Truck with a History – by Pete Morton

Member, Photographic Society of America
Winner of the 2008, 2011, and 2012 PSA Henricks Award for best newsletter!

Dennis Freeman & Sherm Edwards, Editors, Cable Release, at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
 

KEY EVENTS

If Montgomery County Schools close due to inclement weather, Silver Spring Camera Club meetings and outings will be cancelled.  See montgomeryschoolsmd.org for closure information during the work week.  For Mon-Fri AFTER 5:00 pm & on the weekends, call 240-777-2710 or 311 from within Montgomery County.  Sign up for text alerts: AlertMontgomery and choose both a local MCPS school and  ‘Community Use of Public Facilities Alerts’.

For general information about the club, contact us at:  info@ssccphotography.org

A list of the club officers and committee chairs, and their emails, is located here:  Officers and Committee Chairs

More information is available in the Silver Spring Camera Club (SSCC) Member Handbook:  2019-2020 Member Handbook

SSCC member submissions for the Cable Release should be directed to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.

© 2019 Silver Spring Camera Club and its contributors. Copyright Notice & Disclaimer Policy

PLEASE CONSIDER PROVIDING MATERIALS FOR THE JANUARY CABLE RELEASE:

E.G. ARTICLES, AWARDS, EXHIBITIONS, LINKS, REVIEWS, …   

DEADLINE: BY DEC 24th TO  cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.

MEETINGS AND FIELD TRIPS

MEETING LOCATION

Silver Spring United Methodist Church
8900 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
Click for details

DEC 5th SPEAKER NIGHT – BURKE SEIM – STATE OF THE CAMERA INDUSTRY

Our meeting will start an hour early, at 6:30 p.m., with our Winter Social.  

Please join us for an informative presentation on the state of the camera industry by Burke Seim, owner and President of Service Photo. Service Photo has been working closely with photographers since 1948.  Burke purchased the business in 1991 and has done whatever it takes to survive in the ever-changing world of photography and retail in the past 28 years.  Service Photo is now Maryland’s only specialty camera dealer, providing photographers throughout the region with all types of new and used products, camera gear rentals and equipment repair. (Read More)

COMPETITION COLUMN

For the competitions season, please refer to the website link for the definition of each topic.

Here’s the schedule for the season:

  • December – Reflections
  • January – Cityscapes
  • February – Shadows
  • March – Open
  • April – Open
  • May – Monochrome Photography
  • June – End of Year Competition (special rules apply)

Our December topic is Reflections:

The topic “Reflections” encompasses images that depict light bouncing off the surface of an object, such that the mirrored light obscures, in whole or in part, the visibility of the underlying reflective surface. The reflection may comprise the entire image or be just a part of it; but, regardless of its size, the reflection should be discernible as a reflection and be the feature of the image that makes it noteworthy in the eyes of the viewer.

Please be mindful that electronic submissions for projected images must be received no later than 11:59 pm, December 5th.  The images should be emailed to: competition@ssccphotography.org (One important detail – In order to participate in the competition, you must pay the club’s annual dues before the start of the competition.)

To learn the nitty gritty about the competitions, please refer to the Competition Rules and the Members Handbook, both of which are accessible from the SSCC website. Of course, if you have any questions about the competitions, please feel free to contact me at competition@ssccphotography.org   

JANET LITTLE JEFFERS – JUDGE, DEC 12 REFLECTIONS COMPETITION

Janet Little Jeffers is a Baltimore based artist specializing in photography.  After working in the fields of graphic and interior design and broadcasting, she committed to a full time career as a visual artist.  Her work explores intimate and abstract details in the natural and man-made worlds. (Read More)

A CLOSER FOCUS – DEC 19  

– by David W. Powell

An opportunity to share ideas, images, questions, and inspirations

Half an hour will be an open forum discussing issues at hand.  A half hour is devoted to presentations by members.  And a half hour is set aside for member image reviews. 

