In Focus: March 2023
Peg Hanson - Thoughts of Spring
Considering our recent weather, what could be a better photo subject to begin this Newsletter?
We would like to express special thanks and gratitude to Peg's teacher Marina Shipova, and Marina's support team. Through Marina's invaluable guidance, Peg was able to create this beautiful image. For years Marina's immense talent and artistic vision have been an inspiration to the entire Olympic Peaks Camera Club community. Throughout the years, Marina has volunteered her time to speak to the club during Education Nights, joined club meetings, and is now teaching and coaching several club members. We are grateful that Marina so graciously and willingly shares her talents with us individually and as a group.
This e-newsletter contains OPCC events, reminders, and news and will be published on the first Sunday of each month. Please contact opcc4news@gmail.com to make contributions to the Newsletter. Except in unusual situations, contributions are due at noon on the Friday before publication.
The operation of The Olympic Peaks Camera Club is totally reliant upon volunteers. Due to recent resignations, many of our current volunteers are performing multiple duties and are overworked. In order for us to continue to provide the services and events you have come to expect, WE NEED YOUR HELP. Any sort of assistance is most welcome. Please contact opccpres@gmail.com to find out how you can help.
Welcome to New OPCC Members
Please extend a warm welcome to our newest members: Bob Naumann of Sequim and Steve “Pach” Pachal of Sequim. We’re glad you’ve joined us!
What Do YOU Want From OPCC
From Membership Chair Mary Swartz:
Help us make OPCC YOUR club. We want our club to benefit ALL members, whether you are just beginning your journey with photography or you have more advanced skills. Please give some thought as to what you want from the club. A good club offers education, inspiration, challenges, opportunities to compete, opportunities to share our work, and opportunities to meet and develop friendships with fellow photographers who share our passion.
Please let us know what is important to you, what ideas you have, what you would like to see more of or less of. All members are encouraged to attend the monthly Board Meeting which is held on the 4th Thursday of the month at 7pm via Zoom. The next meeting is on March 23. We would be delighted if all 54 members showed up. You can also send any suggestions to Club President, Bruce Fryxell at opccpres@gmail.com or Membership Chair, Mary Swartz at opcc4info@gmail.com.
We want and need your ideas. They will only make us better.
NEWS
PSA Interclub Round 2 Results for the PID Color Competition
OPCC made an extremely good showing in Round Two of the Photographic Society of America (PSA) Pictorial Image Division (PID) Color competition. Marian Bodart received a Merit Award for her image “Preening”, Bruce Fryxell received a Merit Award for his image “Catch of the Day”, Lori Moilanen received a Merit Award for her image “Horsepower”, and Suzanne Anaya received an Honorable Mention for her image “Masai Goat Herder”. The other two photos submitted finished only one point behind the winners. Congratulations to all participants. At the end of the second round, OPCC is in second place among the 20 clubs in our group. The results from the second round of the monochrome competition have not yet been announced. Thanks to Peggy McClure and Witta Priester for their hard work in organizing the competition.
Portfolio Workshop
Member Portfolios are on the website!
If you haven't had a chance to take a look at the Member Portfolios, please spend a few minutes exploring the images. You can view them under the Galleries Tab on the website or by clicking here. The set of 13 unique portfolios was developed under the expert guidance of Lori Moilanen, who started working on the project last summer and spent months planning and coordinating all activities. Using William Neill's portfolio development book "The Photographer's Portfolio Development Workshop" as a guide, Lori broke the work into manageable segments, developed meaningful assignments, distributed the assignments to the group, organized meetings and finessed the entire project from start to finish. This included countless hours of nudging, reminding, prodding and encouraging the participants, not to mention all the website work that went into posting the images.
The portfolios cover a wide range of themes - there’s something for everyone. Each portfolio is a work of art and represents countless hours of work by each participant. Each one is a unique expression of the photographer's view of the world. Together, they make up a beautiful body of work, representative of the extraordinary talent we have in our club. None of this would have been possible without Lori's vision, guidance and persistence. On behalf of all the club members, we send heartfelt thanks to Lori!
