General, Urban, and Spring (Club #12 – March 20)

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It’s Spring! (Looks out window, at the calendar, then back out the window) It’s Spring?

Another club meeting has come and gone. We started by looking at videos of adorable kittens. Then Carole Quinn judged our 2nd General competition of the year and gave lots of feedback. The thing that sticks with me the most is the tale of her stolen camera leaving her with nothing but memories of her trip to Kenya. Actually, cancel that. The thing that stuck with me most was a random thought that popped into my head during the judging. It may only be my imagination, but it seems to me that a higher percentage of submissions are prints this year. Is it because of being able to put prints on display in the museum? Is it a higher level of confidence in general? Perhaps it means that digital is dead? I’ll have to give that last one some thought.

Black and White Print:

  • 1st – Shaker Door by Janet Pumphrey.
  • 2nd (tie) – Amsterdam’s Canals by Arnold Mazurenko.
  • 2nd (tie) – Sit and Talk to Me by Dave Simmons.
  • 3rd – Winter Pond by Bruce Panock.
Color Print (Regular):
  • 1st – I’m Stronger Than You by Lin Lambert.
  • 2nd (tie) – Pretty Cow by Donna Hitchcock.
  • 2nd (tie) – Sunset with Olivia by Donna Hitchcock.
  • 3rd – Moonlight Solitude by Lynne O’Connell.
Color Print (Advanced):
  • 1st – A Bit of an Attitude by Dave Simmons.
  • 2nd (tie) – Back in Time by John Mathys.
  • 2nd (tie) – Our Sentry by Dave Simmons.
  • 3rd – Snowy Owl by Xingning Zhao.
Digital (Regular):
  • 1st – Salt River Horse by Kristen LaBelle.
  • 2nd – Entwined by Lynne O’Connell.
  • 3rd – Day Lily by Kristen LaBelle.
Digital (Advanced):
  • 1st – Wake Up by Xingning Zhao.
  • 2nd – Flacon by John Mathys.
  • 3rd – A Clump of Snow by John Mathys.

Congratulations to all of the winners and everyone else who threw their hats into the ring!

A small sample of the amazing variety in our prints.

 

Other than getting our work judged, we also submitted entries for our next competition, Urban/City, which will be judged at our next meeting on April 3rd.
Museum space also came up. March 27th at 10-12:00 will be the monthly photo swap. The old display will come down and prints from General #2 will be accepted for the next display. As always, if that time doesn’t work for you, stay in touch for other arrangements. The new “permanent” space is located on your left as you head towards our meeting room. It is more compact than where we’re at now, but the lighting is better and it’s in an area where people are used to stopping to look at things rather than just walking through to get somewhere else. That space will become available in June, so General #2 and Urban will both be displayed in our current location.

As long as we’re talking about the museum, did you know the Berkshire Museum is holding an art contest of its own? Art of the Hills is looking for entries from all types of artists. That includes photographers. Deadline is March 31st and you may submit up to 3 works. Instructions and more information is on the website linked above.

Our future space, starting in June.

 

April 17 is a Workshop night and currently I’m on the roster. If other people have a technique or process they’d like to teach people, feel free to contact either Lynne or myself so we can plan accordingly. Otherwise, I’ve always got a mouthful and can speak for as long as I need to. Assuming I’m the only one presenting, I think I’m going to break it into two pieces. First would involve doing a brief shoot with a camera. Second would be computer/processing based. For the computer portion, I’m considering either:
  1. My typical Lightroom routine, covering basic changes to a decent image and more drastic changes to images you might be tempted to throw away.
  2. Blend modes in Photoshop (and Elements). What they actually do, plus practical uses for several of them.
Do either of ideas for the computer portion seem more intriguing than the other? Would people prefer something less technical? More technical? A totally different idea? Let me know either on here, facebook, or by email. Nothing is set in stone yet, so feedback is definitely welcome. What would you like to work on?
I’ll leave you with a thought. A thought of owls.

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