“A photographer is like a cod, which produces a million eggs in order that one may reach maturity.”

― George Bernard Shaw

 

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ROBIN KENT TO SPEAK ON LOW LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY IN NOVEMBER

Robin Kent will speak on low light photography on November 2.  Not coincidentally, low light photography is also the topic of our December competition!

Robin is a fine arts photographer known for his dramatic images of Washington, D.C. He has also ventured to the back country of Yosemite National Park and to both polar regions.   (read more)

 

(Robin’s document of Resources for Low Light Photography)

(Robin’s Talking Points that accompanied his presentation slides)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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COMPETITION COLUMN

The competition on November 9 will be on the Open topic:

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.

Please be mindful that electronic submissions for projected images must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on November 2nd. The images should be emailed to: SSCCphotography@yahoo.com. (One important detail – In order to participate in the competition, you must have paid the club’s annual dues before October 31, or have been reinstated before the competition.)

Please refer to the Member Handbook and/or 2017-18 Competition Topic Definitions for the definition of each of the competition topics:

• November             – Open
• December              – Low Light Photography
• January                   – Open
• February                 – Anything Washington D.C.
• March                     – Open
• April                        – Architecture Photography
• May                         – Monochrome Photography
• June                         – End of Year Competition (special rules apply)

To learn the nitty gritty about the competitions, please refer to the Competition Rules and the Member Handbook, both of which are accessible from the SSCC website. 

As always, if you have any questions about the competitions, please feel free to contact Larry Gold at competition@ssccphotography.org.

 

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MATTHEW SCHMIDT TO BE OUR NOVEMBER 9 OPEN JUDGE

Matthew Schmidt is an amateur photographer who spends a good deal of time shooting action sports such as motorsports, lacrosse, and soccer, striving to catch that decisive moment that is representative of the sport or event. Beyond that he enjoys shooting macro, flowers, and still life.    (read more)

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

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A CLOSER FOCUS  (NOVEMBER 16)

An opportunity to share ideas, images, questions, and inspirations

For the November meeting please bring in a couple of your images from your work with wide angle lenses, a panoramic image*, a recent field trip or any picture you are proud of or have questions about. We will spend about half an hour sharing.

Half an hour will be an open forum discussing issues at hand: the new Photoshop and Lightroom, what’s up with NIK, or anything else of a photographic nature that’s on your mind.  

There will also be half an hour for 10 minute presentations by members: an introduction to PSA, a book report, gallery review, equipment or gadget sharing, I will talk this time about the why’s and how-to’s of getting off the Auto setting on our cameras. Future topics might include: compositional strength, HDR, abstract images, 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

 

* In October’s A Closer Focus meeting, Gene Luttenberg discussed techniques for accomplishing a successful 180 degree panorama.  He described the importance of using a tripod, leveling the tripod head, and overlapping the individual shots by ~30%.  He also talked about using manual settings (aperture, shutter speed, focus, and ISO) to obtain uniform exposure and focus between individual images.  He suggested just trying it out as an experiment in your front yard or other easy location.  

For the meeting this month, bring the individual photos in, and show them all stitched together as a single panoramic image.  

If you are new to making panoramas, or want to read more, there are many excellent tutorials on the internet.  Here is one that hits all of the key aspects:  photographylife.com/panoramic-photography-howto

 

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NOVEMBER 18 25 FIELD TRIP: WASHINGTON AT NIGHT

The Camera Club field trip scheduled for Nov. 18 has been postponed to Nov. 25 due to weather concerns. Meet at 6:30 pm at the Smithsonian Metro Mall Entrance (new meeting spot due to Metro Red Line issues). On Saturday, November 18, (rain date November 25) we will go to the Mall in Washington D.C. at night to photograph monuments, memorials, and the like.  This is an excellent opportunity to bolster your inventory for either the December “Low Light Photography” or February “Anything Washington” competitions!    (read more)

 

 

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♦ CLUB NEWS ♦

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BOARD MEETING

The SSCC Board met on October 2, 2017.  Read about it in the following link:

October 2 Board Meeting

 

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HONOR FUND

Get Involved with Silver Spring Camera Club Honor Fund!