EDUCATIONAL SPEAKER SERIES
Melvin Guante - Infrared Photography for Black and White Landscapes - Thursday March 16 at 7:00 PM
Landscape photography is the type of photography that draws people to it. It’s the allure of magically transporting your viewers to that magical place and letting them feel what you felt as you click the shutter. That ability is what is so appealing about landscape photography. Infrared Photography is as mysterious as it is awe inspiring. It elicits a wide-ranging response, ranging from spooky and eerie to ethereal and surreal. It gives you as much creative liberty as you desire. When done well, you will produce images that will take your breath away.
Melvin Guante is a passionate photographic artist, with an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts. He is currently an active member on the Board of The Professional Photographers of Massachusetts (PPAM) and a recent past President. He holds a Craftsman, and a certification degree, CR Photog, Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), by The Professional Photographers of America (PPA). He serves as Liaison for PPA’s CPP program as a Massachusetts representative.
Use the OPCC Education Night Zoom Code to access this meeting. Click HERE for the OPCC Zoom Codes webpage. For more information about the talk, consult the website.
Emilie Talpin – Fun with Water Drops: The Art of Capturing Refraction
Our February Education Night Speaker, Emilie Talpin, cancelled at the last minute. She is located on the East Coast, and there was a mix up concerning the time difference. We have rescheduled her for November, with the title of her talk to be determined. We apologize for any inconvenience that this caused.
MEMBER SHARING
Next Share Night Meeting is Thursday April 6, at 7:00 PM.
The special topic for this month is Macro/Water Drops. We will again hold a hybrid event for this meeting. The in-person meeting will be at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sequim. Anyone not wanting to attend the in-person meeting at the church will still be able to participate via Zoom as usual.
Use the OPCC Member Share Night Zoom Code to access this meeting. Click HERE for the OPCC Zoom Codes webpage.
For more information or questions about OPCC Member Share/Competition Night, consult the website or contact Member Share Night Chair Dan McKenna (opccphotos@gmail.com).
FIELD TRIPS, WORKSHOPS, & MEET-UPS
Workshop Leaders Wanted
We are always looking for volunteers to host field trips or for suggestions on ideas for future field trips. Contact our OPCC Field Trip Coordinators Ellen Bogenschutz or Ed Hartman by phone or by email at fieldtrips4opcc@gmail.com.
February Get-together and White Elephant Sale
On February 18, we met at the Solana Community Clubhouse for a Social Get-together and White Elephant Sale. The event was a great success, with approximately 25 participants. The White Elephant Sale raised nearly $400 for the club. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the event possible, including Dan McKenna and Kevin Talbot, who helped transport the donations from Jonas Benjamins’ estate stale, Gail Kimmett, for helping with pricing and setting up the sale, everyone who brought refreshments, those that stayed to help clean up, and those that took all the unsold items to Goodwill after the event. Also, thanks to everyone who donated items for the sale and those who purchased items. Everyone had a great time! We plan to do it again sometime in the future.
Workshop on Macro/Refraction Photography
We had another very successful field trip/workshop at the Solana Community Clubhouse on Saturday, February 18. Many thanks to Ellen for her hard work in organizing the event and finding fun things for us to photograph. Also thanks to Dan, Kevin, and Stephen for coming early to help set things up, to Peggy McClure for her demonstration of focus stacking techniques, and to those of you who stayed late to help with the clean up. We had another good turn out of 17 people. We would love to see everyone’s pictures. Please submit your best six images to the field trip galleries on the website or by clicking here.
March 25, 2023 Field Trip: "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" Exhibit at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria
The date for our next Field Trip will be Saturday, March 25, 2023. The Field Trip will be in Victoria, BC to visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Royal BC Museum. At this time, there are no health restrictions on entering Canada or returning into the U.S., but this will be monitored as the date gets closer. This trip will entail a ferry ride from Port Angeles to Victoria and walking to the museum from the ferry terminal, a 6-minute walk. Passengers must be on the Blackball Ferry in Port Angeles in the morning by 7:40 am. The cost one way on the ferry is $21.75. Passports are no longer required to travel to Victoria if you have an ENHANCED DRIVER’S LICENSE. Admission to the Museum is $18 for adults and $11 for Seniors.
We will meet as a group for lunch at 12: 30 PM at the Bard and Banker Pub, located at 1022 Government Street, and find photographic opportunities to fill the hours after lunch until the ferry returns to Port Angeles at 4:00 pm.
Check the website or contact Ellen Bogenschutz at fieldtrips4opcc@gmail.com for more information.
February 2024 Field Trip: Bird Photography in Florida
Have you always wanted to photograph birds in Florida?
