“solitary shell”, by monica hawse, won first place in ...the heart and mind are the true lens of...

2020.

In numerology, the number 20 symbolizes a strong need to learn patience so that the appropriate actions can be properly carried out. Who knew, that this would be our year and time to focus on these key components of photography basics - patience and taking appropriate actions? 2020 is a new year with maybe some new goals and insights. It is a leap year (so enjoy that extra day in February), it is a presidential election year and we have the Olympics. There will be plenty of energy and many opportunities to photograph. What will you change with your photography this year? David H. Wells1 suggests that one way to become better photographers is being able to critique your work by taking lots of photographs. He also states that photographers have an emotional connection to the person, place or thing that is being photographed but

be aware of what we might have as a connection to our subjects others may find boring. Some things we can critique are:

• How is light used – mood, harsh or soft, direction

• How is time used –high shutter speed or slow shutter speed

• What is the subject (focal point and position)

• Composition (Elements- negative space, framing, orientation, Patterns, lines, and textures)

• Color

When we resume in 2020, we start the New Year off with our competition theme “Eyes”. Don’t forget to self-edit. Photo Talk will introduce us to photo books we should own. There will be a field trip to Camden Yards and to the

THE VIEWFINDER

Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 5 • January, 2020

January 6 Competiton Theme: EyesJanuary 13 Photo Talk Photo Books You Should OwnJanuary 18 Field Trip Peabody Library / Camden YardsJanuary 20 Program Travel Photography - Jerry TaylorJanuary 27 How-To Layering for Fine Art

This Month’s ScheduleProgram Meeting p. 3Competition Corner p. 4-6Get Ahead p. 7Out & About p. 8Upcoming Events p. 8Photo Talk p. 9Field Trip p. 9

Table of Contents:

Comments From the President“Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.” --Yousuf Karsh

by Jeanine Cummins, President

Continued on page 3

“Solitary Shell”, by Monica Hawse, won first place in Novice Monochrome Prints

for the December competiton. See more on pages 4-6.

The Viewfinder • Bowie-Crofton Camera Club Volume 39, Number 5 • January, 2020

2

THE VIEWFINDER is distributed via e-mail early in the month and at the first meeting of each month during the club year. Contributions of articles of interest to photographers are welcomed.

The deadline for submitting articles is the second Monday of the month prior to publication (ie, articles submitted in early October will be published in the November newsletter).

Articles should be sent via e-mail to [email protected]. Attachments as MS Word, .txt, or .rtf files are acceptable. Photos and illustrations should be separate attachments.

Photographs should be submitted electronically as JPEGs with a “high” quality compression setting. The optimal photograph will be no more than 800 pixels in its greatest dimension.

Membership Rates

Individual . . . . . . . . $40.00 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . $55.00

Meeting Nights

The Bowie-Crofton Camera Club meets the first through fourth Monday nights of each month September through May in the Fellowship Hall of the All Saints Lutheran Church at US 301 and Mt. Oak Road in Bowie. Meetings begin at 7:30. Visitors are always welcome.

Photographic Society of America (PSA)

The Bowie-Crofton Camera Club has been a member of the Photographic Society of America (PSA) since 1977. Denise Hill is B-CCC’s representative to PSA.

For information regarding the benefits of a PSA individual membership and for PSA-sponsored events contact Denise Hill (301) 809-1399 or e-mail [email protected].

