings, alone or collectively; parts of buildings such as arches, columns, ceilings, cupolas, stairways etc. Architectural structures within a landscape environment also accepted, such as a pergola or gazebo.

Competition Themes for 2016-2017

The themes for 2016–2017 are:

• Love
  We turn our attention to one of the most valuable virtues; an international language and possibly the strongest of all feelings…Love! It is an invitation to explore the path of love as an emotion, an attraction, an attachment… in all its forms! Some sample images might include: a lovers’ embrace, a passion you love, an X drawn in vapor trails, a goodbye, a friendship, etc.
• Drag the shutter
  Show us your best shutter drag. Whether capturing motion in waves or panning cars zooming by, we want to see you get creative with this topic. Slow down your shutter speed to show a sense of motion or action.
• Colors
  Life is a stream of color. Red, blue, yellow, and a billion pigments in between… For this theme we ask you to show us color-inspired photographs. Scenes, details, narratives or moods. Subtle tones or Technicolor daydreams, color must be a primary component of your image.

January Competition Results

The full list of competition results is available on the NVPS web site at http://nvps.org

Digital - Class 1
1st – Kieulan Nguyen – Empty Sky Museum
2nd – Melannie Egan – Foggy Stroll
3rd – Ron Taylor – Milford Sound
HM -Bill Millhouser – Down the Hatch
HM -Kathryn Mohrman – Rainy Day
HM -Kieulan Nguyen – Daisy
HM -Paula Neuman - Lincoln
HM -Ron Taylor – Blue Racer
HM -Tom Bickerton – The Big Bang
HM -Yen Nguyen – Leopard of Kenya
HM -Yen Nguyen – Sunray at Botany Beach

Digital – Class 2
1st – Alan Goldstein – Sleep in Heavenly Peace
2nd – Kevin McCarthy – Polka Dot Tree Frog Ecuador
3rd – Claudia Copeland – Silk Threads
HM -Mark Chen – A Broken Home

Digital – Class 3
1st – Judy McGuire – Flower Fantasy
2nd – Stan Bysshe – Pronghorn
3rd – Bill Corbett – Poser
HM -Tuan Pham – Motherly Love
HM -Georgette Grossman – Color Explosion

Monochrome Prints
1st – Mark Chen – Gothic Path
2nd – Tom Brett – The Bathtub
3rd – Len Johnson –Tree Trunk Eyes
HM -Karol Murray - Doorways
HM -Willa Siegel – Peeking Tetons

Color Prints – Class 1
1st – Melannie Egan – Old T-Bird
2nd – John Murray – Sunrise at Mesa Arch
3rd – Bill Millhouser – Scarlet Macaw

Color Prints – Class 2
1st – Judy Guenther – Did You Hear?
2nd – Mark Chen – Into the Badlands

Color Prints – Class 3
1st – Stan Bysshe – Sunrise Takeoff
2nd – Kevin Egan – A Chrysler in a Needle Stack
3rd – Beth Morris – Lightning Strike
HM -Bill Corbett – On the James

First Place images from January:

Additional winning images are available for viewing at http://nvps.org/gallery/v/competitions/2015-2016_Competition_Winners/

Class 1 Digital - 1st Place Kieulan Nguyen Empty Sky Museum
Class 2 Digital - 1st Place Alan Goldstein Sleep in Heavenly Peace	Class 3 Digital - 1st Place Judy McGuire Flower Fantasy
Class 1 Prints - 1st Place Melannie Egan Old T-Bird
Class 2 Prints – 1st Place Judy Guenther Did You Hear?	Class 3 Prints - 1st Place Stan Bysshe Sunrise Takeoff
	Monochrome – 1st Place Mark Chen Gothic Path

Competition Image Use

The NVPS Website has a gallery of past Competition winning images at http://nvps.org/gallery/v/competitions/. If your image placed first, second, third or received an honorable mention in a club competition, it is eligible for this gallery.  Images are not posted automatically, you must specifically provide consent for your image to be included in the gallery.

To have your winning image included in the gallery, email competitionwinners" at "nvps.org and provide the following information:

Your name
Image Category (digital, color print, monochrome print)
Image Class (1, 2, or 3)
Competition Date

Digital Winners: When you upload your image for the competition, you can check the box to grant permission for it to be posted if it wins.  

Print Winners: send a digital version of your print, sized as if it were for digital competition.

The FotoFax newsletter is usually finalized during the weekend immediately following the monthly club competitions.  If your image is a first place winner and you send it in before the Friday following competition, your image will be forwarded to the editor for inclusion in FotoFax.  If you have not provided permission before that deadline, another winning entry may be used.

Portfolio Project

If you haven't signed up to participate in the Portfolio Project, it's not too late.  Either see me at a meeting or email me at portolioproject@nvps.org.  I'll direct you to instructions and help you to get started.

If you have signed up, please start posting your images. Are you having trouble setting up your folder, uploading your images, or even deciding on a theme? Let's talk!  I understand how hard it can be especially the first time.

