In Focus: January 2024
Susan White — “The Magnificent”
2023 WOW Competition Winner
This e-newsletter contains OPCC events, reminders, and news and will be published on the first Sunday of each month. Please send contributions to the newsletter to opcc4news@gmail.com. Contributions are due at noon on the Friday before publication, but if time permits, we will attempt to accommodate late contributions.
Membership Renewal
Online membership renewal is now live - please renew your OPCC membership by the January 31 deadline and note that the OPCC Member password for accessing member-only content on the website and Zoom codes will change on February 1, 2024. Those who have not renewed or joined will not have access afterwards.
Please visit the OPCC website by clicking HERE to join or renew online or to access the form to print and mail.
Membership-approved dues for 2024 are $50 for an individual membership and $75 for a same-household family membership. These are the same dues levels previously approved for 2023.
For questions or comments on 2024 dues and activities please contact OPCC President, Bruce Fryxell at opccpres@gmail.com.
Happy New Year!
The management of OPCC wishes a Happy New Year to all of our new and returning members. Let’s make 2024 another great year yet for our club.
Welcome to New OPCC Members
Please extend a warm welcome to our newest member, Joe Sanders of Port Angeles. Welcome to OPCC!
NEWS
NWCCC 2024 Traveling Image Salon
From Stephen Shoff:
The Northwest Council of Camera Clubs (NWCCC) has opened its 2024 Traveling Image Salon (TIS). If there is sufficient interest, we will participate this year.
In order to enter as a “participating” club, the club must submit 20-25 digital images to the competition, with 3 images per member. To participate, we need a minimum of 8-10 members submitting images.
There is a Jan. 8th (Monday) deadline for returning an Intent to Enter Form to NWCCC. If you are interested in participating, please send a short e-mail by noon, January 8th, to me and/or Bruce at: sshoff.cp@gmail.com or opccpres@gmail.com . If we have enough interest, OPCC will enter the TIS.
The image submission upload deadline is Saturday, Jan. 28th. Images are to be submitted to OPCC via our club’s typical competition upload process. Image sizing is very similar to our current club standards. The category is “open”.
The TIS is intended to provide an opportunity for as many members as possible to participate. Inclusion in the club’s set of images will be based on a preference indicated by the photographer. All 1st preference images will be included, then all 2nd and, possibly 3rd until we have the required 20-25 images.
Judging uses “peoples choice” style voting. Each month between February and September, each club member can view and select their 5 favorite images submitted by a different participating club. Voting is done online via links to the NWCCC website for viewing the images and voting. The links will be posted to our OPCC Competition website at the start of each month. In October, the top-rated images from each club will be selected as finalists. Winners and Honorable Mentions will be selected based on the vote counts of the finalists.
Awards will be announced and presented at the annual NWCCC Conference in November.
This is an opportunity to both view the work of many photographers in the region that are just like ourselves as well as to share our own images to a broader audience. For those that are planning to participate in the upcoming OPCC Judging and Critiquing Workshop, it will also provide an opportunity to practice newly learned skills.
Please take a few minutes to consider your interest and let us know.
Judging and Critiquing Workshop
From Peggy McClure:
“You have to be able to evaluate your own work and choose the best image. It is part of your job.” - Scott Kelby – Kelby One
A new workshop on Judging your Own Images will be led by Dr. Christine Cook, the Competition Director for the Florida Council of Camera Clubs. The FCCC has a formal program for training and certifying judges for their member clubs that was designed by Dr. Cook.
Registration for the workshop is now closed. For members who have registered, the workshop will be conducted in January 2024 on two consecutive Saturdays (January 13th and 20th). The sessions will be held between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM via Zoom and will be recorded. If you are unable to attend, they will be available on the website.
If you participate in the workshop, Dr. Cook has offered a follow-up option for anyone who attends or views both sessions. For a cost of $25, you will be able to send four (4) of your images with your own evaluation of your images. Dr. Cook will then review the images and provide feedback on your evaluations to help you hone your skills.
To get all the details click HERE.
SPEAKER SERIES
Joe Reardon - Luminosity Masks on Image - January 18, 2024, 7:00 PM
Join us on January 18 for Joe Reardon's presentation on luminosity masks. Joe is a Topaz Lab instructor and graduate of the New England School of Photography. Joe's work has afforded him the unique opportunity to travel the world and capture the essence of nature everywhere he has visited. Joe regularly leads workshops locally, nationally and internationally. He has produced numerous videos for Topaz Labs over the years and currently teaches individuals and groups in post processing editing. He will use his 50+ years of photography expertise to show us how we can enhance our images through the use of a few simple tools. Luminosity masks target specific tones in images. In this discussion, Joe will introduce the concept and practical application of editing through luminosity masks via adjustment layers, dodging and painting.
FIELD TRIPS, WORKSHOPS, & MEET-UPS
From Kevin Talbot:
King Tides Waves
King Tides up to 10 feet will be occurring from roughly Jan 11 to 15 between 6AM and noon depending on location. It is completely weather-dependent as we need winds to drive big waves. Watch for more details as the time gets closer and we see how the weather is shaping up. Possible locations include
La Push
Salt Creek/Crescent Bay
Port Townsend
Port Angeles
Dungeness Spit
Edmonds waterfront (walk on Kingston ferry)
A tide chart for January 2024 can be found by clicking HERE.