We had a very successful year for our inter club competitions. The star of our club was Lazlo Gyorsok. He was Best of Show in the spring PSA competitions with a photo called"Dark Eyes". He also won an Honorable Mention with a photo called "Bud" in the winter competition. Brian Wilcox received an Honorable Mention for "Bad Day 2" during the winter competitions.
In the NECCC competitions, Lazlo and Brian were the two winners with Lazlo getting a first with "Lost" and Brian received an Honorable Mention for "Maple Leaf"
This does not tell the whole story for the year. We, as a club, were in the middle range of winnings and not so far from the top in scores in both the PSA and the NECCC. So let's keep it up. Thanks to Anne Wilkinson, William DeVoti, Giselle Doyle, Emilie Holste Grubbe, Rita Mathews, and Brian Wilcox for their entries. I think we did very well for a small club that is just beginning digital photos. It is a good way to get to know what other people think of how your photos stack up against 100's of others .This year we will publish all the results so that you can follow where you stand against the members of other photo clubs.
The program for the evening will be a multimedia presentation by professional
photographer ,Roger S. Hart of Lenox, Mass.,entitled One With Nature, Showcasing
the Life of Henry David Thoreau and his “Two Years at Walden Pond.”
To view more of Roger’s work visit his website at revelationsinlight.com
or contact him by e-mail at cathedrals@mac.com. The public is invited. For more
information call (860)824-1165. www.housatoniccameraclub.org.
They're back....Housatonic Camera Club photo challenges! We want everyone in the
club to get involved with taking and sharing photos, so we're proposing photo
challenges which will be held four times during the year. Each challenge period
will involve two or three assigned themes. Photos can be digital or prints, color
or black and white. The topics and due dates for the year are attached and listed
below. This is a chance for everyone from beginner to pro to share, get feedback,
and maybe even get a ribbon or small prize.
The first challenge photos will be due at the January meeting, but you don't have
to wait until then! Post your photos to the HCC website. (I haven't posted one
yet myself, but Lazlo says it's easy! He will be happy to assist anyone who has
questions or needs some help.) If you already have a few good "Signs of the
Season" photos, post them to the website to get some comments and inspire
the rest of us to join in the challenge.
HCC Photo Challenges
Fall/Winter--Show at January Meeting-----Topics: Signs of the Season (Fall, Winter,
Holiday Season)
Winter------Show at March Meeting-------Topics: Winter Trees
Expressions/Emotions
The color WHITE
Spring------Show at May Meeting---------Topics: Spring
Up-Close (Close-ups, Macro, and Super Macro)
Special Challenge: Wires, Poles, and Power Lines (Yes, all those things
you usually want to take out of your photos!)
Summer-------Show at Sept. Meeting------Topics: TBA
Joke of the month
A photographer from a well known national magazine was assigned to
cover the fires at Yellowstone National Park. The magazine wanted to
show some of the heroic work of the fire fighters as they battled
the blaze.
When the photographer arrived, he realized that the smoke was so
thick that it would seriously impede or make it impossible for him
to photograph anything from ground level. He requested permission to
rent a plane and take photos from the air. His request was approved
and arrangements were made. He was told to report to a nearby
airport where a plane would be waiting for him.
He arrived at the airport and saw a plane warming up near the gate.
He jumped in with his bag and shouted, "Let's go!'' The pilot swung
the little plane into the wind, and within minutes they were in the
air.
The photographer said, "Fly over the park and make two or three
low passes so I can take some pictures."
"Why?" asked the pilot. "Because I am a photographer," he responded,
"and photographers take photographs."
The pilot was silent for a moment; finally he stammered, "You mean
you're not the flight instructor?"
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Everyone has a photographic memory.
Some just don't have film.
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Member Profile: Brian Wilcox
There is a saying that if you want anything done ask a busy person. That fits Brian Wilcox to a T! He is someone always involved in one of his many interests, such as scuba diving, kayaking, or pursuing his have camera will travel business. His first interest in photography was catching wildlife on film, which evolved to weddings/portraits, followed by sports and studio work, and hes still photographing horses and creating various images for the beauty of them. So if you need help with anything photographic, Brian is one of the experts in the club who is always willing to help out. Youve probably watched one of his excellent presentations on lighting, editing, or anything else we ask him to do. Very few people have been members as long as Brian has, and hes held several important positions such as vice president, and chairman of the Program Committee. Currently he is a key member of the Salon Committee. He uses Canon equipment exclusively and shoots full frame digital. His beautiful prints are usually prominently displayed in our salon exhibits, such as the one coming up in January at Noble Horizons.
Brian was born in Torrington, Ct. and has lived most of his life in Sharon, currently on the very beautiful Amenia Union Road with his wife, Laurie, their daughter, Morgan, and their faithful dog, Bonnie. He did spend one year in Pennsylvania at a trade school, and a couple of winters in Lake Placid, NY involved in winter sports. He has traveled to Nova Scotia, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and throughout the U.S., and would like to spend more time in the South West or anywhere with palm trees. In fact, he is interested in anything or anywhere that gets him out of his comfort zone, even though his favorite subject to photograph is his daughter playing sports.
If you havent yet met Brian, now you know enough about him to say hello at a club meeting.
A friend of mine let me use his brand new Sing-ray polarize+colorizer filter.
In case you want to check it out, here is the URL
The result, just blows your mind
I took an other shot of the same scenery without the filter just for comparison, and of course the result was quite different.
However after playing with the settings in Lightroom and some additional color boost in PS, I think I got fairly close to the effect of the $400 filter.
Of course, it does take some time to mimic the effect and the result is not really perfect if you look close ( as the trees meet the sky)
The filter is instantaneous.
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The complete picture. Click on the arrow to play
I Photodex slideshow of some of my portraits on YouTube
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