In Focus: March 22 - 28
Photo Credit: Sherrie Cerutti
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 “Soothing Light” by Sherrie Cerutti. Sherrie says it brings her comfort and solace, and that’s the reason it’s hanging on the wall at the Sequim Cancer Center in memory of her parents and little sister. The image was taken in Sequim last year. The light was perfect, she says, just as the peacock laid its head to rest.
This is Sherrie’s second year with OPCC. It all started back in 2018 when she attended a meeting to listen to Keith Ross speak about his bird photography. She had just moved back to the Olympic Peninsula with a new digital camera and was very excited to get started. But it was connecting with Lewis Bennett and Ardythe Wendt in 2019 at the Clallam County Fair after she entered 3 images that really got her involved. They shared their passion for photography, information about the club, and encouraged her to join. The following year she was a member. And by the way, the three images she entered each won a ribbon…very cool!
Sherrie has been a photographer her whole life. She started out freelancing for the local papers (Sequim Gazette and the Peninsula Daily News) in the early 80’s with her 35mm Pentax K1000, which she still owns. Then it was off to journalism school, where she needed her images to move with video. She spent 20 years as a news photojournalist, a career that has taken her all over the country with unbelievable life experiences. The stories she could tell around the campfire! During her 30-year career in news she always had some sort of a point and shoot camera in her hand, never wanting to miss the moment, the light, or just the feeling of capturing a piece of history everyday…it beat working for a living she says.
She has since retired from the news business after 30 years. She’s now turned her love for photography back to a smaller camera and the digital world with her Canon 7D Mark II.
Her biggest fan was her mom. They used to jump in the car and chase the light or whatever crossed their path. Now, it’s her wife Karen who carries all her gear and holds the flash. Their journey has taken them all over the states, with dogs in tow.
Sherrie says that she doesn’t have a particular photographic style. She loves to photograph everything and anything…she guesses that’s the newsgirl in her. She just wants to capture the moment and the emotion she was feeling at the time. She wants her images to remind you of that special place or person in your life. She edits with Lightroom now, but wants to learn photoshop and other programs.
Sherrie has been published in several newspapers throughout her life. In the last few years she was published twice in the Yakima Magazine for the Lavender festival and the Tulip Festival. This was pretty special to her. She is also an Emmy-nominated photojournalist in the Seattle and San Francisco television market.
Sherrie Cerutti
Sherrie on the job covering a California wildfire in 2008
NEWS
Quote of the Week
"A good photograph is like a good hound dog, dumb, but eloquent." - Eugene Atget
A Message on OPCC Leadership Changes From New President Jonas Benjamins
As of last Monday, Peg Hanson has resigned as President of the Olympic Peaks Camera Club (OPCC). Peg and I had a very close working relationship and are good friends, so I hate to see her go.
Per our By-Laws, since Peg has officially resigned, I am now the President of the club. Also per the By-Laws, there are two distinct levels of leadership: The Executive Board and the Executive Committee. The Executive Board is elected and consists of the President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Executive Committee consists of the Executive Board plus all the Committee Chairs. Officially replacing the Vice President position will take some time, as a new candidate must be formally nominated by the Board and then elected by a vote of the OPCC membership.
I have given a lot of thought as to whether I want to continue as President of OPCC. After some soul-searching, and consulting with all the other OPCC Executive Committee members, I have decided to stay on. In addition to me being officially your new President now, Bruce Fryxell has agreed to be our new Vice President (in an acting capacity until formally elected by the membership). Also, Susan White has agreed to return as our Share Chair and Projectionist. All of this is good news for our club!
Many thanks to Peg for her efforts over the past few months, including promoting the design of a new OPCC logo and designing and distributing new OPCC business cards.
Our club is doing great and you can all take credit for that! Feel free to call me (206-910-4768) or email me (opccpres@gmail.com) at any time.
Mike Shaw Presentation Follow-up: Recording, Website Links, and a Special Milky Way Challenge
We had a great visit with our Education Night speaker Mike Shaw on March 18. From questions on star trackers to Sasquatch, he hardly missed a beat. To view the recording of Mike Shaw’s presentation visit the Education Night Videos webpage by clicking HERE. To visit his website click HERE. For information and tutorials on the PlanIt! app that Mike discussed click HERE. Mike has issued a challenge for the nightscape photographers among us: photos of the Milky Way over Sequim lavender fields in July. Are we up for the challenge???
Last Chance! Voting on NWCCC Traveling Digital Salon Round 1 Ends March 25.
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 as many votes as possible!
You can view the OPCC entry in this competition on the OPCC Competition Slide Shows webpage.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
Deadline to Submit Photos for the April Member Share Night is Thursday, March 25 at 11:00 PM.
The next OPCC Share Night is coming up on April 1. The image submission deadline for this meeting is March 25.
This meeting will be open for all categories of member sharing, including the new “Your Photo My Way” editing option (see more on this below). The Special Challenge Theme for this meeting is “Moving Water.” Members are invited to submit up to three images per person for general/special category sharing, plus one additional image for the “Your Photo My Way” editing option.
For general instructions on formatting and submitting your images for Member Share Night click HERE
For ideas on shooting moving water, click HERE and scroll down the page for a video and some sample images.
New! Your Photo My Way (YPMW)
Each month, with the permission of the maker, we will select a new photo for creative editing. OPCC members will have the opportunity to individually edit the selected photo – as creatively as they wish - and submit the resulting image for review and discussion at the next share meeting. If you would like to participate just follow the steps below. For questions contact Share Chair Susan White at opccphotos@gmail.com.
Step-By-Step Instructions For “Your Photo My Way” Photo Editing
Click HERE to go to the OPCC April Share Night webpage.
Find the YPMW photo of the month:
Download the photo of the month from the OPCC website by clicking on it or using the download button. When it opens, RIGHT click and use “save image as” to save the photo to your personal computer.
Edit the photo using any software you like.
Keep notes on what you did to the photo (filters, tools, etc.)
Name your photo using the following format: Y_E_Oldbarn_FirstnameLastInitial.jpg
(for example, Y_E_oldbarn_SusanW.jpg)Send to opccphotos@gmail.com with your other photos for the April 1 share night (this edited photo can be submitted in addition to the maximum of 3 photos you are allowed to submit for general/specialsharing). The deadline for submission is March 25 at 11 PM.
We hope to see you (and your photos) at the April 1 meeting via Zoom.
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).