This is always a great evening of sharing and learning. What topics would you like to explore?  Topics are very wide ranging, such as photo book reviews, an aspect of your own photography that you’d like to share, reviews or discussion of gallery shows, photo gear, software, etc.  Or bring a gadget to share.  

  • Presentations – 1: Pete Morton will provide a presentation on the new Skylum Luminar 4, including Sky Replacement.
  • Presentations – 2: Dave Powell will give a talk on Macro Photography: “A Micro Look at Macro Photography” .
  • Picture assignment subjects: Reflections or Abstracts. (or anything else you’d like to share). Bring in prints or laptop/tablet digital images for display on our table in back. We will share, discuss, and critique.
  • Discussion: Any topics that you’d like to explore.
  • Book/Gear Reviews:  Andrew Rein will review his Panasonic FZ-1000 travel camera. What book/gear/software have you experienced that you’d like to review?  

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Future topics of A Closer Focus might include: compositional strength, HDR, or anything else photographic you want to bring to the table. This is an opportunity for you to provide input to the SSCC experience.

If you would like to be on the agenda, please email me at: 
davidwesleypowell@gmail.com

DECEMBER 7 FIELD TRIP TO GEORGETOWN FOR STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

On Saturday, December 7, (rain date Dec 8), SSCC will go to Georgetown to do street photography. (Read More)

Carpool:

We have a new carpool location that avoids possible towing at the previous location, and makes it easier for potential Meetup attendees to come. It is at the Forest Glen Metro lot.

DECEMBER 15 FIELD TRIP TO THE NATIONAL ZOO FOR ZOOLIGHTS

On Sunday evening, December 15, SSCC will go to the National Zoo to photograph ZooLights, the animal-themed holiday lights. (Read More)

CLUB NEWS

MEMBERSHIP

NEW MEMBER SNAPSHOT

Silver Spring Camera Club welcomes a new member, Cheryle Galloway.  Cheryle heard about our club from Les Picker.  She found the Horizon Summit Photography Seminar on Meetup and attended the two-day seminar.  She saw a number of speakers there and during breaks, sat next to Les after attending his black and white photography presentation. Les advised Cheryle to join the club.  (Thank you, Les.)

Cheryle has always loved to take pictures but never knew what went into making a good photograph. In 2017 she decided to take some free on online classes to learn about photography. That year she went to Photoville in New York and really enjoyed it.

She does not have specific subjects that she prefers to photograph but black and white photography appeals to her most. She loves street, food, landscape, nature, and photo-essay photography. Some artists who have inspired her are Ansel Adams, Les Picker, Phil Penman, Mark Mann, Scott Suchmann, Dorothea Lange, and Vivian Maier.  It seems that Cheryle has researched the field quite well.  She is interested in learning more about printing her work and finding great locations to shoot.

We look forward to seeing her work, sharing field trips and meetings with her, and getting to know her better.

BOARD MEETINGS

The SSCC Board did not meet in November. The next board meeting is planned for January.

FEATURES

NEXT MONTH’S PHOTO CHALLENGE:  “WORDS AND IMAGES”

Example from David Terao

In past years, the Cable Release has had a winter photo challenge with the theme “Words and Images”, where club members send in a pairing of words and images.  This is not a contest!  We again ask you for your “Words and Images” for the January 2020 Cable Release.   

The idea is to use the text and the image together to create an artistic composite that is greater than the sum of the parts.  The text does not have to be long, and can range from a longer poem or prose, to a Haiku (Write-a-Haiku-Poem), or to a one line phrase.  The intent is for you to be creative in using both the text and the image together.  You can either place the text on your image or send it separately as a caption that we’ll add for you. Please contact us if you have any questions. 

Examples are worth a thousand words.  See previous Cable Release submissions:

Please send your jpeg entry(s) and paired text for each one, and follow a naming convention as follows:

“Words and Images~FirstName LastName~Title.jpg”

Please submit these to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org by December 24 (Christmas Eve). 

