Focal Point
AUGUST 2010
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Northern California Professional Photographers
Focal Point
AUGUST 2010
Northern California Professional Photographers Officers
Committee Chairs and Coordinators
Miscellaneous
President Wayne Miller 925-330-8737 president@ncpponline.org
blog / Website Wayne Miller 925-330-8737 blogomeister@ncpponline.org
1st Vice President Programs Denny Weigand 925-336-7994 1stvp@ncpponline.org
Newsletter - Focal Point Editor Tom O’Connor 925-586-2745 newsletter@ncpponline.org
2nd Vice President Print Competition Tom O'Connor 925-586-2745 2ndvp@ncpponline.org
FP Copy Editor Denny Weigand 925-336-7994 newsletter@ncpponline.org
3rd Vice President Membership Stacey Flurscheim 925-330-7130 3rdvp@ncpponline.org
Hospitality Lisa Duncan 925-284-3878 hospitality@ncpponline.org
Treasurer Malcolm Slight 925-330-8737
treasurer@ncpponline.org
Membership Stacey Flurscheim 925-330-7130 3rdvp@ncpponline.org
Secretary Kevallyn Paskos 925-766-3121 secretary@ncpponline.org
Apprentice Membership Ann Gordon 510-222-4115 appmembership@ncpponline.org
Send Newsletter information to: Tom O'Connor. newsletter@ncpponline.org Deadline for submission of articles and ad copy is the 24th of each month. Information received after the deadline cannot be guaranteed publication.
Night School
Focal Point is published by Northern California Professional Photographers. Articles and comments are invited; publication is subject to space available and editorial approval. Note: Articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of NCPP. Ads and flyers may or may not have the endorsement of NCPP or its Board of Directors.
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AUGUST 2010 Table of Contents
Presidents Message
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August Program - Jules Bianchi "Let's be Friends!"
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The Thought Process of Print Comp by Laura Cottril
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July Print Competition
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Best of Show - July PPA Style
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Images from June Meeting
10 - 13
PPA Merit Print Winners
14 - 29
Membership Information
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Coming in September - Roger Daines "Achieving the 80+ Image in Print Competitions"
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NCPP Sustaining Members
32 - 37
Our Neighboring Affiliates
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Calendar - Important Dates
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Sunset Chart
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NCPP meeting this month
TUESDAY, AUGUST 10th, 2010
7:00 PM Start Time
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Northern California Professional Photographers
Focal Point
AUGUST 2010
Presidents Message - Wayne Miller (aka PdTG guy) What is on the horizon for the next year? What a fantastic event our July 13th meeting was with a great speaker “the becker”, and a ton of giveaways and prizes from our sponsors. We had over $2,500 in door prizes (Wintec 16-GB CF (50) cards, SmugMug camera straps to all) and raffle prizes worth over $2,500. I would like to thank all our sponsors: Bayphoto who supplied appetizers, Borrowed Lens, Burrell Color Imaging, Camera West, Canvas On Demand, OnOne software, Photoflex, Philip Mauer Photomounting, SmugMug, and Wintec. Be sure to support our local sponsors. I also would like to thank all the NCPP members that jumped in to help with the event. Your help is really appreciated! We have a great new line up of officers: 1st VP Programs-Denny Weigand, 2nd VP Print Comp-Tom O’Connor, 3rd VP Membership-Stacey Flurcheim, Treasurer-Malcolm Slight, and Secretary-Kevallyn Paskos. The next year looks very promising for NCPP with this great group. We also have some great support chairs: Hospitality- Lisa Duncan, Social Media-Tod Gomes, Newsletter- Tom O’Connor, Copy Editor- Denny Weigand, Webmaster-Wayne Miller, and Apprentice Membership-Ann Gordon. We also have a new website same address but with more content: About, Competition, Education, Groups, Meetings, Members, News, Newsletter, Payments, Speakers, Sponsors, and several subcategories. Bookmark the page or subscribe to the RSS feed for updates. This will be a one stop location for easy navigation of NCPP current events. http://ncpponline.org/ Members can now add comments on the site about speakers, news items, tips, and contribute to the richness of the website. The idea is to have everything NCPP related in one location and easy to navigate. There is also a member’s only page that will require a password. For this Members Only Area, your access password will be forth coming. Your contribution is important and will add value to all photographers in our group. Wow the Focal Point seems to have gone viral with over 1,000 views as of this writing. That is huge since we use to only have 80-100 copies when we printed it last year. It has taken a while to get to this point so please contribute to the website and newsletter so we can show the world what a great group we are and that we share knowledge with other photographers in the community. PPC Professional Photographers of California is having the San Francisco Symposium & Expo August 13-15 in South San Francisco and it is a worthwhile experience to attend. NCPP will have some delegates there to help spread the news about our organization. Would love to have a few more volunteers…hint hint. Speaking of volunteers: We still need a CE Continuous Education Chair to put on a few events for our members. Maybe two months a year we have a three studio tour of some of NCPP members studio, home or storefront, or we have a few all day workshops. If you want more info, contact me to discuss. I know that several members were asking “what happened to Night School?” Well it died because of lack of interest and a chair to run it. If you want it back please step up. When you give back to your organization you grow as an individual.
