Cities at Dawn. Inside this issue: Zoo Calendar Features Members 4 Members Score 15 4

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1 O k l a h o m a C a m e r a C l u b, I n c. F o u n d e d The HypoCheck Volume 74, Issue 5 November 2017 Cities at Dawn I am sitting in a beautiful square in Trinidad, Cuba, a stunning little town nestled between some verdant green mountains, tobacco fields and the sea. I arrived yesterday and am loving photographing the wonderful tropical light here; this town that feels like it s been frozen in time. There is a small dog near me chewing on a very large bone, and about 100 roosters are crowing. The winds are gently sweeping through the square, and I am sitting with my face to the sun. This is an amazing adventure. Now - tropical paradises aside - I have a really cool, simple idea to help your photography today. I like giving you ideas that are really simple, so when you are out in the thick of it, camera in hand, you have something to pull out of your toolbox that is both easy to remember and to put into practice. It s important with any form of learning that you practice what you learn - otherwise you ll forget it! Which is an added incentive for me to give you simple tools and ideas to help you. Plus - all the best people loved simplicity (Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci) If it was good enough for them then it s certainly good enough for us! The greatest ideas are the simplest. William Golding This idea is based on the magical number of three. I ve already given you another technique for composing with three elements, this is another three-themed idea. A few years ago I came across this piece of advice from the late writer Victoria Coren, and it really struck me as not just a great piece of advice for writers, but also photographers too. I often talk about it on my workshops, so you might already heard me mention it. Victoria Coren wrote about advice she had received from her father, the late writer Alan Coren: by Anthony Epes Don t write the first thought that comes into your head, because that is what everyone will write. And don t write the second thought that comes into your head, because that is what the clever people will write. When you hit on a third thought, pick up the pen. That one is just yours. So clearly for us photographers - I am translating it into shoot the third thing. This is a great way for you to get beyond the obvious shot, the one that everyone else is taking. It s also great to get beyond the not so obvious shot, but still pretty common - that all the clever people are taking. Shooting the third thing - and this comes in many forms which I will explore in this article - that should be just yours. This is super relevant to me because I am usually shooting places and subjects that are highly familiar, highly photographed. I am always looking to shoot my subjects in ways that are interesting and unique to me. I don t want my Paris to look like anyone else's Paris. Cont d... Inside this issue: Zoo Calendar Features Members 4 Members Score 15 4 GSCCC 5-7 Inge Vautrin Receives Award 8 New Club Members & Visitors 8, 9 Competition Pictures Club Information 14

2 Cities at Dawn Cont d... For me this is a super simple way to remember to not just shoot, but to pause, look and then compose. Anything that helps you pause and think through the shot before you take it is massively beneficial in my book (unless of course it s one of those urgent amazing moments you have to capture, but you do still want to try and get the best composition, pausing is always relevant). So how can we bring this piece of advice - of shooting the third thing - into a practical situation? Use this idea when it comes to positioning and finding the best angle. This is a subject that comes up all of the time in my workshops. People find a great subject but most people are not exploring the scene enough to find the perfect angle for their subject. It s one of the top three challenges most photographers face, I would say. You can think about this in terms of - I like the scene, let s shoot it from at least three different angles. Use this when approaching a monument, a statue of a very static but not very interesting subject. I like the shoot the third thing as an approach for shooting any famous building, monument or statue. This is the Galati Tower (below) a very important and historical building in Istanbul. But it s just a tall thin tower. Not super-interesting to shoot. So I have looked around, thought how I could capture it in a way that is interesting and not just shoot it straight on (which most people do), and I came up with this, framed by this cool looking street. A shot I took in Venice when I was looking around, digging a bit deeper, and not going for the first thing that caught my eye. What I was thinking about was - don t just do the obvious vision of Venice - pretty, grand, breathtaking. Or my second thought was decay and beauty, but then I thought there must be something else. I did the same thing with this column - and I ve shot a lot of columns and statues this way - by adding another element, whether that is some kind of framing or beautiful light. 2

