In Focus: July 2024
Suzanne Anaya - “Hyenas With a Topi Kill”
Gold Medal, PSA Interclub Competition, Wildlife Division, Group C
Peg Hanson - “Catch Me If You Can”
Silver Medal, PSA Interclub Competition, Wildlife Division, Group C
This e-newsletter contains OPCC events, reminders, and news and will be published on the first Sunday of each month. Please send contributions to the newsletter to opcc4news@gmail.com. Contributions are due at noon on the Friday before publication, but if time permits, we will attempt to accommodate late contributions.
NEWS
OPCC Final Curtain Call Scheduled for Dec 2024
After much soul searching, many discussions, and considering a variety of alternatives, the board is planning to close down OPCC at the end of December. This difficult and sad decision has become inevitable due to dwindling membership, participation and volunteers.
Over the last few years, finding volunteers for key club positions has become increasingly difficult. COVID affected many things, including our club. Without volunteers, the Club cannot exist, let alone thrive.
The Board spent long hours exploring and discussing options. You may remember, earlier this year we held an open meeting with club members where we discussed alternatives and approaches. The best approach we found was to merge with our partner club, Olympia Camera Club (OCC). For a few years now, we have been sharing programs and costs with OCC for outside speakers, as well as holding a few joint field trips.
Merger talks are underway, with details being worked out. We anticipate speaker night and share nights will continue via Zoom. We could also organize local field trips, occasional social events, small gatherings for group image shares, and other activities.
Any OPCC members who wish to participate in the merged club next year will receive a free one-year membership for 2025.
July Share Night
Because of the July 4 holiday, the July Share Night has been moved to July 11. We do not have access to St. Luke’s Church on that date, so the meeting will be held entirely by Zoom. The Special Topic for this month is “Looking up/down/sideways”.
PSA Interclub End-of-Year Results and Awards
From Witta Priester:
This year the OPCC entered PSA Inter-club competitions in three separate Divisions: Color (open), Monochrome and Nature. A big thank you to all the Club members who participated by entering in our qualifiers. Hopefully, you enjoyed selecting among your photos and found the judge’s comments helpful.
The Inter-club competition season has now ended. In each of the Divisions our Club’s results were quite good. You can check out the results on the PSA website by clicking HERE. Not only will you see our Club’s standing among the other Clubs in our Group, but there are also slideshows with the top 20 to 30, year-end, award winners in each Division.
The OPCC did exceptionally well this year in PSA Nature Inter-club. We came in 3rd in Group C, out of 30 US and International Camera Clubs! In addition, a BIG Congratulations!!! to Suzanne Anaya, who received the year-end Gold Medal for her photo Hyenas with Topi Kill, and to Peg Hanson, who was awarded the year-end Silver Medal for her photo, Catch Me if you Can in our Group (See Above). These are WONDERFUL achievements!
In the Projected Image Division, Color, we were near the top in Group E — 5th out of 20 Clubs. Having moved up this year from Group F, this is an excellent result.
In Inter-club Monochrome, our results (Group D) were in the middle of the pack, tied for 12th out of 32 Clubs. This is an improvement over last year. It is worth noting that this year 23 of the top monochrome images (out of 30) are about people.
Additionally, for the first time, our Club judged one of the competition rounds. Thank you Peg Hanson, Bruce Fryxell, and Suzanne Anaya for your thoughtful analysis and scoring of the Round 3, Group F, images in PID Color. It was a great season!
Poems and Photos
From Kevin Talbot:
Heidi Hansen of the Olympic Peninsula Authors group reported that their members submitted over 50 poems in response to our photos. They are in the process of whittling them down to a final selection. We hope to arrange a joint meeting soon so the authors can present their work. Stay tuned for more information.
Clallam County Fair Photo Competition
From Lewis Bennett:
The Clallam County Fair will be held from August 15 thru August 18. A judge has been selected for the photo competition, although the judge’s identity will not be known until the time of the fair. As usual, we need volunteers to operate the photo barn from August 11 to August 19 for intake, hanging, judging, hosting, and photo return. The website form for volunteering can be accessed by clicking HERE.
