april northern district
DESCRIPTION
The Northern District Newsletter for AprilTRANSCRIPT
Monday, April 15th
David Lee MichaelsThe Other Children
10:00 ~ 3:00
GovernorElizabeth Bailey, [email protected]
Lt. GovernorJeanette Burkle, [email protected]
SecretaryKathy Kupka, [email protected]
Treasurer / Newsletter EditorJim Sanders, [email protected]
Virginia Professional Photographers Association
Newsletter Northern District
April 2013
STAUNTON
For our April program, David Lee Michaels CPP, AFP will show you how he has turned his passion for pets and animal welfare into the cornerstone of his studio. David Lee will share with you his grassroots marketing, and how he handles a pet session and their owners for successful sessions. David Lee will help you achieve the sales sessions you want with a few simple procedures.
Lunch will be informal dining at the Depot Grille. Following lunch, David Lee will take us through a pet session where there will be ample opportunity for interaction and questions.
If you have a passion for pets, and a desire to make them a part of your photography business, then you will want to be a part of this program.
We will be meeting at Monica Wilson Photography. Monica’s studio is next to the Amtrak station.
36 ½ Middlebrook Avenue Staunton
map on page 14
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David Lee Michaels
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My initial reaction to the concept of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep was exactly like everyone else's; “It's a wonderful service, but I don't think I could ever do that.” In fact, I may have walked out of the room when a seminar speaker shared a few images and her experiences photographing stillborn babies as a NILMDTS photographer, encouraging more to volunteer. If I didn't leave the room, I sure wanted to. We photographers love to photograph those plump, pretty, perfect babies all day long. But when one passes away before its time? No thanks, I thought. Capturing the beauty of life and childhood was always my personal goal.
at is, until I got THE phone call. e lead nurse at the local hospital, who I knew well, said there had just been a “fetal demise” and the parents requested photos. She asked if I would come and do it. Before I had a chance to really think about it, I said “yes”. It was, after all, not about me.
As suspected, it was difficult, but quite doable. Both mom and dad wept on and off softly, as did grandma. After ensuring the proper release forms were signed, I got to work. Gently, and comfortingly, I captured the baby alone and family members with this perfect baby boy, who had died sometime in-utero a day or so before birth. Family members were very cooperative because they knew that I was doing a requested, complimentary service for them.
e captured images are later uploaded on a NILMDTS secure site where volunteer retouchers convert them to B&W after correcting skin imperfections. e B&W helps to mitigate any skin discoloration and once retouched, the skin looks much improved. When complete, the baby often looks like a sleeping angel. ose priceless images are put on a disc and mailed to the family so they can always have a fond remembrance of the special infant that they never got to take home. I don't hear back from most of the parents, understandably, but when I do, they are EXTREMELY grateful and cannot tell me enough how much they appreciate it. ey often use several of the images for the baby's funeral in a slide show. Some parents even have prints made for display in their home.
The Benefits of Giving BackElizabeth Bailey
NILMD TS
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Why do we do what we do? Is it just for us and our financial bottom line or is it also for our clients? Do the parents grieving the loss of a baby deserve memorable images of their child just as much as any other parent? I am so glad that I was able to overcome my reluctance long enough to give those first parents a lasting gift that helps them with the healing process. Once I did the first, I knew I could do another. Two nights ago, I completed my 12th NILMDTS session. I have photographed babies as young as 21 weeks gestation to a terminally ill twin, born two months prior, but not expected to survive much longer. e list includes a few girls, but mostly boys, of every ethnicity. I don't regret it for one moment and I am so glad I did not let my initial trepidation prevent me from blessing these families in this way.
