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May 12 Meeting, 7:00, "Now and Then: A Look at Today's Photography and the Foundations on Which It Was Built."

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On Wednesday, May 12, at 7pm, Mike Donovan (West Shore Photography Club) will present "Now and Then: A Look at Today's Photography and the Foundations on Which It Was Built." Mike will be showing the work of some modern photographers and then going back in time to those who did it first. He will not say much about the modern photographers, but will concentrate the information on the historical photographers. He is hoping to reveal the personalities as well as the photography of those who came before us.

Mike suggests that you keep a paper and pencil handy--to write down some names to research later--as he will be covering a lot of ground! More info will be in the next email blast.

Mike Donovan is a retired elementary school teacher who has been photographing for about 40 years. He started with a black and white photography course in college and never stopped. He uses his art to share the things he finds beautiful, important, or meaningful.

Mike’s photography education includes an Associate Degree in Photography from HACC and various workshops, seminars, and lectures. He’s a member of the Art Association of Harrisburg, The Carlisle Arts Learning Center, and The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. Mike has judged a number of photography competitions and has offered a number of photo critiques. He has also taught photography classes for The East Pennsboro Library educational program and summer photography classes for elementary school students.

His work has been displayed in the WITF atrium, the Art Association of Harrisburg, Whitaker Center, Oyster Mill Playhouse, The Mechanicsburg Art Center and other venues. Additionally, he participates in about six craft shows per year. You can see Mike’s work at his website, www.mikedonovanphotography.com.

April 14 Meeting, 7 pm "Printing Photos at Home" with David Blecman

Noted photographer and educator David Blecman will cover the basics of choosing a quality printer for making prints at home, the basics of printing from both Photoshop and Lightroom, and tips for ensuring a good print.

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David Blecman, a member of the Professional Photographers of America, started his photographic career back in 1978 fresh out of high school.

He is now an award winning, internationally recognized photographer and instructor, having taught on three continents and in over a dozen countries. David teaches and mentors photographers, models, and makeup artists. His personal mentoring programs for photographers and commercial models continues to grow in popularity.

David has photographed projects for such clientele as Sears, Color Me Beautiful, JCPenney, Bath & Body Works, Foot Action, Kaybee Toys, Littman Jewelers, Seagrams Americas, Holiday Inn, Wyndham Hotels, Days Inn, Hilton Hotels, The White House, Black Market, Water Water Everywhere, Cornell University, etc.

David has also been hired to photograph such celebrities as President George W. Bush, Christina Aguilera, Jimmy Buffett, Steely Dan, Moody Blues, Beyonce and Destiny’s Child, Celine Dion, Gene Simmons and KISS, and numerous others.

David currently shoots for magazines, clothiers, fashion designers, and numerous other print and commercial accounts, as well as for models, actors, and their agencies.

He has been published hundreds of times, and his specialties include, but are not limited to; child and adult models, architectural, food, fashion, swimwear, location and studio work, products, headshots, wildlife, fine art, etc.

David continues to speak at modeling and photography venues, judges at beauty pageants, judges photography competitions, and continues to teach and mentor photographers, models, and makeup artists internationally.

Visit David's website at posneg.com.

A Zoom link will be sent via the weekly email blast to all members and to non-members/guests who request it by sending an email to info@frederickcameraclique.org.

March 10th Meeting , at 7 pm, Martin Heavner

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On Wednesday, March 10, at 7 pm, Martin Heavner will be doing a "twist" on our annual critique of images. Traditionally, the March meeting has been devoted to a critique of member images, primarily because in April, we open up the entry period for our annual Frederick Camera Clique juried exhibition; but there were always so many images and so much to say, that it tended to be a bit overwhelming. Hence the "twist." The photos that members are encouraged to submit for critique are those that you may be considering for entering into a juried exhibit or competition. By hearing a review of your images with this purpose in mind, you will have time to do some new edits, consider some alternative images, or be assured that your image is ready for entry. Before the critique, will Martin will tell us about a few “lessons learned" before opening the topic up for discussion and Q&A, and then go right into the critique session.

Martin Heavner has won dozens of awards at local, regional, and national photo exhibits. He also has exhibited his work at galleries throughout the region, most recently with three prints juried into the 2021 Cumberland Valley Photo Show in Hagerstown and a two-artist show at Frostburg State University in September 2020. He frequently judges photography competitions, including monthly and year-end competitions at the North Bethesda Camera Club, Baltimore Camera Club, Rossmoor Camera Club, Gaithersburg Camera Club, and Silver Spring Camera Club. He is a member and past president of the Frederick Camera Clique and currently is chairman of the Photography Committee of the Allegany Arts Council in Cumberland, MD, where he helps to organize the annual Allegany National Photography Competition and Exhibition. His work can be seen at his website, www.HeavnerPhoto.com, and at his Instagram account.

