Hi Everyone,

Just a quick heads up on some of the upcoming events at the APL Camera Club:

MONTHLY CHALLENGE

The next Monthly Challenge (which, because we have two presenters in April will actually be for the May meeting)  is based on the photography of Edward Weston.

Weston believes that photography is an art form and that the camera has the ability to capture the thing itself, the essence of what a thing is.  The art of photography involves presenting the photographic subject -- whatever it may be -- in terms of its basic reality -- shape, line,  and form -- which, according to Weston gives insight to the essence of the thing.

Weston believes that even very ordinary objects have great beauty, especially when the photographer focuses on line, shape and form.  It is by looking closely at this aspect of an object being photographed that we see its beauty.

Weston photographed anything and everything.  He is famous for his images of vegetables (especially peppers) and his nudes.

For this Monthly Challenge your goal is to focus on line,shape, and form in order to capture the essence of something in the style of Edward Weston.  Here are the two options:

• Essential Veggie...focus on form, lines, essence.
• Quintessential Something...focus on form, lines, essence...but focus on any object you want.

Go to the PowerPoint presentation (which was presented at the last meeting) for more information on Weston and his ideas.

UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS

We're lucky to have two presenters for the April 24 meeting.

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick heads up on the upcoming Monthly Challenge...

Basically there are two options, both involving light:

OPTION #1

Create an image where there is some kind of play with light, based on using a slow shutter speed.  For this option, the subject matter is fully up to you as long as there is some sort of an interesting light play based on using a slow shutter speed.  This technique requires a bit of knowledge on using your camera's slow shutter speed and is perfect if you like to experiment.  You can get some really interesting light effects (both indoors and outdoors) if you're not afraid to "play around" with your camera's shutter speed settings.  Here are some links to help get you inspired:

Introduction to Light Painting Photography Technique

Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 44: Slow Shutter Magic

Hi Everyone,

February Monthly Challenge

Just a quick reminder of the Monthly Challenge topics for February.

The two options for this month are:

• Colour to Black & White
• Serendipity -- the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way...

—Colour to Black & White

You are to put both colour and black and white images online.

Change two photographs from colour to black and white...

Put them in the monthly challenge gallery side by side...

—We will discuss which works better and why...

Serendipity —

Serendipity – Inspired by Jay Maisel’s philosophy...

Carry a camera with you for a week or two (phone, ipod, tablet, point & shoot, DSLR etc etc)...look for serendipitous images...

shoot a minimum of two a day...can be anything...

—Put your two favourite images on the APLCC website.

I changed the permissions to allow up 4 images...

I also created a page with links to videos to give you some ideas.

Pay particular attention a streaming video created by Rafael Payan on how to convert colour images to black and white in Photoshop.  Thanks Rafael for this input!

Looking forward to seeing your images.

Ronen

Hi Everyone,

Now that the power is back on and life is seemingly back to normal, I just want to send you all a quick holiday greeting and wish you a wonderful new year.

Even though what we're going through is a really wicked ice storm, the potential for some great photographs is out there.  The trees and shrubs are beautiful with a coating of ice.  It really does look like a winter wonderland.  So bundle up, pick up your camera, and get some great photographs to share online.

NEXT MEETING

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the APL Camera Club will be on January 30, 2014 between 7-9 pm at the usual spot --  the Lebovic room of the Aurora Public Library.  Since there's almost a two month hiatus between meetings, I'm going to try to set up another meeting sometime in early to mid January, so that we would meet twice in January.  Whether this will happen or not depends on room availability in the library.  I will send out an email to let everyone know about a second meeting if I'm able to set one up.

MONTHLY CHALLENGE

The monthly challenge for the next meeting is Still Life or Holiday Still Life.  The website is now set to accept your submissions so go out there and create some wonderful still life images.  To help you along, I've posted the PowerPoint presentation from the last meeting as well as some links to sites to inspire your creations.

Once again, have a wonderful holiday and a great new year and I'll see you all in 2014.

Regards,

Ronen

Hi Everyone,

This is a quick reminder that the APL Camera Club will be meeting tomorrow (November 28, 2013) in the Lebovic Room of the Aurora Public library.

The following topics are on the agenda:

• Brief discussion on Julia Margaret Cameron
• Tips & Tricks:
  • Making people disappear - Rafael
  • Photoshop Actions - Ronen
• Monthly Challenge Critique -- Everything and Anything
• Crush the Composition
• Walkabout
• Resizing images for APLCC website

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

Ronen