3 Cities at Dawn Yes, I am always looking for light, but what else is the city showing me? So I remembered the textures of decay in Venice. Not just the decay but what it feels like in the detail of the city. Go beyond what everyone else is doing. When you are where a lot of other people are shooting, ask yourself - what is everyone else doing? What can I see that is different? In touristy cities it s actually quite easy - find the photographers and go in the opposite/different direction. Or even simpler, look behind you. It s stunning how many people look towards the obvious scene, like the beautiful sunrise over water, but not behind them, to what the light is doing to the world around us. In Paris I felt that getting beneath the surface of the super pretty, picture perfect image was really important. There is a lot of urination and dog poo on the streets of Paris - very surprising to me - and the city gets obsessively cleaned every morning. There is also a lot of graffiti everywhere. So I liked to contrast those themes of pretty and grit, mainly because I found that people seemed to either do grit or do pretty. Why not combine them both I thought? I was at the Trocadero looking out to the Eiffel Tower at dawn one morning. I had already taken the prerequisite obvious shot of the sunrise rising behind the Tower - and to contradict myself for a moment, it was a great shot (although I had to come back to this spot repeatedly in order to get the right sunrise). Now this scene above is not an uncommon shot at all - I had seen a version of it on a guide in Paris. But I think I added a unique touch with the cleaning men. Which is another thing to think about - what can you include that you would normally, perhaps reflexively, leave out? Anthony Epes Anthony Epes is a photographer whose work has been featured internationally including BBC, French Photo Magazine, Atlas Obscura and CNN. He is also a teacher - writing in-depth free articles on his website. Receive his free ebook on the two essential skills that will instantly improve your photos, and sign up to his weekly newsletter providing inspiration, ideas and pro-photo. (Permission to reproduce this article was received. Modifications made to fit space available. ) Doug Finch, APSA, Editor 3

4 Members Recognized - Oklahoma Zoo Calendar Sand Hill Crane Jennifer D'Agostino May 2018 Zoofriends Calendar I Love My Tree Stump Jackie Mesarick August 2018 Zoofriends Calendar Club Members Score 15 - Congratulations!!! Five members received scores of 15 in Projected Image Competition, September 26, 2017 Troy Taylor, Inge Vautrin, Mary Horn, George Williams, J. D. McClung Four members received scores of 15 in Projected images competition, October 24, J. D. McClung, Kay Williams, George Williams and Lyuda Cameron 4

5 Members Receive Awards in GSCCC Competition Terry Barnes, Ward Conaway, Troy Taylor, Randy Carr, APSA, MPSA, J. D. McClung, Inge Vautrin, Tom McCreary, APSA, MPSA, Carol McCreary, APSA, EPSA, George Williams GSCCC - Gulf States Camera Club Council GSCCC is made up of 25 clubs from the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Competitions are conducted each month alternating between judging Pictorial Projected (mono and color) plus PJ (prints and projected) one month followed by Nature (prints and projected) plus Pictorial Prints (mono and color) the next month. Judging of the competitions rotates between the member clubs. Tom and Carol McCreary, APSA s, represent the OCC attending GSCCC conferences and man- aging the club s entries each month. They gather the potential entries from club members following the evening competitions. From these, they select and submit the club s entry for the month. A club s entry is limited to four prints or projected images. There can only be one print and/or projected image from one club member in each competition. The results of competitions are announced with ribbons presented to the club members during the club meetings. 5

6 Members Images Recognized in GSCCC Green Bee on Flower Inge Vautrin Looking for the Hole Charles Taylor, APSA Follow the Rope Ward Conaway One Stirrup Tom McCreary, APSA, MPSA Nice Catch George Williams Rural Sunset Mary Horn 6

7 GSCCC Recognition Lunch Time Randy Carr, APSA, MPSA Tired Solder Terry Barnes California Mission Carol McCreary, APSA, EPSA Journey Lyuda Cameron Robberfly Closeup no. 1 Troy Taylor Photographers are violent people!!! First they frame you, then they shoot you, then they hang you on the wall. Anonymous 7

