The May meeting was packed with great information.  [...]]]> Wow, what a great club we have!  First, congratulations to the club for having a close second place finish (by 5 points) in the Interclub competition this year.  And, special congratulations go to our own John Jacoberger who took the top honors with his image of his beautiful black Lab!

The May meeting was packed with great information.  First some housekeeping items to look ahead:  Instead of a photo challenge in June, we will organize a critique session.  Each member should select one image to be critiqued by the club in a totally anonymous format.  More information to come.  Rather than holding a Focus Ring, the club will hold it’s first-ever “Flea Market” where you can bring photography items you wish to sell.  Put a price on your items and see if one person’s cast-offs will become another’s new treasure!  Also in June, we will be holding an additional event–our annual Club Picnic on June 16th!  Sue Ann Rainey has once again graciously offered to hold the event at her home in Tinicum.  The price will be $15 per person, adults preferred please.  Lastly, we will spend time presenting matting and framing next month, to prepare everyone for participation in the Doylestown Arts Festival.  The club will have two booths again this year.  The fee to enter is $10 but the club will take no commissions.  More information will be forthcoming once we have an idea of how many club members wish to participate.  Finally, elections are in June!  We have one candidate for president so far, and there are also other roles available if you wish to help the club grow and succeed.

The May event was launched with a full-house for Focus Ring, starring Maria Dreyer (aka the Queen of Textures) who was kind enough to share her secrets for layering images with beautiful tones, textures and brush strokes.  Great job Maria–that was extremely helpful!  Next, David Stakun presented our Photographer of the Month, Joel Sternfeld, an artist photographer who captured images containing irony, humor and shock value.  His favorite and best known images show the conflict of humanity against its culture and against nature.  The fireman buying a pumpkin while the house behind him is burning to the ground will stick with us for a long time.  Thanks David, you always find thought-provoking artists to spark our imagination.

Our guest speaker was a last minute substitution, but one we were extremely fortunate to experience!  Henry’s friend Buddy Eleazer (future president of the Lehigh Valley Photo Club) joined us and shared a lot of great information about the Lehigh Valley art scene.  The InVision Photo Festival is coming up this fall and it sounds like there are a tremendous number of events we can participate in.  The information from Buddy will be posted on Flickr, or you can go to artsquest.org/invision or lvphotographyclub.org to see more.

The May 14th meeting should be a great one, starting with [...]]]> The DPC will be meeting on May 14th NOT May 7th. This is to allow members to attend the Interclub Competition that will be held at 7:30 on May 7th at the Churchville Nature center. Check the Flickr site for updates and ride sharing opportunities.

The May 14th meeting should be a great one, starting with a 6:15 PM Focus Ring featuring the Queen of Textures, Maria Dreyer. She’ll show us how to add textures to images and provide some insight on how to build your own texture collection.

Note: Due to some confusion on our part, our original speaker will not be able to make it. In her place, we will have an exciting presentation on shooting wild critters in Africa by Buddy Eleazer. Buddy leads photographic safaris Africa and has extensively shot in the southern part of the continent. You are going to see some incredible images as well as pick up some great tips on travel photography in general.

Also, Buddy will be telling us about some exciting photographic opportunities in the Lehigh Valley as that region works to build itself into a cultural powerhouse.

Finally, please send your pictures of flowers for this month’s photo challenge to Barry as soon as possible at: bwwhdr@gmail.com.