Articles for The ViewfinderEXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President Jeanine Cummins . . . . . . . . . . . . 240-461-2914 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

VP Programs Catherine Sheppard . . . . . . . . . . 301-262-2819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

VP Membership Bill Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410-827-3369 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

VP Competition Roz Kleffman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301-464-1867 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

VP How-to Stefan Kaben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301-459-0955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

VP Photo Talk Bob Matthews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301-785-1151 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Treasurer Monica Hawse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443-534-1160 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Secretary Wanda Jenifer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301-946-3090 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

PSA Representative Denise Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (301) 809-1399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Newsletter Editor Vincent Ferrari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301-249-2210 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Immediate Past President -Roz Kleffman

STAFFCompetition Assistant Karen Ackermann . . . . . . . . . . . 202-257-8045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Database Manager Dick Russell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410-923-2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Field Trip Committee Leaders Vincent and Leslie Ferrari............301-249-2210 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Webmaster Bev Shomo . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

Web Editor Vincent Ferrari. . . . [email protected]

Exhibit Coordinator Bob Matthews . . . [email protected]

Bowie-Crofton Camera ClubP.O. Box 515Bowie, Maryland 20718-0515


3

Comments From the President, continued

by Jeanine Cummins, President

Peabody Library in Baltimore. Our Program speaker will talk about travel photography and our How-To session will be about Layering for Fine Art.

We are off to a great start this New Year. Thank you to everyone, who has made this possible. The sixth principle of Kwanzaa is Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) – Creativity –using new ideas to create a more beautiful

and successful community. Let this be the year that you step forward and take a more active role and offer new

creative ideas to the Club.

Happy New Year! 1 Wells, David H. “Critiquing 101.” David Helfer Wells, 31 May 2015, https://

www.davidhwells.com/2015/05/31/critiquing-101/

Program Meeting - January 20Jerry Taylor – People, Places, and Portions

by Catherine Sheppard, VP Programs

Our January Speaker is a well-known and accomplished photographer who will be showing his work as it relates to “People, Places and Portions.” His images will cover five continents. In answer to the meaning of “Portions,” Taylor’s reply is that every photograph is only a portion of the whole view; it is the selection that every photographer and artist make

when composing their creation.

Taylor holds certificates from PSA which include image analysis, creating portfolios for assessment, individualized photography and creating competitiveimages. He is a Board member of the Maryland Photography Alliance and in fact will be the judge for the B-CCC’s

February competition (Travel). Taylor is a Certified Photography Judge with the Alliance.

In addition to these credits, Taylor has had solo exhibitions and has displayed images at nearby venues including the Columbia Art Center and the House of Delegates in Annapolis.

Taylor and his wife, Sylvia, will be traveling and teaching in Tanzania in February, 2020. This will be the latest of their extensive travels and international experiences. Taylor’s work can be seen at:

www.jerrytaylorphoto.com

and

www.photographystopstime.com


4

2.

11.

Competition CornerDecember 2 Competition Results

by Roz Kleffman, VP Competition

Kudos to Marilyn Patterson for an excellent job of judging” Still Life “competition. There was much discussion on the definition of Still Life prior to the competition. Marilyn used those teachable moments to talk about good composition and encourage novice photographers to compete monthly. We had two mini competitions with Novice Monochrome with only 3 entries. The novice photographers agreed to compete with advanced and Monica Hawse took FIRST Place. Novice Color Prints had 8 only entries. That is why there is no first place in Novice Color Prints.

January 6, 2020 will be a themed competition with “Eyes”. Get ready for the February 3 competition when the theme is “Travel”. The best travel photo will be awarded the Ernie Nagy Travel Award. All photographs must be taken greater than 50 miles from Bowie. Images should capture a feeling of time or place and should portray, a people, or a culture in its natural state. Get your images ready. The First Place winners in all 6 divisions will compete for the Travel Award.