Are you interested in joining your fellow club members in Florida for a relaxing few days of fun and photography?
Do you dream of escaping the wintry February climate of Washington for some time in Florida sun?
Then, join Marian Bodart on March 14th at 7:00 for a planning meeting. Marian has been visiting Florida for over 20 years and has experience photographing many of the birding hot-spots. She will return to Florida in late February 2024 and would love to have fellow photographers join in on the bird photography fun.
This trip will be an interesting experiment. If it is successful, we might consider organizing more extended field trips in the future. Check your inboxes for more information and the Zoom code for the meeting.
April 15, 2023: Mat Cutting Workshop
We will be holding a hands-on workshop on how to cut mats for framing photographs on April 15 at 10:00 am at the Solana Community Clubhouse. We will have mat cutting equipment available. Just bring your own mat boards. This will be a great opportunity for those wishing to participate in either of the gallery exhibits described below. More information about this event will be coming soon.
COMPETITION/IMAGE EVALUATION
NWCCC Travelling Image Salon
From OPCC NWCCC Representative Stephen Shoff:
We’ve had excellent participation in the Northwest Council of Camera Clubs (NWCCC) Traveling Image Salon (TIS). Eleven members submitted images to the TIS. Twenty-one members voted in the first month’s voting round. This is a very high participation rate for a club of our size. We are now in the 2nd round of voting. The links have been updated on our OPCC website for viewing and voting for this month’s gallery
(https://www.olympicpeakscameraclub.org/competition-nwccctis).
The intent and structure of the TIS is focused on providing the participating club’s membership an opportunity to engage in the first round of voting. TIS Rules and Guidelines documents includes the following statement of intent:
“Club member voting criteria shall be based on the elements of Impact/Interest, Composition, Originality/Creativity and Technical Quality. Each club member is to vote,...”
We have provided a blank scoresheet to use as a guide to rating the images as we participate in this voting function. I would encourage you to download the form and use it as we continue through the TIS voting rounds between now and September. The scoresheet can be downloaded from here.
Gallery Exhibition Opportunities
Sequim Museum and Arts
OPCC has reserved the gallery space at the Sequim Museum and Arts for an exhibit this coming June. This is a peak tourist month at the museum and a great opportunity to show off our images to people outside our club and perhaps to sell a few photographs as well. There is no charge to exhibit, and unlike most galleries, the museum does not take a percentage of the sales. The exhibit will run for the entire month of June, and there is an opening reception on First Friday. In addition, Suzanne Anaya has reserved the space for the month of July, and we may be able to coordinate or combine the two exhibits. We are holding an organizational meeting at 7:00 pm on Thursday, March 9. Anyone interested in exhibiting or helping with the organization is invited to attend. Check your inboxes for more information and the appropriate Zoom code to use. If you have any questions, contact opccpres@gmail.com.
Lakeshore Gallery in Kirkland
From OPCC NWCCC Representative Stephen Shoff:
NWCCC has announced that they will be hosting a print exhibition at the Lakeshore Gallery in Kirkland, WA. The dates for the exhibition have not been announced but they are requesting that each member club provide a signup list of interested participants. The listed participants will receive a prospectus and further details.
At this point in time, we are asking OPCC members to notify us if you have interest in submitting framed prints for this NWCCC Print exhibition. If so, please provide the following information by March 14:
Name,
Email,
Number of Prints (max 3),
Your phone number
Send the information to Stephen Shoff: e-mail: sshoff.cp@gmail.com [please use subject line: NWCCC Print], phone: 360-504-3439 (leave message)
NWCCC has provided the following preliminary information about this exhibit:
This is an exhibition, not a contest. The image submissions will, however, be juried for inclusion in the exhibition.
There is no entry fee.
Known dates:
March 15: deadline for OPCC to submit a signup list of interested participants
April 12: deadline for participants to submit a digital image of their planned print submissions
Unknown dates:
Deadline for submitting the framed prints
The date and duration of the exhibition itself
If there is sufficient interest, NWCCC will consider holding a workshop on how to cut, mount and frame prints inexpensively. OPCC will also be holding a hands-on workshop on how to cut mats on April 15.
For those that have signed up, questions about this exhibition can be directed to: Sam Ruljancich, NWCCC Print Director, samrul@msn.com, 206-371-7766.