Member, Photographic Society of America
Winner of the 2008, 2011, and 2012 PSA Henricks Award for best newsletter!
Sherm Edwards and Tanya Riseman, Editors, Cable Release, at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
Contents
KEY EVENTS
The following scheduled events will be conducted online as Zoom teleconferences, except for the Contest and Field Trip. Look for announcements and invitations by e-mail, Meetup, and on the club’s Website.
- November 2- Speaker (7:30 p.m.)
- November 9 – Competition Night: Open (7:30 p.m. at Northwood Presbyterian Church)
- November 16 – Photo Forum (7:30 p.m.)a.m.)
- November 18 – Field Trip – Udar-Hazy Smithsonian Air & Space Museum (Meet at 10:00 a.m.)
- November 23 – Thanksgiving no meeting
- November 30 – Board Meeting
2023-2024 Calendar
See here for this season’s calendar, which will be updated as information becomes available. It includes Speaker Night, Competition Night, Photo Forum, Board Meetings, and Field Trips.
If Montgomery County Schools close due to inclement weather, Silver Spring Camera Club meetings and outings will be canceled. 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’. Note that this policy does not apply to online meetings!
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:
More information is available in the Silver Spring Camera Club (SSCC) Member Handbook: SSCC-Member-Handbook-2023-2024.
PLEASE CONSIDER PROVIDING MATERIALS FOR THE NEXT CABLE RELEASE:
If you’d like to share an article, announcement, or Letter to the Editor about anything photographic please email them by November 24. Email items or questions to Tanya Riseman and Sherm Edwards at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
DEADLINE: BY NOVEMBER 24th TO cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
MEETINGS AND FIELD TRIPS
MEETING LOCATION
For the 2023-2024 club year, the second Thursday meeting of each month will be in person, at Northwood Presbyterian Church (https://www.northwoodchurch.com/). Other meetings will be on Zoom. The in-person meeting will be Competition Night if the judge agrees, otherwise it will be Photo Forum and Competition Night will move to the third Thursday on Zoom.
SPEAKER NIGHT WITH BERT SERKIN – MACRO & CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY
Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 7:30 p.m.
Bert Sirkin apprenticed with a professional photographer in Boston when he was 18 years old and has done part-time professional photography since he was 19 years old. He’s taught various photography topics since 1970 and has spent 10 years teaching workshops in Everglades and Joshua Tree National Parks as well as Monument Valley Tribal Park. He teaches online workshops that help people understand their cameras and editing software so his students can produce the very best pictures they can – pictures to be proud of to show . Bert frequently speaks to photography groups. Learn more about him and his workshops at the Photo Bert website, pbworkshops.com.
COMPETITION COLUMN
Our November 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.
Members may submit up to two images meeting this definition for the Projected competition. Look here for details on Projected submissions. Projected images should be emailed to: competition@ssccphotography.org by midnight (11:59 p.m.) on the previous Thursday. Usually, this is the day of the month’s Speaker Night.
Members may also submit up to two images meeting this definition for the Print competition. Look here (Section IV) for details on submissions. A label template for Print submissions may be found here.
(One important detail – In order to participate in either competition, you must pay the club’s annual dues before the start of the competition.)
RON PEIFFER – JUDGE – OPEN
Thursday, NOVEMBER 9, 2023, at 7:30 p.m., at Northwood Presbyterian Church
Ron Peiffer is a Maryland photographer based in Severna Park. He retired from the Maryland State Department of Education as a Deputy State Superintendent in 2011 and has been involved in several Maryland photography organizations since then. He is the Vice President for Contests for the Arundel Camera Club, the Vice President of the Creative Photography Society of Baltimore, and Member-at-Large for the Maryland Photography Alliance.
His work has appeared in Maryland Photography Alliance gallery shows over the past several years, and he has received the Frederick R. Kelly Photographer of the Year award for 4 of the last 5 years from the Arundel Camera Club. Ron achieved a Master’s Certificate in Black and White Photography with the Arundel Club in 2020. He is an MPA-certified certified as a judge and serves on several MPA committees, including the contest, judging, and finance committees.
He currently uses a digital mirrorless camera but shot film for many years before moving to digital. Favorite subjects include travel photography, nature, youth sports, and family. While he is active on social media with digital images, he most loves black and white print.
Over the past decade or so he has traveled often to southeast Utah and northern New Mexico to document ancient Puebloan sites as well as desert landscapes. However, a lot of additional travel has been up and down the East Coast, where cities, small towns, and landscapes provide an array of color, form, and history. “While my subjects vary, I want images to produce emotion, to evoke a memory, or to associate an image with something in the viewer’s life.”
Ron’s work can be viewed at his website, www.ronpeiffer.com.
PHOTO FORUM
Thursday, November 16, 2023, from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Join us for discussion on topics including three questions on who uses what: Flash, Lightroom and/or Photoshop, and Non-Adobe editing software.