February 3 Competiton JudgeOur judge for February’s “Travel” competiton will be Jerry Taylor

by Karen Ackermann, Competiton Assistant

What Jerry cherishes most about photographic art is the imagination and outside-the-box approaches that define an eclectic photographic style. He likes to shoot life from the perspective of finding new ways to view the world and to say, “This may have been seen before—but not exactly like this.” Check out his work at: www.jerrytaylorphoto.com Jerry is a board member of Maryland Photography Alliance, and a member of Harford County Photography Group and Mountain Christian Church Photography Group (MC3). He has had solo exhibitions at Radley Run Country Club, West Chester, Pennsylvania, and at The Liriodendron Manson Foundation, Bel Air, Maryland. He has also

displayed images at Harford Community College’s Chesapeake Gallery, the Columbia Art Center, and the House of Delegates in Annapolis. Additionally, he published his own photography in 34 Days Across America. And, how about this: For a little pizazz for the evening’s judging, Jerry suggests wearing something having to do with one of your travel experiences! It’s so easy to pick up a T-shirt or lapel pin or hat from someplace that we’ve visited. Please share a memento with the club! Of course, it need not have anything to do with any of the images you submit for the competition.And, even if you’re not competing, feel free

to get a little dressed up and share a travel experience with your fellow club members.

More Competition Photos on page 5.

3 Gourds and a Pumpkin, 3rd Novice Color Prints, Monica Hawse


5

Competition CornerDecember 2 Competition Results, continued

More Competition Photos

on page 6.

Novice Digital (22 Entries)

1st Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karen Smale2nd Fruit Stand . . . . . . . . . . . .Jin-chung Hsu3rd Fresh Popcorn Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sherry WoodmancyHM Coffee Cream Sugar . . .Charles JemmottHM garden-tools . . . . . . . . . .Beverly ShomoHM Stab in the back . . . . . . .John Rogers

Novice Monochrome Prints (3 Entries)

1st Solitary Shell . . . . . . . . . .Monica Hawse

Novice Color Prints (8 Entries)

2nd Vase With Wheat . . . . . .Monica Hawse3rd 3 Gourds And A Pumpkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Monica Hawse

Advanced Digital (37 Entries)

1st A Balanced Diet . . . . . . .Stephen Bruza2nd LIFE STILL . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ann Krumrein3rd Three glass jars . . . . . . . .Dena SelbyHM Cheerfulness from My Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beth FabeyHM Still Life Time Marches On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beth FabeyHM Eggs and Whisk 2019 . .Robert HowardHM Hasselblads_Etc . . . . . . .Bill CollinsHM KITCHEN STUDIO . . . . . .Ann KrumreinHM Artistic_Fruit . . . . . . . . . .Stanley Turk

Advanced Monochrome Prints (11 Entries)

2nd Radicio Revelatini . . . . . .JoAnn Mikellian3rd Grandpa’s Tools . . . . . . .Beth FabeyHM Days Gone By . . . . . . . . .Beth Fabey

Advanced Color Prints (13 Entries)

1st Froggie’s Shells. . . . . . . .JoAnn Mikellian2nd Wine And Fruit 2019 . . .Robert Howard3rd Hamburger, 2019 . . . . . .Robert Howard

.

.

Froggie’s Shells, 1st Advanced Color Prints, Joann Mikellian

Coffee Cream Sugar, HM Novice Digital, Charles Jemmott


6

Competition CornerDecember 2 Competition Results, continued

Radicio Revelatini, 2nd Advanced Monochrome Prints, Joann Mikellian

Balance, 1st Novice Digital, Karen Smale

Solitary Shell, 1st Novice Monochrome Prints, Monica Hawse

Vase with Wheat, 2nd Novice Color Prints, Monica Hawse

A Balanced Diet, 1st Advanced Digital, Steve Bruza


7

How to Get Ahead in Photography

by Steve Bruza

With much gratitude to Clarence Carvel who frequently donates magazines, books and props on the back table, I acquired a couple of mannequin parts including a styrofoam head you’ve probably noticed I’ve featured in many of my competition photos. What I originally thought – just another object I’ll use once and it will end up in the box of other discarded props, has now become more of an ongoing project to spark my creativity and I want to share some additional insights. We all work on the same project when we start photography. This universal project is everything that catches our eye, but we cannot photograph everything. At some point we have to move on to more focused goals and clearer vision in order to make our images better. Using a Styrofoam head is a perfect example of how by finding an interesting prop or subject can help you with that process. Take a look around you. Are there any objects on the table? Some toy the kids or dog left on the floor? Take that object and try to use it in an interesting way in a photo. By looking at one subject in an unusual way is always a great exercise; not only to your photography, but it also sharpens the way you see the world. Once you have that skill acquired, you can apply it to anything.