8 New Club Members Terry and Donna Barnes & recently returned to the metro area from Texas after a job transfer took them south of the border for 14 years. While in Fort Worth, they were active members of the Trinity Arts Photo Club. They now reside just south of Norman and found OKCC while researching local camera clubs online. Their photographic interests varied over the years but they especially enjoy travel and street photography. We are happy to have found such a welcoming group of fellow photographers. Thank you, pleased you found us as well. A long way to drive, we will work to make it worth your time. Keith and Ginny Green (green3000@sbcglobal.net) joined the club on September 9. They are members of the Metro Camera Club, a few months ago George and Kay Williams referred them The Oklahoma Camera Club. Keith and Ginny have taken up photography as a serious avocation only recently. Their main photographic interests are wildlife and architecture, you will have no trouble fitting in here. We appreciate George and Kay for sending you our way, welcome aboard. Inge Vautrin Receives 2nd PSA Star From Randy Carr, APSA, MPSA 8

9 Club Meeting Visitors - Welcome Judy Simon Wally Lee met Judy, jsimonphd@msn.com, at Bedford s and invited her to visit the club. Judy has interests in Architecture and Landscape photography. She wants to become skilled and comfortable in Monochrome. Thanks for visiting Judy, please come back, we would like to begin to help. Merrill Thomas Merrill Thomas, thomas@sbcglobal.net, learned of the club from our friend Christian at Bedford Photography. He has an interest in Landscape photography. Welcome Merrill, pleased to have you visit, we thank Christian for sending you our way. We look forward to Club Member s Print on Display Evening Glow Doug Finch, APSA Currently Representing OCC at: Bedford Camera and Video OKC Baker Photo and Video Yukon 9

10 October Projected Competition Dismount Derrell Dover Cont d... Painted Birds Debbie Devonshire Moth Jennifer D Agostino Morning Reflection George Williams Airborne Terry Barnes Good Woman Kay Williams 10

11 October Projected Competition Trouble Randy Carr, APSA, MPSA Jimmy in the Comics Carol McCreary, APSA, EPSA Magenta Flower Susan Combs Yellow Paper Wasp J. D. McClung 11 Cont d... From My Heart Lyuda Cameron Bridges Bob Green

12 October Projected Competition Bison Meeting Piers Blackett Plains Indian Dancer Jackie Mesarick October Print Competition Go Back to Your Behind Charles Taylor, APSA Cont d... Assassin Beetles Lunch Troy Taylor 12 Flowers That Glow J. D. McClung

13 October Print Competition Egret Doug Finch, APSA Dunk Coming Ward Conaway Purple Flower Troy Taylor Puckett Cabin Jaci Finch, APSA Busy Bumble Bee Piers Blackett Club Affiliation with Red River Paper The Oklahoma Camera Club is part of Red River s affiliate program. The club receives a 5% commission on orders placed with Red River via the URL located on the Club s website, ww.oklahomacameraclub.com. Many of us make a large number of prints using a significant amount of photographic paper, please do not forget to place your orders through this URL. 13

14 Oklahoma Camera Club, Inc. 50th and N. May Ave. Central Presbyterian Church Oklahoma City, OK Meetings: 7:30 pm 2nd and 4th Tuesdays For club information, contact HypoCheck Editor Doug Finch, APSA Webmaster Jaci Finch, APSA OCC Board of Directors President: J. D. McClung 1st Vice President: Jaci Finch, APSA - Programs 2nd Vice President: Jan Lee, FPSA, EPSA - Judges Treasurer: Ward Conaway, PPSA Secretary: Wally Lee, FPSA, PPSA Directors: 1 yr. Lyuda Cameron 1 yr. Bernard Fern 2 yr. Inge Vautrin 2 yr. Frank Mesarick Club Photographer: Jackie Mesarick The Club Board meets on Wednesday, 7:30 pm, between the club meetings at Floor World, 6424 East Reno, Midwest City, all are welcome. Please contact J. D. McClung at jdmcclung1@gmail.com for further information. For more information: We are on the web Oklahomacameraclub.com Visit us on Facebook Club Meetings and Workshops November 14: Projected Image Competition: Color A & B, Mono A & B, Altered Reality A & B, Nature A & B, and Photojournalism A & B Judges: Inge Vautrin, Piers Blackett, Darrell McClanahan Program: Holiday Dinner Celebration All Workshops have been cancelled for the month of November. Allows more time for eating and shopping!!! Meetings: 7:30 pm 2nd & 4th Tuesdays 50th and N. May Ave. Central Presbyterian Church November 28: No Meeting For Club Dues Contact fotoward@outlook.com 14