We have three presentations this month:
- A Tour of the Resources Available to You in the Club’s Website – by Will Rabinovich
- The Basics of Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) – by Lisa Auerbach & Wendy Kates
We wrap the evening up with Photo Sharing. Send 1 or 2 of your images to share if you wish; this month’s theme is Open.
FIELD TRIP – UDVAR-HAZY SMITHSONIAN AIR & SPACE MUSEUM
Saturday, November 18, 10:00 a.m.
Location: 14390 Air and Space Museum Drive, Chantilly, VA
Meet at Entrance
Carpool: Meet at Forest Glen Metro—Must contact Leader in advance
Overview: Planes, Spacecraft, and all things Aeronautic!
To Bring: Tripod, walking shoes, and $15 for Parking.
Leader: Phil Boyer –301-204-5549, philboyer60@gmail.com
Lunch: On Site
Directions— Take I-66 West to Route 28 North (Exit 53B): Travel on Route 28 North for 5.3 miles. Exit at Air and Space Museum Parkway and follow the signs to the Udvar-Hazy Center.
CLUB NEWS
Community Service Fund
BOARD MEETING
The SSCC Board last met in October. Minutes from all meetings can be found in the board meeting minutes archives when they have been finalized. November’s board meeting will be on the 30th.
FEATURES
WINTER PHOTO CHALLENGE: “WORDS AND IMAGES”
In past years, the Cable Release has had a winter photo challenge with the theme “Words and Images,” where club members send in a pairing of words and images. This is not a contest! We again ask you for your “Words and Images” for the January 2024 Cable Release.
The idea is to use the text and the image together to create an artistic composite that is greater than the sum of the parts. The text does not have to be long and can range from a longer poem or prose, to a Haiku (Write-a-Haiku-Poem), or to a one line phrase. The intent is for you to be creative in using both the text and the image together. You can either place the text on your image or send it separately as a caption that we’ll add for you. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Examples are worth a thousand words. See previous submissions in these Cable Release issues:
Please send your jpeg entry(s) and paired text for each one. Your jpg images can be up to 1 MB size each. Please use our digital Competition specifications: ssccphotography.org/competitions/digital-entry-specifications/. Follow the naming convention as follows:
“Words and Images~FirstName LastName~Title.jpg”
Please submit these to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org by Friday, December 15 (earlier than usual).
MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS
In our club SSCC, the membership runs from beginner to professional. Every member has a story to tell. Each month the Cable Release will shine the spotlight on some of our members. Read their spotlight biographies here.
Edited by Marc Auerbach.
The EXHIBITS AND EVENTS Column is Back!
Look towards the end of this newsletter for the first of an occasional column by Karen Finkleman.
As well, don’t forget to check out the always updated CALL FOR ENTRY by Dennis Freeman and the revamped PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES AND WORKSHOPS by Karen Finkleman.
MPA NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Maryland Photography Alliance has many FREE opportunities available for you to consider, so take a peek and register for as many of those events that are of interest.
Artist Spotlight – The Podcast
Episode 1 is Now Available
Join legendary wildlife and travel photographer Art Wolfe as he and podcast host Mitch Stringer discuss their recent visit to Bangladesh. Learn about this rarely visited country and the people, places, and photography experiences. Listen to the podcast at https://www.spreaker.com/episode/57260080
Awards Ceremony – 7th Annual Photography Contest
A Virtual Event
Sunday, October 29 – 7:00 PM ET
Drum Roll… Join us for the announcement of the award winners from the 933 image submissions. This unique event will be “live,” and the three judges will provide their commentary on all 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place, and Honorable Mentions. To register go to https://event.webinarjam.com/register/113/vo5m5i12
Artist Spotlight – The Webinar
Jennifer King
A Virtual Event
Thursday, November 9 – 7:00 PM ET
Jennifer’s presentation on the “The Fine Art of Black and White Photography” will walk you through the creative process of defining your vision to create dramatic images. is a Moab Master Photographer, Singh-Ray Ambassador, and is named 1 of 15 Amazing Women to Follow (by 500px). For more information and to register go to https://event.webinarjam.com/register/114/n68o8u8m
Sarah Greenough Video
Were you unable to attend Sarah Greenough’s presentation on “Curating Dorothea Lange: Seeing People”? Did you attend this informative webinar and wish you could watch it again? Then good news! All you have to do is click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woH5zzQcK3k
Lisa Auerbach, MPA Representative
CONFERENCES AND EXPOS
MEMBER ARTICLES
Be an Award-Winning Photographer – Like Me!
By Bruce Schaefer
Bruce encourages Novice members to try submitting images to competitions in this article.
Emil Pakarklis
iPhone Photography School
Mark Hemmings
Photography Pro courses
Me
SSCC Novice, paid member
You too can become an award-winning photographer in a few months. See here for the low-down.