If you have a theme and some images, start to upload to the NVPS website.  Let's share!  Once you are set up on the website, you can review others folders and share comments and ideas.

Since March has five Tuesdays, Portfolio Project will have the entire meeting for critique, questions and answers  and problem solving.  Plan to be there to join the discussion.  This is not about how “good” your portfolio is, but rather how to get to the next level, and how to define what that might be.

It's also time to start thinking about the presentation of your finished portfolio in May. You can do a book, prints, slide presentation on a laptop, poster…Check out Scott Musson’s excellent presentation on Photo Books and Calendars that was originally presented at the club on 30 March 2010. It is available on line at:  http://nvps.org/main/f_stop/docs/PhotoBooksCalendars.pdf.

Willa Friedman

Co-chairs for the Portfolio Project for 2015-2016 are Willa Friedman and Ceasar Sharper.

Members Gallery

February 23rd: Digital Images by Rick French and
                         Prints by Andrew Savino

Rick French

A member of NVPS since 2014, Rick French has been shooting since junior high. He was a career Field Artillery Army officer who retired in 2006 and subsequently began R2K2 Photography, specializing in sports and action photography. He has shot youth sports through college and professional. While in North Carolina, he was the staff photographer for an ESPN radio station allowing him the ability to cover a wide variety of sporting events. He is well versed in both Photoshop and Lightroom and uses way too much Canon equipment. He loves teaching new photographers how to get their cameras off automatic and also teaching other photographers about using off-camera flash.

He has been married to Kristin, who also recently retired from the Army after almost 30 years’ service, for 29 years and they have two children Ryan, a high school senior, and Katherine, a high school sophomore. Rick has enjoyed meeting the many talented photographers in NVPS and expanding his photographic knowledge and skills. He currently lives in Clifton, Va.

This presentation was developed as a result of his deployment to Iraq in 2003-2004 as a battalion commander with the 4th Infantry Division. He wanted to show primarily to his son, who is thinking of an Army career, the different aspects of what it means to go to war and fight. In addition, his wife was deployed to Iraq as well at the same time so their kids stayed with their grandparents for 15 months. These images are from various locations and events that occurred during hisdeployment using a camera approximately the size of a credit card.

Examples of Rick's work:

Andrew Savino

A junior at The Howard Gardner School in Alexandria, Andrew Savino has been a member of NVPS since 2013. He first became interested in photography in fifth grade after he saw a red-tail hawk in his backyard and ran to get his mother’s camera. His teacher encouraged him to submit that photo to the Connection Newspapers, where it was published in the annual Student Art section.

Andrew considers himself an amateur and enjoys winning some NVPS Class 1 monthly competitions. His images have been juried into the 2015 Nature Visions Photo Expo, the 5th Annual Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit, and the 2014 and 2015 Nora School Photo Festivals. He has sold photographs to family members, friends, and neighbors.

NVPS meetings and the internet are the main sources of Andrew’s photographic knowledge because he has not taken any formal photography classes. Some of his favorite subjects include nature, wildlife, birds, landscapes, abandoned buildings, and macro.

His first DSLR camera was a Christmas present when he was in eighth grade. Andrew still shoots with that Canon Rebel T3i DSLR, using various lenses including macro, wide angle, and super telephoto.

Andrew will probably take photography classes in college and would like to continue photography as either a hobby or a business.

Examples of Andrew's work:

Presenters for the remainder of the 2015-2016 Society year are:

The Member's Gallery Coordinator for this 2015-2016 is Ron Taylor.

Field Trips February 20th: Rawlings Conservatory,
             Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Md.

The Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is the second oldest glass conservatory in America. 
The Conservatory greenhouses are in distinct climates that allow for the display of plants from all over the world. The mild Mediterranean greenhouse replicates the dry summers and foggy winters of the Mediterranean basin and southern California. The Tropical Forest greenhouse displays plants that originate in the tropics, including those native to parts of Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia, and some tropical islands. The Desert greenhouse showcases plants that can endure the harsh, windy, and arid conditions of the desert where daytime temperatures can climb as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit and fall as low as 10 degrees at night, with little rainfall. The Orchid Room features the largest of all the plant groups, which includes over 30,000 species and more than 100,000 registered hybrids. The Palm House grants the visitor an opportunity to return to the Victorian era.

We plan on arriving at the Conservatory at 10:00 a.m., shoot for three or four hours, and then meet for a late lunch at a local restaurant around 2 p.m. 

The address of the Conservatory is 3100 Swann Dr, Baltimore, Md.  21217; the GPS coordinates are N39° 19.084’, W076° 38.778’

For more information on the Conservatory see: http://www.rawlingsconservatory.org

Note: To facilitate sign-ups, please download this fillable .PDF to your desktop, fill it out on your computer, save it using your name as the file name, and attach it to an e-mail and send it to field-trips@nvps.org

Field trips planned for the remainder of the program year (subject to change):

Field Trip Coordinators for 2015-2016 are Bill Millhouser and Alan Goldstein

Board of Directors

A full list of all current NVPS Board members and their club contact information also can be found at: http://nvps.org/home/?page_id=23

Membership

Half Price Membership Dues Beginning February 2016

If you’ve been putting off joining NVPS, now is a great time! Beginning in February membership dues for the remainder of the 2015-2016 club year are half price. Even at full price, the cost of membership is a great value when you consider the education, programs, competitions and field trips!

