“Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies.”

— Diane Arbus

 

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter.  You will find a lot in information about what is happening in our club as well as information on upcoming workshops, exhibits, classes outside of the club. I hope you take time to mark your calendars with our upcoming field trips. Our Field Trip Chair Andrew Rein and Phil Boyer, our Secretary, have put a lot of effort into coming up with this year’s list of activities. 

The reason for joining or participating in a camera club is to meet people who love photography and to learn more in a social environment.  The field trips offer a great opportunity to get out and see something different to photograph, talk to other photographers of all skill levels, see different camera  equipment in action, ask questions, and learn from some very good photographers who love to help.

 – Catherine

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E. DAVID LURIA TO BE OUR OCTOBER SPEAKER

David Luria will be our speaker on October 5.

Trained in Paris by a protege of Henri Cartier Bresson, David Luria is a D.C.-based architectural , restaurant, and event photographer.    You will find his name on the back of many postcards at local gift shops, in over 100 publications, and on calendars of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society!   (read more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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COMPETITION COLUMN

The October Competition on October 12 will be on the topic of Nature Photography:

Acceptable entries are photographs that portray various aspects of natural plant and animal life; that illustrate the natural features of land, sea, and sky; or that reveal natural phenomena.  No image in this competition may show human intervention. Domestic plants (e.g., in a botanical garden) or animals (including zoo animals) may be included as long as they do not show any human intervention (e.g., collars or ear tags, gates, walls, paths, signage).

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

Please refer to the Member Handbook and/or www.ssccphotography.org/2017-18-competition-topic-definitions/ for the definition of each of the competition topics:

• October                  – Nature Photography
• November             – Open
• December              – Low Light Photography
• January                   – Open
• February                 – Anything Washington D.C.
• March                     – Open
• April                        – Architecture Photography
• May                         – Monochrome Photography
• June                         – End of Year Competition (special rules apply)

To learn the nitty gritty about the competitions, please refer to the Competition Rules and the Member Handbook, both of which are accessible from the SSCC website. 

As always, if you have any questions about the competitions, please feel free to contact Larry Gold at competition@ssccphotography.org.

 

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WAYNE WOLFERSBERGER  IS OUR OCTOBER NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY JUDGE

Wayne Wolfersberger is an ecologist-naturalist and a nature photographer by education and passion.  This integration has resulted in his becoming a well respected photographer in the Washington, D.C. area, and an ideal selection for our Nature competition!     (read more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A CLOSER FOCUS MEETING (OCTOBER 19)

We have a continuing project for this meeting, following on from last month.  “Seeing” is the theme for the first few projects of the year.  For the A Closer Focus meeting in September we brought our cameras, tripods, and lenses, and took several sequential, overlapping photos with which to build a single 180 degree panoramic image.  We discussed how to execute the final panorama from the individual images.

For the meeting this month, bring the individual photos in, and show them all stitched together as a single panoramic image.  We will examine, review, and discuss our efforts.

If you were unable to attend last month’s meeting, but would like to participate, prepare a set of sequential, overlapping photos and create a 180 degree panorama from them.  Bring the individual shots plus the final panorama to the meeting for review and discussion.  If you are new to making panoramas, there are many excellent tutorials on the internet.  Here is one that hits all of the key aspects:  photographylife.com/panoramic-photography-howto 

As a preview, the next project, in November, will be to take pictures on your stomach and bring about 6 different images to that meeting.
 

In addition to the project, we will have the usual open discussion of book reports, gallery reviews, equipment and software discussions, or any photo related topic on your mind.

 

 

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OCTOBER 14 FIELD TRIP TO THE ROCKVILLE ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC CAR SHOW

On Saturday, October 14, we will go to the Rockville Antique and Classic Car Show to photograph 550 antique and classic cars on the grounds of the Glenview Mansion.    (read more)

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OCTOBER 28 FIELD TRIP TO THE FOREST GLEN NATIONAL SEMINARY

On October 28 we will have an early afternoon guided tour of the Forest Glen National Seminary in Silver Spring – “a place that looks like a Mother Goose rhyme collided with the Gilded Age”.  (read more)

 

 

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♦ CLUB NEWS ♦

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SSCC MEMBER SNAPSHOT: LWENYI NKONKO  

New SSCC member Lwenyi Nokonko has pursued photography on and off since childhood when she photographed Singapore’s long-established botanical garden.  Now she finds that she has the time to reinvigorate her long interest in photography.  