Focusing on and being committed to a photography project will allow you to see your creativity and technical skills get stronger. As you make a series of related photos your creative strengths and weaknesses will become more evident. And if you need help seeing what areas need improvement, take advantage of putting your project images into competition for critique by our judges as well as feedback from club members at Photo Talk.

Working on a project affords the wonderful opportunity to return and re-photograph subjects we’re not been happy with. Approaching our mistakes with new input enables us learn and practice new skills and often results in developing a personal style more than just about anything else. You might find that you start one project, and then it changes. This is normal, and in the beginning, it will change quite a bit.

Choosing a theme, specific subject, location, … mannequin body part …, or whatever you’re really interested in and passionate about, to build a photography project around, will free you from that nagging question. You will no longer have the biggest creative dilemma every time you pick your camera up because you will already be focused on your project.

If you’re not sure what you want to photograph for your project start making a list of possible subjects and even write down pros and cons that come to mind. Give yourself some time to hone your list and then start photographing two or three of the ideas. Work on them each for a short time and you might find you’re enjoying shooting one of them more than the others. You might also find you have two or three projects you have fun working on!

Having a personal project is a great discipline for every photographer, professional or amateur. We all get stuck at times on what to photograph and can fall into ruts where our creative drive struggles to get any traction. Being committed to a personal photography project that motivates you to pick up your camera every day I believe is the ‘secret sauce’ to making better photos.


8

Out and AboutWhat B-CCC members are up to this month

by Vincent Ferrari, Editor

Clarence Carvell will present an exhibition entitled, “The National Road - A Photographic Journey”. The show will be at Slayton House, 10400 Cross Fox Lane, in Columbia, Maryland. It will run from January 16 through March 14, with a reception on January 26, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Six club members, Gary Kohn, Monica Hawse, JC Hsu, Karen Smale, Stanley Turk, and Jeanine Cummins, all have work that was accepted for the current show at Bowie City Hall. The show is called “Water Colors”, and runs until February 21. There will be an artist’s reception on January 15, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Bowie City Hall is located at 15901 Excalibur Road in Bowie. The show can also be seen at the following website: www.tinyurl.com/t7col8h Beth Fabey has an ongoing exhibit of photos at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland in California, Maryland, where she has sold three photos - one of a painterly butterfly on a flower, one of two baby osprey treated with a spherize filter, and a tongue-in-cheek rendering of backlit tall-masted ships crossing the Solomons Bridge before plummeting down a waterfall into the river during “rush hour” on the Solomons Bridge at sunset. Beth also had a three-month exhibit at Smartronix in Hollywood, Maryland, running until the beginning of January where she sold a floral still life photo and a painterly version of

a rose garden at Ginter Botanical Gardens. And she, along with other club members, has a photo in a juried exhibit ending January 20 at the Bohrer Park Gallery in Gaithersburg as part of the Maryland Photography Alliance (MPA) exhibit. She has sold two copies of “The Reckoning of Time” photo displayed there which won 3rd place in the statewide still life competition. Glenn Thompson has also sold his photo on exhibit there of an “Egret Fishing”, which won 3rd place in the statewide black and white competition. After the close of the MPA exhibit at Bohrer on January 20, the photos will be moving to the Maryland State House of Delegates to be displayed until April 20, 2020. The date for an artists’ reception is to be determined. Vincent Ferrari has had images selected for two upcoming exhibits. One will be at the MFA’s Circle Gallery, in Annapolis. The exhibit is titled “Focal Point 2020”, and will run from January 23 to February 22, 2020. There will be an artist’s reception on Feb. 9, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. You can see all of the images that will be in the show at the following link: www.tinyurl.com/yxxnqos8 Vincent also has an image that was selected for a show of Prince George’s County artists, to be shown at the Lowe Office Building in Annapolis from January 6 through April 6. The show is called “Perspective”.