A Zoom link will be sent via the weekly email blast to all members and to non-members/guests who request it by sending an email to info@frederickcameraclique.org.

February 10th Meeting, 7pm - Photographing Waterfalls Day & Night - Kevin Adams

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Kevin Adams has always loved nature and the outdoors. He received his first camera as a birthday present in the mid 1980s. In 1994, Kevin wrote North Carolina Waterfalls, his first book. Since then, he’s written and photographed nine additional books. He’s had well over a thousand images published in books, calendars, magazines, and all sorts of other venues. Today, his photography business consists mainly of teaching and leading photo tours. He also runs an online store where he sells his books and a few other products. Kevin has been called the MacGyver of photography because he’s always tinkering in the shop making new photo gear. He sells a few products he invented in his online store.

Kevin and his wife, Patricia, live on a small farm in western North Carolina that is home to a variety of critters that regularly pop in for a visit. It wouldn’t be a farm without farm animals, so they have the requisite chickens. Some are named after women on Star Trek and the others after women on Game of Thrones. They also have two cats, Lucy and Titan. Patricia has plans for adding goats, horses, guineas, honey bees and who knows what else to our farm. Kevin fears that soon, he’ll never be able to leave the house.

Kevin loves to hike, paddle his kayak, and gaze at the night sky. He especially loves to travel, to see new worlds and experience new cultures. A Zoom link will be made available just prior to the meeting.

Learn more about Kevin Adams at his website: Kevin Adams Photography

365 Photo Project Discussion

Wednesday, January 13, 7 pm: In lieu of our regular meeting, we will have a discussion about the new 365 Photo Project, Clique 365. During this session, the project will be discussed in some detail, including the benefits of engaging with photography on a daily basis, variations on a 365 photo project (it doesn't have to be daily), resources for ideas to keep it fresh, and demonstrations of how to add photos to the Zenfolio site using both the computer and a phone app. Other ideas for personal photography projects will be offered.

The meeting is at 7 pm, but feel free to drop in a little earlier. As always, it will be recorded.

Link is in the lastest email blast

365 Project

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Studies have shown that there are positive mental health benefits to engaging in a creative medium each day, whether it is painting or stitching or writing. But particularly with photography, taking camera in hand (or phone camera, for sure) and making an effort to see outside of ourselves for a little while, to "get in the zone" either indoors or out, can make a big difference in outlook. Couple that with the encouragement and inspiration from a group (namely us, the members of this club) and some outside accountability (posting the photo for all to see), and your engagement with this type of project will increase.

Now I know that not everyone will get outside for a photo walk every day, nor are you expected to. Just engaging with photography frequently, whether through photographing the interesting shadow patterns created on your wall on a sunny day, taking a selfie and using a new filter on your phone to give yourself a painted look, or sitting down at the computer to edit those photos from a trip you took back when we were able to travel -- whatever you choose to do, you are engaging with photography and getting out of your own head for a few minutes.

So, here goes. In order to make this project as accessible as possible, I have created a Zenfolio site just for it. Each day, you can upload a photo that you either took that day or that you edited on that day. That's it. Those are the photo "rules."

It's OK if you took a photo on January 5 and don't get around to uploading it to the January 5 folder until January 7. You won't turn into a pumpkin if it's not there by midnight. The point is that you did something with photography that day. Your "proof" to yourself and to others is the photo in the January 5 folder, regardless of when it shows up there.

It's OK to post the photos on the Click Facebook page, too, and we'll work out all the details of how we're going to post and present photos as the month progresses, but by the end of the month, we should be on a roll.

The January 13 meeting will be all about this project. Each week there will be new inspiration in the email blast to help you with ideas. It doesn't matter if you are late to the party or only participate once a week. Life is hard and complicated, so there are no penalties; just encouragement and hopefully motivation and inspiration.

Ready to Roll?

Here are the directions to the page of instructions for uploading your photo via a computer.

Here are the directions to the page of instructions for uploading your photo via a mobile device.

