The elected Board nominations are complete. We will be voting on May 2 to make them official. Thanks to all who agreed to fill the positions, especially Kevin Egan who agreed to serve as president.

Additional Board positions will be made by appointment. If you would like to volunteer to serve NVPS, please contact one of the nominating committee members: Mike Whalen (Chair), Georgette Grossman, Bob Friedman and Willa Friedman.

Spring is here! It officially arrived on March 20th. I can’t wait to see what Mother Nature has in store for this season. It looks like the cherry blossoms will be in peak bloom earlier than last year. Peak bloom is for March 23 or 24th this year. Each year I vow not to bother getting up early to follow the mass of photographers lined along the tidal basin. Then the peak day comes and I hear the siren’s call, and I find myself crossing tripod legs with all of the other intrepid photographers. That’s when I know spring is really here in the D.C. area.

Jamie Kiechlin
NVPS President

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” ~ Elliott Erwitt

2016-2017 Board Nominees and Elections

NVPS Nominations and Elections 2016 – 2017

The NVPS By-Laws require the appointment of a Nominating Committee to prepare a roster of proposed officers, in support of the required annual election. Nominees must agree to serve, if elected. The list of nominees is below and was announced, as required, at the second club meeting in March.
Note: NVPS members may submit additional nominations on or before the second club meeting in April, in writing, to the Chairperson of the nominating committee. Nominations from members must be seconded by any club member, other than the candidate. The candidate must confirm in writing his/ her willingness to accept the nomination and serve, if elected.
The NVPS election will be at the first club meeting in May. It will be by voice vote, if there are no additional nominations, or, by written vote, if added nominations have been made.
The nominating committee members are Georgette Grossman, Mike Whalen (Chairperson), Willa Friedman and  Bob Friedman .

Nominations  for Elected Board 2016-2017

Kevin Egan	Willa Siegel	Bill Millhouser
Judy Graham	Alan Tolk	Kathryn Mohrman

Other Board members will be appointed by the President and are not elected. They will be announced at the End-Of-Year banquet in June.

Monthly Program

April 5th: HDR with David Blechman

David Blechman, a member of the Professional Photographers of America, started his photographic career fresh out of high school in 1978.  After many years of shooting weddings and such, he started Positive Negatives in 1997, concentrating more in the commercial photography arena.

He is now an internationally recognized photographer and instructor, having taught photographers, models, and makeup artists in over a dozen countries.

He has photographed projects for clients such  as Sears, Color Me Beautiful, JC Penney, Bath & Body Works, Foot Action, Kaybee Toys, Littman Jewelers, Seagrams Americas, Holiday Inn, Wyndham Hotels, Days Inn, Hilton Hotels, The White House, Black Market, Water, Water Everywhere, and Cornell University.

David has also been hired to photograph such celebrities as President George W. Bush, Christina Aguilera, Jimmy Buffett, Steely Dan, Moody Blues, Beyonce and Destiny’s Child, Celine Dion, Gene Simmons, KISS, and numerous others.

He currently shoots for magazines, clothiers, fashion designers, and numerous other print and commercial accounts, as well as for models, actors, and their agencies.  He has been published  hundreds of times, and his specialties include, but are not limited to: child and adult models, architectural, food, fashion, swimwear, location and studio work,  products, headshots, etc.

David continues to speak at modeling and photography venues, judge at pageants, teach at modeling agencies, and to teach and mentor photographers, models, and makeup artists internationally. His 2010 training course in the Caribbean was filmed to become a 13-episode television series.

He also organizes exotic training events in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Europe aboard  luxury  cruise liners with on-board and location shooting and training. Dave is an advocate of helping artists grow and protect their businesses and careers world-wide. David also helped in the planning and teaching of a photography training course for cancer patients at The St. Agnes Cancer Institute in Baltimore, Md., and, for this project, had a dozen camera systems donated by his friends and clients.

More recently, David is mentoring a group of over 740 amateur photographers, and is getting them exposure and recognition by having their work displayed and sold at local venues. 

Examples of David's work:

Monthly programs for 2015-2016:

The VP for Programs for this year Willa Siegel.

Education & Training

April 12th: “Photography as a Business” with
                Matthew Rakola

What are the main types of businesses when it comes to photography?  What is it like for a full-time photographer trying make a living in this business? Want to learn more about selling your images/prints?  Like to make extra money with your hobby, but you don’t know where to start?    

Special guest, Matthew Rakola, a professional full-time photographer based in the D.C. metro area and Chair of the D.C. chapter of the American Photographic Artists (APA), a professional association comprised mostly of advertising, commercial and editorial photographers, will give a presentation and answer questions regarding photography as a business. 

