New Exhibit Opportunity - Now or never!!

Hi, all members. The Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis - gallery is at 18 State Circle - is inviting our Club to submit photos to their "Chesapeake Watershed" exhibit. They want photos you may already have taken of anywhere in the Watershed from New York to Virginia, at any time.

This is an MFA Open Show, so artists of all kinds are invited regardless of being a member. I was reminded by the show organizer that entries are due next Tuesday Apr 2, and cannot be by email - must be on a CD, USPS mailed with postmark on/before Apr 2 or hand-carried. However, that date could be waived if there is a need for it and if the gallery is notified that an entry is coming (410-268-4566). The info about this is here: http://mdfedart.org/chesapeake_watershed09web.pdf

The juror, Richard Olsenius, has top-rated credentials, owns his own gallery in Eastport, and is a photographer (Nat'l Geog, books, etc.) and composer with several DVDs out.

I've been a member at MFA for several years - have had a one-man show and several individual photos selected for their exhibits. It's a great place to visit, view, and show. There is prestige in getting your photos hung there and possibly selling your photos, as well as winning some of the $1500 in prize awards.

And you don't have to join to enter!! - although it would be to your advantage to participate now and in the future. See the brochure for details and read it carefully.

This notice was coordinated with our Exhibits Director, but it's an individual opportunity, not a Club event. Give it a try and get into the arts community!

Next Meeting - March 23

Hi, all - Our upcoming meeting should be a real winner again. We have Steve Gottlieb, outstanding photographer and founder/operator of Horizon Workshops in Chesapeake City, MD coming to us to speak on what he calls a combination of images, amusing stories, personal history, photo tips, and answers to questions: "On the American Road: Images and Anecdotes." Take a look: www.horizonworkshops.com/index.html. He'll have items from his business, including brochures and books.

With our upcoming Challenge on Black and White Conversion, in addition to the demos we did at the meeting we have a unique opportunity to witness a black/white master printer's work and talk with him. Dick Bond, photography instructor at MD Hall, will conduct a tour for us in the 2d floor Marino Gallery where he has a one-man exhibit in presentation. Dick has made the dozens of woodland prints that are on display using an 1895 Korona 5x7 view camera, which he restored and has on display. The sharpness and tonalities are remarkable.

Following all this, we'll return to the digital world in our Rm 308 for a short talk by Jay Alden on "Photo Documentaries: Creating Entertaining Photo Slide Shows." Jay has considerable experience with this, and will show us one of his, how he does it and alternatives we can use.

I'm surely looking forward to each of these presentations. I think you'll enjoy the evening.

Please don't forget to do some Black and White conversions, even if just for practice. Get pretty good at it and then do some to submit for the Challenge. The submission deadline is April 13. See you there.

Next meeting - March 9

Hi, DPCA Members. You're participating in the Challenge "Composition on a Tabletop," I hope.

We have an expert in closeup photography coming to give us comments and critique on our entries. He's Fred Lagno, retired airline pilot and an award-winning barnstormer/aerial photographer now living in Queenstown. Since retiring 14 years ago he's become an expert modelmaker and photographer, primarily of model trains and scale-model buildings.

I've seen his train photography show, and it's amazing. As an added inspiration about closeups, after our critique Fred will spend a few minutes showing us samples of his realistic shots, including some that have been magazine covers of the popular publications about model trains. We'll have some Q&A about these techniques and equipment. You can bet he knows something about controlling depth of field and composition in small object arrangements. Fred has also been using HeliconFocus, which is a program somewhat like HDR but in this case, for "focus stacking."

Not a bad subject following our field trip to the B&O Museum, huh? It should be an interesting and as always, informative meeting even for those who haven't been challenged this time.

Hope you'll be there with your photos. Looking forward to your innovations in photography.

Tabletop Shooting - Need participants

Hi, all DPCA Members! At our last meeting and in the President's blog, we noted that there will be a Challenge on March 9: "Composition on a Tabletop." It's not the season to be outside for shooting photos, so let's use this opportunity to gain or refresh skills in close-up shooting. You might use this capability in selling online - that always needs pictures - or inventorying your goodies around the house.

This means you will be shooting close-ups of objects, and that requires thinking about the setting, a backdrop of some kind, what lens and lighting, etc. All of these depend on the subject you want to shoot, which can be most anything around the house that's appropriate - a paperweight, bric-a-brac, souvenirs, or anything that makes a presentable project and shows that you understand how to do this.

The submission deadline is just a month away from today, Mar 2. To get some thoughts together, we're planning to show how it's done at our next meeting, Feb 9.

Are you a practiced close-up photographer? It would be good to have several members demonstrate what and how they do it. Contact me soon if you'd like to participate. Only will take a few minutes at the meeting and no evaluations. Just bring whatever gear you need and show us how you do it. We'll show results on the screen.

I'm at don.dement@verizon.net or call me at 443-994-1333. Thanks for giving it a try.

All About Light - Meeting Mon 15 Dec

Our upcoming meeting this Monday will feature Enoch Chan, photographer and much more. Enoch's work with light caught my eye at his current photograph exhibition at Bella Gallery in Edgewater.

Enoch holds a BFA in Theatre and a BA in Art History from Boston U. His talk, titled "Figures of Light" will give us some insight in photographing figures in flight with simple setups. From what I've seen, it should be both entertaining and informative.

We'll also hear some suggestions about preparing for our coming Lowe House Office Building exhibition along with framing recommendations for those who have been juried into the show.

And my part to play will be a short demo that follows Enoch's theme: "Light Painting with Photoshop and Lightroom." This is our last meeting of 2008 - come early - we'll start right at 7, Rm 308, Maryland Hall.

CF 8GB memory cards for $10

Hi, shutterbugs - with the holiday gift-giving in mind, you might think about a real deal for yourself or friend/family.

If your camera uses compact flash cards, at Adorama.com until Dec 15 you can order an 8GB card by a reputable manufacturer (Lexar) for under $10 after a huge rebate (82%). I've never had a problem with getting a rebate through Adorama. These also are shipping free and of course no tax for shipments to MD.

An 8GB card will store about 600 RAW shots from a 10MP camera, or roughly 2500+ jpgs. A bit more than a film cartridge, eh?

These are rated fast enough for almost any of us at 133X. I remember seeing these a couple of years ago at over $500. Comparables from Sandisk discounted are about $30 + S&H.

GoTo: http://www.adorama.com/ILXCF1338G.html?emailprice=t

Donate an old camera --

Here's an opportunity to help new photographers. This was posted by the AA Community College and is repeated here as a favor. You may want to interact as you like, on your own. I've tried to adjust the typeface for better readability - hope it's not too bizarre on your screen.

"The Art Department of AACC is seeking ways to increase the number of cameras we can provide students with to complete art assignments. If you have updated/replaced your digital with a new high resolution please consider donating your "old"(working condition) camera. Donated cameras are used by AACC students during lab periods and are returned and secured at the end of each lab. They are limited to on site use and will be retained from semester to semesters for student use. Make your donation by bringing your old camera to Cade-113 and place it in our Camera Drop Box. If you have the instruction booklet please include it as well, although this is not required. Please include your name and office location (address) and we will see that you get a "donation" letter from The AACC Foundation.

Thank you for your support!

Joan Roberts
Office Manager School of Arts & Sciences
The John A. Cade Center for Fine Arts
phone 410-777-7230
fax 410-777-4280