If you want to participate and just feel daunted about uploading the photos yourself, Carol Gregoire has offered to receive them from you. Just be sure she knows your name, the date you took the photo, and give a brief description, if desired. carolgregoire@yahoo.com

The website is clique365.zenfolio.com so you can take a look at the lone test cat sitting there now, waiting for company to fill up January 1.

December Speakers - Kimo Williams Postponed

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Normally in December, we do not have a meeting, but have instead our holiday party with a great dinner and a photo swap. This year, well, you know.... So instead of our holiday party, we will have TWO speakers in December, both the same week as our usual meeting date.

For Club Members only: Monday, December 7, at 7 pm: David duChemin, arranged by the West Shore Photography Club, and we are helping to sponsor this speaker. It will be recorded by the duChemin team and the recording available upon request for a limited time only to our deaf members, per agreement with duChemin's agent. Therefore, most of our members will need to see this presentation "live," so mark it on your calendar. A Zoom link to this presentation will be sent to you next weekend.

Illustrated by inspiring photographs from around the world, The Heart of the Photograph Virtual Lecture with David duChemin is a 90-minute conversation (including Q&A time) exploring ten powerful ideas about the creation of more engaging photographs. This webinar will discuss techniques and ways of thinking about the creation of images designed to engage human imagination and emotion, including questions of vision and intent, the use of space and time, the creation of depth, and the use of point of view. David will also discuss mood and mystery, storytelling, and what this all means for our choices of moments as well as more practical considerations, like the more creative use of exposure tools, composition, and more. This will be a compelling lecture with (and about) heart that your club will remember for a long time.

David duChemin is a best-selling author, award-winning photographer, and leading expert in the field of creativity. With over 35 years experience making photographs, his calling is to help photographers make photographs that are more than just sharp and well-exposed. David teaches how to make photographs that light a spark in people, that communicate clearly, that captivate imaginations and grab the attention and hearts of the people who will see them. As an international workshop leader and author of best-selling books like Within The Frame and The Soul of the Camera ( both published in over a dozen languages), he’s taught students this incredible craft on all seven continents.

If you want more, you can get a sense of his teaching on his blog at davidduchemin.com.

You can see his portfolio at portfolio.davidduchemin.com.

And you can listen to his sultry radio voice by listening to his podcast about the joys and challenges of everyday creativity at aBeautifulAnarchy.com.

Open for all members and guests/visitors: Wednesday, December 9, at 7 pm, Kimo Williams Postponed!

Marshall Dupuie and I first met J. Kimo Williams when we walked by his gallery in downtown Shepherdstown, WV. He had a selection of antique cameras in the window, and upon further inspection, we wandered into his shop and met this intriguing man. He is a musician, a composer, a photographer, a proud Vietnam veteran, and so much more. He's hard to describe in a few words, so here are three biographies to choose from: long, medium, and short! A Zoom link to this meeting will be sent to you the weekend before.

In his talk, Williams will discuss:

  1. Finding the Light
  2. Adding your personal narrative (cropping, effects, presentation, mounting etc.)
  3. The shot - What it is and what it will be
  4. Understanding the Home Run (a metaphoric approach to understanding your camera)

You can visit some of Williams' galleries here, including his current "Counties of the Potomac River" series.

Instead of an honorarium, Williams has requested that our club make a donation to his "The Names of Those..." project, to support an art installation that will include a video monitor to scroll the names and dates of death of every US military member who died as a result of their service in Vietnam.

November 11th meeting - David Wolanski

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Although domestic violence is a harsh reality, it is a reality that many face, and that fortunately, some survive. Dover photographer David Wolanski first encountered this reality when he learned that someone he thought he knew fairly well was regularly assaulted by her husband, and she honestly thought that this was how all relationships worked, because it was the life she and others she knew were living. David decided to use his portrait photography skills to help share the stories of survivors of domestic violence by encouraging them to share their stories.

David writes, "For the last several years, I’ve been using my experience doing portraits to do a photo and story project against Domestic Violence and think it’s the most important work I’ve ever done. This presentation is about the 1:4 Project on my website at domesticviolencearoundus.com."

In this presentation, you will see how a personal photography project can truly have an impact on both the photographer and on those who are photographed. Here is a video in which David explains how he was inspired to begin. The Zoom link for this meeting will be shared closer to the date. Club meeting date is Wednesday, November 11, at 7 pm.