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CRYSTAL CITY FOTOWALK UNDERGROUND EXHIBITION

Exposed DC is proud to partner with the Crystal City Business Improvement District and JBG Smith for the Fotowalk exhibitions in the Crystal City Underground. We’ve produced seven exhibitions there since 2016, including our latest which features 64 local photographers whose images take us on a virtual road trip throughout the United States of America.

The exhibit will be on display through early 2020. More information, including a map and the participating photographers and examples of their work can be seen HERE.

Exposed DC connects photographers of all levels with networking, mentoring, and exhibition opportunities. They partner with organizations to strengthen and cultivate the local photography community. Since 2006 they have produced the annual Exposed Photography Show, with a contest that begins in December and a gallery exhibit the following spring. Now a year-round venture, they organize meet-ups and other events. Their website highlights local images (photos from their Flickr pool and tagged #exposeddc on Instagram), profiles photographers, and offers lessons for a wide range of skill levels. 

You can sign up for their newsletter, and be notified about events like the Crystal City Underground Fotowalk Exhibitions.

RICHARD MOSSE EXHIBITION “INCOMING” AT NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

by Maude Svensson

I was at the most interesting photo exhibition on Nov. 17 when it opened at the NGA. I thought that it might interest also others at the SSCC who can go and see it before it closes next year. So for that reason I include a short note about it. Please visit the exhibition – it was great!

If you are interested in photojournalism, camera technique, politics, human rights, fine art, contrasts, etc., the Richard Mosse exhibition at the NGA is extremely rewarding. The exhibition is a marriage between photography, film and sound with a 50 minutes long video reflected on three large screens at the East Building. It has just opened and will run until March 22, 2020.

Richard Mosse, an Irish photographer, bought himself a HUGE thermal camera originally built for military purposes. It was designed for long-range border enforcement, battlefield awareness, insurgent detection, as well as search and rescue. It can detect a human body’s heat from up to 18 miles away, day or night. Originally operated remotely by a computer and often connected to advanced weapon systems, the camera is now adapted for peaceful use in the field and an old Steadicam is utilized to support its almost 50 pounds of weight.

Mosse and colleagues spent two years shooting the refugee crises as they played out all the way from war-torn areas in the Middle East and Africa, refugees escaping on sea and land, surveillance, refuse and in European refugee camps. The camera detects heat radiation and therefore registers the world differently than either our eyes or a “normal” camera would do. Energy and traces of sweat, saliva and moisture are all registered in black, white and a thousand shades of gray. Close-up faces look eerie with noses like white blobs, eyes like dark gray holes (no pupils visible) and white details of hair on the upper head where the brain radiates heat. It is not possible to identify any person or detailed landscapes. But at the same time, all is familiar from our experience of past media coverage. One recognizes overcrowded boats, rescue teams, lifeless bodies of children and grown-ups, lifesaving attempts, refugee camps, etc., but it is all painted in colors from black to white reflecting the energy emitted by human beings that could very well be ourselves. I left the exhibition with a feeling of closeness, connection and personal responsibility.

ALFRED EISENSTAEDT EXHIBIT AT HILLWOOD MUSEUM

Reviewed by Maude Svensson

Do not miss the ongoing through January 12 Alfred Eisenstaedt photography exhibition at the Hillwood Estate, Adirondack house. Fifty of the finest compositions of a master of black and white photography are displayed.

Eisenstaedt’s most well-known photograph is probably a sailor happily embracing and kissing a nurse on the V-J Day celebration at Times Square in 1945. But almost 40 years as a professional photographer with LIFE magazine rendered him 90 covers and many more publications. (Read More)

SANDY SPRING MUSEUM PROGRAM

Sandy Spring Museum has a program on January 17, 6:30-8:00 p.m. that you may be interested in, History Happy Hour: Wire Guys and Shooters – The Best of Sports Journalism. 

