Calendar

Feb
8
Thu
2024
Zoom Photo Competition with Judge Len Cook
Feb 8 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Zoom link: https://santarosaphotographicsociety.org/zoom-meetings/photo-competition-with-judge-len-cook/

The Zoom portal opens at 6 pm and the meeting starts at 6:30.

Len Cook has 47 years of professional experience (more than a QUARTER-MILLION frames of film exposed and personally developed!) as a photojournalist, chief photographer, and director of photography with a staff of 13 full-time photojournalists. He subsequently turned to commercial photography as a studio owner/operator.

Added to his extensive film-based experience is 10 years of experience supporting computer applications like Adobe Photoshop. Len knows software! He has earned the Adobe Certified Photoshop Instructor credential.

Len is now noted primarily for his willingness to share his experience and knowledge through private mentoring, 7+ years college lecturing as well as 10+ years of City of Fremont community education classes.  Before closing his studio recently, Len taught more than 200 sessions for his 2,000-member Meetup group.

Philosophy:

Decades ago, presented with work I didn’t understand by a staff photographer I trusted, I learned to observe rather than judge, to learn rather than decide, to open my mind to discomfort rather than leave it smugly closed.  In looking at work offered in competitions I bring that same approach. With it I also understand that participants expect feedback. I offer my personal view, the view through my eyes of the work: “Here’s what I see.” I find its strengths to praise. In many cases I see opportunities for improvement, and offer a bit of coaching. Finally, I am almost always silently ambivalent about the results hierarchy I must provide. I see much good work.

Feb
14
Wed
2024
Club Field Trip: Hearts And Flowers
Feb 14 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

SRPS February 2024 Field trip

Hearts and Flowers Photography

 

February has at least one very important date: Valentines Day. Guys tend to forget it; gals find ways to help them remember.

For the field trip this month, you are to capture images of strangers making nice to one another. This means loving looks, holding hands, zipping up a snowsuit or even holding that bottle for the baby. This is street photography!

You have the option of sniping with a long lens or striking up a conversation with the person you want to photograph.

Here is how we will pull this thing off.

  • We will meet at the Café Bellini at 10 am on February 14th
  • We will spend the rest of the morning capturing lots of love in Petaluma.
  • At noon, we will return to the Café for lunch.

At the end of next month, there will be a Zoom meeting to cover February and March.

Feb
15
Thu
2024
SRPS Zoom Board Meeting
Feb 15 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Feb
22
Thu
2024
SRPS Presentation Evening with Carol Polich, Gary Saxe
Feb 22 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Member Moment – Gary Saxe

Our first program this year will feature Carol Polich, a professional photographer and photography instructor from Bozeman, Montana.  Her program is entitled “Intimate Moments”.  Intimate moments between dissimilar subjects, and yet they are similar. Within each dissimilar subject is something within the photographer’s CONCEPT that connects them: whether the connection is emotional, cultural, a WORD or manmade vs natural. Above is one example of this relationship; hands braiding hemp and an Osprey feeding.  Carol has designed many beautiful videos and photographs that she will share that  demonstrate this concept.  If you would like to see examples of Carol’s work, please visit her website at www.wildnaturetrails.com.

 

Feb
25
Sun
2024
Critique Night
Feb 25 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

There is a critique night this Sunday in preparation for the next  competition. The critique night for it will be from 4 – 6 pm.

These critique sessions really work, particularly for new members and members who have just moved to a higher competition level. More than 18 members have used this service last year. Most of the time, a little tweak really can raise the impact of an image. Usually, the alteration is as simple as adjusting a crop or editing a title.

As a reminder, here is how the process works:

        – Please email me that you would be interested in getting up to 3 of your images reviewed in a session. Also let me know what 10-minute time slot you would like between 4-6 pm

        – I will respond relatively promptly and see if we can settle on a mutually convenient time

        – No later than 1 day before the appointed evening, send me your images in the same format as you upload to competition

        – Also include your phone number and the image titles

– On the appointed time slot, I will call the number you gave me and we can discuss your images

– If I am running more than 5 minutes late, I will text or email you

 

Tony

Mar
3
Sun
2024
Social Dinner @ El Gallo Negro
Mar 3 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Please RSVP to ellen_storz@yahoo.com

Mar
6
Wed
2024
The March competition closes on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 11:59 PM PST.
Mar 6 all-day

Categories are: Pictorial, Nature, Travel, Monochrome, and Critique/Feedback.

