• President – Scott Winter
• Treasurer – Mike Roest
• Secretary – Jeff Clement
• Events Co-ordinator – TBD

Anyone who is interested in filling the Events Co-ordinator position please come forward at the March meeting or email president_at_calgaryphotographicsociety.ca letting us know.

Hope to see everyone at the March Meeting (March 3rd 2010), with their prints for the theme Texture.

First and foremost…  We are meeting in a new, larger, room in the Kinesiology Building at the University of Calgary (KB126).  We booked a larger room in anticipation of higher attendence due to the Digital Photography Expo (more on that later).

http://www.ucalgary.ca/map/campus_main_Large.html (look for the building labeled KN)

Our November guest speaker will be photographer Aaron Dunn speaking on his photography. 

As usual there will be a print competition (this month's theme is "Weather").

And if that wasn't awesome enough, there will be a special show-and-tell component of our meeting where we invite any and all of our do-it-yourselfer members to bring in photography related gear they've build or modified themselves.  This could be anything from lighting modifiers, and backdrops, to pin hole lenses, and cameras, etc.   It will be a great opportunity to show off your resourcefulness and get new ideas!

The First Annual Digital Photography Expo

The Camera Store hosted the "first annual" Digital Photography Expo at the Telus Convention center this October 4/5th, and they offered us a free booth at the show. 

Ryan, our fearless leader, was able to procure a trade-show-style fold out background, and Scott printed up the banner you see in the photo.  With that, some lights, a bunch of prints and about 20 feet of Velcro^TM we ended up with something that, I dare say, looked pretty awesome (especially on the budget of almost nothing).  We didn't compete with the likes of Canon or Nikon but we did all right. 

Scott printed up 500 brochures that we thought would cover us for the two days.  They didn't.  About 3 hours into the show we figure we'd given out 400 or so of the brochures which prompted a run across the street to make another 250 copies.  That held us until later Sunday afternoon where we ran out completely.

There was a lot of interest in the group.  On Saturday, Ryan and I talked to interest folks non-stop from noon until we shut down at 7pm.  We've booked a bigger room for November in anticipation of higher than normal attendance.

– Jeff Clement

October Guest Speaker: Greg Gerla

When Greg Gerla left Lethbridge after highschool, he had plans of pursuing a career as an architect, but ended up in the photography program at ACAD and really enjoyed it.  He decided to pursue photography as a career and built-up his photography business gradually, while working tables, until the day he was able to focus entirely on his photography business.  He's been shooting commercial since 1991 and has even been brought back to ACAD to teach courses on photography for the last three years. 

Greg was an old school film shooter and hadn't planned on moving to digital but found that he was losing work because the Calgary market is looking for digital images.  These days Greg rarely does any commercial work with film.  Greg pointed out that, while digital has many cost benefits, the huge up-front cost makes it much more difficult than a similar film setup for the fledgling photography business.  For myself, being a hobbyiest, I find not having to pay for film or processing costs makes digital feel cheaper and I didn't mind the larger up front cost.  However, when working commercially, film and processing costs are often absorbed by the company contracting the work, making them less of a concern.

Greg passed on a number of business ideas and great photography tips.   My favorite tip was using cheap flourescent tube lights, standing on end, on either side of a model to make for some very unusual looking strip lighting.    

Greg joins a growing list of phenomenal speakers we've had recently.  He spoke of his history in photography and the growth of his photography business with the flow and eloquence and of novelist.  

October "Open" Print Competition Results 

Advanced Category 

Advanced Open – Scott Winter – Reach for the Light

 

Score	Photographer	Title
7.6	Scott Winter	Reach for the Light
6.0	Bob Lee	Global Warming

 Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Martin Bielecki

Intermediate Open  – Georgette Swenson

Score	Photographer	Title
8.0	Martin Bielecki	<untitled>
8.0	Georgette Swenson	<untitled>
6.6	Murray DeJagger	Friend of Foe

 Novice Category

October "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Insect(s)"

Advanced Theme

Advanced Theme – Scott Winter – Take a Look at This

 Intermediate Theme

Novice Theme

Novice Theme – Mike Johnson – Hello There

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Announcements

Our very own Jose Guillen's work (a series of lith prints) will be featured in the upcoming Nine exhibition in mid-November.

Avenue magazine has a new monthly photography contest (details here) for images taken in and around Calgary.  Winners will have their image published as well as win a free subscription to the magazine.  

I hope everyone has had an excellent summer!  We're back to our regularly scheduled meetings now until June.

We have all sorts of exciting content in this newsletter including…

• August BBQ
• September print competition results
• CPS is now on Facebook!
• Review of the Canon G9
• And assorted news and links

Upcoming October Meeting

Guest Speaker: Greg Gerla , fashion photographer

Print Competition Theme: Bugs

CPS on Facebook

If you are a Facebook achiever you can head on over to the CPS Facebook group and join up for another great way to keep involved in the society.

CPS August BBQ

photos by Jeff Clement

Tino and Julie have hosted an annual BBQ at their place N.W. of Calgary for as long as I've been a member of CPS and I was fortunate enough to be able to make it out there again this year.  As always, the food was absolutely amazing.  I don't know how Tino and Julie pull it off, but their steak beats anything else I've ever had, hands down, no exaggeration!  (Part of me was wanting to Edit the Wikipedia page on the Seven Wonders of the World and sneak it in under the Hanging Gardens of Babylon… It was that good!)   It was a small turnout this year, which was a shame, but those that made it out had a great time despite the somewhat chilly weather.  

Tino has been keeping busy building an incredible model railway in their backyard and he brought out the cars for us.  There are a couple dozen or so cars, all authentic replicas of real trains from his hometown's railway in Sweden, and we spent the early part of the evening watching them cruise around the track and trying our hand at shooting model trains.

Thank you so much Tino and Julie!  

