January Open Topic Judge Walt Calahan

Walt Calahan is an old friend of SSCC, and he’s served both as judge and speaker many times in recent years. Because of his wide variety of photographic interests and experience, he’s just the right person to judge our open competitions. Walt’s career in photography has taken him under the Atlantic Ocean on a US Navy Trident submarine, down lava tube caves in Idaho, into surgical clinics for Afghan refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan, canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia and the great northern woods of Canada, and being launched off the deck of a US Navy aircraft carrier. As if that weren’t enough adventure, Walt has photographed myriad subjects, from the tumult of the revolution in Romania to children learning to tap dance. As his web site shows, Walt loves photographs that tell stories.

walt-calahanHundreds of magazines have used his work, including the National Geographic Society, Boys’ Life, Time, Fortune, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. General Electric, Yamaha, The Washington Performing Arts Society, Hillel Foundation, and Harvard Business School have asked him to illustrate their
publications and advertisements.

As an adjunct professor, Walt teaches photography for Stevenson University and McDaniel College’s art departments. He’s dedicated to his role as a teacher and claims it helps ensure a love for photography in the next generation of image makers. In his own education, Walt graduated with honors from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications and then earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree from McDaniel College.

To learn more about Walt’s accomplishments and passions, visit www.walterpcalahan.com

January Speaker: Bob Catlett

This season, we’ll be trying some new approaches to Speaker’s Night. Of course we’ll still have our roster of pros who address various kinds of photography (e.g., food, black & white, nature, etc.). But we start the club year with a special treat: a look at the work of SSCC’s Bob Catlett, in his own words. He’ll not only show us examples of his work, but he’ll also explain his techniques for creating such images. Bob has been a member of SSCC since 1982, just about longer than any other current member. And over these 30+ years, Bob has grown to be one of the finest of the club’s photographers.

Bob CatlettWhen he was still in high school, Bob discovered photography and bought a contact printer for 620 film. That was the beginning. His first 35mm camera was a Vivitar; his next was a Pentax Spotmatic. Today, Bob shoots Nikon and has enough bodies, lenses, filters, lighting equipment, and accessories – not to mention computers and back-up storage devices – to fill a couple of large closets.

For formal training, Bob took some photography classes at Montgomery College after finishing his college studies in criminal law at Howard University and American University. But he probably learned just as much about photography from examining the landscapes of Ansel Adams, the vegetable images of Edward Weston, and the flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe.

What are Bob’s favorite subjects? From what we’ve seen of his work in club competitions, his first love is nature – anything from wide open expanses of landscapes to jewel-like detail of macro shots of flowers. He especially enjoys the constant changes in nature subjects, seasonal changes and changes in the light and shadows depending on the time of day. But Bob is almost as happy in a studio environment and has spent a lot of time experimenting with figure studies. As outgoing as Bob is, it’s no surprise that he also enjoys photographing people, capturing just the right expression that reveals a person’s essence.

Along with Bob’s career, first with the Metropolitan Police Force and then the Federal Reserve Bank, he found time to serve SSCC. He was treasurer for eight years, vice-president for two years, and field trip chairman for well over 10 years. Now, Bob serves the club as a director and uses his long experience with SSCC to advise the officers and committee chairmen of our board.

One of Bob Catlett’s golden characteristics is his unfailing generosity with information and willingness to help other photographers, no matter what their level. Thank you, Bob!

Education Night: Film Cameras, Film, and Seeing in Black and White (December 17)

Learn to make informed decisions about the different film cameras available on the used market. What to look for, body styles (range finder, SLR, TLR). We’ll also cover the types of film available and the use of filters (red, orange, yellow green). How to “see” in black and white and what to look for when shooting.

December 10: Rust & Run Speaker Judges Industrial/Mechanical

Last January, Don Rosenberger brought his fascination with decaying buildings to us in a presentation he called “Rust & Ruin.” Now we’ve invited him back to judge our images of industrial and mechanical objects and structures, some new and some well beyond their prime. With his eye for the built environment, Don seemed like just the right person to judge this month’s competition.

don-rosenberger2In spite of his passion for the architecture of decay, however, Don’s primary focus these days is landscape photography. But how he got to this point is an unusual story. After a serious start in photography, in 1983, Don sold all his camera gear and walked away from photography. Then, in 2005, he found another camera and has spent most of his weekends and vacation time since then trying to make up for those lost years.

Since his return to photography, Don has worked with and been mentored by a great group of well known – and some not so well known – photographers. He shoots with everything from the iPhone to high-end DSLRs and infrared. However, he emphasizes, it’s not the camera that’s important; the camera’s just a tool for the photographer’s vision. And a lot of Don’s vision comes from spending a great deal of time outside – often in remote locations. He says this gives him a serious appreciation for our natural world. It’s Don’s hope that his images bring others that same feeling.

Don is the former presentation manager for the annual Nature Visions Photography Expo in Manassas. He’s also a partner in Road Runner Photography Tours, leading national and international photography travel adventures.

Don’s website

December Speaker: Andy Bittner on Building the Cathedral

If the Washington National Cathedral had a fan club, Andy Bittner would definitely be its honorary president. He lives and breathes the cathedral and knows it as no one else does. He knows the cathedral’s history inside and out, and he knows every corner and probably every stone in the great building.

andybittnerWashington native Andy Bittner was born into a house full of cameras in 1962. His father was a U.S. Navy-trained photographer and former member of the White House Press Photographers Association. When Andy was a child, his father was also a drummer in the Washington Scottish Bagpipe Band, whose annual schedule included playing the Kirkin o’ the Tartan, the annual blessing of the Scottish clans in America, at Washington National Cathedral. Some of Andy’s earliest and fondest memories involve attending that event each year and exploring the Cathedral, which was still under construction at the time.

An avid skateboarder from an early age, in the 1980s Andy combined his familial inclination toward photography with his passion for skateboarding. Known to the skateboard world as “GBJ” (long story…), Andy’s photography was eventually published in the top skateboarding magazines of the era (TransWorld, Thrasher, and Power Edge), as well as the popular D.C.-area skate ‘zine, Lapper. Andy’s most recent contributions to skateboard media have been a large amount of photography for a documentary film, “Blood and Steel: The Cedar Crest Story,” currently in production on the west coast.

In the year 2000, after a lifetime of dedicated interest, Andy overcame the reluctance that grew from his awe and volunteered as a docent at Washington National Cathedral. He was quickly recognized for his detailed knowledge of the building and his unique, compelling manner of conveying that information. As a photographer in the cathedral environment, Andy specializes in what he calls “stained light,” where sunlight, colored as it passes through a stained glass window, falls upon the cathedral’s stone architecture. October of 2015 saw the publication of Andy’s first book, Building Washington National Cathedral, a photo-and-caption documentation of the cathedral’s construction, as part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. The book is now available in stores and through Amazon.

In February, 2016, Andy is arranging for a special tour of the cathedral for SSCC members. More information to come soon!