In Focus: July 2023
Bruce Fryxell - “Catch of the Day”
Gold Medal Winner in the Group F Color Division of the PSA Inter-club End of Year Individual Image Competition
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.
Our most pressing current need is finding people to help with field trips. To help support field trips and planning, we need more volunteers and a permanent Field Trip Chair. Please consider helping us. To find out our most pressing current needs and to volunteer to help, check out the new Volunteer Page on our website by clicking HERE.
Welcome to New OPCC Members
Please extend a warm welcome to our newest members, Lilyth and Keith Minnig of Port Angeles. Welcome to OPCC!
NEWS
PSA End of Year Individual Image Awards
Kudos, Congratulations and High Fives are due to Bruce Fryxell, Peggy Hanson and Lori Moilanen. Each of them won a PSA End of Year award. Here are the results:
Bruce Fryxell for "Catch of the Day", Gold Medal in Group F Color
Peggy Hanson (via the Kitsap Photography Guild) "We are Family", Honorable Mention in Group C Color.
Lori Moilanen for "Elegance at Full Throttle", Honorable Mention in Group F Monochrome
Click HERE to see all the winners in the color competition and click HERE to see all of the monochrome competition winners.
PSA Nature Inter-club Competition
From Witta Priester:
The Photographic Society of America (PSA) runs an annual, 3-round, Nature Inter-club Competition. We'd like to know: Is there sufficient interest for our Club to participate? If so, we need a commitment from at least 7 club members to each submit at least 4 Nature photos for each round. FYI, "nature photography records all branches of natural history and includes all aspects of the physical world, both animate and inanimate, that have not been made or modified by humans". Aside from birds and mammals, subjects include landscapes, bugs, wild mushrooms, etc.
PSA’s editing guidelines for Nature are restrictive. These include among others, a) no cloning permitted b) primarily, just simple global adjustments and sharpening, and c) no man-made objects in the photo. In addition, the key to successful PSA Nature photos is having a good nature STORY. A wonderful, sharp, rare bird on a branch will not be successful; it will only garner lots of competition points if the bird is doing something interesting— eating a big bug, feeding its young, etc. More on PSA Nature guidelines can be found HERE.
If entering the PSA Nature Inter-club is of interest to you, and you are prepared to commit to following the PSA guidelines and providing at least 4 photos each round, please let Witta know at witta@aol.com.
Note: the call for entries into OPCC's Inter-club competitions for all Divisions (Open Color, Monochrome and perhaps Nature) will be at the end of July. Now is a good time to start looking at your photos and thinking about your potential entries.
Clallam County Fair
From Lewis Bennett:
OPCC will once again run the Photography Barn at the Clallam County Fair this year. Lewis Bennett, a long time club member, has stepped up and is coordinating the Club’s efforts. Bruce Fryxell has volunteered to be his assistant. The Fair runs from Thursday, Aug 17 through Sunday, Aug 20. Photo intake will be on Sunday, Aug 13, between noon and 6 p.m., and Monday, Aug 14, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Photo hanging and judging will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug 15 and 16.
For this to be a success, We need people from our club to volunteer for three-hour shifts for photo intake, photo hanging, and monitoring of the exhibit. It is not hard work. If we get enough volunteers, the workload for each person should be pretty low. Without people helping, the Photo Barn at the Fair cannot continue! Volunteers will receive free admission to the fair. A giant thank you to everyone who has volunteered.
As of this writing, we still have open slot for these times:
Intake
One slot Sunday, Aug. 13 from 2-4 and 4-6
One slot Monday, Aug. 14 from 1-3
Hanging show
One slot Tuesday, Aug. 15 from 9 to noonish
Barn Hosts - Answering questions and greeting visitors
One slot Thursday, Aug. 17 from 12-3
Two slots Thursday, Aug. 17 from 3-6
Two slots Thursday, Aug. 17 from 6-9
One slot Friday, Aug. 18 from 3-6
Two slots Friday, Aug. 18 from 6-9
One slot Saturday, Aug. 19 from 3-6
Two slots Saturday, Aug. 19 from 6-9
One slot Sunday, Aug. 20 from 12-3
One slot Sunday, Aug. 20 from 3-6
One slot Sunday, Aug. 20 from 6-8
There is now a signup sheet on our website to make volunteering very easy. Click HERE to volunteer. There will also be a spreadsheet on the web updated weekly to let you know what slots are still open. You can contact Lewis directly by email at lewiswbennett1@gmail.com, or you can call or text him at (832) 830-2958.
For those wishing to submit photos to the fair, information rules, competition categories, etc. can be obtained HERE. There was a goof in the Fair Catalog. It reads that the photographs will be judged on the "Danish System." They included this AFTER I approved the categories and general information. THAT IS WRONG. There will be only one First, Second, and Third Place, and one to two Honorable Mentions per category! There will be a sign stating this at intake.
Let’s have a good showing from our club!
Executive Committee Meeting
The next meeting of our Executive Committee will be held on Thursday, July 27 via Zoom. All members are encouraged to attend to learn what is going on behind the scenes or to express your concerns.
SPEAKER SERIES
Stephen K. Mack - Still Life in Quarantine - Thursday July 20 at 7:00 PM
According to the Getty website, "The term “still life” describes a work of art that shows inanimate objects from the natural or man-made world, such as fruit, flowers, dead game, and/or vessels like baskets or bowls. Looked at another way: still lifes depict things that are “still” and don’t move."