September "Open" Print Competition Results 

Advanced Category 

Advanced Open – Tony Field – Stairway

 

Score	Photographer	Title
8.6	Tony Field	Stairway
8.0	Scott Winter	Gotcha
7.6	Jose Guillen	Reflection
6.6	Carla Fedje	Sunday Ice Cream

 Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Ryan Pahl – Tranquility

Score	Photographer	Title
8.6	Ryan Pahl	Tranquility
8.0	Helmut Schoderbock	Alpine View
7.0	Mike Roest	Negative
7.0	Jeff Clement	Too Much Photoshop
6.0	Stephen McCraken	Bear Necessities

 Novice Category

Novice Open  – Mike Johnson – Done for the Season

September "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Black and White"

Advanced Theme

 Intermediate Theme

Intermediate Theme – Jeff Clement

Novice Theme

Novice Theme – Mike Johnson – Feather Fall

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Date	Theme
Oct 1, 2008	Bugs / Insects
Nov 5, 2008	Weather
Dec 3, 2008	Travel
Jan 2, 2009	Architecture
Feb 6, 2009	Metal
Mar 5, 2009	Fashion
Apr 2, 2009	Opposites
May 7, 2009	Religion
June 4, 2009	Eye Candy

Various Announcements

NetPhotoClasses.org contacted us regarding web-based photography courses they are running.  

"First, we appreciate this moment of your time. Thank you… NetPhotoClasses.org is pleased to announce 3 highly affordable, totally web-based photography classes, our Basic Short Course, our Basic Photography course and our Advanced Photography course .

Our Basic Short Course is for those who want to improve their photography but may not want to get into a more extensive course, such as our Basic Photography offering. Basic Photography is a more in-depth course covering the basics of digital cameras, extensive work  in composition, lighting, etc.  Our Advanced course builds on the Basic offering and moves into developing portfolios, etc."

The Camera Store is hosting the first annual Digital Photo Expo (Oct 4-5th).  CPS will have a booth at the show.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students.  They have a great line-up of speakers so do check out the website.  The Camera Store is also looking for volunteers and you'll get a free admission and chance to win $100 for your time.  If you are interested, contact Gail Gold at the Camera Store (403-680-9935).

The Center for Fine Art Photography (in Colorado) contact us and is accepting submissions to their "Negative Space Exhibition".  Details are on their site and there is prize money…

Review: Canon G9

I've been shooting, primarily, with a Canon 20D DSLR for the past few years and, while I love that camera, there are times where dragging the SLR, myriad of lenses, etc. becomes cumbersome.  Inevitably, whenever I try and travel light, I need whatever is in my camera bag sitting back at home (macro lens, tele, cable release, …).

My wife has a little Canon point and shoot, but that is HER camera (you know how that is).   It didn't really have a feature set that made me happy, and Anji didn't want me leaving it in all manner of weird shooting modes.  So clearly, what I needed was yet another camera!

I'd been eyeing the Canon G series cameras for some time now and finally decided to go for it.  I bought the Canon G9 (incidentally about 1 month later the G10 was released) from the fine folks at the Camera Store.

I'm hooked!  It's wonderful being able to carry a decent little camera with me wherever I am.  I work downtown and lugging my SLR back and forth just never happened.  The G9 is small enough to toss in my bag and leave there.  It makes going out for an impromptu walk-and-shoot at lunch a lot more fun and a lot more spontaneous.

So what else do I like about the G9 other than convenience?

First of all the G9 offers a great opportunity to pimp your camera with accessory grips (holding on to the stock camera, with one hand… difficult), filter adapter + filters, flash shoe protectors, etc.  There is even a 3rd party adapter that lets you attach an old school cable release to this camera.  It became obvious very quickly that, even with the new stick-on grips, I would need a wrist strap so I made my own from some leather and cord (just to add that personal touch)

The G9 has a 12MP sensor, a 6x stabilized zoom lens, knobs for ISO and shooting mode, Like my SLR, this camera has a huge number of knobs and buttons that mean I don't have to go scrolling around in menus trying to change settings like my exposure compensation, focus points, etc.  The G9 is one of few cameras of this size to actually feature a hot shoe (compatible with Canon's line of fancy schmancy flashes).  The body is actually made of metal so the whole unit just feels solid.

Full-crop @ 80 ISO f/5.0 1/100s 

Of course, not everything is rosy with this camera.  As mentioned, if you don't spend money on the 3rd party grips, the camera is really hard to hold one-handed.  It has no wireless cable release.  No exposure bracketing.  No bulb mode.  The screen protrudes a lot and is just asking to get scratched.   Shooting past 400 ISO is very noisy (see below) but at least it is possible.  

Full-crop @ 3200 ISO f/2.8 1/15s handheld (3200 ISO mode forces 2MP image)

I was very pleased to see, however, that it's low light performance for long exposures is excellent.  If you leave the camera at 80 ISO, mount it on a tripod, 10s exposures look very good!  One little snag is that you may want to turn off the stabilizer when doing that because it tends to get confused and trash your image.

The G9 is a bit expensive for a point and shoot (especially if you go nuts, like I did, and buy all the 3rd party stuff).  It's a bit bigger than most competing cameras.  But it's solid, well designed, and it just feels great in the hands.  I love this camera!  That said, I still prefer the ease of control and responsiveness of my SLR so when size and weight are not an issue…

– Jeff Clement

Web Crawl 

Mike sent a link to the Upminster Camera Club in England.  He was intending it to be used for ideas by the executive but, always on the prowl for something… anything… to fill the newsletter with, I scavenged the link to the members photo page.  There is a great variety of work on there without being overwhelming.  Possibly something we should look into for CPS?

And just in case you were thinking that you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, and wanted to offload an obscene amount of it on camera gear, Leica has announced their crazy new Leica S2 37MP camera with a larger than 35mm sensor and whole new lens line-up!  No prices mentioned but I can imagine

That's All Folks!

• A message from Ryan Pahl, President of CPS
• Review of June's guest speaker: Sarah Millan
• Results from the June print competition
• Upcoming  print competitions
• and a very tiny bit more…

Spring has Sprung!

Summer is here once again. I hope you all have plans to get out and enjoy the sun; I know I will. A good way to get a start on this is to come on down to the next meeting. We plan to have a good old time in the great outdoors while exercising our shutter releases. The plan is to meet at the Big Hill Springs Provincial Park and shoot nature at its best. Hope to see you all there, and don’t forget to bring bug spray and of course a camera.

As for the August meeting, a scavenger hunt and barbeque to follow are in the works. Julie and Tino have been gracious enough to lend their home once again as the location for the event. Details are still being worked out, however,  the planned date is for Sunday the 10th of August 2008. More details will be given as they become available.