Do not miss this opportunity to hear Mr. Rakola cover this fascinating and unique topic that we have never covered at NVPS before!!!

See you there!

Remainder of this season's presentations:

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

Competition

April 19th: Judging by Ellis Rosenberg

This is "Oldies" competition. There is no theme for April's competition, nor do images have to be made within the two year period.

As an amateur photographer for over 40 years, Ellis thoroughly enjoys the art form. He previously served eight years as Chair of the Reston Photographic Society (RPS), and a board member of The League of Reston Artists which includes the RPS. He also continues serving The Nature Visions Photo Expo (naturevisions.org) as a previous board member and other capacities.

These positions have provided him with an excellent exposure in the area of judging.  He enjoys photography competitions and, as a graduate of The Joe Miller Seminar on Judging, he endeavors to put the knowledge gained from that seminar together with his experience to be a competent judge. He has judged over 20 competitions and hopes the participants have benefited from and enjoyed the competitions as much as he has.

“The Official Photographer” (unpaid) has been his designation on a number of occasions for diverse groups of people and organizations. Ellis’ wife Gerry, also a photographer, and he photograph various events and she, as director and producer, combines the photos along with music and effects to make a great Pro Show slide presentation that are cherished by the participants.

Ellis’ Criteria for Judging:

“My first consideration would be conformity with the rules of the competition. Next would be the four C’s – craftsmanship, composition, creativity, and communication. The judging should be a learning experience for everyone involved, including the judge. Negative aspects should be minimized while focusing on the positive attributes of the work. Originality, uniqueness, feeling, mood and capturing the moment would hold a prominent place in the selection criteria.”

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 theme for the remaining of this season is:

• 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.

March 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 – Water Lily
2nd – John Murray – The Sun Also Rises
3rd – Paula Neumann – Autumn Impressions
HM – Joan Barker – Glowing Edges
HM – Julie Konzelman – Scarlet
HM – Paula Neumann – Ghostly Visitors
HM – Nicol Hockett - Hegn

Digital – Class 2
1st – Judy Guenther – Venice Canal
2nd – Mark Chen – Potomac Color Palette
3rd – Melvin Bates – When the Ice Storm Ends in the Morning

Digital – Class 3
1st – Wayne Guenther – Red Bench
2nd – Georgette Grossman – Save Me
3rd – Tuan Pham – Funtography
HM – Amie Tannenbaum – Fantasy Garden
HM – Judy McGuire – Cherry Blossom Time

Monochrome Prints
1st – Butch Karamarkovich – Evening Sunset
2nd – Bill Millhouser – Curves and Shadows
3rd – Stan Bysshe – Cathedral Ghosts

Color Prints – Class 1
1st – Joan Barker – Swirling Pinwheels

Color Prints – Class 2
1st – Mark Chen – The Feeling’s Gone
2nd – David Heagy – Flamenco Dancer
3rd – Jamie Kiechlin – Lotus Dancer

Color Prints – Class 3
1st – Stan Bysshe – Sandhill Over Snowies
2nd – Ginger Werz-Petricka – Scotts Run After A Rain
3rd – Bill Corbett - NYC

First Place images from March:

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 Water Lily	Class 3 Digital - 1st Place Wayne Guenther Red Bench
Class 2 Digital - 1st Place Judy Guenther Venice Canal
Class 3 Prints - 1st Place Stan Bysshe Sandhill Over Snowies

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

It is time to think about how you will present your images to the club in May 10th. After all your effort think about how you will show the world your achievement

There are a lot of ways to present your work. You can do loose prints, a book. even an audio-visual presentation in a laptop. Many ideas are available on line and check out the excellent presentation by Scott Musson in the club archives at

http://nvps.org/home/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/PhotoBooksCalendars.pdf.

 If you do a book, My Publisher, Blurb and Shutterfly all offer easy to follow instructions and quick turn-around time.  The main thing is we want to get a chance to see what you have achieved and it's nice to have something tangible for yourself, your friends and your family.

If you have not signed up for the project, it's not too late.   Sign up instructions:

1.  Get registered as a gallery user by going to http://nvps.org/gallery/main.php and clicking on register (upper right hand corner). Follow the directions on the screen to get yourself a login and password. If you are already a registered user of the gallery then you start at step two.

2. Send your gallery user name (not your password) to portfolio-gallery@nvps.org  and request Portfolio Project participation.

3.  You will receive an email confirming creation of your album at which point you will be able to upload pictures as well as comment on other member's pictures.

