Cover Photo: National Building Museum by David Terao
Member, Photographic Society of America
Winner of the 2008, 2011, and 2012 PSA Henricks Award for best newsletter!
Dennis Freeman, Editor, Cable Release, at cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
Contents
KEY EVENTS
- May 3 – Speaker Night (7:30 p.m.)
- May 5 – Field Trip: Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race (11:00 a.m.)
- May 6 – Field Trip: Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (9:00 a.m.)
- May 10 – Competition night: Monochrome; Year-End Competition Prints Due (7:30 p.m.)
- May 11 – Year-End Competition Projected Entries Due
- May 17 – A Closer Focus meeting (7:30 p.m.)
- May 24 – Board Meeting (7:30 p.m.)
- June 14 – End of Year Celebration (6:30 p.m.)
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.
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: 2017-2018 Member Handbook
SSCC member submissions for the Cable Release should be directed to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org.
© 2018 Silver Spring Camera Club and its contributors. All contents of the Cable Release are copyright protected. No material herein may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the Editor, Author, or Photographer.
MEETINGS AND FIELD TRIPS
MEETING LOCATION
Silver Spring United Methodist Church
8900 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
Click for details
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REBECCA ROTHEY SPEAKS ON STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AND BLACK & WHITE MAY 3
Rebecca Rothey will speak to us on May 3 on the topics of Street Photography and Black and White.
Rebecca is based in Laurel, Maryland and works as vice president and senior philanthropic advisor at the Greater Washington Community Foundation. Her work has been shown locally, published in various regional publications, and juried into group exhibitions nationally. (read more)
COMPETITION COLUMN
The competition on May 10 will be the Monochrome Photography theme:
The term “Monochrome Photography” contemplates images that use only a single color, including the full array of shades of that color. So, for example, black and white photos, with black as the single color and its multiple shades of gray, are monochrome. Other single colors and their shades are equally acceptable. Under this definition, a sepia tone photo is acceptable, but a sepia tone photo containing a red umbrella would not qualify as a monochrome. Any subject matter is acceptable. In addition, a photo is acceptable if was originally taken as a color image, as long as the image presented for the competition has been rendered into monochrome.
Please be mindful that electronic submissions for projected images must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on May 3, Speaker Night. The images should be emailed to: SSCCphotography@yahoo.com. (One important detail – In order to participate in the competition, you must have paid the club’s annual dues before the competition.)
To learn the nitty gritty about the competitions, and for the definition of each of the competition topics, please refer to the Member Handbook or 2017-18 Competition Topic Definitions (both of which are accessible from the SSCC website):
June 14 – End of Year Competition (special rules apply – see this link!)
- Print Deadline: Thursday, May 3 or May 10
- Projected Deadline: Friday, May 11 (midnight)
As always, if you have any questions about the competitions, please feel free to contact Larry Gold at competition@ssccphotography.org.
ROBERT JAMES LEONARD TO JUDGE MONOCHROME COMPETITION – MAY 10
Robert James Leonard will judge our Monochrome Photography competition on May 10. Bob spent 25 years traveling around the world covering auto racing for Stopwatcher magazine. He is a writer, lecturer and judge on photography. His photographs have received over 980 awards in juried exhibitions. (read more)
A CLOSER FOCUS – MAY 17
by Dave Powell
An opportunity to share ideas, images, questions, and inspirations
Half an hour will be an open forum discussing issues at hand. There will also be half an hour for 10 minute presentations by members. 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.
For May we will include the following:
- Dave Powell will arrive early (6:30 p.m.), and will review any portfolios that you like. Not everyone was able to do this last month, and this is your opportunity!
- We will finish March’s picture assignment, where we went through the prints but not the projected images: Bring several of your digital photos (e.g. thumb drive) that you consider as “Art” or “Not Art”, and discuss. We will do this first.
- General discussion topic is “How do we structure workshops and education back into these meetings?” This has been a struggle in the past – how to achieve a proper balance in the time available.
- Let’s improve on the past efforts.
- All ideas are valuable. Consider these during the summer, for implementation in the fall.
- Assignment: Bring in your photographs using color for organization!
- Also, bring in one of your photos critiqued in the Portfolio Review last month, and discuss the comments made about it. Was anything surprising?
- Prepare to discuss how you plan to conduct your summer photography!
Future topics of A Closer Focus include: compositional strength, HDR, abstract images, 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
FIELD TRIP: BALTIMORE ANNUAL KINETIC SCULPTURE RACE – MAY 5
Bruce Schaefer
On Saturday, May 5, join us for the Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race held in Baltimore! You can leave your acid at home for this trip!