Have a great summer…

Ryan Pahl
President, Calgary Photographic Society

June Guest Speaker Review -  Sarah Millan

Photo by Jeff Clement

In June's meeting we had the pleasure of speaking with an amazing young woman, Sarah Millan.  Sarah is a native Calgarian, a photographer, a philosopher, and a great speaker.  Born and raised in Calgary, Sarah took off to travel Europe for three years when she turned 18.  During her travels she fell in love with photography.  When she came back to Calgary she enrolled at the ACAD and obtained a design degree in photography.  

When she was much younger her Grandmother introduced her to art and the two of them would frequently make trips to galleries together.  Her Grandmother was, and still is, hugely influencial to Sarah's work; frequently Sarah will go to her Grandmother for advice and for critique of her work.

The philosophical side of Sarah came out as she discussed how she approaches her work.  Her work "stems from the basis of the character of things".  All things have a story.  Sarah tries to become familiar with these stories and present them in her work.  In fact, Sarah will not begin to shoot a subject until she has a clear story in her mind.  Some of her work is documenting pieces of her childhood (Grandma's kitchen, etc)  and for these images she shoots down low, from child height, to produce the images she remembers from her childhood. Sarah shoots some commercial work but her passion is portraiture.   Sarah loves ambiguity in things. 

Sarah shared with us a selection of her images and they were superb.  While in school she eschewed the use of digital manipulation she's warmed to it and it's become an important part of her style. Many of her images have been modified to give them a grittier / memory like feel to them.  Sometimes this manipulation is done optically (huge stacks of filters) and sometimes in Photoshop.

Thanks Sarah!

June "Open" Print Competition Results 

Advanced Category 

Advanced Open – Carla Fedje – Sydney

 

Score	Photographer	Title
8	Carla Fedje	Sydney
7.3	Norm Capper	A Quiet Moment
6.3	Tony Field	Kayla & Steph

 Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Helmut Schoderbock – Squirrely View

Intermediate Open  – Stephen McCracken – Dumb Bitch

 

Score	Photographer	Title
8.3	Helmut Schoderbock	Squirrely View
8.3	Stephen McCracken	Dumb Bitch
7.0	Ryan Pahl	Glamour

 Novice Category

June "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Different point of view on a common subject"

Advanced Theme

Advanced Theme – Carla Fedje – Meat Injection

 Intermediate Theme

Intermediate Theme – Stephen McCracken

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Date	Theme
Sept 3, 2008	B+W
Oct 1, 2008	Bugs / Insects
Nov 5, 2008	Weather
Dec 3, 2008	Travel
Jan 2, 2009	Architecture
Feb 6, 2009	Metal
Mar 5, 2009	Fashion
Apr 2, 2009	Opposites
May 7, 2009	Religion
June 4, 2009	Eye Candy

For Sale

Michael Sundberg has some items for sale.  If any of the following items are of interest contact him at ml.sundberg at shaw.ca.

PRINTER: SONY SNAP LAB UP-CR10L HIGH SPEED DYE-SUB PRINTER (5X7" OR 4X6" OR 3.5X5") GREAT FOR EVENT PRINTS, ONLY 20 SECONDS PER PRINT $990+GST

HASSELBLAD MEDIUM FORMAT SYSTEM INCL. 500C/M BODY WITH WAIST LEVEL FINDER, 120 FILM BACK, 80mm f/2.8 CARL ZEISS LENS, 150mm f/4.0 CARL ZEISS LENS, HASSELBLAD STRAP & CASE (ALL IN EXC COND, ALMOST LIKE NEW) $1950+GST

TRIPOD MANFROTTO HEAVY DUTY 075 (USED CONDITION, VERY HEAVY AND STABLE) $90+GST

MONOPOD MANFROTTO 679B BLACK $40+GST

PORTABLE BACK-DROP SUPPORT SYSTEM MANFROTTO WITH CARRYING CASE $90+GST

MUSLIN COTTON DYED "VENICE" COLOUR (BROWNS) FROM OWEN'S ORIGINALS 20'X10' WITH CARRYING BAG $90

CANVAS PAINTED & DYED BROWNS $90

ETHERNET BROADBAND ROUTER D-LINK, WIRED, NEW – NEVER USED $30

Web Crawl 

Announcement of the Nikon D700.  Full frame pro-body with the D3 innards and some additional nifty-ness like automatic sensor cleaning and built-in flash.

Also.  For any members with websites that would like them listed, please e-mail the URL to me at jeff.clement at calgaryphotographicsociety.ca.

That's All Folks!

And a final reminder… During the summer there will be no further published newsletters.  Upcoming events will continue to be posted to the website and e-mailed to the membership.

Photographer Sarah Millan will be speaking to us about her photography.  Check out her superb landscape and portraiture work on her website.

Newsletter Contents

• Review of Ed Spiteri, May's guest speaker.
• May print competition results
• That's about it

Spring has Sprung!

Well… Hopefully we've seen the end of winter.  Once again, I've procrastinated in writing up the newsletter.  If only I had got after it earlier, I wouldn't be couped up inside while the weather is so nice.

In addition to allergies, mowing the lawn, sunburns, and hot sleepless nights, June marks the end of our regular meeting program until September (Ok.  So I'm a closet summer grinch).  The July and August meetings will be in the form of yet to be disclosed outings.  Please keep an eye on the website for updates!

May Guest Speaker Review -  Ed Spiteri

Photo by Jeff Clement

Our planned presenter for the May meeting had to cancel at the last minute and Ed Spiteri stepped up to the plate.  Ed has spoken to CPS in the past (November 2006) and was gracious enough to speak with us again.  Ed had brought along some photographs to show but due to technical issues (lack of projector sort of stuff) he was unable to show his images.

Ed had worked for the Canadian Film Board for years.  He's done a lot of traveling, published a number of books, and held a number of solo exhibitions.  Ed was involved with the creation of "Between Friends ", a bicentennial gift to the Americans from Canada (funny side-note: Ed tells us that the maps were so good in this book it became unofficially known as the "Drug Smuggler's Guide"). Ed's work is also part of the National Photographic Collection of the National Archives.  The main topic Ed spoke about was his street photography work.  Ed is one of the founding photographers of that genre (at the time there were about six of them in North America shooting that style).   