How to Shoot and Process Images of Different Depths of fFeld
By Bob Catlett
Also known as focus stacking. This is a technique which is very handy for our upcoming macro/close-up competition in December.
Ready? Set. Go. Tripod! Subject center stage! No wind! Click-click-click. Auto Align! Auto Blend! Brush masks! Flatten and print!
Read in more detail (get it?) here.
COMPETITION RESULTS
BEST IN SHOW – NATURE – OCTOBER 12
Joyce Bayley Award for Best in Show, Nature:
The Joyce Bayley Award is presented for the “Best of Show” during the October Nature competition as determined by the Judge. This award was named to honor Joyce Bayley after her death in 1997. She joined SSCC in 1981 and was known for her beautiful nature photographs and the prize peonies she developed. She was an active contributor to the club and served as President.
The winner of the Joyce Bayley Award for October 2023 is:
Ilona Linnoila for “Cub Talking to Mom”
NATURE COMPETITION – OCTOBER 12
Octobers competition was Nature for projected and print images. Cynthia Keith was our judge.
Four categories were judged: Advanced Projected (i.e., digital images), Novice Projected, Advanced Print, and Novice Print. There were no Beginner entries. Awards are generally given for first, second, and third place, with the number of honorable mentions (HM) dependent on the total number of entries in the respective Advanced and Novice categories.
ADVANCED PROJECTED
1st Place: Ilona Linnoila ~ Cub Talking to Mom
2nd Place: Larry Gold ~ 2023 Asian Lilly
3rd Place: David Terao ~ Turkey Feather
HM: Bob Catlett ~ Rain drops 3
HM: Larry Gold ~ New Hope Frog
HM: Sherm Edwards ~ Nesting Anhingas
Ilona Linnoila - Cub Talking to Mom
This picture was taken in Canadian High Arctic in August 2022 when we were traveling through ice on a Northwest Passage Voyage. I was on an icebreaker, stationary at the time. Using binoculars we had been following the polar bear mother with her cub since they were tiny dots in the horizon. Eventually they wandered closer. It appeared that the cub was ready to feed, but mother was putting it off for the time being. In the picture, the cub directly confronted mom with her nipples clearly visible who eventually yielded. Our instructor encouraged us to show surrounding ice and water to give a picture some context which I did. The photography was helped by cloudy skies. The picture was taken using Sony a7R4 with a Sony FE 200-600mm lens on a monopod. 600mm, f/16.0, 1/500 sec, ISO 2000.
NOVICE PROJECTED
1st Place: Bruce Schaefer ~ Sunrise Palouse
2nd Place: Will Rabinovich ~ Tenacity
3rd Place: Will Rabinovich ~ Home on the Range
Bruce Schaefer - Sunrise Palouse
Two years ago on a trip to The Palouse in eastern WA, we drove up Steptoe Mountain to watch the sunset over the plains. This curving branch caught my eye; when I got in the right position, it seemed to embrace the fading sun. I submitted it in black & white, but it also looked good in its natural shades of gold.
ADVANCED PRINT
1st Place: Sherm Edwards – Peaceful Dawn
2nd Place: Tom Allen ~ One Day I will Fly
3rd Place: Sherm Edwards ~ Heron and Turtles
NOVICE PRINT
1st Place: Renee Schaeffer ~ Azalen in Spring
2nd Place: Bruce Schaeffer ~ Dreamy Duck
Renee Shaefer ~ Azeleas in Spring
This image was taken at Brighton Dam in Brookeville, MD in early spring. The park was filled with thousands of azalea bushes of all different colors. I zoomed in on this one blossom and was able to focus in on the details and using a large enough aperture opening got the surrounding blossoms to blur and used them as the background. This image was taken with the Canon EOS R7 using the 18-150 lens.
COURSES, CALLS FOR ENTRY, AND EXHIBITS
PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
by Karen Finkelman
The following list describes various photography classes and workshops in the Maryland, Northern Virginia, Washington DC area. Specific workshop offerings may be held in the classroom, in-field, online or via Zoom. Please see individual classes for the instruction format.
The list is organized into three categories:
- Classes and Workshops in the Washington DC area;
- Online Courses
- Multi-Day Photography Workshops Within & Beyond the DMV
Please feel free to recommend any classes or workshops you have taken. Email the Cable Release Editors at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org and we will forward the recommendations.
Note: Inclusion in this list is not an endorsement of the provider or a particular course/workshop.
CALLS FOR ENTRY
by Dennis Freeman
The following offers a number of competitions for your consideration this month. Some of these sources have 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.
EXHIBITS AND EVENTS
An occasional column by Karen Finkleman
The following is a list of current exhibits and events in the Washington DC metro area, many taking place over several months.
Highlight: The exhibit Dorothea Lange: Seeing People at the National Gallery of art was the topic of discussion by Sarah Greenough at a recent Maryland Photography Alliance Artist Spotlight.
See the full Exhibits and Events article here.
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
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