January 18th- 8:00 PM Harbor Room Snug

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1 THE CLIX NOVEMBER 2017 Up Coming Events: Next Competition - January 18th- 8:00 PM Harbor Room Snug December 2nd st-First Saturday Mentoring Class at Governor s House with a model $30.00 December 4th President s Night at NJFCC Cranford Community Center, 220 Walnut Street, Cranford, NJ. Meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. December 21st Annual Holiday Dinner - Carini Restaurant 10 Akron St. Starts at 7:00PM January 6th nd -First Saturday Mentoring Class at Governor s House with a model $30.00 President s Message by Eric Mayr As the year come to a close and the holidays are upon us the executive board would like to wish you a happy holiday season. With regards to other matters please get your money in to Barbara Hoffman for the holiday party. I am in the process of attempting to schedule a meeting for the third week of January. This will be to make up for the Nov. Contest, get your reworked images into Lauren as she is setting up a new contest, the same goes for prints. Thursday s critique session produced some exciting feedback. On the schedule are three first sat meet-ups at the governors house, there will be models and many opportunities for great imagery. You can sign up at Staten Island camera club meetup or Staten Island photographers meetup. Please remember our goal is to bring the club membership to 50 people by July so we can exist for another year, if that happens we will discuss a reduction in dues at the summer business meeting. As your president I wish you a happy holiday season keep making imagery, talk to people about the club. Continued on page 3 Why Did We Join a Club? by Dennis Arculeo Let s face it, human s enjoy associating with other humans. Its how civilizations began as family groupings formed tribes that took care of basic necessities. Those included hunting, gathering and defending themselves. The old saying the more the merrier applies even today. We join clubs, associations and participate in the activates they present because it is part of human nature. Creative people almost always attract other creatives to their tent. They like the Salon groups of impressionists painters shared their ideas and talents with each other to create a movement in the Art World that revolutionized the medium. We join groups like our club because we understand that self indulgence in any form of creative expression can leave you in a vacuum unless you are completely confident and never lack inspiration or need criticism. I don t think I know very many people like that. Being a photog- rapher, whether you do it for a living or as a hobby, is often something we think that should be done on your own. I often hear, I don t want to come back with the same pictures as every one else. Really, now I never come back with the same picture as others. As creative people we all have different image making skills and points of view. Why not share them? Our club s membership has been waning due to a number of factors, chief among them is the ills of old age, and the lack of attracting younger more vibrant and motivated photographers willing to carry on our traditions. We are beginning to see some new interest in our Club. One way you can help is to actively talk about our association and promote interest in our activities. Our Meet-Up group is doing this in ways we never imagined. Its time for you to step up to the plate and become our fiercest advocates. Following is a frank discussion regarding reasons for associating with other Photographers. (Continued on Page 7) Club Officers for President: Eric Mayr First Vice President: Dennis Arculeo Second Vice President: Mark Harris Treasurer: Barbara Mattera Hoffman Secretary: Carol Mayr Competition Chairperson: Carol Mayr Clix Editor: Dennis Arculeo Webmaster: Dennis Arculeo

2 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 2 Important Notice Regarding Election of Club Officers Continued from Page 1 Eric Mayr Official Notice: Nominations are open for the new slate of officers for the club year. All new terms begin July If you are a current officer whose dues are up to date and you wish to stay in office please let me know your wishes. In order to be eligible for nomination your dues need to be paid by March 1, Nominations for the following offices are open: President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Please let me know who you are nominating and for what position.