Ed did a lot of work in London in the 60's.  The street people were always surprising.  Ed recalled one instance where a man shining shoes for change was also wearing Britian's second highest military decoration.  Ed has some of these photos available to view on his website.

Ed does most of his photography with a small point in shoot camera (Pentax 21-90mm, 800 ISO color film).  There is no sense scaring people with a "big crap ass camera".  Besides, things are different these days.  The people on the streets can be more dangerous.  Lugging around thousands of dollars of camera gear is a good way to get mugged.

"Back up when doing street photography", says Ed, "the subject is important but so is the environment".  Sometimes it's worth carrying around some change to hand out to the homeless in exchange for some photographs.  Dogs and cats can also be a great way to break the ice with a new subject.  First ask to shoot the animal, shoot if for a while, and then zoom way out.

He related a few dangerous brushes while out on the street.  Ed says, "Attitude is everything on the street".  If you act like someone that shouldn't be messed with, people will probably leave you alone.  Easy for him to say when his career choices were apparently photography and fighting    I don't think any amount of attitude will make by skinny computer programmer self look frightening!

Editors Note: It seems that most of the group forgot about the important third part of our meeting at the Kilkenny.  Myself, Tony, Scott, Ed and Ryan were the only ones of the bunch to make it out to the Kilkenny.  You guys are missing out on some great conversations! 

Ed, thanks for your time!

Check out Ed's work on his website:

• http://www.spiteriphotoart.com/

May "Open" Print Competition Results 

Advanced Category 

Advanced Open – Scott Winter – Falls

 

Score	Photographer	Title
	Scott Winter	Falls
7.6	Tony Field	Shelter
	Carla Fedje	<untitled>

 Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Helmut Schoderbock – Going Fishing

 Novice Category

Novice Open  – Kyle Johnson – Pointing Toward the Sky

Novice Open  – Jeff Roest – Market Day

May "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Paper"

Advanced Theme

Advanced Theme – Tony Field – Paper

Advanced Theme – Scott Winter – Paper Airplane

 Intermediate Theme

Intermediate Theme – Stephen McCracken – Paper

Novice Theme

Novice Theme – Mike Johnson – Paper Covers Rock

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Date	Theme
Jun 4, 2008	Different point of view on a common subject
Sept 3, 2008	B+W
Oct 1, 2008	Bugs / Insects
Nov 5, 2008	Weather
Dec 3, 2008	Travel
Jan 2, 2009	Architecture
Feb 6, 2009	Metal
Mar 5, 2009	Fashion
Apr 2, 2009	Opposites
May 7, 2009	Religion
June 4, 2009	Eye Candy

Web Crawl 

British photographer Platon has some amazing work including portraits of Putin, Obama, and other politcal types.

Also.  For any members with websites that would like them listed, please e-mail the URL to me at jeff.clement at calgaryphotographicsociety.ca.

That's All Folks!

Also a reminder that July and August are not normal scheduled meetings.  They will be held as off-site workshops.  Check back on the site for details.  Also, no newsletters until September.

– Jeff

Photographer Sarah Millan will be speaking to us about her photography.  Check out her superb landscape and portraiture work on her website. 

Our scheduled speaker, Sarah Millan, will be unable to join us on Wednesday.  We''ll hopefully have a backup plan in place for the meeting.  If not, we will go for drinks that much earlier!  — (2008-05-07)

The print competition theme will be "paper(s)".

And more…

• Learn about why "save often" and "always run a backup first" are rules you should live by
• A word from our new president about some changes to judging and upcoming events
• Review of Kevin Stenhouse's talk from April
• Print competition results and winners from the April meeting
• And lots of other amazing content…

So stop holding your breath and keep on reading!

President's Letter 

Good day to you all, I hope your all enjoying the great spring weather. The CPS executive and I have had another meeting to discuss upcoming events and some possible changes we would like to see.

First on the list was picking our new theme list for the upcoming year. I hope you like what we dreamed up, and have some fun shooting them. They should now be listed on the webpage under the theme area.

The next topic of discussion was the judging of our print competitions. We felt that a new break down of points may help ease the tension and allow the judges a little more elbow room. The new point system we came up with is as follows :

Open

2 pts – composition
4 pts – technical
4 pts – impact / creativity
 
Theme 

3 pts – theme
3 pts – creativity
4 pts – technical / composition

The new scoring will not be implemented until our September meeting.

The final topic of discussion was some ideas for upcoming events. We are planning to do another photography scavenger hunt with a BBQ to follow. This will probably happen in August and the results shown at the September meeting. We also thought it would be fun to have a ‘best of the year’ print competition in November or December. Instead of a guest speaker, everyone will bring in what they thought was their best print from the previous year. Then, all in attendance will judge all the entries to crown the winner. Final details are still to be worked out.

That’s all for now, see at the meeting.

Ryan Pahl

President, Calgary Photographic Society

Greetings from the Newsletter / Website Guy

Hello again everyone.   You're all reading the third generation of this months newsletter.  The first version was lost when my browser crashed before I saved the newsletter  (Mental note: save early, save often).  The second version of this newsletter was lost when I noticed a little indicator on the website saying the webserver software was out of date.  Naturally, being a software guy, I couldn't let the software get out of date!  Horrors!  So I did what any somewhat sleepy and not entirely thinking individual would do.  I clicked the "upgrade" button without running the backup that you should ALWAYS run before doing something crazy like that.  As Murphy would have it, despite numerous successful upgrades, this upgrade was most decidedly not a success.  The upgrade failed having deleted all the data in the database and corrupting the files on the webserver.  Oh joy!

Luckily the story doesn't end there.  I do make daily backups of both the database and web site files.  The majority of the site was easily restored but unfortunately I'd mostly finished the newsletter that day which meant…. not in the backups.

So here you are getting to read the third revision of the newsletter!!! Lucky you… 

Hopefully I learned my lesson.

– Jeff

April Guest Speaker Review – Kevin Stenhouse

Photo by Jeff Clement

I would think it would be rare for a photographer, speaking to photographers, about his photography, to not show a single image during the presentation; but that it what Kevin Stenhouse did and we were captivated. Kevin shared with us how he got into photography and how he approaches his photography.   The way he told the story, and the way it unfolded before us, was fascinating.  If Kevin were to write a biography, or a novel I would buy it.  It was that good! 