September meeting Via Zoom

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September 9 Meeting, 7 pm, Jennifer King Via Zoom

The speaker for our September meeting is Jennifer King, who will share her presentation on “Photographing America’s National Parks.” The National Park Service has preserved and protected our country’s most beautiful and unique landscapes for over 100 years. The mission and dedication of so many people throughout history has provided all American’s with an opportunity to experience and enjoy nature from the east coast to west, and points in between. The diversity that each of our parks offer photographers and nature enthusiasts is unmatched in the world. It is in these special lands that we experience the best of America and nature.

"Photography is a journey, it's about the destination and its uniqueness. Experiencing America's landscape, is simply the world at its best.”

Jennifer King is an internationally acclaimed landscape and nature photographer with a passion for teaching and inspiring photographers around the world. She draws on her fine art and design background to bring a fresh perspective to nature photography. Her ability to teach composition and inspire creativity is unmatched. See more about Jennifer King at her website, www.jenniferkingphoto.com

Jennifer was named as 1 of 15 Amazing Women to Follow by 500px. She is also the Founder of PHOTOGRAPHY for the FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER ( pfabc.org), an industry wide organization bringing together the biggest names in photography to raise money for breast cancer research.

Visitors are always welcome to attend our meetings. Please send email to info@frederickcameraclique.org to RSVP; you will be contacted with meeting information just before the September 9 meeting date.

August Meeting Via Zoom

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TITLE: Are Photographers Held to a Higher Standard Than Visual Artists?

ABSTRACT: When a photographer captures the image of an object as a picture, the resulting photograph presents the illusion of truthfulness. The photographer is often questioned as to how accurately the photograph represents the object.

Yet when an artist creates a visual art (painting, drawing, sculpture) resulting in a picture, the result is considered to represent the artist's expression of their skill or imagination. No question of its accuracy is raised.

There are many art and photography genres, but they are not treated equally. The photographer must adhere to ethics in nature photography, for example. If an artist captures a bird in flight, they are not questioned as to where the bird was located and how it was treated, was it in the wild or in a conservatory. The photographer might be asked if the photograph is the result of captive animals that are placed in natural-looking settings, or perhaps was baited to come to the setting. Their images can also be eliminated from contests if the animal actions are perceived to be staged in some way manipulated.

The photographer can also be an artist. They can proclaim that they are a performing the actions of a visual artist when they use photography as a medium in expressing their imagination.

Gundars will show multiple examples of photographs that contain questions of truthfulness vs art, and engage us in a discussion of how photographers are often put on the spot to defend their images, and how we as photographers may respond to questions that are raised.

Here is the Zoom link to the August meeting, described below.

https://zoom.us/j/93763270306?pwd=ZFhzRnBid21jUUlYdWhxVnEycUNFZz09

Meeting ID: 937 6327 0306 Passcode: 7NEZMw

April 8th Meeting- Cancelled

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Coriolana Simon has won acclaim for her still life photography, which re-interprets 17th century Dutch still life paintings. Trained as an architect, but also a writer and musician, Coriolana Simon feels the influence of these disciplines in her photography. While she enjoys the magic of macro photography, which can open windows for her into a different visual universe, she remains primarily focused on still lifes. She has long admired the still life paintings by Dutch artists of the 17th century. Not only do they give a detailed view of Dutch culture but many were painted in a style as realistic as photographs. While never copying a painting, Simon re-interprets the original themes with her camera and applies classic composition and lighting techniques to arrangements of her historic objects. To give depth to the undertaking, Simon has studied hundreds of paintings and read extensively on Dutch cultural, political, economic, social, religious, and military history.

View some of Coriolana's outstanding still life work at her website, Time Points Photography.

March 11th Meeting - Critique of Work

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Our annual critique night is Wednesday, March 11. All members are encouraged to submit three photos for critique by member Howard Clark, who will view the images prior to the meeting in order to prepare his comments. We always learn so much from this review of work!

Start thinking about what photos you want to have reviewed. Some people like to show work that reflects a new technique they have tried (studio lighting, black & white, or infrared, for example). Others submit photos they want to learn how to improve. Some will be showing work for the first time and want to know what an independent reviewer thinks of it. The choice is yours. If you are considering submitting some work to our juried summer show, this critique is a good opportunity to show some pieces you might enter for the show.

Howard will discuss each photo so that the entire group will learn from his comments and suggestions. For this critique, prepare three photos for review.

You will be emailing the images as attachments to Cam, and she will place them in a secure folder on her website so that Howard has time to look at them before the meeting. You can send the images however you want, and Cam will size them appropriately for the review. Jpegs are preferred, as Tiffs will likely be too large for email.