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AUGUST 2010
Presidents Message - Wayne Miller (aka PdTG guy) The PdTG (Photo detour Gang) has taken a summer hiatus. The group will have a few outings and will return in the fall. It seems like the summer sun is harsh in the mornings and people are traveling, busy, or on vacation. I myself prefer fall and winter for landscapes and San Francisco is best shot in the winter because of fog and smog. So stay turned to the PdTG Yahoo emails for upcoming events. Any ideas for some outings would be appreciated. If you haven’t found or signed in/up for some useful links check out the following, (these are also on the new NCPP website). Where to find us
Recent PdTG outing can you guess whom the photographers are? Taken with the iPhone and Photogene app.
Mark your calendar for our next meeting August 10th, with Jules Bianchi speaking on Let’s be Friends! . Jules is a great photographer and educator. Check out her website, http://julescafe.com/. If you are interested in social media then you will not want to miss this meeting. Remember that socializing with other photographers is in the meeting room from 6-7:00pm and the meeting starts at 7:00pm sharp. NCPP Mission Statement: The Northern California Professional Photographers is an organization dedicated to advancing the business of professional photography. Our purpose is to create an environment amongst professional photographers that will inspire each of us and to help one another grow as business professionals and artists. 5
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AUGUST 2010 Presenting: Jules Bianchi - "Let's be Friends!"
OUTLINE: Let's be friends! How much information is too much?? Learn how using social media can move you forward in your business, boost your SEO position & ultimately help you find the right clients for you. We'll talk about Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Wordpress, and how all those things can work together to enhance your business, and how to utilize them effectively. BIO: Jules studied film at UCSB, which lended itself to her cinematic, storytelling photographic style. After working in the film industry for seven years, she decided she needed to do more valuable work, so she started shooting weddings. Since then, she's been honored to have her work published in People, Los Angeles Weddings, Destination I Do, Today's Bride, The Knot, Bride & Bloom, Ceremony, & Your Wedding Day magazines and featured in professional samples from Leather Craftsmen, Willowbooks, Livebooks, Kolo, and Pictage. Besides shooting, she also loves teaching. She has been mentoring photographers for a few years now, as well as teaching her own seminars and speaking for associations such as Pictage’s Partnercon, the Professional Photographers of the Greater Bay Area, the Professional Photographers of Channel Islands, and Kevin Kubota’s Digital Bootcamp. Jules Cafe (http://www.julescafe.com) came about as a way for her to more easily share with photographers around the world. www.julesbianchi.com 323.428.6402
NCPP members are free, Guest fee is $20 in advance PayPal by 8/9/2010 or $30 at the door.
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AUGUST 2010
The Thought Process of Print Comp - by Laura Cottril "Forged From Love" I did not win a merit for this image but wanted to include it with my thoughts. I never really liked the title because I thought it was too sappy, but could not think of a better one. I’d like something that contrasts the fragile soft baby with the cold hard steel of the anvil. I had a lot of dissention on this image too. They said the background was too busy, so I worked it in Photoshop, clearing hotspots and burning, burning, burning. Because the degree of difficulty was high on this image and I loved the lighting and the unique setting I really wanted this image to be successful. I’d love to get any feedback or title suggestions and maybe I can re-work it and enter it next year at Western States. In summary I would say firstly I was super-picky about choosing my images. I always solicit opinions from friends, family, my lab and my photographer friends. It was also super helpful to listen to Tim Mathieson speak about print comp this spring. I HIGHLY recommend going to him if he comes back. Make the appropriate changes from people’s comments. Make it as perfect as you can in every way. Then listen to your gut. Send what you believe in. Have faith. Send it off with a smile. And let go.