Writer Steve Ginsburg (a wire guy) and photographer Mark Goldman (a shooter) will regale attendees with anecdotes about covering the world of sports, from the pressures of being a “wire guy” – the journalists who write the stories that get fed to thousands of newspapers and broadcasters through the world – to the challenge of “shooters” – those who take the jaw-dropping images during the most crucial moments of a big game.

https://www.sandyspringmuseum.org/event/history-…­

TWO SSCC MEMBERS WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN AN EXHIBITION AT THE KISH GALLERY IN COLUMBIA, MD

Silver Spring Camera Club members Dave Mullen and Charles Bowers are participating in an exhibition at the Kish Gallery in Columbia from Oct 24 to Dec 14.

MARYLAND PHOTOGRAPHY ALLIANCE GALLERY EXHIBIT

The Maryland Photography Alliance (MPA), a consortium of 18 member clubs, recently held its 3rd annual competition, and SSCC member’s  work was well represented among the top photos.  212 photographers submitted 409 entries in 4 categories:  Abstract, Black & White, Maryland Architecture, and Still Life. 

The MPA 3rd Annual Photography Contest winners and highly rated images will be on display at:

The Activity Center at Bohrer Park
506 S. Frederick Avenue, Gaithersburg,

from November 1, 2019 until January 20, 2020. 

(Read More)

CONFERENCES AND EXPOS

2020 PSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE – AKA 2020 PSA PHOTO FESTIVAL

The Photographic Society of America is planning next year’s annual conference. They have changed the name to “2020 PSA Photo Festival” to better reflect that the range of activities is more than a mere conference. It will include daily tours and informal morning/evening photo walks, workshops, exhibitions, vendors, keynote speakers, and lots of presentations. Past tours were terrific, and the ones from the 2020 Colorado Springs Photo Festival will be no exception. They include the following plus more:

The Friday Night Keynote Speaker will be Art Wolfe, famed American photographer and conservationist, best known for color images of landscapes, wildlife, and native cultures.

Registration should start on April 1, 2020. You will need to be a member to register. More information will be on the PSA website.

Check out the following video about the festival and tours:

MEMBER ARTICLES

KERNELS OF KOREN

As photographers we’re always advised to work the scene.  We’re also advised to get it right in camera by striving for good exposure and composition.  These two bits of advice, work the scene and get it right, are opposed to each other.  If you are getting it right in camera why work the scene?  Right is right, right? (Read More)

ACTION!  COLOR!  MUD!  SHOOTING THE SPARTAN RACE SERIES – BY DAVID BLASS

The Spartan races are outdoors obstacle courses paired with distance running.  In combination, they make a very tough event for the hundreds of competitors who enter.  The athletes are all amateurs, but many devote a significant part of their time to training and participating in the events.  I went to my first Spartan race in June 2018, in Mechanicsville, MD.  ( Read More )

COMPETITION RESULTS

OPEN COMPETITION – NOVEMBER 14

November’s competition was in the Open category.  Duane Heaton was our judge that evening. 

There were four main categories: Advanced Prints, Novice Prints, Advanced Projected (i.e. digital images), and Novice Projected.  Awards are given for first, second, and third place, and multiple honorable mentions (HM) – the number of awards depends on the total number of entries in the category.     

ADVANCED PRINTS

  • 1st:    Kate Woodward – Cathedral City, California
  • 2nd:   Sherm Edwards – Marrakesh Door 1
  • 3rd:   Doug Finstad – Lonely Tree
  • HM:   Pete Morton – Truck with a History
  • HM:   Doug Finstad – Chicken Bones

Advanced Print ~ Pete Morton ~ Truck with a History

Image 4 of 5

This old truck was sitting alongside a gravel road in Washington State. I don’t know the truck’s age, but it was definitely well used. The fact that someone with a shotgun had used it for target practice, gave the scene an interesting feeling. I was able to stick my head inside the truck to capture this photograph.