Mar
14
Thu
2024
Zoom Photo Competition with Judge Jan Lightfoot
Mar 14 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Zoom Link: https://santarosaphotographicsociety.org/zoom-meetings/photo-competition-with-judge-jan-lightfoot/

The Zoom portal opens at 6 pm and the meeting starts at 6:30.

About Jan Lightfoot. Although never formally trained, Jan has always been involved with photography in one form or another. Transitioning from her own darkroom in high school, she joined the Idaho Statesman newspaper photography staff, and also worked in custom color printing labs both in Idaho and California. She became a Certified Photographic Counselor through PMA while managing Wentling’s Camera in Walnut Creek, taught photography classes and conducted photo field trips.

She has presented a variety of photographic programs to local camera clubs in the Northern California area and received numerous awards through competitions and juried shows. She was a presenter at the 2019 Fotoclave and in 2021 and was honored to receive NANPA’s 2021 Showcase award for First Runner Up in Altered Reality. In 2022, she was a recipient of KVIE’s Juror’s Award.

She is a member of the Sierra Camera Club of Sacramento, Viewpoint Photographic Gallery, the Professional Photographers of the Sacramento Valley, and the Photographic Society of America. Notably, she served as the esteemed Chairperson for the North American International Exhibition from 2016 to 2022.  During her tenure, Jan oversaw multiple divisions, including Open Color, Open Creative, Open Monochrome, Nature and Wildlife.  She continues to judge for clubs and venues throughout the United States.

“My philosophy in judging has always been to provide the maker of an image with honest, positive feedback. I stress the importance that constructive feedback can be a valuable tool to learn to see creatively, build a portfolio, or acquire a better understanding of photography. My ultimate goal in judging an image is to help photographers find expression within their own style of photography.”

 

Mar
15
Fri
2024
Club Field Trip: Ferry Trip
Mar 15 all-day

SRPS March 2024 Field Trip

San Francisco by Ferry

 

Some of us are still emerging from Covid and continue to have our own individual sense of risk assessment. The flexibility built into this trip is to tailor it to your needs. If you are concerned, ride at off hours when the vessel is not as crowded.

Others have the fear of robbery in the city. One of our own club members experienced that. The suggested route on city arrival should mitigate some fears by staying around the ferry building and only venturing forth into the financial district which abuts the ferry slips. You can also call around and form your own posse.

The field event is scheduled for Friday March 15th. The Larkspur ferry will allow participants to leave as early as 6:35 and arrive at the Ferry Building by about 7:10. For people who feel early hours are for the birds, please arrive later in the day.

If you are an early arrival, it is suggested that you meet everyone in front of the main Golden Gate Transit Building in the rear of the ferry building, facing the street. From there, we can break into small groups and go off to explore the area. Later arrivals can check in with Tony to find out where the early birds have migrated to.

 

It is truly a target rich environment:

– meander the ferry building shooting the wares

– sit across the street from the building and capture some of the local fauna moving by

– walk the street and absorb the architecture

– and, when you are aboard, step to the ferry rail, and shoot the prisons,

the bridges, boat traffic and the city from the water

 

Around 11:30, we will all meet for lunch at Gott’s at the Ferry Building. Weather permitting, we can eat outdoors there. After lunch, people can either continue shooting or grab a ferry

back home. The return ferries run pretty much hourly.

Travel light; bring as little as possible so you walk longer and are less of a target for the occasional bad guy.

Please let me know if you plan to attend

And please remember, if the fog is heavy, you are a winner. EVERYTHING is different and more dramatic. Just wear an extra layer of clothes.

There will be a Zoom meeting at the end of the month to review February and March field trips.

Tony

Mar
28
Thu
2024
SRPS Zoom Presentation Evening – Kent Porter on Storm Chasing
Mar 28 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Kent Porter is a photojournalist with the Press Democrat based in Sonoma County. He is well known for his incredible Fire Fighting and Storm photography.  He was named Photographer of the Year in the National Press Photographers Association Western Region clip contest in 2016 and 2017 and was an integral part of a team of photographers awarded the 2018 Pulitzer for Breaking News Reporting.  He gives a great presentation!

View his photography at https://kentporterphotograph.photoshelter.com/