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AUGUST 2010 Print Competition PPA Style
This month we are having PPA style print competition. Bring your images and register them with Tom O'Connor. You may enter up to two images. There will be a total of only 20 images allowed in the competition. They need to be registered before 6:58pm. Images entered after that time will not be allowed. Good luck to all!! If you are interested in volunteering with print comp, please contact Tom O'Connor at 925-586-2745 or Email Tom @ toconnorphotography@astound.net.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! July 2010 Print Comp Winner
1st Place - Tom O'Connor "Ancient Dwelling" 2nd Place - Tom O'Connor "Roundup"
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AUGUST 2010 Best of Show by Tom O'Connor
"Ancient Dwelling" This image was taken in Canyon de Chelly, (pronounced Shay), in January of 2007. At the time I was using my first digital camera, an Olympus E1. It was only 5.1 mp but it took very sharp images. This dwelling was on the property owned by our Navajo guide's family. But it was fenced off and due to the height of the fence wires, I had trouble getting the shot I wanted. The original image was kind of bland as it was an overcast day in the winter. I have wanted to do a book on Canyon de Chelly and wanted to give all of the images a brown/gold tone to make them look different than sepia or black and white, but keeping an old look to them since the canyon has so much history. I tried several different looks and then when I was at Pier 24, I saw an image there that was done similar to what I had in mind. I began to work towards the tones in that image, but ended up not liking that tone on the canyon images. So I just kept playing with it until I got a tone that I liked. I also used a plug-in software called AKVIS Enhancer. It works on the edges of the colors and really brings out texture especially in sandstone and rock. I did not apply sharpening as that in combination with Enhancer was too much. Then I started playing with the vignette. I was not really happy with it, but for some reason stuck with it. It was the major criticism from the judges. So in the end, I should have left it out. There was a Pictograph on the canyon wall that I removed. The symbol is called "Whirling Logs" and is used in many cultures. The North American symbol depicts the cyclic motion of life, seasons and the four winds. Taken from the image of a tree in a whirlwind, this image is frequently found in Navajo sand paintings. It is considered a powerful medicine. So, while it has good meaning, it looks much like the German Swastika which has no good meaning to me, and I thought, many others too. So for better or worse, I took it out. So, I do not know if I will ever do the book or if this is the tone I will use, but I had fun playing with it. We had Phil Borges speak at NCPP back in August of 2006. He applied some treatment to all of his photos very successfully. They were kind of somewhat de-saturated but still leaving the people in the images with a kind of light brown tone. He managed to keep all of his images very consistent. I have always thought of the look of his images and wanted to do something similar and that has been part of my thought process about the Canyon de Chelly book also.
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AUGUST 2010 July Meeting Images
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AUGUST 2010 July Meeting Images
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AUGUST 2010 July Meeting Images
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AUGUST 2010 July Meeting Images
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AUGUST 2010
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Laura Cottril Huck Finn: When I look at this image, I can look forever. The impact for me is the timeless nature, the rule of thirds composition, the light on his back and the texture of the water. Every time I would consider it I felt in my gut that I just loved this image. I do work with www.jonathanpenney.com and every year I send Jonathan my favorite images and get his recommendation of what to enter in print competition. This year he chose Huck Finn and asked if he could do a special treatment on it. I was open to anything and was curious to see what he would create. He took the photo and did an aging technique among other finessing and then deckle edged the paper and mounted it to an aged matte. The technique fit the timeless image well and prompted me to name it Huck Finn. Jonathan has since asked my permission to show the image on his new website in the before and after section!
Laura Cottril Baby Talk: I loved the sweetness of this image and the story of loving parents and a child with her own independent mind. In this series of images the baby was not smiling sweetly in any of them although the images told a story. I took advantage of the story and that the baby looked like she was talking and named it Baby Talk. I took the objectionable thing and made it the title. That way it brings a little humor to the image, it’s clear to the judges that I know she is not a sweet smiling baby and it tells a story. I felt good about this decision. I played with the levels and made sure I held detail in dad’s hair as well as some burning and dodging. I was advised by some to enter this and others to not enter it. The one who advised against it didn’t like the title or that the baby was not making a perfect expression. This is a good example of what I could encounter at the judges panel. It all depends on who is sitting there for me. I took a chance, believed in the image and let it go.