3 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 3 Does Size Matter? By Dennis Arculeo A Frank Discussion on Sizing Your Print and Digital Images Can we all agree that sizing your digital images properly is one of those subjects that it seems like NO ONE can agree on? There always seems to be conflicting information about what affects what. And what actually matters when digitally displaying images on a large screen and how to size your digital images in order to print them properly. Personally, I got tired of reading in the blogs post after post in which I saw very different and conflicting information about how I should be preparing my images to show them best on my website, on a blog, or for our competitions. My fingers got to work and I did the research. I didn t want to just do something because everyone else was doing it, I wanted to understand how all of it worked together! After digging deep into the ins and outs of digital images, I have a much better understanding now about how to properly size images. I m going to attempt to break it down for you in easy to understand language so that you can bypass all of that research and come away with a better understanding of how all of this REALLY works! Does DPI/PPI matter when viewing images online? Answer is, It doesn t. If you take away anything from this article, is that Pixels per Inch (PPI) or Dots per Inch (DPI) has no (and I mean ZERO!!!) affect on how your image will display on the web. Let s talk about WHY it doesn t matter. Dots per inch (DPI) is a term that refers to how many dots a printer can actually print in 1 inch of an image. It only makes sense when in reference to printing an image. Pixels per inch is a measure of pixel density, but means nothing without also knowing the dimensions of a digital image. Knowing your PPI and dimensions will help you determine how big you can display or PRINT an image without seeing any pixilation. Example Let s look at a digital image that is sized at 4000x3000. If you would like to retain 300 pixels in every inch of a printed photograph you could only print this image to a size of (4000/300 = 13 and 3000/300 = 10.) If you wanted to print the image any larger than you would simply reduce the number of pixels in every inch of the printed photograph and you could proceed to get a larger and larger printed photo. Most printers/labs don t prefer to go below 100ppi. Therefore if you printed that same digital image at a 100ppi you could increase the print size to (quite large) and you would retain 100 pixels in every inch of the image. The bigger and bigger you print the less pixels you have available to put in every inch so the larger and larger you get the more pixilated the print will appear. This is why recommendations for printing always center around leaving the ppi at 300. This way the printer or lab will have plenty of pixels to work with off the bat in order to print out your image. However, standard screen resolution is When you think about digital images being viewed on a screen, images with dimensions larger than the screen resolution will simply open up to the full size of the screen. Computer screens are simply not large enough for PPI to matter. Unless you reduced the PPI of your image to a really low number (0-72 for example) you will not see any pixilation. The main reason some might suggest to size any digital image to 72ppi if you are putting it on the web is in case someone tries to download it. I agree this is good advice. If you are cautious of someone actually downloading your images from facebook or your website, putting a 72ppi image online is a good idea because they will not be able to print that image very large. It has no affect however on what the image will actually look like online. Another measure of how big a digital image is the file size of the image. This is essentially how much space the image file is taking up on your computer. You should be familiar with whether an image is 22MB or 300KB and how those differ. The file size is a result of the initial dimensions of the digital image. For example, a Canon 5D Mark II camera produces RAW images that are 22.3 megapixels big which is a result of the dimensions being which equals about 21MB on your hard drive (give or take). When you process an image in Lightroom or PS you can affect the file size in a few different ways. Simply changing an image from RAW to JPG will affect the file size. As will reducing the quality of the image by adjusting the quality slider in LR or selecting the quality output in Photoshop. Changing the dimensions or Cropping the image by changes to the dimensions will automatically adjust the file size. So we need to understand that editing the image by cropping throws away available pixels, thus making the file size smaller. None of these things will affect how an image is viewed on the web or you typical screen, unless you size it DOWN by reducing the dimensions to be smaller than average computer screen size of pixels. Have you ever opened up an image online that opened up super small on your screen instead of getting larger to fill up the screen? That s because the dimensions of the image have been reduced. The main thing to be understand about file size is that the lower the file size of your images online, the quicker they will upload and load on your website. If you have ever visited a website where the images take FOREVER to load that is likely because the photographer uploaded large file size images (over 1MB). Sizing to the long edge matters especially for us. For our digital competitors sizing to the longest side does matter. It matters, specifically, if you decide to size your image down to smaller than standard screen size which is pixels. And yes that s the exact pixel count of the Club s computer. We often hear from members who tell us it looked better on the computer screen than on the display. It may well be the case, if you are under sizing your images. If you size your image to 2000 pixels on the long edge or 1024 on the long side, the images should typically look the same on most computer screens. If you are viewing it on a very large screen, (like our Plasma screen), the 2000 pixel image will show larger than the 1024 image simply because it will be bigger, due to the simple fact that the larger image has more pixels. Since on our Plasma Screen your images is showing on a screen that allows it to be shown at its full size.. If you sized your image to it would obviously show much smaller on the screen and not fill the entire screen because the dimensions are lower than the screen size. Something we have been witnessing for a while for a number of our members competition images. Technical Information taken from a Click it up a Notch on-line article written by COURTNEY SLAZINIK

