In Focus: July 4 - 17
Witta Priester - Flowers From The Garden
Awarded a Silver Medal and Judge’s Choice Medal in the 2022 Coachella International Exhibition of Photography
This twice monthly list of OPCC events, reminders, and news is compiled by Lori Moilanen. Please send information on upcoming events, news items, and corrections to opcc4mail@gmail.com. This newsletter is currently published twice monthly on Sunday evenings in advance of our first and third Thursday meetings. The deadline for submissions for the next newsletter is Friday July 15.
MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER/HOW I GOT THE SHOT
Witta Priester
OPCC member Witta Priester says she usually only enters one "big" photo competition every year: the Coachella International Exhibition of Photography, which is run by the camera club in the California desert where she spends the winter. The competition has two circuits -- each is a judging by a panel of 3 experts. This year she entered 8 photos, 4 in color and 4 in Black and White. Her photo Flowers from the Garden, shown above, won a Silver Medal in one circuit, and a Judge's Choice Medal in the other. Congratulations to Witta on this great result. Read on to learn how Witta created this award-winning image, in her own words.
How The Image Was Created
“This image came from a series of photos I took on an illuminated flat Lightbox. After arranging the flowers, 6 photos were taken at different ½ stop exposures. These were blended in Photoshop (PS) using masks to reveal portions of each flower, so that each flower was clear and transparent against a very white background. To learn more about this technique, check out Harold Davis and his YouTube videos “Photographing Flowers for Transparency”.
That processing resulted in this (rather jarring) color image:
Witta Priester - Intermediate Color Image
So the color image was converted to black and white, and then the tones in the B&W photo were “inverted” in PS to produce a white image on a black background.
Next came some “emphasis” work — burning and dodging, selective sharpening, and cloning away imperfections . As a final step, one of my textures, “water drops” was lightly applied to the flowers.”
NEWS
Update from OPCC President Bruce Fryxell Regarding In-Person Meetings
OPCC will resume in-person meetings for our next Member Share Night next Thursday, July 7 at 7:00 PM. The meeting location will be St. Luke's Episcopal Church, located at 525 N 5th Avenue, in Sequim. This is at the NW corner of 5th Avenue and Fir Street. The parking lot and meeting room are located behind the church. This will be a hybrid meeting, so that those people not wishing to attend in person can still participate via Zoom as before. At this time, those on Zoom will not be able to see the faces of the people at the church, since we don't have the necessary camera. However, we have obtained a microphone and speakers so that everyone should be able to interact through audio. We will not be displaying prints at this meeting, but intend to resume this activity in the near future. Refreshments will be served.
Concerning COVID, the church requires us to do contact tracing. All this means is that we will have to have a sign-up sheet so that we know who attended each meeting and keep the sheet on record for three weeks. Clallam County is currently in the "High" category for COVID cases. The official county policy is:
"Strongly recommend masking in indoor settings for everyone, including vaccinated individuals"
This is a recommendation and not a mandate. Everyone should use their best judgement on masking and whether you are comfortable meeting indoors with other people. Please do not attend if you are experiencing COVID symptoms.
If you know of anyone who has been waiting to join our club until we resumed in-person meetings, please spread the word.
I hope to see you all there on Thursday, either in person or by Zoom. We may have a few bugs to iron out, but be patient, and we will do our best to make this a good experience for everyone. If you have any questions, please contact me at opccpres@gmail.com.
Please note that hybrid meetings apply only to our First Thursday Member Share Nights. Our Third-Thursday Education Nights will continue to be virtual meetings via Zoom only.
Lightroom Classic Beginner’s Class Continues
The Adobe Lightroom Classic class facilitated by OPCC member Peggy McClure commenced on June 22. Session 3 of the class is scheduled for Wednesday July 6 and will cover the Develop Module. For more information, access the class webpage by clicking HERE or contact Peggy (opcc.competition@gmail.com).
In Memoriam: Willa Benjamins (1941-2022)
We’re sad to report that Willa Benjamins, wife of late OPCC President Jonas Benjamins, died of natural causes on June 3. Jonas passed away last year while serving as OPCC President. OPCC members who knew them remember Jonas and Willa as a very devoted couple. We miss them both.
Willa and Jonas at an OPCC Print Exhibit at Sequim Museum & Arts
Suzanne Anaya Print Exhibit at the Blackbird Coffeehouse
Photo Credit: Suzanne Anaya
OPCC member Suzanne Anaya returns to the Blackbird Coffeehouse in Port Angeles with a new exhibit of prints that will be on display through the end of July. Suzanne will be at the coffeehouse on Saturday July 9 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM to discuss her work - be sure to stop by and say hello.
For location and hours of business visit www.theblackbirdcoffeehouse.com.
Welcome New Members
A warm welcome to our newest members, Diane and Randy Norton, Mike Montgomery, Jennifer Santillano, and Daniel Mulkey. We’re glad you’ve joined us! It was great to meet Mike in person at our Port Williams field trip.
PSA Washington State Membership Newsletter Available
The July edition of the monthly Photographic Society of America (PSA) Washington State Membership Newsletter is now available. The newsletter typically includes event listings, photo news, equipment reviews, and more. Click HERE to view or download.
Peninsula Trail Coalition Seeks Olympic Discovery Trail Photos
OPCC member Susan White shared the following announcement.
The Peninsula Trail Coalition has shared that the Olympic Discovery Trail is under consideration for an article in Sunset Magazine later this year. They are seeking hi-resolution images for possible use in the article and social media if the article goes forward. Here are photo submission instructions and terms of use from the ODT website:
Send your photos to photos@olympicdiscoverytrail.org
Include your first and last name, as well as the approximate location along the Trail they were taken. By submitting images you agree to the terms asterisked below. High quality, high-resolution images are more likely to be picked and featured on the website, and elsewhere.