Kevin started photography with a Kodak Brownie when he was 4 years old and found looking through its viewfinder to be a fascinating way to view the world.  He often would wander around with no film, just looking at things from the different perspective.  In grade four he had his first taste of developing a B&W print and from that point he was hooked.  Kevin still remembers the image and, more importantly, the teachers comment about the image: "Everything you did in that photo is wrong.  I love it".  Kevin spent years with a point and shoot documenting his family.  Despite protests at the time, his family has come to cherish his images.

High-school found Kevin in a new school with no friends.  A kid in his class had a cool SLR, showed him how to use it, and invited him to hour the school camera club.  Through the wonders of peer pressure Kevin purchased his first SLR, the Yashica FX2.  Kevin shot a number of images for the year book and still remembers his two favorite images.  He shared with us what they were and how he captured them. 

Kevin's career suffered a set back when his parents strongly encouraged him not to pursue photography on the grounds that "Photographers don't make money."   I'll make a long story very short and say that Kevin attended university, became a printer for a photolab, then a very good custom printer, and then settled into a 15 year career as a graphics artist. 

Kevin stayed somewhat involved in photography throughout and he even got into 4×5 and shot primarily landscapes.  However, the tweak-tweak-wait-tweak cycle of film printing was always in the way.  Kevin finally made the plunge into digital, switched to shooting people and started shooting a lot of glamour shots for friends.  Digital photography exchanged the darkroom (which he didn't like) with laptops and coffee shots (which he loves).  In '96 he handed in his resignation and decided to shoot weddings.   He shot a wedding and engagement, put together a website, advertised on google, and booked 17 weddings in the first year!  In his second year he doubled his rates and has approximately 25 booked.

As for as his personal work?  He's still trying to decide where that is going although he gave us some hints as to those who are influencing his work Joel-Peter Witkin, Diana Arbus, and Jean Lapes Yep (I couldn't find this one on the net).

Thanks Kevin! 

A few interesting/humourous quotes that I was unable to work into the above text…

"Magicube… Not really the best fill." 

"Don't be pointing the camera at people.  Prepare.  Wait.  And the Shoot." 

And the obligatory web links… 

http://kevinstenhouse.com/

http://qualityoflight.ca/

– Jeff 

April "Open" Print Competition Results 

Advanced Category 

Advanced Open – Jose Guillen – Fall Colors

Advanced Open – Carla Fedje – <untitled>

 Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Helmut Schoderbock – Seniority

 Novice Category

Novice Open  – Jeff Roest – The Noodle Man

April "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Graffiti"

Advanced Theme

Advanced Theme – Jose Guillen – Graffiti in Nature

 Intermediate Theme

Intermediate Theme – Stephen McCracken – <untitled>

Novice Theme

Novice Theme – Mike Johnson – Graffiti with Definition

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Date	Theme
May 7, 2008	Paper
Jun 4, 2008	Different point of view on a common subject
Sept 3, 2008	B+W
Oct 1, 2008	Bugs / Insects
Nov 5, 2008	Weather
Dec 3, 2008	Travel
Jan 2, 2009	Architecture
Feb 6, 2009	Metal
Mar 5, 2009	Fashion
Apr 2, 2009	Opposites
May 7, 2009	Religion
June 4, 2009	Eye Candy

New Items for Sale

Stephen Butts has a sturdy tripod for sale for $10 .

Web Crawl 

Mike Roest provided this link to a D-I-Y "best softbox ever "!  It looks to me like it is also the most complex D-I-Y softbox ever!  Mike also sent this link to some amusing souvenier photos on flickr .

Marcelo Pinheiro sent this link to photojournalist Brent Stirton's homepage.

The weblinks archive can be found here. 

Also.  For any members with websites that would like them listed, please e-mail the URL to me at jeff.clement at calgaryphotographicsociety.ca.

That's All Folks!

 Thanks everyone!  See you on the 7^th.

 – Jeff

The upcoming April 2nd Meeting: 

Kevin Stenhouse will be discussing wedding & glamour photography with us.

The theme for the print competition will be "Graffiti".

Meetings are held at the University of Calgary, in the Kinesiology "B" building . Our normal meeting room is KNB133; if there are availability problems, the alternate room used is typically KNB129.  The meeting starts at 7:30pm.

And more stuff in the Newsletter

• Summary / review of Marla Singer's presentation on models and modeling from the March meeting
• The results from the March print competition
• and more! (well a tiny little bit more.  this one's a bit sparse!)

March Guest Speaker Review – Marla Singer

Photo by Jeff Clement

In our March meeting the charismatic Marla Singer (a.k.a. Andrea) spoke to us about shooting models, from a model's perspective. She's been modeling for two years now and had some interesting tid-bits to share with us.

For finding models, especially those willing to exchange time/talent for prints/cds, Marla recommended Model Mayhem or Craig's List.   Be careful when scouting for potential models.  Many of the "models" listed are women looking to get some nice portraits for themselves and not necessarily competent models.  Make sure to keep an eye on how much work they have in their portfolio.  A single photo on their profile is not usually a good sign. 

When working with a model for the first time it's a great idea to go for coffee first and get to know each other.  Shoots should be fun and being comfortable with each other before hand can help both the photographer and model work together better.  This is especially important if the model is going to be working nude!

Be sure to give the model and idea of exactly what you are wanting to shoot before the shoot.  Models often supply their own clothes and make-up.  If you let them know what you're looking for they can pack accordingly.  If you are looking for vintage clothing, Cat's Eye Vintage Clothing has been known to lend out outfits for shoots as do a number of local designers.  Many models are often art students and will have ideas of their own which could help you out.

During a shoot, the number of people in the room should be kept to a minimum lest your model start performing for the crowd instead of for the photographer.  In a similar vein, never allow a model to bring a boyfriend along.  That just makes things weird.  Speaking of weird (I can't believe she had to say this) making a pass at a model, especially while she's nude, is just not cool.  Go figure!   Again, this should be obvious but the photographer should never get naked too during a nude shoot.  It is not going to make the model feel any more relaxed.  And finally while some amount of "hands-on" for repositioning a model is tolerated during clothed shoots it's probably not kosher during a nude shoot.  If you can live with all these rules, and are interested in shooting a nude model, the going rate is between $60 and $120 / hr although you will be able to find models willing to pose for free on the fore mentioned sites.