4 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 4 Member Image Gallery Images by Len Rachlin Photographer s Christmas Wish List by Joel Robinson With Christmas on it s way, I remember back to when I was a kid flipping through the Christmas catalogue (taking turns with my sister) and writing out my Christmas wish list for Santa. Written in crayon, in that little kid scrawl I m sure I had quite the list. Now as a grown up I don t really write out those lists, but that doesn t mean that I don t have things that I d like. Now, of course I wouldn t mind a new camera, some lenses, maybe a lighting setup, but my Photography Wish List is actually a list of things I d like to photograph rather than material objects. Here s my wish list of what I d like to photograph next year 1. The Ocean I grew up and still live in the mountains, in a valley about 10 hours away from the nearest ocean. I think for that reason, I ve always been intrigued by taking photos next to the open water. I find something so isolated and beautiful about the vast landscape, the backdrop providing the most surreal negative space. I feel that my mind naturally wanders to visions of water, boats, and seascapes so being able to shoot images with an ocean as my muse would be awesome. 2. Animals I m not just talking about a cat or dog, I m sure I could borrow my parent s pets with no hesitation, I would really love to shoot a photo of something bigger, or wild! I d love to incorporate a horse into an image, I don t exactly have an idea for what I want to do but being able to include the magic of an animal into an image would be something that I would really enjoy. I secretly wish that I could include something wild like a real elephant or a bear or (going back to my first wish) a whale.wouldn t that be awesome? Wish List continued on page 6

5 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 5 Assigned Subject Leader Board No. of Entries Assigned Subject Digitals Member Total Points Award As of October Competition Honorable Mention 2 Barbara Mattera Hoffman 18 Cactus Pattern 2 Dennis Arculeo 18 Petrified Tree trunk 2 Len Rachlin 18 Pomegranate Revealed 2 Dieter Bieler 17 In with the Wrong Crowd 2 Scott Allen 15 2 Mark Harris 14 Le Mushroom 2 Denise Canlon 14 2 Lauren Arculeo 14 2 Bob Green 12 Underside Lily 2 Joe Sorge 12 2 Jimi White 12 2 Matthew Miner 11 1 Chris Watt 6 1 Henrietta Robinson 5 10 Photography Resolutions for the New Year One of the most common photography-related New Year's resolutions we hear is simply "to shoot more." It's a resolution with its heart in the right place, but simply increasing the number of frames you produce next year won't necessarily make you a better photographer. We've put together a list of resolutions that can help you get your photography skills in tip top shape before the ball drops next year. #1: Stop Hiding Behind Self Doubt #2: Get Organized #3: Seek Useful Critique and Shut Your Mouth in Response #4: Don t Let Your Gear Impede Your Development #5: Come to Terms With Photoshop #6: Shoot Personal Projects #7: Get Along With Other Photographers #8: Take More Photos of Your Loved Ones #9: Print More Photos #10: Use Your Photography For Better, not Worse. No. of Entries Assigned Subject Prints Member Total Points Award As of October Competition Honorable Mention 2 Joe Sorge 17 Texture in Nature #1 2 Dennis Arculeo 14 2 Barbara Mattera Hoffman 17 2 Bob Green 15 Nautilus Shells 1 Diane Griffiths 7 1 Carol Mayr 6

