STATEN ISLAND CAMERA CLUB May, 2016 President s Message by Dennis Arculeo Well, we are finally at the end of this season. All that is left is the Awards dinner on June 2 nd. My congratulations go out to all the winners and High Scores earned during the regular season competitions and to those who scored tops in the End of Year Competition held Thursday, May 19 th. All I can say to one and all is you ve done very well and deserve the accolades! What was evident that night, from seeing the very first images, was that this contest would become much more than just an ordinary competition. It s noteworthy to mention that even the Judge commented that we gave him a very difficult job. While Barbara Hoffman and Len Rachlin may have led the pack with stunning winning images, others gave them fierce competition. I whole heartedly agree with the judge s comments regarding the level of professionalism exhibited by the photos presented. However, everyone who participated should be also commended for entering their wonderful images. I d also like to take this opportunity, as I am soon to leave the presidency of this club, to thank each of you who have supported me, the club, and its events, for the past three years. Without people like you, clubs like ours would cease to exist. I also would very much like to wish well our new President, Eric Mayr, who takes over on July 1 st. Hopefully I will see all of you at the End of Year Dinner at Real Madrid restaurant on June 2 nd. If not, please enjoy your summer and take lots of exciting images. In addition, I am sure we will see all of you at the August Business Meeting. Details of that meeting will be announced later this month. Club officers for 2015 2016 President: Dennis Arculeo First Vice President: Matthew Miner Second Vice President: Mark Harris Treasurer: Barbara Hoffman Secretary: Diane Griffiths Competition Chairperson: Carol Mayr Editor: Matthew Miner Webmaster: Dennis Arculeo
Page 2 Final Competition Best of The Year Color Digital: 1. Disaster by Anthony Penza 2. Lotus Flower by Bob Green 3. No Show Today by Dennis Arculeo Black & White Digital: 1. Sara by Barbara Mattera Hoffman 2. Dahlia by Len Rachlin 3. Stairs At Snug Harbor by Len Rachlin Color Print: 1. Red Dancer by Barbara Mattera Hoffman 2. Still Life With Antique Teapot by Len Rachlin 3. A Prayer by Barbara Mattera Hoffman Black & White Print: 1. Man From India by Len Rachlin 2. Waiting by Barbara Mattera Hoffman 3. Anticipating by Barbara Mattera Hoffman Book Review - Some titles I found very interesting and well written: A Complete Guide to Photoshop s Most Powerful Feature - Layers, by Matt Kloskowski http://www.amazon.com/layers-complete-photoshops-powerful-feature/dp/0321749588 Layers turn out to be a huge timesaver for any but the most trivial of updates. Just going to crop and fix one blemish? OK, maybe no layers, but fix a few, maybe adjust exposure, levels, etc? Layers will get you done and happy, and back out into the field, much faster than avoiding layers. Learn Layers. I promise it s worth the effort (check out Carolyn s SeniorNet class, perhaps). Speedliter s Handbook, by Syl Arena http://americanbookwarehouse.com/625262/ While a bit dated (2010) and written specifically for Canon flashes, I found it very interesting in general, so I imagine even a non-canon user would get something from it. Whether you go with this book, or another, be aware that your flash probably does a lot more than you expect, and it is well worth your time to learn a bit of it. Faking It - Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop, by Mia Fineman http://store.metmuseum.org/search? q=faking+it+manipulated+photography+before+photoshop I can t believe my eyes! was never more true than when looking at a photograph. Whether made by a camera obscura around 400BC, the very first negatives in the 1800s, or a modern DSLR, the ingenuity of photographers was converting reality into art long before Photoshop. It s come up a few times in recent weeks --- Len Rachlin s interesting article on capturing Still Life photos is in the February 2014.
Page 3 Digital Color Tops Digital B&W Tops Anthony Penza - Disaster - First Place Sara - First Place Bob Green - Lotus Flower - Second Place Len Rachlin - Dahlia - Second Place Dennis Arculeo - No Show Today - Third Place Len Rachlin - Stairs at Snug Harbor - Third Place
Page 4 Print Color Tops Print B&W Tops Red Dancer - First Place Len Rachlin - Man From India - First Place Len Rachlin -Still Life with Antique Teapot - Second Place Waiting - Second Place A Prayer - Third Place Anticipating - Third Place
Page 5 Staten Island Camera Club, Staten Island s Friendly Camera Club! 2015-2016 Assigned Subjects Color Prints Or Color Digital: 1. Zoo Animal(s) 2. Seasonal Scene (summer or spring or fall or winter) 3. Water in Motion Black & White Print or Black & White Digital: 1. Architecture Scene 2. Animal Portrait (full or side or 3/4 view of a species of the Animal Kingdom) 3. Shadow and Contrast For each category (digital color, digital b&w, print color, print b&w), use two different subjects of the three listed. The Staten Island Camera Club has been in existence since 1954, meeting two times per month at 8pm (doors open at 7:30) from Sept through May at Snug Harbor in the Harbor Room, building G. We meet on the first Thursday of the month for workshops and education, and on the third Thursday for our monthly Competition. Details and schedule available on our web site. http://www.siccphotography-club.com/ Competition Guidelines Four competitions: Digital projector (1920 pixels wide, 1080 pixels high) 1. Digital Black and White 2. Digital Color Images will be rescaled, if necessary, up or down to fit within those boundaries by the competition display program. Aspect ratio is always preserved during rescale. Print (to (images fit in the no display more than box, 20 images tall, nor can more be than no more 24 than wide, 20 so to tall, fit nor in display more than box) 24 wide, ) 3. Print Black and White 4. Print Color No exposed tape or mounting material! Mount on [foam] board stiff enough to stand on its own, optionally with an over-matte. You may submit up to two images in each of competition. the four competitions. Competitions are held in the Learning Harbor Room, Center, Snug Snug Harbor Building G, G, on across the third from Thursday the Harbor of each Room, month on at the 8pm third (Sep, Thursday Oct, Nov, of each Jan, Feb, month Mar, at 8pm Apr (Assigned (Sep, Oct, Subjects), Nov, Jan, Feb, and May Mar, (Finals)). Apr (Assigned Subjects), and May (Finals)). Competition winners Competition images with a top score are inserted into the newsletter. Digital images are handled automatically; no work for Maker. Digital versions of print images must be emailed by Maker to the Editor (if Maker wants them in the ). No need to resize them, just send a high quality jpg file. To avoid confusion, please name those images images <your <your name> name> - <Title>.jpg; - for <Title>.jpg; example: Joe for Smith example: - Cat.jpg. Joe Smith This - prevents Cat.jpg. confusion This prevents with similar confusion images. with similar sure images. to insert Be the sure exact to insert title in the exact email title also. in the email Be also. Email us at - sicameraclub@yahoo.com Editor: Matthew Miner Websites of interest: www.popphoto.com www.nyip.com www.strobist.com www.exposure.com www.life.com www.photography--now.net www.bhphoto.com www.adorama.com www.photojojo.com www.photo.net www.elementsvillage.com www.shutterbug.com