Laura Cottril New Kids on the Block: This image I loved because of the contrast of the young kids and their varied expressions and the old neighborhood. I loved that the title described both so neatly. I try hard for titles that are simple and fitting and if possible with a little humor. I believe a title can bring a print up a notch if chosen well. I applied a little LucisArt filter to give the image a Norman Rockwell effect.
Lisa Duncan Perfect Day any Which Way: I took this image on a “Photo deTour Gang (PdTG)� outing to Sausalito May 18th 2009. I used a 15mm fisheye lens and bracketed three shots two stops apart. My setting was 1/200 second at f20, iso was 100. I processed the image in Photomatix and made slight improvements in Photoshop. I thought the sky was beautiful where it met the mast of all the boats in the background. It was easy to title it perfect day and that is typical of the outings with PdTG. This print received a Merit
Michael McNamara Shasta's Ghost: We were heading north on I5 late in the afternoon when Mt. Shasta and its magnificent companion appeared. There was a little color in the cloud, but not much elsewhere. I framed the exposure standing on an overpass. The tree line made a perfect base. I put Shasta, brightly lit from the west, on the lower left to offset the weight of the cloud. I used Photoshop lightly to enhance tonality especially in the cloud and to move a tree top or two around. The title, "Shasta's Ghost", seemed a natural for the surreal results.
Richard Stahlberg Capturing Jenny's Radiance: A wonderful couple came to me a few years ago for maternity photos. Both of them loved my black and white images and wanted all of their photos to be in B&W. During our session, I did a variety of poses, some with both of them together, and some with Jenny alone. There were a number of images that came out absolutely beautiful, but the image I titled “Capturing Jenny’s Radiance” was by far my favorite. I feel the deep side lighting I used in the image helps add a ‘glow’ and enhances the natural radiance that is there during that wonderful time of pregnancy. I am always mindful that this is a very special time for both the Mom and Dad to be, and feel honored that, out of all the photographers they could have selected, they chose me to document this special time, so I do my best, in every session, to have the images I create be equally special. It was only a couple of years ago that I began to have interest in pursuing a Masters degree from PPA, so, even though I created “Capturing Jenny’s Radiance” a few years ago, last year was the first time I entered it in PPA’s International Competition…... It did not merit. Instead of giving up, I re-cropped it to a vertical, did a little ‘artwork’ on the image in Photoshop, (so there would be detail in the shadow areas of her hair), and re-entered it in this year’s competition. Fortunately, the judges liked it this year. Don’t be discouraged if your prints do not score where you think they should. There is a saying I heard many years ago….”If you don’t like the score your print received, get a new set of judges”. First, (if you absolutely LOVE your image), get an objective opinion about your print from someone you respect, and then enter it with a new set of judges. What have you got to lose? Congratulations again to all of the others whose prints merited.
Brent Walton After School Detention: This is a neighbor girl who was more than willing to pose for a photo one afternoon. There was a chair behind one of the downtown buildings, and I simply asked her to sit there and act bored. The image itself was tweaked in Lightroom to get the color saturations. Basically, I played with the HSL sliders until I saw something I really liked. I did do some Photoshop work on the electric meter, the sticker on the back of the chair and I added a brick wall mat and a stroke around the image. There was nothing "Photoshop" about her outfit. That's the way she dresses. The colors on the brick walkway are from moss and algae and my Lightroom tweaks turned them into colors that look painted. What can I say? I didn't know those colors were there until I started saturating different colors in the HSL section of Develop. I then uploaded it to Bay Photo to print.
Focal Point
AUGUST 2010 Membership Information
New NCPP Applicants: Eduardo Cardona Application Date: 7/13/2010 Membership Category: Professional Active Sponsor: Denny Weigand Company Name: Hollywood Dreams Photography Address: 4881 Teakwood Drive, Oakley, CA 94561 Phone: 925-550-1391 Email: Hollywood.dreams@yahoo.com Website: NA
Contact Stacey Flurscheim with / for any Membership Information Stacey Flurscheim @ 925-330-7130
APPRENTICE NEWS Contact: Ann Gordon @ 510-222-4115
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AUGUST 2010
NCPP Proudly Presents on September 14th: - Roger Daines
“Achieving the 80+ image in Print Competitions” Roger became a wedding and portrait photographer as a second career in the 1980’s. He went to West Coast School and “saw the light” with a program by Dean Collins. Roger went into commercial work and enjoyed that as he made use of his engineering past in photographing angles, patterns and shapes. Currently Roger is phasing his photography business into retirement. He is taking on an executive business manager position for Professional Photographers of California. Roger has a long list of awards and accomplishments that bring credibility to teaching about print competition. He is an enjoyable speaker and brings humor to his interactive program. Below are some of the areas of Print Competition that Roger will cover. Print Competition and Achieving the 80+ Image Judging categories by points Challenges Why should we get excited about an 80??? Why enter print competition? Why “not” enter? What makes an 80+ image? Choosing your images for competition Image size requirements for non-masters Local Affiliate Print Competition State Competition – PPC Regional – Western States Combined Competition So, come and learn more about print competition, then participate in print comp. The experience will help you to become a better photographer.