Sometimes a first shoot doesn't go smoothly.  It does take some time to establish a chemistry between photographer and model.  Try and work with each model a number of times and as a friendship develops the model will be more willing to push him/herself to achieve your vision.

Interesting locations are good.  Modeling in front of a plain white backdrop gets boring.  Bring along some interesting props.  Even if you don't use the shots with the props it'll help liven things up.

Some models work for cash.  In most other cases it's customary to provide print(s) or CDs to the model for their time and talent.  Even if you don't get anything you like from the shoot make sure to provide the model with some images.  Often models are art students using public transit.  Providing rides to/from a shoot and some cash is always appreciated if you can swing it. 

Following Marla's talk she shared with us part of her portfolio in the form of a slide show and spoke about each shot.   She's done a lot of modeling and these days she generally changes for her work.  

Marla's work can be found on her website <a href="http://www.infectioushumanwaste.com/">InfectiousHumanWaste.com</a> and <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/marla">Model Mayham Page</a>.

– Jeff Clement

March "Open" Print Competition Results 

Advanced Category 

Advanced Open – Scott Winter – Repose

 Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Jeff Clement – Construction Chaos

 Novice Category

Novice Open  – Stephen McCracken – London Eye

Novice Open  – Tomoko Kusama – City Dweller

March "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Back Alley"

Advanced Theme

Advanced Theme – Wei Quik – E. Enterprise

 Intermediate Theme

Intermediate Theme – Mike Roest – The Wonderer

Novice Theme

Novice Theme – Stephen McCracken – <untitled>

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Date	Theme
Apr 2, 2008	Graffiti
May 7, 2008	Paper
Jun 4, 2008	Different point of view on a common subject
	More themes to be announced soon!

Web Crawl 

Mike Roest sent this link to an online version of Photoshop .  It's not quite a replacement for the real thing but it's neat none the less. 

Sonja Mueller's website has some pretty amazing images (with a rather difficult to navigate interface). 

The weblinks archive can be found here. 

Also.  For any members with websites that would like them listed, please e-mail the URL to me at jeff.clement at calgaryphotographicsociety.ca.

That's All Folks!

 Thanks everyone!  See you on the 2nd.

 – Jeff

Marla Singer will be discussing modeling from a model's perspective.  As a model herself, Marla will discuss how she interacts with photographers, what her expectations are, how to handle models (snyness and whatnot), typical rates, how she poses, etc.  Marla will also be presenting a slideshow of images.

Just a reminder: If you haven't yet renewed your membership that our new Treasurer, Mike Roest, will gladly be accepting your membership fees in March's meeting ($30 for individuals or $40 for couples).

And more stuff in the Newsletter

• Summary / review of Tatiana Zamachnaia's presentation "Painting with Light" from the February meeting
• Words from our new President
• The results from the February print competition
• and more!

President's Message

Welcome to the new face of the Calgary Photographic Society. As the new president of the club, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for voting me into this position. I feel honored to take on the role of leading the club into the future of photography. I would also like to tell you a bit about myself.

I first fell in love with the sound of a shutter release at the age of nine. I purchased my very first camera from McDonalds. That’s right…McDonalds the restaurant. For only a dollar, plus the price of a Big Mac meal, you received a fluorescent yellow 8mm camera. My family didn’t have much money back then, so I only ever shot a few rolls with it.

Over the years, my interest in photography grew and dwindled in phases. It basically depended on what kind of equipment was available to me. So when my brother bought a Canon 35mm SLR, I was compelled to give it a try. The amount of control it gave amazed me. I would borrow his camera all the time, and probably put more film through it than he did.

When my father in-law found out that I had an interest in photography, he decided it was time to clean out his closet. After dusting it all off, I suddenly had Two Pentax 35mm film bodies and a number of lenses. I began shooting more often and even joined a photography club to see what others thought of my work. The Calgary Photographic Society helped me improve on many techniques, but I still felt that film was holding me back. Photography can be an expensive hobby.

My first real camera purchase was a Pentax K100D. Through trial and error, digital photography allowed me to greatly enhance my skills. In less than a year I had put over 10,000 shutter releases into that camera.

I started hanging prints on the walls of the lunch room at work. My colleagues loved the images and have even purchased prints. Who would have thought that a hobby could turn profits? A few weeks later I made my first real sale to the company I am working for. North Cariboo Air wanted fifteen large prints to fill the walls of their new departure lounge. I never would have imagined myself having a gallery. Especially one that is being viewed by the thousands of passengers we charter each week.

I am still relatively new to this form of art; however, photography has become a major part of my life. Taking on this role will make it even more prominent. Together with the new members of the executive, I hope to take the society to new and interesting places. We have some great ideas for the upcoming years, and I look forward to working towards the interests of our membership.

See you at the next meeting:

Ryan Pahl
President, Calgary Photographic Society

The New 2008 CPS Executive

Upcoming (March) Guest Speaker

Marla Singer will be discussing modeling from a model's perspective.  As a model herself, Marla will discuss how she interacts with photographers, what her expectations are, how to handle models (snyness and whatnot), typical rates, how she poses, etc.  Marla will also be presenting a slideshow of images. 

February Guest Speaker Review – Tatiana Zamachnaia

Tatiana Zamachnaia introduced us to her unique form of photography: Painting with Light.   Tatiana, mild mannered software consultant by day, confesses to be nocturnal when it comes to photography.  She got started as an Aurora (Borealis) chaser and ended up playing with flashlights to add lighting in a scene as a way to kill time while waiting for the northern lights.  She's perfected her art to the point that she is now a mentor with the Photographic Society of America (light painting category).

Tatiana considers painting with light to be a form of art that offers endless possibilities.  You can emphasize details, enhance shadow areas, and color components of an image to produce truly unique images.   Leveraging the moonlight to add detail to background areas, Tatiana will trip her shutter and literally run around the subject, painting it with her flashlights.  Typically she'll shoot at f8 so that she gets a reasonable balance of depth of field without dragging out the exposure too long.   Noise becomes an issue on longer exposures on digital cameras.

