In Focus February 8-14
Photo Credit: Jim Arnold
This weekly 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 weekly on Sunday evenings. The deadline for new submissions for the following week is Friday at midnight.
MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER
This week’s cover photo is “Sun and Snow” by OPCC member Jim Arnold. His image, with its snow-covered trees and soft golden light, is perfect for celebrating last week’s second anniversary of Snowmaggedon 2019.
Jim has been active in the Olympic Peninsula arts and photography communities for many years. He currently participates in several photography-related Facebook groups and in the past has served as a photo judge at the Clallam County Fair. Jim joined OPCC as a new member at the end of 2020.
Jim’s interest in photography began in Germany, while his father was stationed there in the Air Force. The base's community center offered several classes that taught him both photography and darkroom skills. He put his new skills to good use with his first “serious" camera, a Rolleichord medium-format twin lens reflex camera. An after-graduation senior class trip to the UK helped spark an interest in historical architecture. Many years later he and his late wife established a film photography business that specialized in historical architecture, primarily in Scotland and Ireland, and for over 15 years they were regular vendors at various art and Celtic-themed festivals.
Jim has used a wide variety of film and digital cameras over the years. He currently shoots with a bridge camera, the Lumix FZ1000, and a Lumix pocket camera. His current interests still lean towards historical architecture photography (in places like Port Townsend and New Orleans, for example), as well as black and white fine art photography and Olympic Peninsula landscape photography. His goal for 2021 is to learn more about photo editing software that uses AI technology, including some Topaz products and Luminar.
Jim Arnold
Jim’s first “serious” camera looked something like this.
NEWS
Quote of the Week
“You do not take a photograph, you make it.” - Ansel Adams
PSA Washington State Membership Newsletter
The February edition of the PSA Washington State Membership Newsletter is now available. Gear reviews, webinar listings, and more. Click HERE to view the newsletter.
New OPCC Website Content
Colleen Bittner and Lori Moilanen continue to add and refine content on the new OPCC website. This week they’re working on the Member Share Night webpage. Please see updated information on Member Share Night image sharing options and image title codes, plus links to the “My Image Your Way” selection of the month with instructions for downloading and editing.
February 4 Member Share Night Recording Now Available - Time Sensitive
The recording code for the February 4 meeting video recording is now available on the OPCC website Zoom Codes webpage. Act soon - the video will be available for viewing or downloading for only 10 days before being deleted.
Your Photo My Way (YPMW)
YPMW is a new creative activity for 2021. See the OPCC Member Share Night webpage for details. The photo selected for this activity from last week’s Member Share Night is Ardythe Wendt's Barn. This photo can be downloaded from the April Member Share Night event on the Member Share Night page. Normally we’d review the edited YPMW images the following month. However, to accommodate guest reviewer Jeanne Scott at the March 4 meeting, we’ve postponed the YPMW discussion of the barn photo until the April 1 meeting. The deadline for submitting edited images to for sharing at the April 1 meeting is March 25.
For more information contact OPCC Share Night/Projection Chair Susan White at opccphotos@gmail.com.
“Sharing Codes” for Member Share Night Image Titles Demystified
From Colleen Bittner: There was some confusion at the meeting last week regarding what the coding for Member Share Night image titles really means. Member Share Nights are a new activity for 2021, so it’s a learning process for all of us. Thanks for your patience! Please visit the OPCC Member Share Night page to see details in Share Nights Explained.
Here’s what the letter codes represent when titling your photos for Member Share Nights, :
P = I just want to share my image, no critiques please.
C = I welcome critique on my photo
E = the club can select my photo to edit as a “Your Photo My Way” (YPMW) project. NOTE: We will still comment/critique on all E photos just as we do the C photos. However, we will only select from the E-coded photos for YPMY edits. We recognize that some people are not comfortable having their photo edited by others.
Some photos will be so complete and awe-inspiring that none of us would think to edit them. But other images will inspire dialogue and suggestions. These photos could lend themselves to a fun editing exercise (YPMW), with results usually presented the next month. We really encourage newbies to post processing to code their photos E. Then as the club makes lots of suggestions on Member Share Night, we could potentially chose that photo to show you all the possibilities (results presented the following month).
Let’s Take a Road Trip to Oregon…Virtually
OPCC Field Trip Chair Sandy Woods invites you to submit up to ten photos from Oregon as part of our next virtual field trip. Please submit photos to Sandy, AKA the field trip chair, on or before March 15th using the OPCC photo submission guidelines (see “How to Submit Photos” on the Member Share Night webpage for instructions). If Led Zeppelin was the theme music for the Going to California virtual field trip. what will the musical theme for a road trip to Oregon be?
New Members
OPCC extends a warm welcome to our newest family membership - Kristine Robinson and Echo Von Echo. Nice to see you at last week’s Zoom meeting!
COMING UP THIS WEEK
NWCCC “Traveling Digital Salon” Competition - Deadline for Submitting Images is Sunday February 14
Last call for the Northwest Council of Camera Clubs (NWCCC) 2021 Traveling Digital Image Salon. This event replaces the NWCCC Traveling Print Salon for 2021. Thanks to OPCC’s NWCCC Liaison Rebecca Hanson for facilitating our participation in this event.
The way it works is that each of the 9 participating NWCCC clubs get another club’s images each month to judge from March through October. OPCC members will get a URL link each month to view and vote on the 4 best images from the club of the month. Stay tuned for more details on how OPCC voting will work. NWCCC will keep track of the monthly winners. The top photos will be reviewed by external judges at the end of the traveling salon and the “best of the best” will be announced at the NWCCC Fall Conference in November.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS
Eligibility: You must be an OPCC member to participate.
Number of images: Each member may submit up to 4 images.
Categories: There are no categories. All images must be suitable for all audiences.
File Requirements: Size your images to a maximum width of 1920 px or a maximum height of 1080 px for vertical images. Color space is sRGB. Save in jpg format. There should be no watermarks or other identifiers on your image.
File Naming: Images should be named as follows: Title_Maker_Priority#.jpg. (e.g., My Photo_AnayaS_1.jpg). If you are sending more than one image, please prioritize them as best, second best…and number with 1, 2, 3, 4. We may not be able to use ALL of your images, but we will certainly try to use at least one, if not more. This depends on what we receive. NWCCC wants 25 images, not less, not more.
Email: Mail your images to OPCC.Competition@gmail.com
Deadline: The deadline for submitting your images is February 14.
For more information contact Competition Chair Suzanne Anaya (OPCC.Competition@gmail.com).
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Member Share Night - Monthly Themes and More
CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR THEME TITLE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. For questions, contact Share Night/Projection Chair Susan White at opccphotos@gmail.com.
Virtual Field Trips
There are currently two Virtual Field Trips in progress. CLICK ON AN IMAGE OR FIELD TRIP TITLE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. For questions or to suggest a new Virtual Field Trip idea contact Sandra Woods (fieldtrips4opcc@gmail.com).
External Competition Opportunities
CLICK ON AN IMAGE OR EVENT TITLE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. For questions or to suggest a new competition or juried exhibition opportunity contact Competition Chair Suzanne Anaya (secretary4opcc@gmail.com).