Women in Focus
12 February 2008,
7:00-9:00 PM
Officers
present: Gittel Price, Leigh
Kirkland, Cindy Sheffield Michaels, Anupama Vishwamitra,
Members
present: Debra Booth, Andrea
Brown, Kitty Henderson, Toni James, Rita Nicholas King, Turner Krueger, Kate
Lynch, Karla Mayo, Ellen McRaney, Maria Mixson, Amira Price, Shiela Robinette,
Jennifer Schwartz,
Guests:
Phyllis Hlavac, Joanne James
The meeting was held at the Shepherd Center
Fourteen WIF members were juried in and twelve members were
prizes-winners.
Virginia
Twinam Smith won Best in Show for the
second year in a row (and first place in Flowers, Flowers, Flowers) for “Crepe Myrtle & Gardenias.”
Honorable
Mentions in Flowers, Flowers, Flowers:
Anne Berry (“Coneflowers”), Marcia Blake {“White”}, Kate Lynch (“Ruffled Tulip
Series #1”), Karen Varsha (“Oakland
Bells”); in Far Off Places—Travel, Leigh Kirkland (“Beggar Outside Kong Mio”
and “Locks for Luck and Love”); in Imaging That, Sara Lindkrantz (“Floating Girl”).
Delivery
for the upcoming Library Show is
Saturday, 1 March 2008, 12:00-4:00, at the Margaret Mitchell Library downtown. We need at least one volunteer to stay
at the gallery to receive deliveries. The show will be hung from 4:00-6:00 on
Saturday; if necessary, will be finished on Sunday, 2 March 2008.
Amira Price volunteered to make signs. Toni James, Kate
Lynch, Lorikay Stone, Kitty Henderson, Ekaterine Shapatava volunteered to hang
the show.
Karla Mays, Maria Mixson, and Leigh Kirkland will help
with the two First Thursday receptions. The library will provide ice and
drinks; members need to provide other food. The hospitality committee (Leigh,
Nafisa Sheriff, and Morisca Vanessa El-Shinsako) will confer and contact
members. Leigh will find out if alcohol is allowed in the library.
Postcards
for the Show were handed out
March meeting: Susan Todd-Raque, will our guest speaker, “ From
the Juror’s Perspective” and then critique our work ( up to 5 images from one body of work )
April meeting: a representative of
Cindy
Michaels has the WIF’s PSA Journal
(Photographic Society of America) and distributed a handout about the PSA
subscribers/members’ website, which members can access. She also distributed
fliers about the Decatur Arts Alliance (which WIF joined) and the Decatur Arts
Festival.
Program:
Mark
Alberhasky, of IMAGEMA—Mark Alberhasky Photography [www.imagema.com, www.markalberhasky.com], now in
Inspiration can often be
more important than technique.
The first image he took that was more than documentary or
derivative, when he was 18 and had been shooting for two years, of a bird on
wires. He still went to medical school and became a medical pathologist in
MA later chose to take two years away from medicine to be
serious about photography, shooting without a goal. In Nikon World, read about Rosanne Pennella [http://www.rosannepennella.com], a
lawyer who became a well-known travel photographer within five years of leaving
her practice. He emailed her (because of their similar professional
transitions); she responded.
Among other things, she told him to PROMOTE HIMSELF AS A
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. At that point he was looking for exciting light,
moments of the human condition; only took pictures he wanted to take.
His next step: to fill in gaps. What else didn’t he know?
What gaps did he need to fill in his knowledge? He didn’t know about artificial
light, so he bought a studio flash and worked with more artificial lighting. He
began to sell pictures to windsurfing magazines, medical pathology journals,
and (most importantly) Nikon World.
He became a part-time doctor, and Nikon
World did a story on him, three years after he read the article on Rosanne
Pennella. He takes pictures for Cool Pix ads and such, lectures, and teaches.
HOW TO MAKE A PHOTOGRAPH
Edward
Weston: “Hence the photographer's most important and likewise most difficult
task is not learning to manage his camera, or to develop, or to print. It is
learning to see photographically—that is, learning to see his subject matter in
terms of the capacities of his tools and processes, so that he can
instantaneously translate the elements and values in a scene before him into
the photograph he wants to make” [from “Photography—Not Pictorial,” Camera Craft 37.7 (1930): 313-320. Full
text available on-line at http://www.jnevins.com/westonreading.htm]
THE BIG TIP: Look into the viewfinder, not through
the viewfinder [Adapted from
Weston: “William Blake wrote: ‘Man is led to believe a lie, when he sees with,
not through the eye.’”]. The viewfinder is your canvas.
Landscapes: Ordinary light renders ordinary pictures unless
the moment is extraordinary. Be there when the light is extraordinary. Get out
the door when the light is great; put yourself there when it happens. Drive to
find it. Look for it.
Nature does things slowly, at its own pace. Reset your
stopwatch. Stop. Watch.
People: It’s not about taking the picture. The secret:
it’s about meeting the person. Ask the person if you can take their picture.
Get a release.
Patterns: The world is fully of beautiful geometry.
Subtract with the viewfinder until patterns emerge. Look for repeated patterns
with an element that breaks that pattern.
Events: Often special, you know they’re coming. Think. Plan. Capitalize.
Moments: one picture rarely captures a moment. Work the
scene; take many pictures. One will be THE moment. Use different (unexpected)
angles.
Themes: Similar subjects emerge over time. Build on
those that work; shape your style around your themes.
Details: You never shop without studying details. Shop for images by studying and searching for details.
Passions: The best images come from in-depth knowledge of
a subject. Shoot what you know or love.
Lorikay
suggested a short release on the back of a business card, although that’s not
always legally sufficient.
MA
took a couple of classes after leaving college: one with a National Geographic
photographer to learn how to do street photography, another with Joe McNally
who is famous for his use of flash. He uses Photoshop extensively.