Upcoming EventsNews about non-club related photographic events

by Vincent Ferrari, Editor

South by Southeast Photo Gallery has an open call for entry out for black and white photography. The deadline is January 6. The gallery is part of South by Southeast Magazine, which is a bi-monthly, online publication that features fine art, documentary, and illustrative photography of the American Southeast. Their gallery, which will host the show, is located in Molena, Georgia. For details, visit:

www.tinyurl.com/sz64b29

The 37th annual D.C. Antique Photo, Postcard and Camera Show Show will take place on Sunday, March 8, at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn, in Arlington, Virginia. There will be more than one hundred tables of steroviews, CDV’s, daguerreotypes, photographs, postcards, and cameras. For more information, visit:

www.antiquephotoshow.com/


9

Photo Talk for January and FebruaryJan. 13 and Feb. 10 meetings

by Bob Matthews, VP Photo Talk

January 13, 2020 marks the long delayed return of Photo Talk for this club year. The topic of Photo Talk for January will be “Photo Books You Should Own”. I had originally planned this talk for November, figuring that you could get some ideas of books to add to your holiday gift list, or to get as gifts for another photographers. But, since this topic got bumped to the new year, maybe you’ll get an idea on how to spend any left over gift money or gift cards. It’s often said that one of the best ways to learn something is to study the masters. And photobooks are a great way to get access to the works of the masters. For the January meeting, I plan on talking about a handful of books, some dedicated to a single photographer and others that are surveys of many photographers. I’ll also touch on a few books that deal more with “how to photograph” rather than on others’ images. If you have a favorite photo book, please bring

it along and say a few words about it. Now, why should we look at the pictures that those old guys and gals took with their black and white film, slow heavy cameras, and smelly darkroom chemicals? That’s what I plan on talking about at the February Photo Talk meeting, when the topic will be “Why Should We Study Photos and Other Photographers?” I plan on discussing what, if anything, we can get out of learning about other photographers and looking at other people’s pictures. And we can discuss how this affects our own work. And of course, the bulk of the night will be spent on a review of the previous week’s competition photos. We’ll discuss not only the prize winners, but we will go over everyone’s photos. For you novices in the club, this is a good chance to get feedback on your images. Plus, it’s a good chance to practice looking at images critically.

January Field Trip - Jan. 18Peabody Library and Camden Yards

by Vincent Ferrari, Field Trip Coordinator

Come and join us on Saturday, January 18, for a trip to Baltimore. We will be visiting the beautiful Peabody Library, and then on to Camden Yards.

More details will be discussed in upcoming meetings.


10

PPC:REC:AR12/19

The ViewfinderBowie-Crofton Camera Club P.O. Box 515 Bowie, Maryland 20718-0515

www.b-ccc.org • [email protected] Photographic Society of America since 1977

Viewfinder printed by:

Parting Shot

This month’s Parting Shot is from Al Alexander. If you would like your image and story presented here, send it to:

[email protected].

I took this photo during an excursion, on a recent Canada and New England Cruise. This excursion was to see one of nature’s most fascinating phenomena - the Reversing Rapids, seen from Fallsview Park located near the Irving Pulp & Paper Company in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Does the water really reverse? Yes! At low tide, the St. John River rushes into the bay in a series of fantastic rapids and whirlpools. Then about six hours later, at high tide, those turbulent tides meet the river’s rushing waters head on, so there’s no place to go but back upstream. This natural sensation of high and low tides occurs twice every 24 hours.

-- Al Alexander

“solitary shell”, by monica hawse, won first place in ...the heart and mind are the true lens of...

Documents