Member, Photographic Society of America
Winner of the 2008, 2011, and 2012 PSA Henricks Award for best newsletter!
Dennis Freeman & Sherm Edwards, Editors, Cable Release, at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
Contents
KEY EVENTS
The following scheduled events will not happen in person given the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board and others are planning online substitutes that will be announced by e-mail and on the club’s Website.
- April 2 – Speaker Night (7:30 p.m.)
- (April 9 – No meeting: Passover)
- April 16 – Competition Night: Open (7:30 p.m.)
April 19 – Field Trip: Dawn on the PotomacCanceled- April 23 – A Closer Focus Meeting (7:30 p.m.)
- April 30 – Board Meeting (7:30 p.m.)
If Montgomery County Schools close due to inclement weather, Silver Spring Camera Club meetings and outings will be cancelled. See montgomeryschoolsmd.org for closure information during the work week. For Mon-Fri AFTER 5:00 pm & on the weekends, call 240-777-2710 or 311 from within Montgomery County. Sign up for text alerts: AlertMontgomery and choose both a local MCPS school and ‘Community Use of Public Facilities Alerts’.
For general information about the club, contact us at: info@ssccphotography.org
A list of the club officers and committee chairs, and their emails, is located here: Officers and Committee Chairs
More information is available in the Silver Spring Camera Club (SSCC) Member Handbook: 2019-2020 Member Handbook
SSCC member submissions for the Cable Release should be directed to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
© 2020 Silver Spring Camera Club and its contributors. Copyright Notice & Disclaimer Policy
PLEASE CONSIDER PROVIDING MATERIALS FOR THE MAY CABLE RELEASE:
E.G. ARTICLES, AWARDS, EXHIBITIONS, LINKS, REVIEWS, …
DEADLINE: BY APRIL 24th TO cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
MEETINGS AND FIELD TRIPS
MEETING LOCATION
April meetings will be online, details TBASilver Spring United Methodist Church
8900 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
Click for details
APRIL 2 SPEAKER VIA ZOOM VIDEOCONFERENCE – AUBREY GEMIGNANI — PHOTOGRAPHING FOR NASA
We are very pleased to welcome back Aubrey Gemignani, who will have the distinct honor of being our first speaker to hold a live presentation using remote technology.
Aubrey is a full time photographer and photo archivist at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in Washington DC, where she has photographed a diverse range of events at the White House, the Vice President’s residence, Capitol Hill, the Kennedy Space Center, Wallops Flight Facility and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (to cover manned launches to the International Space Station). She is also a Documentary, Reportage and Event photographer. (Read more)
COMPETITION COLUMN
For the competitions season, please refer to the website link for the definition of each topic.
The March competition was canceled. Here’s the schedule for the remainder of the season. Stay tuned for updates on how these competitions will be held.
- April – Open
- May – Monochrome Photography
- June – End of Year Competition (special rules apply)
Our April topic is Open:
In Open competitions, free rein is given to the choices the photographer makes in the creation of the submitted image. Images of any and all subjects or themes, created using any photographic or post-processing methods or techniques, are acceptable. The images are evaluated based upon the judge’s general assessment of their creativity, emotional and/or intellectual impact, aesthetic beauty, uniqueness of subject, and technical skill. The judge need not assign any specific weight to any single attribute of the image.
The April competition will use electronic submissions for projected images submitted for the March meeting (Open). If you did not submit images for the March competition, you can submit up to two for April; if you submitted one image for March, you can submit one more for April. The images should be emailed to: competition@ssccphotography.org by midnight on Thursday April 9. (One important detail – In order to participate in the competition, you must pay the club’s annual dues before the start of the competition.)
To learn the nitty gritty about the competitions, please refer to the Competition Rules and the Members Handbook, both of which are accessible from the SSCC website. Of course, if you have any questions about the competitions, please feel free to contact me at competition@ssccphotography.org
JOEL HOFFMAN – JUDGE – APRIL 16 OPEN COMPETITION
Joel Hoffman will be the judge for our Open competition on March 12.
Joel has had a dual vocation for the past 30 years. He is an attorney concentrating his practice in the area of construction litigation. At the same time he has had an active photography business photographing weddings, bar mitzvahs, baptisms, and other family and corporate events.