Please email your images to cam.miller@comcast.net. Put Critique in the subject line. The deadline is Friday, March 6, in order to give Cam enough time to get all the photos sized and loaded onto the website and to give Howard enough time to review them.

Please number your photos in order of preference with LastName#1, i.e. Smith#1.jpg, Smith#2.jpg, etc. Or, in the body of the email message, describe which photo is your first preference, your second, and your third. If we receive more images than Howard can possibly review in a reasonable amount of time at the meeting, the review may be limited to your first and second choices

January Meeting - Mel McNamara, digital book making

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Besides making prints or posting our images on social media, there is a whole world of digital book making out there to explore! Mel McNamara will be sharing a number of resources and "how to's" for making a quality digital book using templates from various websites as well as using the book module built into Lightroom.

Mel is an avid photographer of places, people, and events. She started her photographic journey in college with her first film SLR camera and built a darkroom in her parent’s garage. She is accomplished in Photoshop, Lightroom and InDesign. Mel loves to travel and create books of her adventures, she also enjoys designing cookbooks for people using their loved one’s original recipe cards.

Mel graduated from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. She has a Masters degree in Library Science from Catholic University and a Masters degree in Educational Media from Boston University. Mel is a retired Library/Media Specialist and Educational Technology Resource Teacher having worked for the Howard County Public Schools in Maryland.

Mel teaches the following class for Capital Photography Center: Creating Books with Lightroom's Book Module.

December Meeting - Holiday Party

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In lieu of a December meeting, there will be a holiday party for members only on Wednesday, December 11. It is our club tradition to have a holiday social event in our usual meeting room at the Delaplaine, which will be decorated for a party! This annual pot-luck supper is always a lot of fun. We will have a slideshow of member images, dinner and dessert, and then a fun photo swap.

For the dinner, please sign up at the link below for what to bring for the dinner. We will provide cold shrimp and cocktail sauce, water, ice, and all plates/cups and utensils. Please bring main dish items, side dishes, and desserts. Use this link to indicate how many will be in your party as well as what you will bring. RSVP by Monday, December 9. Signup Genius for Holiday Party

The Photo Swap: For the photo swap, if you are bringing a print, it should be matted and suitable for framing. New! If you prefer to bring a "photo gift," such as a mug, a calendar, a tote bag, an ornament, or a set of notecards featuring one of your photos, that's acceptable, too! Wrap your photo gift with no identifying info on the wrapping, but please do include your name inside, preferably by signing the mat if a print, or a note inside a photo gift. Place your wrapped photo gift on the gift table at the party, and we'll go over the rules for this fun swap at the party. Participation is voluntary; you do not have to bring a photo gift to come to the party, but the more we have, and more "thieves" we have during the swap, the more fun it is!

Best Five Images: During the holiday party, we will show your best or favorite images of 2019 and show them off in the annual holiday party slideshow! Send your images to Gundars Osvalds, who will create the slideshow to be show at the party. If you want to size them, choose 2400 pixels on the long side, 72 dpi, and sRGB colorspace. If you would prefer just to send them to Gundars, make sure they are no larger than 3 mb each. Gundars will take care of any resizing needed. Rename your files with your name, please, so that Gundars can keep them together. Ex - CMiller-1.jpg, CMiller-2.jpg, etc. Deadline for sending images is Tuesday, December 10. gundars.osvalds@gmail.com

November Meeting - Harold Ross

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November 13th

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The November speaker will be Harold Ross, a master "sculptor of light." Check out his website and put November 13 on your calendar.

Join photographer Harold Ross for an information-packed presentation on Sculpting with Light, a technique that he has been perfecting for almost 30 years. Harold will show you how his vision and his method of light painting can transform the ordinary subject into something extraordinary. His lighting technique reveals remarkable detail, shape and dimension in his subjects. This lighting cannot normally be “seen," as it involves a building up of light over time and over multiple captures. The photographing of one image can take minutes or even hours to record.

Butterfly walk in the Audrey Carroll Audubon Sanctuary Aug. 24th 9 am

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Cam Miller will lead a butterfly walk in the Audrey Carroll Audubon Sanctuary on Saturday, August 24, from 9-11 am. Bring water. Wear long pants and shoes that might get a bit grassy and mucky. Your longest lens is advised, although many of the butterflies will be up close. Please RSVP to Cam: cam.miller@comcast.net. Directions will be sent out a few days before the walk to all who RSVP. You can also RSVP for this trip via the Meetup Group.