NOVICE PRINTS

  • 1st:    Dennis Freeman – Chasing the Storm
  • 2nd:   Matthew Hnatov – Autumn on the C&O
  • 3rd:    Jennifer Anglin – Illuminators
  • HM: Jennifer Anglin – Sunday Morning
  • HM: Matthew Hnatov – Long Ride Home

Novice Print ~ Dennis Freeman ~ Chasing the Storm

Image 1 of 3

I attended the 2019 PSA Conference in Spokane, WA, and had some free time one afternoon. Pete Morton & I drove out into the countryside, chasing a storm. We got lots of good photos including this one that I took near the edge of the storm when the sun started to poke through the clouds. Canon 5D Mark IV handheld, 24-105mm f/4L @ 105mm. 1/600 sec , f/14, ISO 3200. Cropped, brought up the shadow exposure, and spot-increased the exposure of the trees in Lightroom. Printed with Canon Pixma Pro-100 Printer and made a custom mat.

ADVANCED PROJECTED

  • 1st:    Kate Woodward – Soldier
  • 2nd:   David Terao – Sunrise at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge
  • 3rd:    David Terao – Milky Way Pano
  • HM:    Beth Koller – Red Eyed Frog
  • HM:    Larry Gold – Oregon Coast

Advanced Projected ~ Kate Woodward ~ Soldier

Image 1 of 5

In this image, from the Korean War Memorial, I tried to convey the emotions of one of the soldiers through close-up and black-and-white.The Korean War Memorial contains 19 soldiers, each approximately 7 feet tall. (Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 100mm [200mm full-frame equivalent], 1/200 sec. at f/8, ISO 400)

NOVICE PROJECTED

  • 1st:    Lisa Auerbach – Last of the Nectar
  • 2nd:   Matthew Hnatov – Kit on the Hunt
  • 3rd:    Dennis Freeman – Spokane Expo ’74 Pavillion
  • HM:    James Ragucci – Berwartstein Fall Colors
  • HM:   Maude Svensson – Palouse Fields

Novice Projected ~ Lisa Auerbach ~ Last of the Nectar

Image 1 of 5

My neighbor has a lovely garden, and many mornings I would set up my tripod to catch animals in their habitats. On this morning I set up my tripod, loaded my camera, and fired using the following settings: Canon 60mm f/2.8 macro lens @60mm; 1/60; f/2.8; ISO 100; aperture priority; spot metering I processed using Bridge and Photoshop, setting white and black points and then proceeded from there. I added a vignette to bring attention to the center. I recently learned that by holding the shift key in Bridge while you click twice on either white or black, you can easily set a good beginning point. What I like is that the bee’s head is under a leaf, and I can see its eye.

COURSES, CALLS FOR ENTRY, AND EXHIBITS

PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES AND WORKSHOPS

The Photography Courses and Workshops list includes sample photography courses and workshops from a variety of providers in four categories:

  1. Courses and workshops in the D.C. area
  2. Online courses
  3. Multi-day photography trips to places within and beyond the United States.

Highlights this month include several courses on photographing the city which is January’s competition theme. Several of these are offered by online course providers like Kelby One and Lynda.com. In addition, Essdras Suarez, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who has spoken twice  to our club, is offering a course entitled Street Photography at DC’s Monuments: A Photojournalist’s Approach – Winter Edition (through Washington Photo Safari). Also this month, the Course List includes several in-the-field workshops at places featuring holiday lights.

Some of these begin or require registration early in the month. Please provide reviews of courses that you have taken!   (Read More)

CALLS FOR ENTRY

The following offers a number of competitions for your consideration this month. Some of these sources having standing calls for entry, and others are one-time calls. Some offer cash and prizes, and others don’t. 

See the full Calls for Entry article here. (Read More)

EXHIBITS AND EVENTS

The following link is a column that lists a number of photography-related exhibits and events occurring now, or soon, in the extended Washington D.C. area.   These include gallery exhibits, museum exhibits, college exhibits, special events, and sometimes exhibits or events to photograph yourself!     And some selected sites for the armchair adventurer!

See the full column here: (Read More )

PHOTOGRAPHIC HUMOR OF THE MONTH

by René Maltête – French Photographer (1930-2000)

Take a look at what our sister camera club, the NIH Camera Club, has going on.  Here is a link to their site.  There you can find their newsletter, the Cameraderie: nihcameraclub.com

NIH Camera Club