They go on to say "Still life is a genre that spans art history. It is found everywhere from ancient Egyptian tombs, decorated with paintings of objects from daily life, to works of modern art, where it provided opportunities to experiment with new techniques, forms, and styles. The genre became particularly popular in the Netherlands during the 17th century, when urbanization led to a greater emphasis on the home, personal possessions, and commerce."
If you want to learn more about still life photography and how to create beautiful images in your home, join our education night on July 20th, when Stephen K. Mack, NY portrait photographer, will discuss his approach to still life photography and the beautiful portfolio that he developed during lock-down.
Use the OPCC Education Night Zoom Code to access this meeting. Click HERE for the OPCC Zoom Codes webpage.
MEMBER SHARING / EXTERNAL EVALUATION NIGHTS
August Share Night
The date of the August Share Night is Thursday, August 3. Let's get out our cameras and have some fun! August's share night topic is “Composition beyond the rule of thirds (Golden Ratio, Fibonacci sequence, etc.)”. We've all heard about the rule of thirds, and many of us use the rule to compose and edit. Let's explore a few more compositional techniques and share our experiments and unique perspectives at the August share night.
Here are a few links to nudge our imagination and get our creative juices flowing:
The Golden Ratio/Fibonacci Sequence: What It Means to Photographers (phlearn.com)
5 Ways To Break The Rules Of Composition (lightstalking.com)
Going Beyond The Rule of Thirds In Bird Photography - YouTube
Moving Beyond the Rule of Thirds — Bryan Larson
Beyond Mere Composition: Getting Over the Rule of Thirds and Golden Ratio | PetaPixel
How To Use the Golden Ratio To Improve Your Photography - Apogee Photo Magazine
The meeting will be a hybrid event, with the in-person meeting at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sequim. Anyone not wanting to attend the in-person meeting at the church will 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 web page.
For more information or questions about OPCC Share Nights, consult the website or contact the Share Night Chair Dan McKenna (opccphotos@gmail.com).
FIELD TRIPS, WORKSHOPS, & MEET-UPS
Field Trip Galleries
Kevin Talbot is now monitoring the field trip uploads folder and is posting your photos. A few from the Salt Creek field trip have already been posted. Please upload your photos from Salt Creek and other field trips via this link, and they will be posted into the gallery. Please read the upload instructions and ensure they are sized and named properly. Let’s all thank Kevin for agreeing to add this to his already long list of duties he is performing for our club.
Photographing Tide Pools at Low Tide at Salt Creek
We had another good turnout for the early morning Salt Creek field trip on Jun 16. The weather was semi-cooperative and gave us some nice lighting on the tide flats. We also came across a few playful raccoons on the sea stack for some great photos. Please upload your favorites so we can share them by clicking HERE.
Wildflower Field Trip
Due to resource and logistic issues, we have cancelled the Hurricane Ridge wildflower field trip that was planned for Friday, July 7.
July Field Trip to a Lavender Farm
We have arranged a field trip to the Olympic Bluffs Lavender Farm on Wednesday, July 12, from 6 - 10 PM to capture some nice evening golden hour light and maybe a nice sunset. We will have the 16-acre farm to ourselves with many interesting things to explore and shoot, including lavender, bees, an apple orchard, fields of ancient grains, and maybe views of Mt. Baker. More info about the trip and the farm can be found HERE.
Additional Photo Opportunities
Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club Show
From Marian Bodart:
Abstract photography alert! July 22nd, during the Lavender festival, the local Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club will be displaying their quilts at Sequim's Pioneer Memorial Park. Abstract quilts, art quilts, traditional quilts and others will be on display and hung among the trees. The club president and show coordinator invited our club to drop by, linger and photograph the quilts. If we are lucky, the day will be breezy and a great opportunity for slow shutter abstract photos. Breezy or not, it will be a fun opportunity for some cross-club socializing!
Osprey Photo Opportunity
From Daniel Mulkey:
There are Ospreys nesting on the Snohomish River in Everett. They had just laid their eggs in mid-May, and incubation is up to 40 days. The site is a trail next to the Riverside Business Park.
For more information contact Daniel at dmdmulkey@gmail.com.
There is also a Great Blue Heron rookery at Foulweather Bluff Nature Preserve in Hansville, WA. Good pictures will require at least a 600 mm lens, and the light is best in the afternoon.
COMPETITION/IMAGE EVALUATION
NWCCC Travelling Image Salon
From Stephen Shoff :
OPCC's participation in the Northwest Council of Camera Clubs (NWCCC) Traveling Image Salon (TIS) continues to be good. Since the first round of voting when 21 members voted, our voting rate has dropped to a more typical 16 members voting each month. (Eleven members submitted images to the TIS.)
We are now in the 6nd round of voting, a little more than half-way through the contest. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that TIS voting is open to all club members. It is not limited to the participants that submitted images. Please take another look at the Traveling Image Salon Overview published on our OPCC web-site HERE in order to refresh your memories of what this competition is about and how it is managed.
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,...”
This is a great opportunity to practice evaluating your own photographs and to experience the thought processes that judges use in juried competitions.
To vote for your favorite images, click HERE.
Gallery Exhibitions
Sequim Museum and Arts (June Exhibit)
The second month of our exhibit at the Sequim Museum and Arts is underway with a whole new set of photos. This month, we have 15 club members exhibiting. If you haven’t already done so, please stop by and see their wonderful photos, which will be on exhibit for the remainder of the month during regular museum hours. The First Friday reception will take place on July 7 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. Thank you to Dan McKenna, Kevin Talbot, Suzanne Anaya, and Stephen Shoff for helping to hang the pictures.
If you have any questions, contact opccpres@gmail.com.