From the American Visionary Art Museum—a race of wacky, imaginative, totally human-powered works of art, designed to travel on land, through mud, and over deep harbor waters, constructed out of used bicycles, gears, and parts. The all-day race kicks off at 11 a.m. at American Visionary Art Museum. (read more)
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FIELD TRIP TO THE MARYLAND SHEEP AND WOOL FESTIVAL – MAY 6
On Sunday, May 6, join SSCC at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! The festival includes live music, a parade of breeds, a sheep to shawl contest, and border collie demonstrations, and a photography competition. Food vendors sell various lamb dishes including lamb burgers, gyros, and lamb sausage. There are also lamb cooking contests and lamb cooking demonstrations. (read more)
Photo by Andrew Rein
Photo by Andrew Rein
CLUB NEWS
Convenient link to email Tanya: VicePresident@SSCCphotography.org
BOARD MEETING
The SSCC Board met on March 22. The notes are in the following link: Board Meeting
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS ON MAY 10
We will vote to fill the open Executive Council positions at our Competition Night meeting on May 10. Each of these positions is vital to the functioning of the Club, and provides the opportunity to guide the club in the activities we enjoy. These key positions are as follows:
- President: leads club meetings, guides club activities through the chair leaders
- Vice President: leads meetings in the absence of the president, coordinates the year-end awards event
- Secretary: takes notes at monthly board meetings, publishes the minutes
- Treasurer: maintains the financial records of the club, chairs the Finance Committee, and maintains the roster of members.
- Directors (1 of 3 is open): advise on club activities, coordinate committees, approve expenditures
Going into May’s publication of the Cable Release we have the following slate of candidates interested in filling four of the five open Executive Council positions: President – Catherine Honigsberg, Vice President – Tanya Riseman, Secretary – None, Treasurer – Bruce Schaefer, and 1 Director – Oliver (Pete) Morton. (The other two currently serving Directors are Bob Catlett and Michael Koren – neither position is up for reelection)
We do not yet have a candidate for Secretary as of May 1. According to the Constitution and By-Laws, “[the] Secretary shall record minutes of Board meetings and process Club correspondence as required by the President and/or Vice President”.
The person filling this role will have training available from the outgoing Secretary, Phil Boyer, as well as from the previous Secretary, Catherine Honigsberg, who is currently serving as President.
If you are interested in filling the role as Secretary please contact any member of the board to be put on the slate for the May 10th election. Face-to-face, phone, or email are all just fine. A set of SSCC email addresses for the various officers and committee chairs can be found in the following link: SSCC Officers and Chairs
SSCC CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS REVISION AND VOTE
Over the past months a committee of several board members reviewed and suggested revisions (amendments) to the SSCC Constitution and By-Laws. These were reviewed, revised, and finalized by the board for your review and vote.
The current Constitution and By-Laws may be found on pages 40 – 44 of the Member Handbook. According to the Constitution ( Article XVII – AMENDMENTS, on Page 44):
“This Constitution and By-Laws may be amended by a 2/3 vote of members present at a regular Club meeting, including written proxies. Amendments may be proposed by any Club member. A proposed amendment may not be voted on at the meeting in which it is proposed, but shall be voted on after publication in the Cable Release and not later than the second regular Club meeting following such publication.“
The Club will vote on the following proposed amendments to the Constitution on our May 10 Competition Night. It is provided at the following link:
Proposed Amendments to SSCC Constitution and By-Laws
This document was saved with “track changes” turned on to assist you in your review. If you are a SSCC Club member, wish to vote to accept or not-accept these changes, and cannot attend the meeting, please submit your name and vote to President@ssccphotography.org by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9 to be included by proxy.
APRIL 15 FIELD TRIP TO ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND
On Sunday, April 15, SSCC members had a drizzly photo walk in historic Ellicott City, Maryland. The historic district encompasses a predominantly nineteenth century mill town whose origins date to 1772, including more than 200 eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings and little unusual shops, including many selling antiques. Some of us explored The Forget-Me-Not Factory, “where fairy dust and bubbles meet to create shopping magic”, and it was magical. And some of us toured the B&O Railroad Station Museum, the oldest surviving railroad station in the country. Some found their subjects in the antique shops. There was plenty to see and photograph. We warmed up and had lunch at the Ellicott Mills Brewing Company.
APRIL 19 PORTFOLIO REVIEWS
This was a special evening at “A Closer Focus”! Back by popular demand, the Silver Spring Camera Club held a portfolio review of members’ work. Each person brought up to about 10 of their best images.