*By submitting photographs, you certify that anyone photographed within the images has given their consent to have their photo taken and shared at this level. Also that the images are of your own creation and you are granting Peninsula Trails Coalition unrestricted, royalty-free, perpetual rights to use, transmit, reproduce, and modify the images (in whole or in part), for any purpose without any form of compensation, and without further notification or permission.
EDUCATIONAL SPEAKER SERIES
Video Posted for June 16 Education Talk by Hector Astorga
The video recording of Hector Astorga’s well-organized and presented webinar What Makes an Award-Winning Image - How to Approach Nature Photography Competitions is now posted on the Recorded Presentations webpage (click HERE to access). Whether or not you’re interested in photography competitions, this talk provides a lot of useful information and good examples for improving the impact of your work.
Hector Astorga
MEMBER SHARING
Next Member Share Night Meeting is July 7 at 7:00 PM.
We will hold a hybrid event for the July 7 Member Share Night meeting. The in-person meeting will be at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sequim. Anyone not wanting to attend the in-person meeting at the church will still be able to participate via Zoom as usual. Please see the President’s Update above for details for details.
The monthly Special Theme for sharing is Nature/Wildlife.
For more information or questions about OPCC Member Share Night, contact Member Share Night Chair Dan McKenna (opccphotos@gmail.com).
FIELD TRIPS, WORKSHOPS, & MEET-UPS
Nature Photography at Port Williams County Park - Trip Report
We had a great turnout of about 14 members for this field trip…in fact, the photographers may have outnumbered the pigeon guillemots that were one of the featured subjects! Recently a pair of peregrine falcons has taken up residence on the bluff and the guillemots are understandably wary of those agile predators. The photography conditions were challenging, but it was a great day to hang out with friends on the beach. One of the goals of having field trips is to introduce members to locations and techniques so that they can revisit later on their own. A number of the field trip participants have reported returning to Port Williams after the field trip, when shooting conditions were more favorable - mission accomplished! Thanks to Todd Katke and Lori Moilanen for leading this trip.
OPCC July Field Trip - Flower and Macro Photography at the Woodcock Road Demonstration Garden
Tuesday July 12 at 8:00 AM.
In keeping with our July photo/education theme of Wildfowers/Macro, we will visit the Washington State University/Clallam County Master Gardener Foundation demonstration garden on Woodcock Road in Sequim. While this isn’t a site for wildflowers, there are plenty of garden flowers, vegetables, shrubs, and trees at this easily accessible site to keep things interesting. This is an excellent location for practicing basic skills as well as creative techniques such as selective focus, focus-stacking, in-camera multiple exposures, and intentional camera movement. It’s also a good place to use some of the macro gear Todd Katke mentioned at the last field trip, including tripods, reflectors, and diffusers. The site managers have given us permission to use tripods in the garden, so feel free to bring yours if you wish. A Master Gardener will be on hand to provide us with expert information on the garden and its plants.
An added bonus is that the Clallam County Master Gardener Foundation publishes an annual calendar featuring photos of the garden taken year ‘round and would welcome submissions from OPCC members. We’ll provide details on how you can share your work for this good cause.
Complete details and gear recommendations will be posted on the OPCC Field Trips webpage later this week. You can visit the Field Trip webpage by clicking HERE. For questions about this field trip contact Lori Moilanen (opcc4mail@gmail.com).
Some iPhone Snapshots From The Woodcock Demonstration Garden Last Week (Photo Credit: Lori Moilanen)
Giant Poppy
Garden Blur - Intentional Camera Movement
Woodcock Demonstration Garden Scene
Native Bee on Mock Orange - Creative Edit
Hoary Blue-Flowered Plant
COMPETITION/IMAGE EVALUATION
PSA Interclub Competition 2022-2023
The OPCC Board approved club participation in the next edition of the Photographic Society of America (PSA) Interclub Competition at the June meeting. Watch for more information on this competition and the selection process for creating OPCC’s submission in an upcoming edition of this newsletter and on the OPCC website. For more information, contact OPCC Competition Chair Peggy McClure (opcc.competition@gmail.com).
Reminder - OPCC Summer Competition/External Evaluation is Open for Submissions
Deadline for submissions: September 19
This is an open competition, so while the theme is Summer, the submissions maybe on any subject, color or monochrome. Your imagination is your only limitation! We have limited the number of submissions to two images per member so that we have ample time to discuss the image and comment on the judge’s scores. We look forward to viewing your submissions and seeing you at the October 6 meeting. Information and tools for OPCC competitions are located on the “Competition” webpage in the Members Only section of the website (click HERE to visit the Competition webpage). For more information contact OPCC Competition Chair Peggy McClure (opcc.competition@gmail.com).
Petapixel.com List of the Best Photography Competitions to Enter in 2022
Just for fun, click HERE for a link to a curated list of the best international photo contests to enter in 2022, from Petapixel.com.
Reminder - Deadline for Submitting Washington State Fair Photos is July 25.
The Washington State Fair – Northwest International Exhibition of Photography is accepting registration for entering through Saturday, July 23, 2022 and the last day to submit your entries is July 25, 2022. To view or download the instructions go to Enter a Competition at the Washington State Fair (thefair.com) and click on Northwest International Exhibition of Photography.
If You’re Aware of Competitions That Might Interest OPCC Members…
If you are aware of any competitions you think members might be interested in please contact Competition Chair Peggy McClure at opcc.competition@gmail.com. Peggy will gather the details and when appropriate we will publish information in the Newsletter and on the Website.
Information on a select list of external competitions (curated by Peggy McClure) can be found on the Competition webpage of the OPCC Website in the Members Only section.