Remember, in order to participate in the monthly competitions and to attend NVPS organized field trips your membership dues must be current.

There are three forms of payment. Checks and cash are preferred by NVPS:

• Check: make out your check to NVPS. Complete and print out the Membership Application (http://nvps.org/home/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NVPS_application_2015-2016.pdf). Please either mail both to our Treasurer, Tom Brett, 4216WynnwoodDr, Annandale, VA 22003 or bring your membership application and check to a meeting.
• Cash:Complete and print out the Membership Application (http://nvps.org/home/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NVPS_application_2015-2016.pdf) with your current information and pay our Membership Coordinators (Judy Graham or Paula Neumann) or our Treasurer (Tom Brett) at any meeting.
• PayPal: use the link on our website: http://nvps.org/home/?page_id=114. Please note that NVPS must pay a fee for this method of payment!

Questions, please email membership at membership@nvps.org.
We look forward to seeing you at upcoming club meetings and events!

Stay Connected with NVPS

EMAIL: If you are not already receiving NVPS emails, there are two ways you can sign up to join the list. Click on the following link and sign up by entering your name and email address. Click on join the list. http://nvps.org/home/?page_id=31. Or you may stop by the Membership desk at the next meeting and they will be happy to assist you.It's important to note, you will receive an "opt-in" email from nvps.org. If you do not receive it, check your spam folder. Please respond to this email within 72 hours or the verification link will expire.

FACEBOOK: If you are on Facebook, please join the NVPS private group. Search on Northern Virginia Photographic Society Social Group and request to join. Members post everything from their photos to interesting articles on photography to requests for recommendations. You will find the group informative and fun!

Judy Graham
Membership Coordinator

Announcements

Notice: The information about workshops and events not sponsored by or affiliated with NVPS are provided as an informational courtesy to Members. Individuals should review the detailed rules and conditions for contests and gallery shows to determine what impact entering an image has on the photographer's rights and ownership of the submitted images. Review the descriptions of workshops to see whether participation in a particular workshop would actually meet your personal learning goals. NVPS attempts to screen events for legitimacy and quality; however NVPS does not recommend these events and cannot assume responsibility for their ultimate quality. We recommend due diligence and encourage you to share your experience with other club members.

Sixth Annual Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit
May 7 through May 30, 2016

The Joseph Miller Center for the Photographic Arts takes great pride in announcing its Sixth Annual juried abstract exhibit. All interested photographers are invited to submit entries for this much anticipated spring event.

Submissions to the First Annual JM Abstract Exhibit were limited to local NVACC-related clubs; however, over the years, because of the influence these exhibits have had in encouraging and promoting abstract photography and due to their reputation, recent JM Abstract Exhibits have been attracting entries from national as well as international photographic artists.

The Joseph Miller Center will begin accepting entries for the upcoming Sixth Annual Exhibit on Saturday, December 26, 2015. The deadline for submissions will be Friday, February 26, 2016.

A detailed prospectus containing all relevant information regarding the exhibit can be found on the Northern Virginia Alliance of Camera Clubs website at www.NVACC.org.         

Members' News:

Fred Siskind

Fred Siskind had a photo of a Rosy Maple Moth published in the February issue of National Geographic Kids magazine.  They actually used only a small part of the moth for an article on pink in nature, which asks the kids to identify the subject.

Exhibition Opportunities

Announcements of exhibitions or contests are provided for information purposes only. There is no actual or implied endorsement by the Northern Virginia Photographic Society.

NVPS Artist Reception

NVPS Artist Reception, Exhibit at The Frame Factory, 212 Dominion Road, Vienna, Va. On Saturday, February 6th, a reception will be held from 1 to 3 pm. Drinks and other refreshments will be served. So come and have an afternoon glass of wine, munch on some snacks, gaze rapturously at the lovely exhibit, and support NVPS and its fine photographers. Forty-seven prints are on the walls in this venue. Thanks in advance for your support, and thanks to all the photographers who are participating in this exhibit. See you there! To learn more about The Frame Factory, check out their website at www.theframefactory1.com. This exhibit will run until the end of February, possibly a little longer.

Some of the images:

Melanie Marts, NVPS Exhibits Coordinator

Washington School of Photography (WSP)

Located within WSP, the Washington Gallery of Photography hosts monthly gallery shows, open to the public, and consisting of work from mid-Atlantic Photographers. They hold regular gallery receptions, hosted on the first Friday of each month. See details on their calendar at: http://www.washingtonschoolofphotography.com/