I'm a gadget guy.  I pride myself in my collections of flashlights.  Or I did…  My measly little collection of flashlights was put to shame by just the selection of lights Tatiana chose to bring to the meeting.  Sigh.  Tatiana showed up with a duffle bag full of flashlights ranging from tiny consumer lights, to cripplingly bright law enforcement style lights, to a huge 15 million candle power monster named "Big Bertha".  Apparently back at home she has a whole basement full of lights.  When she heads out on the road for a shoot Tatiana will often use a trailer to carry her arsenal of lighting!  I am humbled indeed.

If you want to get out and try some of this on your own, Tatiana had some advice: 

• Spots with city lights and foliage are interesting.  Shooting during the magic hour can yield some spectacular images.
• While these photos have an immediate wow factor, they still need to have something beyond that to keep the viewers interest.  Make sure there is an interesting subject and composition and not just cool lighting.
• The best times to shoot are within the period of 4 days before a full moon to 2 days after.  This gives you enough ambient light that you can get some detail in the background.  Otherwise, you'll likely be looking at lighting the entire scene yourself.
• Bring a portfolio of your work.  For some reason people tend to freak out when they find you running around in dark clothes, in the dark, wearing a tactical vest, loaded with flashlights, near/on their property.  Bringing a portfolio can help clear up what you are doing and hopefully avoid unpleasant conversations with the local law enforcement.
• When shooting with digital cameras in the cold, battery life can be a real problem.  Chemical heat packs, strapped to your camera, can help keep life in your battery. (be careful with that though.  some of those heat packs get pretty hot)
• You can prevent fogging your lens in colder weather by breathing through a snorkel.  (I'm not kidding)
• ISO 100 / f8 (exposures > 1hr on digital are too noisy so film becomes a necessity)
• Don't leave the light in one place too long or you'll burn a spot into your image.
• Dress in black so you don't show up in the scene. (Just in case you didn't look suspicious enough charging around in the dark)
• Be careful to shield the flashlight from the camera or you'll end up with obvious streaks on your image.

Tatiana's website is http://www.tatianaphoto.com/  and, if you have not already, you really should make a point of checking out her galleries.  There is some amazing work on there.  Tatiana has just wrapped up a trip to Belize / Guatemala to paint the Mayan ruins and she has already posted some of her new shots to her website.

An interesting side project for someone with some time would be to do research if there is a correlation between Tatiana's photo excursions and UFO sightings in the area.  I suspect there is!  

As an amusing aside, inspired by Tatiana, five of us intrepid souls headed out towards Kananaskis late last Friday night armed with cameras and an obscene number of flashlights.  Our first stop was the old derelict restaurant / gas station "Fort Chiniki" along the Trans Canada just before the Seebee/Exshaw overpass.  We dragged out the gear and started playing with lighting up the building.  We made it about 45 minutes before someone, probably the owner, told us in no uncertain terms to vacate the premises.  We should have heeded Tatiana's advice and brought along a portfolio to add some legitimacy to what we were doing.  Oh well.  Maybe next time we can win him over.

– Jeff Clement

February "Open" Print Competition Results 

Advanced Category 

Advanced Open – Norm Capper – A Lost Feather

 Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Ryan Pahl – Open Access

 Novice Category

Novice Open  – Stephen McCracken – London Through My Eye

February "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Tools"

Intermediate Theme

Intermediate Theme – Jeff Clement – <untitled>

Novice Theme

Novice Theme – Stephen McCracken – Tools

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Date	Theme
Mar 5, 2008	Back Alley
Apr 2, 2008	Graffiti
May 7, 2008	Paper
Jun 4, 2008	Different point of view on a common subject

Web Crawl 

Looks like you're all going to have to do some crawling on your own this month.  Best of luck to all of you! 

The weblinks archive can be found here. 

Also.  For any members with websites that would like them listed, please e-mail the URL to me at jeff.clement at calgaryphotographicsociety.ca.

That's All Folks!

 Thanks everyone!  See you on the 5th.

 – Jeff

The guest speaker for this meeting will be Tatiana Zamachnaia.  Tatiana will be speaking about her work exploring the Painting with Light genre.

Membership fees are due this month and they will be $30 for individuals or $40 for couples.

The annual executive election will also be held this month.

And more stuff in the Newsletter

• The 2007 print competition award winners
• More information on Exposure 2008
• Summary / review of Jose Guillen’s presentation from the January meeting
• The results from the January print competition
• and more!

CPS Executive Elections

February is election time and we have a great opportunity for those of you with a bit of time on your hands and a desire to be more involved in the society!

A number of positions have become vacant:

• President
• Secretary – Treasurer
• Monthly Program Director (although Scott volunteered to help someone with this)
• External Program Director

So please make sure to be at the February meeting and, if you have any interest in any of the positions, talk to someone and get yourself nominated!

2007 Awards

The print competition awards for 2007 were presented in the January meeting.  Awards are given to the member who has accumulated the most points in a given category over the year.

Top Row (left to right): Ryan Pahl, Helmut Schoderbock, Norm Capper Bottom Row (left to right): Jeff Clement, Tony Field Photo by Wes Devauld

Community

Exposure 2008

As has already been mentioned on the website, Exposure 2008 is underway.

The main Exposure 2008 website is located here (http://www.exposurecalgarybanff.com/ ).

You can also view the Calendar of Events (4.3MB PDF) .

Dan Gordon has passed on this invitation to his exhibition (Observations: Time and Place) at the Fourbyfive gallery in Art Central (downtown Calgary).   Opening reception will be held on Feb 9th from 2pm to 5pm.

A local artist is looking for a digital photography mentor (she paints pictures from her photographs).  She is looking for someone to help out on either Monday, Wednsday, or Friday during the day.  She is not looking for a large time commitment (even just once a month to give some pointers, etc. would be great).   There is a possibility of pay although that is would still have to be ironed out.  This woman is in a wheelchair and getting around the city is difficult so it would be ideal if she could meet at Mt. Royal College.

If anyone is interested please contact Jeff (me) (jclement at calgaryphotographicsociety dot com) and I’ll forward on contact information.

February Guest Speaker

Tatiana received her first art lessons at the age of 4 from her father, who is a renowned landscape artist. Further formal training in arts built a solid base for strong composition and colour scheme that Tatiana deploys in her photography.