For those wishing to compete, photos will be accepted on Sunday, August 11 and Monday, August 12. Submission rules can be found by clicking HERE, and a complete exhibitor’s guide has be found HERE.
SPEAKER SERIES
Jennifer King - The Fine Art of Black & White Photography - July 18, 2024, 7:00 PM
There is something quite magical about black and white photography. Jennifer King will discuss the silver-like component that creates a sense of illusion, the dark tones that produce an emotional response, and the light that brings each image to life. She will walk through the creative process of defining your vision and creating dramatic images.
Jennifer is an internationally acclaimed landscape and fine art photographer with a passion for teaching and inspiring photographers around the world. She is a Moab Master Photographer, Singh-Ray Ambassador, and is named 1 of 15 Amazing Women to Follow (by 500px). Jennifer is also one of the premier black and white photographers in the world, with a Title Win for the US in 2020.
Field Trips and Workshops
Port Angeles Underground
From Kevin Talbot:
The Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce has an Historical Underground Tour that can be made available for private groups, Wednesdays through Saturdays. Tour start times are between 10AM and 2:30PM. Lighting conditions will necessitate the use of flash and tripod. Surfaces are for the most part smooth with some stairs that have railings. The time required is 2.5 hours. The Chamber of Commerce tour page can be found HERE.
We will need between three and twenty people to book a private tour. The cost is $20 per person. If you are interested, we need to know what day of the week and a specific week in July or August that works for you. Suggested start time is 10AM.
Please respond directly to Dan Mulkey at dmdmulkey@gmail.com, who will arrange the tour date and time.
Lakewold Gardens Field Trip
Olympia Camera Club has invited us to join them on their July field trip to Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood, WA. Plan to meet on Saturday, July 13th @ 10:00 am, at Lakewold Gardens. The gardens are located at 12317 Gravelly Lake Drive SW, Lakewood, WA 98499. Admission is $12 for adults, and $10 for seniors and the military. More information about Lakewold Gardens and directions may be found HERE. If you plan to attend, please send Bill Ballard an e-mail at ballardcompany@earthlink.net.
Annual Picnic
Save the date. Our Annual Picnic will be held at Salt Creek on August 24 from 11:00 to 2:00. The club will either provide hot dogs and hamburgers or arrange for the event to be catered. The rest will be potluck. Watch for more information.
NWCCC News
From Stephen Shoff:
2024 NWCCC Traveling Image Salon
Voting is open now for July. This month OPCC is voting on images from The Bellingham Photography Club. To view and vote for the images, click HERE and follow the appropriate links. Each month's voting must be completed by the 25th of the month. For “judging” and voting instructions, please review the first several paragraphs of the “Overview of the NWCCC Traveling Salon” on the web page. Please remember to vote.
Other News
Ansel Adams Stamps
From Kevin Talbot:
The USPS recently released an "Ansel Adams" series of sixteen stamps that look very nice. If you want some, your local post office may have them, or you can order them directly on USPS.COM. The stamps can be viewed and ordered HERE.
Hunt’s Camera
Our Hunt’s Camera sales representative, Alan Samiljan, has retired and is being replaced by Brian Maryansky. Here is a statement from Brian:
As you may know, Alan has decided the time has come to retire from the photo industry after an amazing 50-year career. I have been afforded the opportunity to maintain Alan's clients and continue the high standard that you have all come to expect. You can look for monthly updates on specials and other sales, product updates, and new releases.
*Any existing orders or pre-orders have been transferred to me with no changes.
I also work closely with Gary Farber, who many of you might know as well. I have been with Hunt's for 13 years and prior to Hunt's, I was with Precision Camera and Video in Austin, TX. Looking forward to continuing the great relationships that have already been cemented!
My normal hours are 9am-5pm M-F EST.
Direct Phone line is 781-462-2343
Email: bmaryansky@huntsphoto.com
Please consider using Hunt’s camera for you photographic needs. They have been very helpful in providing speakers for us and offer a discount to all members of our club.