6 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 6 Color Digital Competition Standings - Leader Board No. of Entries Color Digital Member Total Points Award As of October Competition Honorable Mention 4 Jimi White 35 Rainbow Bridge Lizard 4 Dennis Arculeo 33 All Puffed Up Jellyfish Glow 4 Denise Canlon 32 Osprey with Fish 4 Barbara Mattera Hoffman 32 Renaissance Woman 4 Dieter Bieler 32 Flower # 16 Motor-Cycle # 36 4 Bob Green 31 Swallowtail Butterfly 4 Scott Allen 30 Perfect Pillow 4 Matthew Miner 28 4 Joe Sorge 27 4 Mark Harris 27 4 Len Rachlin 27 4 Lauren Arculeo 26 4 Lora Livshits 24 1 Janet Rispoli 8 1 Nurul Amin 8 Butterfly 1 Christophe Watt 6 No. of Monochrome Digital Total As of October Competition Entries Member Points Award Honorable Mention 4 Scott Allen 34 Lower Falls - Gooseberry State Park Young At Heart 4 Bob Green 32 Yes, I Have My Apple 4 Barbara Mattera Hoffman 31 Frozen in Time 4 Dennis Arculeo 31 Years of Neglect 4 Matthew Miner 29 Maker's Dilemma-Alays a Stick Across the 4 Mark Harris 28 4 Len Rachlin 28 4 Jimi White 28 Old Trombone 4 Joe Sorge 27 4 Dieter Bieler 27 4 Lauren Arculeo 26 1 Janet Rispoli 8 Wish List continued from Page 4 3. Collaborations This year I ve been fortunate to meet up with a few flickr-ites from other cities and a few from my own neck of the woods and I really loved the experience of getting to see another person work with a camera, I would LOVE the opportunity to meet up with more photographers and work on some images together. 4. Abandoned Buildings I have always had a soft spot for those secret places that are long abandoned but still seem to have so much life left in them, unfortunately so few of those places exist where I am, but I would love to explore an old factory, hospital or school to use a backdrop. I m slightly jealous of those that are able to visit these places and create such amazing pieces of work That s not a big wish list is it? Here s hoping that 2018 brings with it some awesome photography experiences for all you! So, what is on your photography wish list?

7 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 7 Why we Joined a Club by Dennis Arculeo Continued from Page 1. Here are a few reasons to urge others to join with us in our photographic pursuits. #1 Meet Other Photographers There are many ways to meet other photographers and make friends. Local Meet-up Groups, Camera Clubs, online groups and forums. I m sure if you go down to your local camera store and talk with the person behind the counter they would know and recommend other keen photographers they could introduce you to. 2- Foster Photography Friendships If you are interested in photography, meeting other photographers is a great way to make new friends. It s easier to talk with people who have the same interests as yourself. A conversation about common topics flows more readily and remains more engaging. One of the greatest advantages of being friends with other photographers is going places together. You can enjoy spending more time taking photos without being harassed that you re taking too long. Which is what usually happens when you go places with people who don t have a camera. #3 Enjoy the Diversity Meeting other photographers who have interests in different subjects can lead to fresh inspiration. For example, if you love photographing landscapes and become friends with someone who loves photographing people, you can inspire, encourage and challenge one another. This is a wonderful way to learn and explore different subjects, methods, and styles of photography. Getting together with photographers who have more or less experience than you brings lots of opportunities to learn, and teach. You will see things differently and use alternative camera settings than other photographers. Talking about what you do and how you do it can be a fun learning experience. Spending time taking photos with others and sharing your experiences and your way of working will help you become a better photographer. #4 Share the Learning Experiences If you are new to photography, being around other photographers is one of the best ways to learn more. Naturally, it s advantageous to read and do courses, but photographing with others and sharing the experience is much more valuable. How you each set your camera, choose what to photograph, how to compose an image and loads of other things can seem overwhelming when you ve just bought your first camera. Talking about these things with other photographers will teach you more effectively than just reading or doing courses. Reviewing your photographs with someone you trust will also be encouraging and help you grow in your creative expression. If you only ever look at your photos alone and do not get any feedback on them it s very easy to stagnate and not develop creatively. Having someone more experienced help you choose your best photos and give you constructive feedback can lead to new understanding and different ways of taking photos that you may not think of on your own. #5 Collaborate with Fellow Colleagues Collaboration on photographic projects is a lot of fun. Spending time working on the same subject with a common purpose, maybe a gallery show, Calendar, book or website, with other photographers can really stretch you creatively and help you grow. Each photographer will see things differently and your styles will complement or contrast the other, and add a richer dynamic to your project. #6 Make Lasting Friends I bought my first 35mm camera with a friend who also wanted to upgrade from Instamatic film. We had another friend who loved photography and the three of us would go out often to take photos together. I learned a great amount with these two guys and we had a lot of fun together. We set up a darkroom and developed our own negatives and made B&W prints. We d also review the photos we d made on previous excursions. When we got to color slides that usually meant sitting around a slide projector for hours enjoying one another s photos and planning where to go on our next photography outing. Over the years I have had photographer friends, some professional, some hobbyists. They ve been some of my best friends. Now I am married to an avid convert to photography and it s wonderful always having someone to share the experience with, getting constructive informed feedback and continually encouraging one another to do better. One other recommendation I would make is to hang out with other photographers who have a similar way of enjoying and approaching photography.

