APS Minimalist Theme Competition updates.

I just received 2 more website addresses from our Competition Chairman Al and I wanted to pass the info on to our membership asap. As most members know, we are having a big “Minimalist” theme competition in April 2014. Those 2 web sites are describing the minimalistic theory very well and show many sample images. Some of our members may have the time to do some shooting during the holidays and the info is just what is needed to get it started

BG

http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/the-amazing-art-that-is-minimalist-photography-39-examples/

http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/a-10-step-guide-to-superb-minimalist-photography--photo-4487

Assignment Zone Field Trips

The 2013 Assignment Zone Field Trips did not get much participation this year except for the Waynesville Dance Festival. As a result the participation in the A to Z competition was low as well. Thanks to the efforts of Marc McElhaney the competition  took place anyway and you can see the winners above in the upcoming slide show.

If there was a message for the officers of the club, well, it was received.

We had several discussions about what to do in 2014 and there are now multiple locations proposed. In January the officers plan to get together and make the final decisions inclusive new suggestions from the members (if you have a new location idea, please email me).

There is one plan that schedules an overnight location that could end up to last a whole week at some of the GA or SC islands. We have never done this and I will discuss the subject during some of our upcoming meetings to find out who would be interested in participating. Hunting Island, SC comes to mind or the islands near Brunswick and we may find a Bed & Breakfast that is willing to give us shelter for a reasonable price.

Think about the possibilities and may be you find the idea appealing to do what you like best anyway and do it with like minded people and no stress: “Photography Unlimited”.

BG

Will Smart Phone & Pad Cameras replace conventional cameras?

Declining sales of high-end cameras and lenses are raising an alarming question for companies like Canon Inc. and Nikon Corp.: Could the proliferation of camera-enabled, app-heavy smart phones be crushing not only the simple point-and-shoot but premium models as well? (Question from a 11/8 Wall Street Journal article)

The answer to this question could very well be YES. It seems that camera clubs are well advised to include those new photographers in their planning and develop new standards for those photographs. Measuring those images to the old club standards in competitions would be unjust. They are more like museum/gallery type photographs, “you get what the phone sees”. They are actually more to the truth than the current images that we show and enter in competitions. Take a look at www.lumieregallery.net , click on Vivian Maier and compare her images to images taken by a good phone camera photographer.

Anyway, I intend to convince our members and management to find ways to attract those new photographers and their work to our club. There is an unknown amount of great talents out there that we have not yet recognized. We should invite phone photographers that read this article, to send us samples of their work to help us learn what is needed to incorporate those “New Artists” into our group.

Communicate with us by sending comments and/or sample images by e-mail to APSEntries@gmail.com/  I will mention the best comments and post some images in my next Smart Phone Blog.

BG

APS Salon Exhibition 2013

The Atlanta Photographic Society's members put together another great show for this year's 2013 Salon Exhibition. Producing and framing the five entries allowed per member surely takes a lot of work. The images chosen for entry were truly outstanding. In your President's humble opinion, the quality of this show was one of our best in many years. Plus, the Reception and Awards were very well attended, with upwards of 25 guests in addition to the usual crowd of members

Our judging team, consisting of Gary Gruby, Judy Kuniansky, and John Clemmer, did a superb job discerning the winners. Numerous images that did not end up receiving awards were either tied for an Honorable Mention, or only a very slim one point away from that distinction. The competition was definitely strong, with eight (8) members bestowed awards out of the fourteen (14) who entered a wealth of seventy (70) fine images.

Congratulations to Marc McElhaney who was awarded Best in Show (and 1st Place Monochrome) for his intense and moody "Jazz in the Shadows". And a hearty, well done to all the other winners, listed here along with their award winning images (the winners are also displayed in the slide show at the top of this page).

Ruth Gogel                 HM Color        Hop On

Kathryn Nee               HM Color        Nobody's Wife

Darryl Neill                 HM Color        White Pass and Yukon

Jim Harrison              HM Color        River Wave    

Al McLeod                 3rd Color        Booze and Blues

Marc McElhaney       2nd Color       El Campesino Viejo Y Sus Manos

Mike Shaefer             1st Color        The Colors of Jazz

Janerio Morgan         HM Mono       Solitary Sunrise

Jim Harrison              3rd Mono        Icicle Storm

Marc McElhaney       2nd Mono       After Work, A Cigar

Marc McElhaney       1st Mono        & Best in Show          Jazz in the Shadows

Thanks also to the many members who helped hang the show, provided delicious food and hearty beverages for the Reception and Awards, and assisted with the take down activities. Plus, a special thank you to Vinnie Metzger and Janerio Morgan who very ably accomplished several vital Salon tasks, publicity and entry management. We divided and conquered.