Willa Friedman

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

Members Gallery

April 26th: Digital Images by Alan Goldstein and
                    Prints by Mike Whalen

Alan Goldstein

A member of NVPS since 2012, Alan has been involved in some way or other with photography for the past 54 years (not bad, considering he's only 29!)  It all began with a science teacher instructing him on the art of film developing.  At that time, he was using a Kodak Brownie.  Veering off during his teen-age years to using an 8mm movie camera, he returned to still photographyduring his college yearsand while working as a reporter for his hometown newspaper.

Alan was supposed to call in a newspaper photographer for photos, but she lived nearly 30 miles away, so he opted to take photos himself.  At first, he used a Polaroid Type 103 for photos since it made instant, crisp pictures.  But encouraged by a classmate and photographer, Alan got access to the college's darkroom, and processed Tri-X each time he had a news event or other photo request.  This plus being a radio disc jockey probably contributed to his less-than-stellar GPA!

After graduating from college, Alan enlisted in the Navy, becoming a Navy Journalist and later a Public Affairs Officer. 

His high school girlfriend had a Nikon SLR, and that became Alan's Holy Grail.  As a low-ranking Navy man, Alan scraped up the money and bought his first true SLR — a Minolta SRT-101.  As he progressed up the Navy ranks, he upgraded to a Minolta X700.

Fast forward to 2003.  Alan's brother-in-law was getting married and Alan was the photographer.  An acquaintance who was a Nikon rep loaned Alan a D100.   It was love at first click!  Since then, Alan has had a D100, D200, D300, and now a D800 and a D810.

Alan considers himself an advanced amateur, even though he has made more than five figures making pictures.   His biggest job was making progress photos of the deconstruction and reconstruction of the D.C. public library in Georgetown.

Retired from the Navy in 1994 and retired from Civil Service in 2011, Alan is happy to spend his time making images.  He loves photographing just about everything, but really likes night scenes and landscapes. His photos have been used for greeting cards by non-profits, used for proposals by environmental entities, have been used by sports web sites, have appeared in newspapers, and even hang in a gas station.

Alan says he loves being a member of NVPS.  He has gained some great friends, enjoys the camaraderie, and has learned something new nearly every meeting.

Alan’s presentation is entitled: “Sweden 2014.”

Examples of Alan's work:

Mike Whalen

Former NVPS president, Mike Whalen, will show some of his favorite monochrome and color prints taken during the past several years.

Mike is a former software engineer who took up digital photography to fill his spare time created by retirement. He purchased his first serious camera in 2006 – an entry level Canon DSLR. Ten years later he is still trying to answer the same basic question: “What makes a good photo?” He believes luck and practice are major contributors to success and notes that (golf superstar), Arnold Palmer’s statement: “The more I practice, the luckier I get!”may be just as true for photography as it is for golf.

Mike has been an active member of NVPS since 2009. He has served as Co-Coordinator of Field-Trips, Co-VP of Competitions, Assistant Webmaster and President. He has received NVPS’s “Photographer-of-the-Year” awards in all “advanced” categories, as well as“Color Print of the Year” and the “Ollie-Fife Award” for “Image of the Year”.

Mike loves to photograph all kinds of subjects in both color and black & white, and enjoys the entire photographic process from composing the image(in the viewfinder) to rendering the final print. He embraces digital post-processing tools like Lightroom and Photoshop and feels their use can expand one’s creative ability in ways that were never possible during the film era.

His influences come from seeing the great works of his peers as well as those seen on popular photographic websites. Mike believes that finding NVPS (thanks to Willa Friedman) has been the single most important factor in improving his photography skills.

He hopes you enjoy the exhibit.

Examples of Mike’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

April 30th: Mt. Cuba Center Botanical Gardens,
                 Hockessin, Del.

Mt. Cuba Center is a botanical garden with a focus on native plants and ecosystems.  Our trip will focus on native Spring flowers throughout the 50 acres of display gardens and over 500 acres of natural lands.

Through horticulture, education, research, and visitation, Mt. Cuba Center strives to fulfill its mission to inspire an appreciation for the beauty and value of native plants and a commitment to protect the habitats that sustain them.

Mt. Cuba Center is the former home and family estate of Mr. and Mrs. Lammot du Pont Copeland. In 1935, the Copelands built a stately Colonial Revival manor house near the village of Mt. Cuba, near Hockessin, Delaware. It became a public garden in 2005. The Gardens open at 10:00 AM, so we should depart at around 7:30 AM. For more information, see http://www.mtcubacenter.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

NatureVisions

Nature Visions 2016

NVPS Members:

As I mentioned at the meeting last night, the Nature Visions Photo Expo Board of Directors approved some changes in the competition rules for the expo. They include the following:

1. Nature Category: Creative digital filters that manipulate existing photographic pixels (e.g., to produce brush strokes, surface texture, added noise) are permitted.