(read more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BOARD MEETINGS

The SSCC Board met on August 17, 2017.  Read about it in the following link:

August 17 Board Meeting 

 

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FIELD TRIP TO THE MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL – BY DAVID TERAO

On September 4, Labor Day, several SSCC members met in Crownsville, Maryland to attend the 41^st season of the Maryland Renaissance Festival.  The 27 acre Village of Revel Grove comes to life each autumn with more than 200 professional performers on ten stages, authentic combat armored jousting on magnificent steeds, and streets filled with village characters.  And, lots of village characters there were!  This is the place for street photography as many people dress up in medieval period garb and love to have their pictures taken.  It’s best to go early when the doors first open.  At that time, the crowds are manageable and you can get decent pictures of the characters in costume walking around the fairgrounds.  As an added bonus, several SSCC members attending were happy to discover that, on Labor Day, admission for seniors was free.  The SSCC members who went included Phil Boyer (event host), Bruce and Renee Schaefer, Bob Catlett, Sheryl Adams, Joel Rosenfeld, Dennis Freeman, Michael Tran, My Phuong Nguyen and David Terao.

 

 

 

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HUNTLEY MEADOWS PARK FIELD TRIP – BY DAVID TERAO

On September 23^rd several members of the Silver Spring Camera Club visited the Huntley Meadows Park in Virginia – just a few miles south of Alexandria.  The Huntley Meadows Park is one the best areas in the DC area for photographing birds and other wildlife in their natural habitat.  It is also a fairly well-kept secret judging by the relatively few people there.  The highlight of the park is the ½ mile boardwalk that meanders through the wetlands.  From the boardwalk, one can see Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons and flocks of Canada geese flying overhead or wading in the water for fish.  The best time to go for photographing birds is early in the morning when the mist is still rising off the wetlands and the lighting is soft.  If you have a keen eye, you can spot kingfishers, woodpeckers, and other less-common birds perched high in the trees.  The wooded area is also full of large spider webs worth photographing, and you can spot them easily with the sunlight shining through the trees.  

SSCC members and guests included Phil Boyer, Michael Koren, John Isaacs, Sherm Edwards, Wendy Kates, Bruce Schaefer and David Terao.

 

 

 

 

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♦ FEATURES ♦

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KERNELS OF KOREN

A new organization named the Maryland Photography Alliance has formed with the goal of helping Maryland based camera clubs and their members by fostering collaboration and sharing of resources.  The Alliance consists of 11 clubs so far from across the state.   The benefits of the Alliance to SSCC are many.  The short term benefit all SSCC members will see is the First Annual Photography Contest.  This will be the largest inter-club contest in Maryland in many years – see below.    (read more)

 

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(read more)

 

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PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA (PSA) ANNUAL CONFERENCE

PSA’s Annual Conference will take place between October 8-14, 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA, right next door!  It includes tours, presentations, demonstrations, photo shoots, and more.    https://psa-photo.org/index.php?2017-psa-conference

 

 

 

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♦ MEMBER ARTICLES ♦ 

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PHOTOGRAPHING A (NEARLY) ABANDONED INSTITUTION – BY SHERM EDWARDS

In July I visited the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, for a photography tour.  The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum opened to patients in 1864, peaked in the 1950’s, and closed in 1994.

The photography tour, which is offered only a few times a year, allows visits to four of the buildings and the grounds.    (read more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A YEAR WITH INK REPUBLIC – BY BOB PETERS

$1,120 worth of printer ink for $170?  That is the promise of InkRebublic.  I decided to try InkRepublic refill system for my Epson P600 about a year ago.  Here is my review of that system.    (read more)

 

 

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$5 GETS YOU A RAVENS STADIUM TOUR – BY KAY CARKHUFF

 

Five dollars will get you a behind the scenes tour of the M&T Bank Stadium – home of the Ravens football team. I am not a sports fan, but with our SSCC architecture competition on the schedule, I thought it would be a good place to get started.  (read more)