8 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 8 Color Print Competition Standings - Leader Board No. of Entries Color Print Member Total Points Award As of October Competition Honorable Mention 4 Len Rachlin 34 Boardwalk Scene Still Life with Apples and Pitcher 4 Barbara Matter Hoffman 34 Girl in Green Hood Wings 4 Dennis Arculeo 31 Meet the Ghost of Building G Boo! Monarch Butterfly 4 Matthew Miner 30 Up, Up and Away Launch! 4 Bob Green 28 3 Scott Allen 26 Downtown Perth Australia Rusted Bows Freedom Tower View 4 Joe Sorge 20 2 Diane Griffiths 17 Carnival Lights You Caught Me Tampa 2 Carol Mayr 15 Monochrome Print Competition Leader Board No. of Monochrome Print Total As of October Competition Entries Member Points Award Honorable Mention 4 Len Rachlin 32 Still Life with Driftwood and Stones 4 Dennis Arculeo 32 Foggy Fleet Parade 4 Joe Sorge 28 4 Bob Green 26 3 Scott Allen 23 Little Red Light House Tranquility 3 Barbara Mattera Hoffman 23 2 Carol Mayr 16 Dennis Arculeo Holiday Tomato Dennis Arculeo Rock Center Kaleidoscope

9 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 9 NJFCC Fall Print Competition Awards NJFCC Fall Mono Print Competition Awards Gallery SICC Winners HM HM Dennis Arculeo The Dark Knight Barbara Mattera Hoffman As One

10 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 10 NJFCC Fall Mono Print Competition Awards Gallery SICC Winners Dennis Arculeo Foggy Fleet Parade HM NJFCC Fall Print Competition Awards Gallery continued on next page

11 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 11 NJFCC Fall Color Print Competition Awards Gallery SICC Winners HM Dennis Arculeo Monarch Butterfly HM Barbara Mattera Hoffman Halloween Princess HM The New Jersey Federation of Camera Clubs (NJFCC) is an association of local camera clubs embracing a membership of more than eight hundred amateur photographers in New Jersey. The NJFCC is dedicated to making photography more interesting and rewarding to the individual, through service to his/her club and by pooling the resources of individual clubs for the benefit of all. In 1951 a small group of representative photographers conceived the idea of an association of camera clubs to broaden and consolidate the high artistic and technical standards that have been the hallmark of amateur clubs, and to extend the opportunity beyond the confines of the individual club. Fifteen clubs became charter members in the first year, and since that time membership has grown. The NJFCC is comprised of member clubs in New Jersey and surrounding areas. Its purpose is to bring together individuals and clubs who share a common interest in photography, to establish a learning environment and spread the knowledge, skills and the joy of photography. Affiliated club members may enter inter-club digital and print competitions scheduled throughout the year. Dennis Arculeo Renaissance Gentleman