 The SSCC Honor Fund was established to award grants for photography projects to benefit the community. Projects may be educational in nature, have a goal of providing prints to those who cannot afford them, or other ideas.  The Honor Fund Committee is accepting applications for a grant to carry out one of these projects.

You can participate in this process in one (or more) of three ways:

• Apply for a grant by November 15 – see the .pdf instructions and application form by following this link: 2017 Honor Fund Application
• Volunteer to serve on the Honor Fund Committee. We will meet in late November to review the applications and award a grant.  Please note that if you will be applying for a grant we ask that you not serve on the committee and vice versa.  To volunteer please contact David Blass davidablass@gmail.com
• Donate to the Honor Fund. This can be done in any amount, and may be done to honor an individual or achievement, in memory of a friend or loved one, or just to support these projects.  Send or give your check (made out to “SSCC”) to:

     Bruce Schaefer, Club Treasurer
     ℅ Silver Spring Camera Club
     P.O. Box 2375
     Wheaton, MD   20902-0471

Applications for grants must be received by the committee by November 15.  Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision by December 1.

 

 

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HELP-PORTRAIT AT A WIDER CIRCLE – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ON DECEMBER 9

The Silver Spring Camera Club, again in conjunction with The Nora School, will be participating in Help-Portrait on December 9 at A Wider Circle (9159 Brookville Rd # C, Silver Spring, MD 20910) in Montgomery County.  Help-Portrait is an international organization that offers free family portraits to families that would otherwise be unable to afford a professionally produced photograph.  We will be working from 9 a.m. (setup) until about noon, then lunch at Armand’s.

What we need are photographers, lighting setups (probably just one in addition to mine), and re-touchers (in Photoshop after the shoot).  I’ll take care of the printing and delivery to the clients prior to the holidays.  It’s a good opportunity for folks to play with studio lighting, posing, and Photoshop.

Please send an email to Dave Mullen at dave@nora-school.org if you are interested in helping.

Best,
Dave

 

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LOCKING CABINET NEEDED

We are in need of a locking cabinet of some sort, large enough to hold at least our projector, to secure in the shared storage area at Silver Spring United Methodist Church.  Leaving the projector in a protected situation at the church will allow us to use the projector more often than we can now.  One example is to use the projector for presentations during A Closer Focus meetings.

If you can donate a locking cabinet, please contact us at info@ssccPhotography.org.  Thanks!

 

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♦ FEATURES ♦

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SSCC GOOGLE GROUP

What’s Google Groups you ask?  We use Google Groups as an online forum to ask questions, post comments, announce photographic opportunities and a bunch of other things. Joining is easy, but you must be a member of the Club.

To sign up send an email to web@ssccphotography.org with your name and email address. You will then get an invite via email to join the group. It’s also easy to adjust your settings so can get a daily digest of posts or you can choose to get each post as they come in. Join today and start participating!

 

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KERNELS OF KOREN

The first annual Maryland Photography Alliance photo contest and resulting gallery show is a big success for the Silver Spring Camera Club.  Of the eleven Alliance member clubs SSCC had the most entries, and the most juried winners!  The Columbia Arts Center gallery will display no fewer than eleven images from SSCC members among the 70 total images in the show.

Congratulations to all that won and were selected to show!  The winners received a gift card from the contest’s sponsor, Nations Photo Lab, and will have their photos included in the gallery show at the Columbia Art Center.

Your fellow SSCC members that will have images on display are:

• David Terao,               1st Place,  Wildlife Category, for “Blue Dasher Dragonfly” 
• My Phuong Nguyen, 2nd Place, Wildlife Category, for “Perfect Landing”
• Michael Koren,          1st Place, Street Category, for “Giants Among Us”
• Jim Turner,                2nd Place, Street Category, for “Flight over Arlington”
• Michael Tran,            Honorable Mention, Other Category, for “Milk Time”

Selected to have their photographs shown at the Columbia Art Center gallery show were Stephanie Banks, Nick Williams, Oliver (Pete) Morton, Sherman Edwards, Sue Green, and Wendy Kates!

Here is a preview of selected and awarded images: