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Sherm Edwards and Maurice Belanger, Editors, Cable Release, at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.

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KEY EVENTS

The following scheduled events will be conducted online as Zoom teleconferences, except for the Competition and Field Trip. Look for announcements and invitations by e-mail, Meetup, and on the club’s website.

• November 5 – Speaker Night: Essdras Suarez – Decisive Moments & Storytelling (7:30 p.m. on Zoom)
• November 8 – Field Trip: Brookside Gardens (8:00 a.m. at the Visitor Center)
• November 12 – Competition Night: Open – John Hoover, Judge (7:00 p.m. at Christ the King Presbyterian Church, note early start time, and there will be snacks provided by Board members)
• November 19 – Photo Forum (7:30 p.m. on Zoom)
• November 26 – Thanksgiving; no Board Meeting

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2026-2027 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.

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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!

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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:  SSCC-Member-Handbook.

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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 Sherm Edwards and Maurice Belanger at  cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.    

DEADLINE: BY November 24th TO  cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.

 

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MEETINGS AND FIELD TRIPS

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MEETING LOCATION

For the 2026-2027 club year, the second Thursday meeting of each month will be in person, at Christ the King Presbyterian Church, formerly Northwood Presbyterian Church. The address is 1200 University Blvd. West, Silver Spring. Other meetings will be on Zoom. The second Thursday 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.

FIELD TRIPS

The Silver Spring Camera Club offers free field trips for our members and their guests. Field trips are typically scheduled on a Saturday, Sunday or a Monday holiday during the club season, and sometimes during the summer as well. Most trips are to locations in and around the DMV. For further details about specific field trips, consult the current Cable Release newsletter, the SSCC website at https://www.ssccphotography.org, or the SSCC Facebook Group Page.

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SPEAKER NIGHT –  Essdras Suarez – Decisive Moments & Storytelling

Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.

Essdras M. Suarez is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, educator, speaker, author, and mentor whose career spans over three decades and more than 80 countries. Known for his ability to capture powerful, emotionally resonant stories, he has received numerous honors, including:

• Robert F. Kennedy International Photojournalism Award;
• Multiple Headliners, Thomas Lowell, and Editors & Publishers awards;
• Selected as one of only 20 artists from more than a million applicants for the civilian dearMoon mission.

A former Boston Globe staff photographer and Chief Photographer for the international visual-sharing platform million eyez©, Essdras is the founder of EMS Photo Adventures and Panama Photo Adventures.He currently designs and leads immersive photography programs across the globe—Panama, Cuba, Ireland, Colombia, the United States, and beyond—helping participants develop a deeper way of seeing through composition, storytelling, and decisive-moment awareness.

 

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COMPETITION COLUMN

Every month from September through May the Club holds topical competitions for Projected (digital) and Print images, for each of three skill/experience levels: Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Entries are encouraged from any kind of camera, including smart phone, mirrorless, digital SLR, drone, and film.

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 (excluding nudes), created using any photographic or post-processing methods or techniques, are acceptable. However, all “significant components” of the image must be taken by the photographer and not AI generated. 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.

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Projected Portion of Competition

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 day of the month’s Speaker Night.

Remember:

• Send projected image submissions to competition@ssccphotography.org
• Format:  JPEG, 1000 KB (max)
• File Name: Level~Maker’s Name~Image Title.jpg Example:  Advanced~Tom Jones~Washington Landscape.jpg . The tilde “~” character separates the 3 subfields of the file name
• Level: Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced (see Competition Rules and Awards for information on the three levels); capitalization not required. 
• Maker’s Name: spaces allowed. Please use the same name throughout the year to aid record keeping.

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Print Portion of Competition

Members may also submit up to two images meeting the 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.

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Here is the schedule for the remainder of the year:

• December – Backlighting
• January – Open
• February – Still Life
• March – Open
• April – Minimalism
• May – Monochrome
• June – End of Year Competition (special rules apply) 

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NOVEMBER COMPETITION JUDGE: John Hoover, Judge — Topic: Open

November 12, 2026, 7:00 p.m., at Christ the King Presbyterian Church

(NOTE the early start time; we will have a half hour of socializing and enjoy snacks provided by Board members.)

For five years, John Hoover worked as the Director of Photography at the Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts (VisArts), a non-profit community arts center located in Rockville, Maryland, starting first as a volunteer and then moving into a full-time staff position. The photography program at VisArts originally began as a traditional darkroom facility staffed with volunteers and offered a handful of photography classes for adults. John worked diligently to expand the scope and capabilities of the program.

For his work at VisArts John was awarded the 2007 Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Award by the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council, recognizing the contributions he made in improving the Photography Department to the point of national recognition among professional photographers and industry specialists.

After serving for four years as an Adjunct Professor of Photography at Montgomery College in Rockville Maryland John transitioned into the position of Instructional Lab Coordinator for the Photo Program.The focus of his photography is Portraiture, Travel, and Architecture.

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PHOTO FORUM

Thursday, November 19, 2026, from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. (on Zoom)

September planned discussions and presentations:

• Critiques and Image Sharing – Members may send up to 2 images to share and receive critiques, if they want. This month’s theme is Open. Send your images to Dennis Freeman before 5:00 p.m., WEDNESDAY, November 18.   (Dennisfreeman4510@msn.com). 
• Presentation: “Making Photo Collages” – Wendy Kates
• Presentation: “New Gee Whiz Editing Tools in Photoshop” – Pete Morton
• Open Discussion: What’s on your mind, photographically?  

We are soliciting presenters. Contact Dennis (dennisfreeman4510@msn.com) if you’d like to present something!

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OCTOBER FIELD TRIP — Brookside Gardens

Sunday, November 8, at 8:00 a.m. (Owen will be there around 7:00)

Leader: Owen Epstein owenpepstein@gmail.com

Meet: Visitor Center, 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton, MD

Bring: Your camera gear or Phone , a tripod, and a variety of lenses if you have them, Otherwise your phone is Perfect!

Tickets: Tickets are not required.

Photography Subjects: Nature & Landscape; Wildlife — Birds, Geese, Rabbits & More; Seasonal Flora; Park Vistas.

Tripods: Tripods are allowed so feel free to bring your tripod or mono-pod.

Breakfast: TBD

More Info: https://montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/brookside-gardens/

Share your images from the trip: With the SSCC Facebook Group, on Meetup, and/or send to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org for inclusion in the next month’s Cable Release.

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CLUB NEWS

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SSCC MEMBER STEVEN HARVEY’S UPCOMING SHOW AT PATUXENT NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Club member Steven Harvey will be Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge’s “Artists of the Month” for the month of December. His images will be displayed in the Hollingsworth Art Gallery, and there will be an opening reception on December 5. See details below.

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MARYLAND PHOTOGRAPHY ALLIANCE

by Lisa Auerbach

The Maryland Photography Alliance (MPA) is an association of Maryland-based photography clubs dedicated to:

• Enhancing photography as a hobby.
• Making photographers aware of meetings and group-shooting opportunities.
• Providing mutual assistance to member clubs through pooling resources.

MPA conducts one competition, one gallery show, and one all-day seminar with a nationally known photographer every year. MPA clubs promote education, provide information, create inspiration, and afford an opportunity for individual growth to those interested in photography.

All members of Silver Spring Camera Club are automatically members of MPA and gain the advantages that MPA offers. Investigate MPA to discover how it can help you with your photography journey.

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COFFEE AND PHOTOS AT THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

On a beautiful October morning, five SSCC members met in the café at the Museum of the American Indian. While enjoying drinks and snacks, we paired off to share photos on our phones, with the loose theme of museums. Each buddy selected one photo from the other’s handful of shots, shown in the gallery below. Together, we viewed the winnowed down-photos on a tablet and discussed each one. We kept it positive and resisted giving editing suggestions. Afterwards, we saw a photo exhibit from the museum’s archives. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other better and to delve into each other’s photos.

Click on arrows to move to the next or previous image. Click on the image to enlarge, then hit ESC to return to the page.

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FEATURES

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CONFERENCES AND EXPOS

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MEMBER ARTICLES

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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 Sherm Edwards and Maurice Belanger at  cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.    

DEADLINE: BY November 24th TO  cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.

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COMPETITION RESULTS

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OCTOBER COMPETITION: NATURE – October 8, 2026

October’s competition topic was “Nature” for projected and print images. Rollin Fraser was our judge. Here is the definition from our website:

Acceptable entries are photographs that portray various aspects of natural plant and animal life; that illustrate the natural features of land, sea, and sky; or that reveal natural phenomena. No image in this competition may show human intervention (no hand of man). Domestic plants (e.g., in a botanical garden) or animals (including zoo animals) may be included as long as they do not show any human intervention (e.g., no collars or ear tags, gates, walls, paths, signage).

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, Intermediate, and Novice levels. For the October competition, in the Projected category, there were only two awards at the Novice level — first and second — due to the limited number of entries. In the Print category, all levels were combined due to insufficient entries, and first, second, and third place were awarded (with one honorable mention).

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ADVANCED PROJECTED

First Place: Deadvlei Morning, Sherm Edwards

Second Place: Burrowing Owl, Beth Koller

Third Place: Buck Moon, Ilona Linnoila

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INTERMEDIATE PROJECTED

First Place: Young Leopard, Kent Morris

Second Place: Grazing White Rhino, Kent Morris

Third Place: Catching a Foothold, Jim Riley

Honorable Mention: Milky Way, Tanya Riseman

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NOVICE PROJECTED

First Place: Ranthambore Lake, Tom McLaughlin

Second Place: Heron in Flight, Owen Epstein

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COMBINED PRINT

First Place: Forest Friends, Will Rabinovich

Second Place: Sea Stack Sunset, Will Rabinovich

Third Place: Ripples and Lily Pads, Sherm Edwards

Honorable Mention: Murmuration, Ilona Linnoila

NATURE COMPETITION BEST IN SHOW: JOYCE BAYLEY AWARD

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 the 2026-2027 Club year is:

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COURSES, CALLS FOR ENTRY, AND EXHIBITS

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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.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.

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CALLS FOR ENTRY

by Dennis Freeman

The link below 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. One notable local call is below the link.

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EXHIBITS AND EVENTS

by Karen Finkelman

For a list of current museum and gallery exhibits, and a list of photogenic events taking place in the area in the coming weeks, click on the button below.

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