2. Nature Category: Multiple exposures are no longer permitted. However, NVPE will still allow focus stacking, HDR composites, stitched panoramas and similar procedures that combine multiple images of a changing scene, or scenes.

3. Nature Category: Human elements (formerly referred to as “hand of man”) are no longer permitted. This would include, but is not limited to people, buildings, automobiles, obviously cultivated fields, telephone poles, basically anything that has had a human hand involved in its creation.

4. Both Nature and Photo Art categories: Substitutions will no longer be offered for mistakenly submitted images within seven days of the competition deadline. As you know, images are pre-screened prior to judging to ensure that they meet the eligibility requirements. If an image is rejected, the submitter may resubmit another image in its place. However, if an image is submitted within seven days of the completion deadline and is rejected, no other image can be submitted in its place.

I will be happy to answer any questions you might have on these changes, however please keep them in mind when you are preparing images for this year’s expo, which will be held November 18-20 at the Hylton Center, George Mason University Manassas campus.

In addition, the expo will again be holding a student competition and a link to the flyer for the contest is given below. Please pass the flyer on to any high school student in Northern Virginia or Montgomery County, Md., who might be interested in competing. If you also know the name of the photography teacher in the high school in your area, or any high school for that matter, please pass their contact info on to me, Wayne Wolfersberger, Bob Friedman or Bill Corbett (all members of our club) so we can get the info to these folks.

Here is a link to the referenced attachment: http://nvps.org/home/files/2016StudentContestFlyer-3.pdf

For more information of the Nature Visions expo, including all the competition rules, please go to their website at www.naturevisions.org.

Thanks for your help.

Roger Lancaster, Vice President of NV and NVPS Rep to NV.     naturevisions@nvps.org

Membership

Half Price Membership Dues Now In Effect

If you’ve been putting off joining NVPS, now is a great time! Membership dues for the remainder of this 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.

Exhibition at Beanetics Coffee Roasters

NVPS members have been invited to exhibit framed prints at Beanetics Coffee Roasters, 7028 Columbia Pike, Annandale.
( www.beanetics.com) . The show will be hung on Monday, April 18th, at 11 am. A reception is scheduled tentatively for Sunday April 24th, from 2 - 4 pm. More details on that later. The show will hang until May 27th.

Beanetics has room for about 15 framed prints, there is no restriction on size (within reason). Please make sure your prints are properly matted and framed, with wire across the back for hanging purposes.

A flat fee of $7.00 will be collected from each exhibitor, which will go towards food for the reception etc.

Please sign up! Get those prints where the public can see them. This is another chance to display your work.
You are welcome to bring your framed prints to the weekly meetings, to my house, or to the venue on the 18th by 11 am (preferred). Please don't drop off prints at Beanetics ahead of time, there is no storage available.

A sign-up sheet will be available at the club meetings. You must be a paid member. You may enter up to 2 prints.
Thanks for your participation, and looking forward to seeing your work.

Melanie Marts, Exhibits Coordinator

Members' News:

Bill Von Holle

William (Bill) Von Holle placed HM in the Smithsonian staff/volunteer 2016 photo contest for his "Amboseli Sunset print." The winning prints will be on display in the Smithsonian S. Dillon Ripley Center for one year. The Ripley Center is the one with the small pagoda-like structure at ground level and descends into a larger underground portion. It houses the International Gallery, the Smithsonian Associates, and the offices of the Smithsonian Contributing Membership.

Fred Siskind

On February 23rd, Fred Siskind presented a program on Macro Photography in the Wild for the Heritage Hunt Photography Club in Gainesville.  Several members are former NVPS members, including Esta Gladstone, a former President of NVPS.
The club members are a very nice group and very welcoming to presenters.  If anyone is interested in presenting a program, Fred can  put you in touch with their program director.

Fred's photos from his presentation:

Ken Barnett: Photo Safari in South Africa

Ken Barnett, in addition to being a member of NVPS, is also a member of the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia (SONOVA). Bid on a photo safari for two at SONOVA’s annual Gala and silent auction.  NVPS’s own Ginger and Ron Werz-Petricka went last year.

The package includes six days and nights accommodation, all meals, with gourmet breakfasts and buffet dinners, and two game viewing activities per day in open Land Rovers. The package is valued at $5,950 and bidding starts at $2,000. There are two packages offered, each package for two people.

The fundraiser for SONOVA is April 2nd at the George Masonic Memorial Masonic Temple in Alexandria. (http://sonovamusic.org/upcoming-concert/). Please feel free to contact Ken at ken.barnett@gmail.com with any questions.

The photo safari offered by Zulu Nyala ( http://www.zulunyalagroup.com/Hluhluwe/Safari-Game-Lodge/)

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.

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/