In Focus: March 15 - 21

Mar 15

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

Embracing the March monthly challenge theme of Still Life Photography, this week’s cover photo is Lemons in Compote by Ellen Bogenschutz. This is a personal favorite photo of hers from Ellen’s still life photo journey. The lead crystal compote in the image came to the U.S. with her Great Grandfather’s Scottish family, so she’s happy to honor it by using it in photos.

Ellen describes herself as “definitely a hobbyist photographer” and she’s actively working at expanding her knowledge and experience in the digital photographic world as much as she can.

Ellen was introduced to creative photography in college as part of her Art/Design curriculum and really enjoyed seeing the magic appear in the dark room. After years of chronicling her children and their lives with point-and-shoots, she wanted “a real camera” for her youngest’s college graduation. The result - her red Nikon D3300. “Thank goodness for the Auto setting!” she says. The camera intimidated her even though she knew how to use a SLR…the electronics and multiple functions overwhelmed her at first. She used the camera to the best of her ability in the Southwest on a winter trip, and realized she needed more information. She then bought the book D3300 for Dummies - don’t laugh she says - it really was a comprehensive book on all the buttons and dials and explained the workings and the why-fors of the camera. After reading the book, she realized she need lessons. She found a free course on the internet (community college for free, and wherever you are) that took a year to complete. She thought, “that’s my pace alright!” The internet is a great source for information, but she wanted some hands-on guidance and person-to-person critiquing.

Flash forward to 2020. She found the Olympic Peaks Camera Club (OPCC) and knew that’s where she’d meet like-minded, experienced, and knowledgeable people. Based on the little interaction she’s had so far, that’s definitely the case, she says. She joined in approximately April or May of 2020 and was lucky enough to attend a few meetings before “the shutdown”. Her strongest interest in photography was capturing landscapes, but through new experiences with multiple genres she’s gravitating towards still-life, macro, and food photography.

Her goal for this year is to keep exploiting her little D3300 until she feels she’s earned the experience to upgrade. Pursuing as many outlets of inspiration as possible this year will help her grow, and she believes OPCC is a great source for that. Another goal is to enter juried competitions, which the club is facilitating very well, she says. She’s looking froward to the year to come!

Look for Ellen’s work in the NWCCC 2021 Traveling Digital Salon and in the future in the “Birds of the Spit” virtual field trip gallery.

NEWS

Quote of the Week

“A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know.” - Diane Arbus.

Women’s (Photographic) History Month - From OPCC President Peg Hanson

While growing up in rural New Jersey in the 1950s, I recall my father having a collection of cameras and lenses that intrigued me, but that I was never permitted to touch. And although I inherited his photographic passion and wanted the opportunity to learn the technical side of recording images, that opportunity was not open to me because I was female.

Now, I still find my camera gear intimidating but I’m inspired by so many other female photographers throughout the Peninsula, Washington and the world. And because of this, I hope you’ll help me celebrate Women’s History month as Women’s Photographic History Month.

We have a wonderful collection of photographers among us and I’m thrilled that so many of you are female. To honor Women’s History Month we’ve highlighted four female OPCC members with very different photographic journeys for the month of March: Marian Bodart, Natalie Hyde, Ellen Bogenschutz, and (sneak peek) Sherrie Cerutti. To view Marian’s and Natalie’s bios please visit the OPCC Webite News Page for previous editions of the In Focus newsletter. Ellens’ bio is above. Please stay tuned for next week’s cameo of Sherrie. We will continue to celebrate both male and female OPCC members in the Meet the Photographer newsletter feature in the months to come.

Open Board Position - Volunteer Needed

OPCC President Peg Hanson reports that the position of Photo Share Chair is still open. Please consider volunteering for this important position. According to the OPCC job description, the Photo Share Chair shall be responsible for the collection, organization, OPCC cloud-based storage, and presentation of member photo submissions for OPCC slideshow sharing. The Chair will help members to resize their images for presentation, work with the website team to supply content for the club’s image sharing page and coordinate with the Field Trip Chair to supply links to theme-based, copyright-free content in support of OPCC Field Trip themes and Special Topics. Please reply to Peg at opccpres@gmail.com if interested in volunteering.

Voting for Round 1 of the NWCCC 2021 Traveling Digital Salon Continues

The voting period for Round 1 of the Northwest Council of Camera Clubs (NWCCC) 2021 Traveling Digital Salon is open through March 25. We are currently voting on images from the Puget Sound Camera Club (PSCC). All OPCC members are eligible to vote and were sent an email on Friday March 5 with instructions for voting, plus links to view the PSCC images and our automated club ballot. Voting is easy - just three simple steps - and we’d like more votes!

You can view the OPCC entry in this competition on the OPCC Competition Slide Shows webpage.

Nature Photographers of the Pacific Northwest (NPPNW) Photo Competition Submission Deadline is March 20.

NPPNW will hold its 41st meeting on Saturday April 3 from 9:00 - 12:00 PM via Zoom. Attendance is free, but you must pre-register. Deadline for registration is March 30. A digital image photo competition is included as part of this meeting. Up to two images may be submitted. The categories will be Plant Life, Scenic, and Wildlife. The deadline for submitting images is Saturday March 20.

For more information, visit the NPPNW website.

Virtual Field Trip to Oregon Ends March 15

If you haven’t done so already, please submit up to ten (10) Oregon photos to Field Trip Chair Sandra Woods (fieldtrips4opcc@gmail.com) by March 15.. For more information on this virtual field trip visit the Field Trips webpage.

A Warm Welcome to…

Please welcome our newest member, Jean Siesener. Jean is member #71 this year. Jean, we’re hopeful that we’ll get to meet you in person before the year ends!

COMING UP THIS WEEK

Guest Speaker Mike Shaw: Planning and Creating Trophy Milky Way Nightscapes. March 18, 6:00 PM.

Dr. Mike Shaw is an award-winning photographer, author, speaker and workshop leader based in St. Paul, Minnesota. See Mike’s full bio on the Education Nights Event Page. Visit Mike’s webpage for examples of his work and lots of good information on planning, techniques, and gear for nightscape photography.

There will be a very special DOOR PRIZE for this meeting - a brand new OPCC logo sweatshirt donated by President Peg Hanson and husband Jim Hanson. Log into the meeting via Zoom and your name will be added to the hat for a drawing at the end of Mike’s presentation.

Mike’s presentation is sponsored by OPCC members Lori Moilanen and Bruce Fryxell.

Dr. Mike Shaw

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 Chair Sally Harris at opccphotos@gmail.com.

Virtual Field Trips

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 (OPCC.competition@gmail.com).

Guest User