I realize that some people have compelling personal issues that render them unable to do this. Many have experienced personal tragedy or loss that make doing this unthinkable. Further, entering a hospital room to the raw emotion of grieving family members with a lifeless infant is not for the faint of heart. e baby is rarely in perfect condition and we must remain stoic, but caring, professional, and supportive at all times.
e organization will train you through webinars, phone and online support. You can shadow another NILMDTS photographer as an assistant to see if it is for you. If you feel that you cannot try it, maybe you could do the retouch work of others for the charity. If it is something you'd consider, please visit their website at www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org or contact me at 540-429-3686
NILMD TS
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FP DegreeJeanette Burkle
Rosanne Rainville
AFP DegreeDon Aittama
Elizabeth Bailey Liz Vance
PPA Master’s DegreeLes Miller was awarded the PPA
Master’s Degree at Imaging USA.
WHAT MAKES
A PHOTOGRAPH GOOD?
Virginia degrees have been awarded to the following Northern District members.
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S
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Lightroom 4 comes with a number of built-in
presets that can be applied to a photo with a
single click. In addition, there are any number
of LR presets available for purchase or for free. We can also create our own “recipes”
and save them as presets under User Presets.
To save a preset, select User Presets in the
Develop Module and click on the + sign. A
New Develop Preset dialog will pop up.
Check all boxes that apply to the settings you
want to save. Name your new preset and click Create… easy and DONE! Control-click
anywhere within the User Presets to access a pop-up menu for renaming or deleting.
For a starter preset to try, the settings for a split tone from Scott Kelby are shown
below. To add a sepia tone to black and white images, I created Mocha in the Split Toning panel. To undo a split toning preset, reset the sliders or simply create a preset set to neutral.
Mocha
PRESETS – Create Your Own! LIGHTROOM CORNER
Scott Kelby Split Tone
John SextonA good photograph should elicit a response that remains with the viewer either consciously or subconsciously. Photographs can soothe and reveal beauty. Photographs can disturb and question. Photographs can anger and incite. ese are valid responses that can come from a meaningful photograph. I think a good photograph reveals not only what is in front of the camera—the subject; but also what is behind the camera—the photographer.
Greg LawlerA good photograph demands that you remember it. You have no choice. You are permanently changed and you will think of that photo, the emotions that it stirred or the message it communicated, as long as you live.
Jose VillaComposition, light, and emotion. And if there is a connection between the photographer and the subjects, I consider it good.
From Visual Poetry by Chris Orwig
Erik AlmasPictures are so individual; there is no formula. For me, there need to be some question marks. I’m intrigued if there is something more to it than what you see. If you’re responsive to the photograph somehow, and if it asks questions or reminds you of something in the past, then your response to the image is emotional. ere is some kind of mystery that’s going on outside the frame.
Julieanne Kostere are many things that make a photo technically good, but for me the image must have an impact and move me, invoking an emotional response. e response can be positive or negative, happy or angry, sad or inspired. Regardless, the image has an effect on me.
Joyce TennesonI think a photograph is good when people want to look at it over and over and over again. ere’s something mysterious about it that makes you wonder, what is it? ere’s a power that an image has when it’s really successful. It defies verbal description or analysis.
Marc RibaldIf it moves one person deeply then it is a success.
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Yousuf Karsh 1908-2002
Karsh was a master of studio lights. One of Karsh's distinctive practices was lighting
the subject's hands separately. He photographed many of the great and celebrated
personalities of his generation. Throughout most of his career he used the 8×10 bellows
Calumet camera, made circa 1940 in Chicago. Journalist George Perry wrote in the
British paper The Sunday Times that "when the famous start thinking of immortality,
they call for Karsh of Ottawa."
Karsh had a gift for capturing the essence of his subject in the
instant of his portrait. As Karsh wrote of his own work in
Karsh Portfolio in 1967, "Within every man and woman a
secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a
small fraction of a second with an unconscious gesture, a
gleam of the eye, a brief lifting of the mask that all humans
wear to conceal their innermost selves from the world. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the photographer must act or lose his prize."
Karsh published 15 books of his photographs, which include
brief descriptions of the sessions, during which he would ask
questions and talk with his subjects to relax them as he
composed the portrait. Karsh said "My chief joy is to photograph the great in heart, in
mind, and in spirit, whether they be famous or humble."