Five accomplished photographers individually perform the reviews. These were Bob Greenberg, Michael Tran, Dave Powell, My Phuong Nguyen, and Greg Holden. Snacks were provided!
FEATURES
DON BECKER PHOTOGRAPHY OFFERS TWO NEW WORKSHOPS
Don Becker, a longtime member of SSCC, is an experienced and professional photographer, photographic educator and photographic artist. He does both commercial and personal photography, as well as photographic instruction and mentoring.
Don has two new workshops coming up in the next couple of months, a new “Photography of the Ballet” workshop, and an “Outdoor Portraiture” workshop. (read more)
RECYCLE THE LEFTOVERS FROM MATTING
Give Tanya Riseman the leftover insides of your matting boards and she’ll donate them to a local preschool for art projects.
SECRETS FOR TAKING FANTASTIC ROAD TRIP PHOTOS
Here is an article member James Ragucci thought you’ll like. With road trip season approaching, he figured that this article from the Shutterstock blog would be a good read for the club:
“We asked five outstanding photographers to share some of their most memorable road trip shots and their best tips for capturing one-of-a-kind pictures.” secrets-road-trip-photos
ROY SEWELL TO SPEAK AT BLUE RIDGE VOYAGEURS PADDLING CLUB
Member Beth Koller provided us with the following opportunity!
The Blue Ridge Voyageurs Paddling Club will be have Roy Sewell (facebook.com/roysewall) as a speaker at their May 21 meeting at 7:15 PM in the Clara Barton Recreation Center (7425 MacArthur Blvd, Cabin John, MD).
Mr. Sewall was a director at Orbital Sciences, but in recent years has married his technical skills with artistry as a professional photographer and current president of the North Bethesda Camera Club. He turned his camera lenses onto his own backyard, the Potomac River. He has captured broad riverscapes, flora and fauna on the river, and human activity on and around the river including paddling and the C&O canal structures. Through his photos, he will help us see parts of the river we may miss. And as a past board member of the C&O Canal Trust, he can answer questions about those buildings we pass on the shuttle or on the way to the put-ins/take-outs.
Roy Sewell Photograph
For the photographers in the audience, it will be a good opportunity to link up with paddlers in settings conducive to photography, e.g., river releases, training sessions, rodeos, and races.
SSCC members are welcome to attend. Just show up!
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HAS TWO MUST-SEE PHOTO ARTICLES
BY FRANS LANTING
BY ANUAR PATJANE FLORIUK
EIGHTH ANNUAL JOSEPH MILLER ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT
SSCC members are again amongst those who have had their work accepted into the Joseph Miller Abstract Exhibit! Visit the exhibit on any weekend in May to see all of the talented photographers’ abstract works:
Open from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in May.
2:00 p.m. May 6, 2018 – Abstract Artist’s Reception.
12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday, May 28, 2018 – Last day of the exhibit.
Joseph Miller Center
4811 Catharpin Road
Gainesville, VA 20155
2018 PSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Registration for the Salt Lake City, Utah, conference has begun. (read more)
PRESENTATION BY TONY SWEET ON FRIDAY, JUNE 1
The Central Maryland Photographers’ Guild (CMPG) will host a presentation by Tony Sweet called “Compelling Composition: Creating Visual Pathways”.
There is nothing more important than clean, direct, compelling composition. Through numerous image examples, various compositional techniques will be illustrated and discussed. From the basics of composition to more creative ideas, Tony’s presentation is intended to fine tune the vision and jump start the creativity of the attendees. Whether you are just starting out, or are a seasoned pro, this is a program not to be missed!
Date: Friday, June 1, 2018
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Cost: $20 in advance/online – $25 at the door
For more information and to register: cmpg.photography
MEMBER ARTICLES
THE POETRY OF SHAPE AND COLOR: THREE TYPES OF ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY – BY DAVID BLASS, BETH KOLLER, AND KATE WOODWARD
“Cascading Color” by Kate Woodward
What is abstract photography? An abstract photograph can be loosely defined as one that emphasizes colors, lines, patterns, textures, or shapes, and that does not represent something clearly recognizable such as a person, landscape, or building.