He began photography in the film era with an Argus C3 camera shooting auto races at Marlboro Raceway in Prince George’s County in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. (Read More)
A CLOSER FOCUS – APRIL 23
– by David W. Powell
An opportunity to share ideas, images, questions, and inspirations. The plan is for this to be a virtual meeting, details TBA. The agenda below is carried over from the canceled March meeting.
Half an hour will be an open forum discussing issues at hand. A half hour is devoted to presentations by members (but this time a breakout session instead) . And a half hour is set aside for member image reviews.
This is always a great evening of sharing and learning. What topics would you like to explore? Topics are very wide ranging, such as photo book reviews, an aspect of your own photography that you’d like to share, reviews or discussion of gallery shows, photo gear, software, etc. Or bring a gadget to share.
- Presentations:
- “At Oneness with Light” – Dave Powell will discuss the fundamental relationships of light in photography, and how to modify light to your advantage.
- “Infrared Photography” – Dennis Freeman will discuss the alternate reality of infrared photography, show examples of what beautiful results to expect, and how to go about getting it for yourself.
- Picture assignment subjects: Open topic – Since this will be an online meeting, we will share, discuss, and critique digital images, details TBA.
- Discussion: Any topics that you’d like to explore.
- Book/Gear Reviews: What book/gear/software have you experienced that you’d like to review?
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Future topics of A Closer Focus might include: compositional strength, HDR, or anything else photographic you want to bring to the table. This is an opportunity for you to provide input to the SSCC experience.
If you would like to be on the agenda, please email me at:
davidwesleypowell@gmail.com
APRIL FIELD TRIPS
There will be no Club field trips in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How are you staying occupied photographically during the pandemic? Solo field trips to places where social distancing is feasible? Learning new processing techniques? Shopping for that next lens or other gear? Photographing bric-a-brac at home? Send your (brief) writeup and an image or two to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org for inclusion in the May Cable Release. If you need ideas, check out this link submitted by Andrew Rein:
CLUB NEWS
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
The Silver Spring Camera Club would like to welcome this year’s new members. We look forward to getting to know you personally, through speaker nights, competitions, field trips, and Closer Focus meetings. While these cannot happen in person due to the corona virus emergency, we hope to virtually offer some of these soon. Meanwhile our board is discussing ways for us to keep connected through our photography. As opportunities are explored, we will post them in the Cable Release or through emails from our president. If you have questions, please reach out to us.
Lisa Auerbach
Marc Auerbach
Andrew Rein
Membership committee
6TH ANNUAL ALLEGANY NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION & EXHIBITION
At the suggestion of one of our judges, member Beth Koller entered the photo below in this competition. It was selected from among more than 800 entries for the exhibition. The exhibition was scheduled to run from April 4 to May 2, 2020, in Cumberland MD, but has now been postponed. More than $5,000 in prizes will be awarded on opening day.
https://www.alleganyartscouncil.org/event.php?id=789#.Xn4c_i3Mwvp
BOARD MEETINGS
The SSCC Board met on February 27 and March 28. The minutes of the February meeting are at the following link:
February Board Meeting Minutes
The March minutes will be included in next month’s Cable Release.
FEATURES
CONFERENCES AND EXPOS
2020 PSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE – AKA 2020 PSA PHOTO FESTIVAL
The Photographic Society of America is planning next year’s annual conference for Sept. 29 – Oct. 3, 2020 in Colorado Springs. It will include daily tours and informal morning/evening photo walks, workshops, exhibitions, vendors, keynote speakers, and lots of presentations. Past tours were terrific, and the ones from the 2020 Colorado Springs Photo Festival will be no exception. You will need to be a member to register. PSA will accept registrations starting around April 1, 2020. The following is from the PSA Website.
- PSA cares a great deal about the health and safety of every member, especially when we come together in a group setting in Colorado Springs later this year.
- PSA wants to assure you that we currently plan to hold the Photo Festival in Colorado Springs. Many national procedures are underway to curtail and treat this global virus, and many activities have been canceled, but many others are still in place. This is especially the case for those events and activities occurring in the last 3-4 months of the year.
- The PSA Photo Festival is not until late September, so we want you to register as usual beginning April 1, 2020. You will be able to register without making a payment at time of registration. Know, too, that if the coronavirus pandemic is unchecked or very much unknown nearer the Festival time, you will receive a FULL REFUND for the registration and tour fees you have paid.