YousufKarsh
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When Karsh photographed, he spent many hours visiting with and
talking to his portrait subjects before engaging the camera.
On photographing his famous subjects, Karsh writes:
"The endless fascination of these people for me lies in
what I call their inward power. It is part of the elusive
secret that hides in everyone, and it has been my life's
work to try to capture it on film. The mask we present to
others and, too often, to ourselves may lift for only a
second - to reveal that power in an unconscious gesture,
a raised brow, a surprised response, a moment of repose.
This is the moment to record."
Karsh printed in the darkroom with assistants. His photographs are
signed in black ink on mount au recto (front), usually imprinted with a
studio stamp au verso (back), and mounted to 100% rag board. Some
earlier prints were signed in white ink on the photo.
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self portraits
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Counting The Cost Michael Patch
e cost of doing business is a reality within which we must work. We all have these expenses, and we pay them because we know they are investments that provide some type of return that is greater than the cost.
I see print competition as a legitimate part of my operating expenses. It is an investment in my work, my products, my gifts, my craft, my clients and my life.
For me, print competition is not about scores or ribbon colors. While these are pleasant side benefits, they are not the goal for me. However, I think it is about winning because no matter what score I get or what color ribbon I receive, I have already won just by entering. If there were no ribbons or scores, I would still enter and I would still win!
I believe I always win through the process of print competition because it is more about learning my craft, expanding my vision, seeing new ways, testing my knowledge, and overcoming professional/personal challenges. I have to work harder to see more objectively what others see without my emotional experience of capturing the image influencing their emotions as it does mine. If I did not enter the print competition, others would not have seen and experienced my visual expressions. If others did not enter, I would not have been so deeply moved and challenged by the beauty, wisdom, insight, giftedness, experience, and art that they shared. ese are priceless returns on my investment.
“If there were no ribbons or scores, I would still enter and I would still win!”
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e list could continue, but I believe you get the point.
I have heard some VPPA members say they feel their work is not good enough for print competition. I once thought that until I asked another VPPA photographer and friend for constructive criticism on some of my images. I was nervous, but through his helpful comments and affirmations, I soon gained confidence in my art and work. What a great return on that investment. is past year, I asked two other VPPA photographers if I could email them some images for their thoughts. Upon receiving their permission, I sent them several images. I gained invaluable input, affirmation and advice from them. I also gained two more friends… priceless returns! Share your images at VPPA meetings that offer a print critique. Invest yourself in the benefits of the VPPA. With these huge returns, your investment is relatively small.
We reap what we sow. Plant yourself in the VPPA. Grow your skills through relationships and nourish yourself in the art and experience of photography while helping others to grow. Don’t be afraid to prune out the weeds that are always present, for it is only then that we will more fully blossom into better photographers and people.
1. An Investment of ought• To think of the image• To consider an image’s potential• To picture the final image• To think through the process of creating
the final image
2. An Investment of Energy• To find and go to the image location• To schedule and complete a studio session
3. An Investment of Time• To process the image• To prepare the entry forms• To package the images
4. An Investment of Finances• For the test prints• For the final images• For the entry fee
5. An Investment of Emotion• During the image preparation• During the print judging
6. An Investment in People• Getting advice from VPPA mentors• Asking for opinions from other
friends• Sharing ideas and advice
My investments for this return include the following:
“Grow your skills through relationships and nourish yourself in the art and experience of photography while helping others to grow.”
Monica Wilson Photography36 ½ Middlebrook Ave.Staunton 24401
Monica WilsonPhotography
W. Beverly St.
Lewis St.
outdoor parking lot
(by the hour)
Monica’s studio is next to the Amtrak station and at the base of the stairway for the newly renovated pedestrian bridge that connects Sears Hill with downtown Staunton.
Middlebrook Ave.
Augusta St.New St.
downtown Staunton
W. Johnson St.
Sears Hill
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Depot Grille