The June DPC meeting, our final gathering of the 2010 Season was a great success! The club will now take a two-month hiatus, returning September 2, 2010 for the next year!
We started the meeting by thanking our outgoing President Charles Callaghan. Charley has worked tirelessly to move this club in a positive direction, infusing passion, creativity, and needed structure to progress our club’s progress in the direction he envisioned. The core foundation and the open environment Charley has helped build will help us all become better artists and photographers. Thank you, Charley, for everything you have done over the past year and thanks in advance for your continued contributions in your new role as Programs Chair on the Steering Group!
DPC is very fortunate to have elected Henry Rowan as our new President! It was a very close race as the other presidential candidate, Stu the Cat, worked the room feverishly in the final moments before the vote. The tally was close, but Henry’s experience, his remarkable photographic skills, his ability to lead and organize, and his devoted passion to helping others learn and succeed won the day. Congratulations Henry! While Stu left the meeting despondent (crying for several minutes at the door) the club will be happy to hear that Stu has fully recovered and has happily agreed to stay on as club mascot.
Housekeeping items were up next. First, we received a reminder to use the DPC forum as often as possible. Henry shared some great shooting opportunities locally over the next few weeks. We should use the forum to communicate, share ideas and coordinate field trips! For example, we unanimously liked the idea of having a summer garden party this summer and we opted for Saturday, August 21st. Keep your eyes on the forum to learn about the details as they are finalized. We could use some volunteers to help organize the event! If you are able to help, please contact Henry or Charley. Don’t forget, our delightful membership chair, Linda Prisco will be sending a request for renewal dues in July or August. Pay early and avoid the line in September! Lastly, the DPC will again participate in the Doylestown Arts Festival. Use the summer to get your body of work ready as we will have just a few days to prepare after we return in September. More information about quantities, size limits and the submission process will be forthcoming.
Our Tech Moment, presented by Justin, showed us how to access the photo/bio section of the website. As soon as the site is ready, all members will need to post their own bios! If you need any help accessing the forum or the portrait section of the site, please go to the forum tab and email Justin at Admin@doylestownphotoclub.com.
Next, our POTM sage, Drew Wagner, introduced us to the work of Brett Weston, son of Edward Weston. In this case, the apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree. This presentation showed how true the statement is that Brett’s work “could make something of nothing.” Brett Weston appreciated how the camera treated close-ups and enjoyed high contrast black and white treatments to further alter the object. He was known for his abstracts throughout his 70-year career. Brett Weston destroyed all but a handful of his negatives at age 80 and died in Kona Hawaii in 1993.
Next on the agenda, David Crowley showed us some wonderful images from the Sequoia National Forest. This is one of the natural wonders of the world and David did a nice job capturing the overwhelming scope of these trees as well as the beautiful fog and lighting opportunities in northern California.
And, our featured guest speaker was air-to-air photographer, Paul Bowen. Paul did a great job sharing his techniques for capturing aerial images, including the beautiful vortices. You too can try to secure images like these by hanging out of the back-end of a B-25 bomber secured by a carabineer strap and a foot-guard with a smiley face sticker…hmmm. Seriously though, the aircraft were beautifully captured, and the choreography and communication needed between planes to capture the shots was fascinating. The use of a single strobe to gain adequate fill light was surprising and made several of us rethink the use of flash in unlikely environments. The audible response to Paul’s work throughout the presentation told the story, as the DPC membership was awed by his compositions, lighting and gorgeous backgrounds. Wow! Paul also treated us to a slideshow of his recent trip to Hong Kong. The quality of his work was equally evident here; showing that building upon solid photographic skills will enable you to apply your skills creatively in many styles and venues.
Thanks for a great year everyone! We’ll see you at the Garden Party and then we’re back to our regular club meeting on September 2nd. Have a great summer!