Three of the SSCC members that were accepted—David Blass, Beth Koller, and Kate Woodward— here provide photographs juried into the 2018 Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit that illustrate three distinct types of abstracts that can be fun to create and compelling to view. (read more)
BRIEF RAMBLINGS — THREE – BY PETE MORTON
The previous Brief Ramblings began examining the question of “What makes a picture good?”. I proposed six possible ways to evaluate a picture. The first approach was to decide if a picture is good if people want to buy it. My conclusion was no… this is not a good way to determine how good a picture is. So, let’s check off that first item and look at the remaining five. (read more)
WIDE ANGLE LENSES: MAKING VERTICALS VERTICAL – BY TANYA RISEMAN
Internet Example – editor
This article is about achieving straight lines in architecture photos, despite the divergent or convergent lines and barrel shaped distortion produced by a wide or super wide angle lens. (read more)
COMPETITION WINNERS
ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION – APRIL 12
April’s competition was in the Architecture Photography category. Cynthia L. Keith was our judge that evening. There are 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 – the number of awards depends on the total number of entries in the category. In April there were not enough Novice prints to have a separate category. The Novice print entries and the Advanced print entries were combined in the Advanced Prints category.
ADVANCED PRINTS
- 1st Place: Oliver (Pete) Morton – City Hall – Bamberg
- 2nd Place: Larry Gold – Window and Steeple
- 3rd Place: Oliver (Pete) Morton – Baltimore
- Honorable Mention Sherm Edwards – No Entry
- Honorable Mention Larry Gold – Barbed Fence
Advanced Print ~ Oliver (Pete) Morton ~ City Hall -- Bamberg
This amazing building is in Bamberg, Germany. I saw it while on a river cruise. It was a beautiful day which, unfortunately, brought out crowds of people. Thus, there was a great deal of Photoshop work needed to remove them. The picture was shot handheld at 24mm, f/8.0, 1/320 sec and ISO 200.
ADVANCED PROJECTED
- 1st Place: David Terao – National Building Museum
- 2nd Place: Larry Gold – The Bridge Below
- 3rd Place: Kate Woodward – Modern Building at Night
- Honorable Mention: Wendy Kates – Through the Portico
- Honorable Mention: Wendy Kates – Beneath the Bridge
Advanced Projected ~ David Terao ~ National Building Museum
I shot this image by resting my camera on the third-floor railing that was fortunately flat and level. I used a 17mm tilt-shift lens and shifted the lens through its full range in the landscape position for a panoramic effect. The resulting three images were stacked and merged in Photoshop. Shot with a Canon 5D Mk III at 0.5 sec @ f/14 and ISO 200.
NOVICE PROJECTED
- 1st Place: Dennis Freeman – Heinz Chapel Stairwell
- 2nd Place: Sherm Edwards – Forgotten Doorways
- 3rd Place: Sherm Edwards – House of Justice
- Honorable Mention: Michael Hickey – Silver Tower
Novice Projected ~Dennis Freeman ~ Heinz Chapel Stairwell
I was on a tour of the Heinz Chapel (Ketchup family) during the PSA Annual Conference in Pittsburgh. The variations in light, shadow, and geometry in this stairwell were terrific. I shot with my brand new Canon 5D Mk IV, 24-105 mm f/4.0 lens at 35 mm, tripod, f/8.0, 1/20 sec., and ISO 6400. Cropped and minor adjustments in Lightroom.
CLASSES, CALLS FOR ENTRY, AND EXHIBITS
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Great news this month: Lynda.com, an online vendor, regularly featured in the SSCC Classes/Workshop List, is now available free for those with a library card from Montgomery County Public Library. (This option is also available through D.C. Libraries). Here is how Lynda.com is described in the Classes/Workshops List:
“Lynda.com is an online monthly (or annual) course subscription service with hundreds of photography courses. Courses consist of multiple video lectures, and they vary in length from less than an hour to more than 5 hours. Photography topics range from technical skills and software training to artistic aspects of photography. Courses can be searched by skill level (beginner through advanced), topic, software, and professor; searches will also yield parts of courses on a particular topic.”
You may see listings of different Lynda.com courses in this month’s and previous months’ class lists. To access Lynda.com from MCPS’s Library Homepage, go to Montgomery County Public Library, then Research (top menu bar)/All Electronic Resources/Lynda.com. (here)
Note that this month’s class list features several Lynda.com courses on black and white photography, May’s competition topic, as well as other courses.
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Overall, the Classes/Workshops list includes sample photography courses and workshops from a variety of providers in three categories:
- Classes and workshops in the D.C. area
- Online courses
- Multi-day photography trips to places within and beyond the United States.
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!
See the full column here: ( read more )
DEEP DIVE INTO THE ARCHIVES
This month, we provide the pretty darned good-looking and interesting May 2001 issue of the Cable Release for a view of our club’s past.
17 YEARS AGO
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
MARYLAND PHOTOGRAPHY ALLIANCE MAY/JUNE MEMBER CLUB NEWS
See what other regional camera clubs are up to in news from the Maryland Photography Alliance: ( read more )
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