MEMBER ARTICLES
INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY – BY KEN
Back in 2005,I purchased a Nikon D70 camera. It was my first digital camera. Shortly after purchasing it (six months to a year) I decided I wanted to try taking infrared images. I am drawn to it by the high contrast of dark skies and illuminated objects. I called up Dan (mentioned above first paragraph) and he sold me some filters. The first problem was the very long exposures. This was because the infrared filter was blocking all the visible light, and the OEM IR cut filter over the sensor was blocking most of the infrared light. At the time, I had found on the internet a step by step word and picture tutorial on how to “break”,or I mean to say,convert your Nikon D70 by removing the IR cut filter and installing another filter.Wanting the flexibility to shoot visible and IR with one camera, I called Dan back up and he very reluctantly sold me a clear piece of glass that was an exact shape (height, width, and thickness) of the IR cut filter (see picture on page four for both). I followed the instructionsstep by stepand replaced the IR cut filter with the clear glass.The operation was a success the second time. I had failed to shove a cable far enough into the socket on the first reassembly. Now by changing the filter on the front, I could do visible, infrared, and a little ultraviolet. Almost all of the images (visible and infrared) in this article were shot with that camera. It is still functioning today.
Follow this link for the article:
Email any comments on this article to Ken, care of cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
KERNELS OF KOREN
What strange times we’re in. For the record, and for the sake of future readers, I’m writing about the COVID-19 crisis gripping the world. Google it, I’ll wait. Or, if Google no longer exists, and we’re all knocked back to darker ages, look it up wherever records of the past reside.Records of the past is the photographic link here. In our case, as photographers, our records are the photographs we produce, whether artistic self-expression or documenting events with family and friends. Or, in some cases, the dessert you had at a fancy restaurant. (Read more)
#TheFrontStepsProject: Photographer Starts Project to Boost Spirits
Cara Soulia is newborn and family photographer in Needham, Massachusetts. But now, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, work has come to a halt, and she and a friend have started #thefrontstepsproject. From one Needham home to the next, she spends five minutes photographing families on their front porches, practicing social distancing more than six feet away. (Read more)
Link submitted by James Ragucci
COMPETITION RESULTS
OPEN COMPETITION – MARCH 12
The March Competition meeting was canceled because of the coronavirus on the day it was to happen. Projected images (25 Novice and 24 Advanced) had been submitted, and will be included in the April competition.
In lieu of winning images from the competition, here are some flower photos submitted by members during the hiatus:
COURSES, CALLS FOR ENTRY, AND EXHIBITS
PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
Dear Members,
This month, we are not providing a list of in-person Photography Courses and Workshops, given the need for social distancing during the current Coronavirus crisis. Please stay safe.
A few of the vendors typically included in the Photography Courses/Class List have announced thus far they are substituting online classes for classes already in session (e.g., Montgomery College Community Arts , Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Institute,). Smithsonian Associates is putting on hold all public programs through June 1. Many of the vendors listed in Photography Courses and Workshops appear to have a wait and see attitude about their courses in the future, although they offer full refunds for cancellations.
The online course providers typically listed in The Cable Release are obviously still operating—
I have a personal recommendation of two sources for photographic enrichment. These are solely my own recommendations.
- Essdras Suarez, the Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographer who twice was a guest speaker at SSCC is offering online portfolio reviews ($89.00): Please email him at emsphotoadventures@gmail.com or essdrasmsuarez@gmail.com if you are interested.
- Matt Kloskowski, a Lightroom/Photoshop guru who has created many courses for purchase and who has a robust YouTube Channel is offering many weekly free online webinars (also recorded for later view) as a response to so many of us staying at home. See https://mattk.com/stuck-inside/
Please let us know of other online opportunities you recommend by emailing us at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
Kate Woodward
CALLS FOR ENTRY
The following offers a number of competitions for your consideration this month. Some of these sources having standing calls for entry, and others are one-time calls. Some offer cash and prizes, and others don’t.
See the full Calls for Entry article here. (Read More)
EXHIBITS AND EVENTS
The following link is a column that lists a number of photography-related exhibits and events occurring now, or soon, in the extended Washington D.C. area. These include gallery exhibits, museum exhibits, college exhibits, special events, and sometimes exhibits or events to photograph yourself! This month, given restrictions on gatherings, it features some selected sites for the armchair adventurer!
See the full column here: (Read More)
Take a look at what our sister camera club, the NIH Camera Club, has going on. Here is a link to their site. There you can find their newsletter, the Cameraderie: nihcameraclub.com