NCPP members are free, Guest fee is $20 in advance via PayPal by 9/13/ or $30 at the door.
Guests click here to use PayPal online for an Early Bird rate of $20
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AUGUST 2010 NCPP Sustaining Members
Sustaining Members are companies that manufacture or distribute photographic equipment, laboratories, publishers or firms providing services to photographers. These Sustaining Members also contribute to the welfare of NCPP, with monetary and technical support. Sustaining Members may participate in all NCPP events, however they may not vote or hold office. We encourage our NCPP members to support our Sustaining Members. If you are interested in becoming a Sustaining Member, contact Denny Weigand. 925-336-7994 or E-mail @ digitalwhims@comcast.net -Listed Alphabetically-
THE ART OF PICTURE FRAMING APF is a full-service wholesale custom framing facility. We work closely with Fine Art and Framing Galleries, Interior Designers, Professional Photographers, Art Consultants, Retailers and others in need of custom framing at wholesale prices. APF specializes in creating custom programs or packages to your individual business or market needs. We offer superior quality with flexible pricing to fit your individual needs. Contact: Mike Moretti 1084 Shary Circle, #B Concord, CA 94518 (Located behind Costco) E-mail: apfwholesale@sbcglobal.net 925-689-5177 web: http://stores.apfwholesale.com/StoreFront.bok
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AUGUST 2010 NCPP Sustaining Members
BAY PHOTO LAB Contact: Debbie Thomas E-mail: debbie@bayphoto.com 510-585-7049 web: http://www.bayphoto.com/ 2161 Delaware Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 800-435-6686 fax: 931-475-5257
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AUGUST 2010 NCPP Sustaining Members
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AUGUST 2010 NCPP Sustaining Members
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AUGUST 2010 NCPP Sustaining Members
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AUGUST 2010 NCPP Sustaining Members
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AUGUST 2010 Our Neighboring Affiliates
PPC Professional Photographers of California Affiliates
City
Company Name â–˛
Phone
All Valley Professional Photographers - AVPP
La Canada Flintridge
(818) 262-7903
Associated Image Makers - AIM
Fairfield
1-888-442-6606
Central Valley Professional Photographers - CVPP
Fresno
559 266-0305
Channel Islands Professional Photographers Association - CIPPA
Camarillo
(805) 573-7637
Gold Coast Professional Photographers Association - GCPPA
Pismo Beach
805 733-5197
Inland Empire Professional Photographers & Videographers - IEPPV
Riverside
951-737-7310
Northern California Professional Photographers - NCPP
Walnut Creek
925 330-8737
Professional Photographers of California
Escondido
Professional Photographers of Los Angeles County - PPLAC
Culver city
(818) 344-0671
Professional Photographers of North Valley - PPNV
Redding
530-241-2191
Professional Photographers of Orange County - PPOC
Mission Viejo
949.916.2471
Professional Photographers of Sacramento Valley - PPSV
Sacramento
530 363-0138
Professional Photographers of San Diego County - PPSDC
San Diego
(858) 695-9563
Professional Photographers of Santa Barbara County - PPSBC
Santa Barbara
(805) 403-6556
Professional Photographers of Santa Clara Valley - PPSCV
San Jose
408 244-2293
Professional Photographers of the Greater Bay Area - PPGBA
So. San Francisco
530 574-6033
Professional Photographers of the Redwood Empire - PPRE
Santa Rosa
707 548-1181
Stanislaus Professional Photographers - SPP
Modesto
209 847-0540
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Northern California Professional Photographers
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Focal Point I
AUGUST 2010 Sunset Table
This information is for Walnut Creek. You can obtain sunset times for other locations at http://www.sunrisesunset.com/
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