A reminder for next year's Salon Exhibition: Please give Mike Shaefer, our Salon Chair for 2014, your full measure of support and assistance. Many hands make light work.

Jim Harrison

President

Minimalist photography at the Atlanta Photographic Society

As a follow up to my “Minimalist” presentation last Thursday, I present a selection of 2012-2013 competition winners by our members that would fit the minimalist category very well. The minimalist slide show above may run for the entire month of October until replaced by the Salon winners in November.

As a reminder to the members in attendance at my presentation, Google “Sami-e pictures” and “wabi sabi pictures” to learn more about future programs and future themes (wabi sabi in October 2014)

BG

In Search of a Different Photographic Vision.

As many of our members know, I am in search for a different way to photograph. My present selection is minimalist photography because it gets me off the point and shoot habit that I somehow developed over the years. I find great pleasure in shooting many pictures, but finding that most of what I shoot will never get out of my computer is discouraging.
The minimalist approach is now forcing me to use a tripod and to take a lot more time composing each image. The result is very satisfying. I still take a good amount of images, but it is because of my search of the best angle/exposure of the minimalist subject. 
Note: The theme for the April 2014 theme competition is “Minimalist Images”.

Minimalist photography sure provides a lot of discussion points and it helps a lot in getting to know other photographers viewpoints. I found that one of our members was taking excellent minimalist images without fully knowing that he was doing it.  We had several e-mail discussions about it and he told me that he was actually very interested in sumi-e. I had no idea what it was and Google had to help out:
(Sumi-e photography is photography in the style of the Japanese ink brush painters - not only in the colors and textures, but in the subject matter as well)
I took a very close look at all the articles and images on the internet and realized that sumi-e uses most of the same principles of minimalist photography but limits the subject and how it is presented. That is a new challenge for me now, to combine minimalist with sumi-e.

In finalizing our competition themes for 2014 our president Jim introduced a 3rd possible way to photograph: “Wabi Sabi”. It also comes from Japan and is based on a feeling, which is difficult for us westerners to understand. Google to help again:
(Wabi-Sabi is an old aesthetic ideal, originating from Japanese Zen, sometimes described as ‘the beauty of decay’. It has also been referred to as ’imperfect, impermanent and incomplete’. Although its definition has often been eloquently put in to words, there is no such thing as objectiveness when it comes to Wabi-Sabi)
Now this becomes an issue for our members. The theme is scheduled for our October 2014 theme competition and I suggest that you inform yourself of what is considered a wabi sabi photograph. Jim’s explanation on our web site may not help very much. The theme is a challenge, but also exiting and I can’t wait to see the individual interpretations.
BG

Expanded Atlanta Photographic Society Photo Competitions

At our APS board meeting, several suggestions for improving our club operations were discussed and some got approved. One of the suggestions was that we find ways to increase the use of our top notch competition winners. Usually, once our winners have received a ribbon and can no longer be entered, most are probably condemned to a life in our computers, never to see daylight again.

We want to change that for the very best shots by entering those images in world wide competitions. We do not know yet how to do that, but they definitely will be entered under your name, you will get all the awards in your name (if any) and APS will get the bragging rights. In the next few weeks we plan to establish an action group of 3 or 4 officers to gain experience and to set up for year 2013/14. After we know how to do it, we plan to transfer the operation to a members group. Needless to say, before we use any of your images you will have to approve of it. We keep you posted.

BG

APS Salon Exhibition Plans 2013

August 20. 2013

Collect your best, most creative images and rev up your printers to prepare for the APS Salon. The Salon will be held in October in conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates Photography and is available for viewing by the public from Tue. Oct 1 until Sun Oct. 27, whenever the Church is open. Look for the Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) announcement of the APS Salon, both in the ACP 12 printed program and on the ACP website at http://www.acpinfo.org (early September). Our venue will be the Atlanta Unitarian Congregation’s Gallery, located off the I-85 access road North.

Salon Dates and Times: Please put these dates/times in your calendar:

9/26 Entry list due (to Janerio)

9/30 Hanging (6:30-8:30PM, Monday evening)

[FYI: 10/7 Judging (1-2:30PM- Monday afternoon]

10/19 Reception/Awards (7-9PM, set up @ 6:30, Sat. evening)

10/27 Take down (2-4PM, Sun. afternoon)

Entry Information: Up to five (5) entries per member are desired (more if we have room). Due to gallery space limitations our target for the show is 70 entries, so get your list in early. Please email your image entry information to Janerio Morgan janeriomorgan8467@comcast.net

For every image entered please provide: Title, Category (Monochrome or Color) Price or Not for Sale, (include value required for insurance purposes) There is a $2 per image entry fee ($2 for 1 image, $4 for 2 images, etc., $10 for 5 images.) This is to defray the Club’s costs for the Salon: ACP brochure/web, awards, etc. Please send your entry fee to our treasurer.