12 THE CLIX - SICC - STATEN ISLAND S FRIENDLY CAMERA CLUB! Page 12 General Information The Staten Island Camera Club has been in existence since 1954, meeting once month for Competitions from Sept through May at Snug Harbor in the Harbor Room, building G at 8:00 PM. We meet at other times of the month for Meet-Ups, workshops and education, and on the third Thursday for our monthly member Competitions. Details and schedule available on our web site. us at: info@sicc-photography-club.com Note: All Blue characters are Hyperlinks. Ctrl Click with mouse or tap your stylist to follow the links on-line. Competition Guidelines There are six categories to submit into for a monthly competition. You can enter 2 Color Digitals, 2 Color Prints, 2 Mono Digitals and 2 Mono Prints, as usual (8). And now you can also enter in the Assigned Subject category one Digital and one in Print.(Which equals a total max of 10 images per competition) You are permitted to make up One missed Regular competition in each of the categories that you are participating in; except for the Assigned Subject Competitions, which can not be made up. Digital entries must be submitted by 11:59 PM on or before the Tuesday evening prior to Thursday s competition, using the upload procedures established by the Photo Contest Pro website. All print entries must be submitted and ready for Competition by 7:45 PM on the night of the Competition. Print Entry Sizes: Printed images will be no less than 8x 10, but not more than 13x19. Prints must be mounted on a board and can be single matted. Over all presentation size including the mat or backing board should not be less than 10X12 nor any larger than 17X22. Commercially available mats for 8x10" sized prints are generally 11x14" with an opening for 8x10" prints and are available in local stores or on-line. The upper rear Left Hand corner of the print must contain our competition label filled in with the image s Title, Member s Name and the Color/Mono Category; checked in the appropriate box. Assigned Subjects are not numbered. The entry # on the Label (#1 or 2), must correspond to what is printed on the scorer s sheet. All images, both Digital and Print, will follow the same scoring scheme. First Round entries that are scored a 6 or less will be dropped, any image scored a 7 makes it into the 2nd Round. During the 2nd Round the Judge will re-score the Photo and will either keep the "7" Score or raise it to an "8" gaining an "Honorable Mention" or a "9" which is the designation for an Best in show "Award". Once a Photo receives an Award (9) it will be retired and may not be re-entered into any future regular Monthly Club Competition in the same or any other category. Any 9 s earned during the season can compete with other photos in the Photo of the Year competition. Photo of the year winning images also will be retired and restricted in the same manner as above. Any color Digital, or Print that received a 7 or 8 may not be re-entered into competition in the same season in the same category. However it may be re-entered in a succeeding season, only once, in a different category. Competitions are held in the Harbor Room, Snug Harbor Building G, on the third Thursday of each month at 8 PM. (See our Schedule on our Website for exact dates and times.) Photography matters. Photographic images can move us to laughter or tears. They can be an instrument of change, an invitation to explore and they can shed light on injustice. They reveal beauty and emotion in ways both subjective and objective. NJFCC News Our December Delegates' meeting will be on Monday, December 4th, at the Cranford Community Center, 220 Walnut Street, Cranford, NJ. Meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. In December we will have the vote for NJFCC officers and our Annual Presidents' Night, where club presidents share their successes and help each other. Photorama information has been posted. The date is April 21, The speakers are announced (check out Photorama tab at the site). Info will be sent out when registration is open...meanwhile, 'save the date'. The scoring system for all NJFCC competitions has been changed from 3-9 to a range of 6-9. The number of entries per maker for PROJECTED image competitions has changed from 3 to 2 for the competition season. (Prints will stay at 3 per maker.)