Volunteers needed for:

Hanging of the Salon Exhibition: Please deliver all entries, ready to hang (see 2010 Salon Rules), to the Unitarian Church Gallery, or make other arrangements to have your entries delivered. Volunteers are needed to assist with hanging images.

Reception and Awards: Volunteers are needed to bring food, drinks, etc.

Take Down Salon Exhibition: Volunteers needed to take down the images, put away hangers, etc. All unsold images should be picked up at that time, or other arrangements should be made.

Confirmed Judges:

Gary Gruby, http://www.garygruby.com/about.html

Judy Kuinansky

John Clemmer, http://www.johnclemmer.net/ or

http://john-clemmer.artistwebsites.com/

We're looking forward to another great show!

Jim Harrison

404-849-1424

harrisonje@bellsouth.net

Atlanta Photographic Society Blue Ridge Mountains Field Trip

July 19-21, 2013

During the weekend ten club members, plus a number of guests, enjoyed a 3 day field trip to the mountains of North Carolina. Friday afternoon we photographed the opening event of the Folkmoot International Dance Festival, the Parade of Nations held in downtown Waynesville, NC. Dancers and musicians from Canada, Slovakia, Martinique, Japan, Poland, France, Mexico, Thailand and the US participated in this year's festival, which has included groups from over 100 countries since the event began, thirty years ago. According to long-time APS member Roy Gordon, "It was a great weekend. The dance performances on the Main Street were amazing, many colorful costumes and enthusiastic performers from several countries. Also, I really enjoyed the dinners and breakfasts with fellow club members." The get-together’s in the evening with discussions about the happenings of the day included the images of the day showing up on computers and camera viewers, some with pride and others with sorrow when the right moment was missed.

On Friday, after the parade, we carpooled up Highway 215 along the West Fork of the Pigeon River, shooting the river, waterfalls and scenics along the way. We were rained on at Arch Falls and continuing up Hwy. 215 to the gap at the mountain crest, we took the Blue Ridge Parkway West, toward Richland Balsam and Balsam Gap. The constantly changing weather blessed us with wonderful scenes from several parkway overlooks. It will be interesting to see the variety of photographic interpretations from those stopping points.

Saturday morning we photographed the Folkmoot Street Festival, in downtown Waynesville. This featured alternating performances by all the dance groups, and a plethora of arts and crafts vendors and food booths. The dancers, musicians, purveyors and spectators provided a continuously swirling array people and situations to shoot.

That same afternoon we carpooled to Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a secluded and beautiful valley vacated when the Park was designated. Driving in, it rained very, very, very,... hard (the bottom fell out of the bucket as the mountaineers say), but this cooled things off, encouraging the elk, a native species reintroduced to the park during the early 2000's, to come out into the meadows early to feed. Driving into the valley we saw and photograph many females, and a number of their young hiding in the tall grass.

A big part of the charm of Cataloochee are the many restored structures abandoned when the Park was formed. These include the Palmer House, Chapel, school and barn. All these are close to Cataloochee Creek and its tributaries, and to many large grassy fields throughout the valley's floodplain. Our late afternoon shooting concentrated on the house, barn and creek. One can only get a small flavor of Cataloochee during a short afternoon, so its' good to know that a number of Park trails can be easily accessed from the valley bottom, and that a Park Service campground nestles next to Cataloochee Creek if one decides to stay for a while.

Finally, nature definitely saved the best for last. On the drive out of the Park, we were treated to sighting two large, healthy male elk; one a "ten-point" buck feeding near a tree line, and another, literally huge buck with “15 points” along the road back to the top of the mountain. He was rightfully dubbed, "The Monster Elk” by our group. He must have enjoyed himself because he gave us plenty of time to take photographs and modeled for us in several poses. Al had the hardest time separating himself from his camera and the Elk, the constant clicks of his camera are still ringing in my ears.

I feel sorry for the judge that must select the best shots of the Elk in the upcoming competitions.

Now comes the hard part, selecting the best shots of the festival for competition and presentations in the photo club. Some of us took over 600 images within the 3 days and I expect to see many of them entered in competitions, the Salon and the special “Assignment Zone” competition.

Jim Harrison,

APS President