Painting with light is a fun way to explore “flashlight brushes” when she doesn’t paint on canvas.

Tatiana is a Mentor for a Photographic Society of America in the light painting category.

Although landscape photographs from her brief daytime photographic explorations have been acclaimed and published, she is almost 100% nocturnal these days.

Tatiana believes that Light Painting as an art form has not been duly explored yet, and she is compelled to push Light Painting to the new frontier.

Homepage: http://www.tatianaphoto.com

Galleries: http://www.tatianaphoto.com/photoalbum.html

January Guest Speaker Review – Jose Guilien

Photo by Jeff Clement

In January we had the pleasure of speaking with Jose Guillen, a long time member of CPS, about his photography and his recent exhibition the “Eight Photo Exhibit”.  Jose is one of very few members who shoots B&W film and does his own black and white printing.

Jose started photography when he was eight and is mostly self taught.  In 1994 Jose had to choose between photography and model trains as a hobby.  I certainly think he made the right choice in sticking with photography!  In 1996, Jose’s wife suprised him with an enlarger (this really was a suprise since Jose didn’t know how to print).  Luckily Jose had a friend, Charles Hope, who spent an afternoon with Jose and showed him the basics of how to print.  Jose did a few prints and won a competition, got hooked, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Jose described some of the creative control he has in B&W.  The choice of films, papers, chemicals, enlargers all can be used to produce different effects.  Over the last 10 years Jose has experimented with a wide variety of films (including infrared), papers (most of the prints he showed us were on paper from te 70’s), chemicals, etc.  He has also started using a process called Lith printing that produces very surreal and extremely high contrast images.  Jose had a couple lith prints to show us and they were quite spectacular.

In November 2007 a dream came true for Jose and his work was featured in an exhibition of 8 photographers.  Jose shared with us a bit about the experience and a lot of tips on entering work in an exhibition.

Having myself dabbled in B&W printing and then let it slide after the purchase of my DSLR I’m finding myself once again flipping through my archive of prints and fondling my trusty old film cameras.  Thank you Jose!

Jose has made his speaker’s notes available here.  In his notes, Jose shares with us a number of magazines and books that have, and still do, serve as inspiration for him.

– Jeff Clement

January “Open” Print Competition Results

Advanced Category

Advanced Open – Bob Lee – It’s a Tough World

Intermediate Category

Intermediate Open  – Jeff Clement – Morning

Novice Category

Novice Open  – Alex Beraru – Puppy Portrait

January “Theme” Print Competition Results: “Red”

Advanced Theme

Advanced Theme – Tony Field – Lips #1

Advanced Theme – Scott Winter – Red Balloons

Intermediate Theme

Intermediate Theme – Ryan Pahl – <untitled>

Novice Theme

Novice Theme – Mike Johnson – Red Sky

Upcoming Print Competitions Themes

Web Crawl

Tony found this new series ( an Introduction to Composition) on the Luminous Landscape website.  Their plan is to produce eight essays on topics like “Traditional and Untraditional Rules of Composition”, “Composition using Color”, “Composition using Light”, “Composition in B&W” and others.  It’ll be an interesting resource to watch as the essays become available.

Jeff bought one of these inflatable flash diffusers in a fit of poor judgement.  They are even worse than they look!  Not only do they not stay on the flash but they look rediculous and *they don’t diffuse the flash noticeably*

Neil Koven sent this link on the work of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii , official photographer to Tsar Nicholas II.  Many of Sergei’s photographs were taken in triplicate using three colored filters and then were re-combined using s special projector with filters to create full color slideshows.

The weblinks archive can be found here.

Also.  For any members with websites that would like them listed, please e-mail the URL to me at jeff.clement at calgaryphotographicsociety.ca.

That’s All Folks!

Thanks everyone!  See you on the 6th.

– Jeff

Introduction:

Jose Guillen, past president of CPS, gave a presentation about in which he summarized how he became so involved in photography, why he chose black and white as the primary medium to express his ideas in photography, Lith printing, and a bit about his experience exhibiting his work in a group photo exhibition last November.

To start with, and if you read the mini bio posted in the newsletter; for his eight birthday, Jose’s uncle, who was a photographer and camera repair man, gave Jose a Kodak Fiesta, the Latin American version of the Kodak Brownie, a 126 mm, entry level film camera of the time.  At that time, the most common and most affordable film was black and white, therefore, it was the only option for Jose. Getting that small camera was the start of his first photographic period in which Jose would take photographs of his family and places visited during vacations.

From the historical frame of reference, it was the time of the Viet Nam war, the Hippies, Cinzano, the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Woodstock and other events of the decade. At that time, with limited TV channels, no internet, and newspapers that for reasons of space would not include a full reportage about the events of the time, the most common and most appreciated means to learn about the world was through magazines such as LIFE Magazine.  Jose’s parents had a subscription with LIFE Magazine and it was flipping through the pages of that magazine that he learned the most about the world. As you know, LIFE and other magazines focused on providing excellent photographic coverage of the events happening in the world and they hired the best photojournalist of the time. Obviously, seeing the world and the events of the time through photographs; impacted him and Jose has come to the conclusion it also impacted his photographic style.

After the Kodak Fiesta Jose had an Agfa ISO Rapid, and a Fujica 110 mm. Then, in 1988 he got a Nikon 401 which was Jose’s first camera with advanced controls and features.

About fourteen years ago, Jose was seeking for a hobby to spend his free time and was undecided between scale model electric trains and photography.  He thought that scale model trains would give him lots of joy, building the settings and the landscapes, buying the components, trying the trains, etc.  However, being a person who loves nature, hiking and the mountains, he chose photography and doesn’t regret!  Therefore, Jose adopted photography as a serious hobby since June 1994.

By 1995 Jose joined the Calgary Slide Shooter Club and in 1997 he joined the CPS.  For a couple of years Jose was also a member of the Foothills Camera club. More recently, Jose has joined the Calgary Large Format Users Group, a group of dedicated large format camera photographers.

Jose is very much a self-thought photographer but had had the opportunity to attend workshops such as the Nikon School of Photography, Rocky Mountain School of Photography, a one day workshop with Freeman Paterson, and a photography course at ACAD, and an advanced printing course at SAIT. Jose has read plenty of photography books and magazines, attended a large number of photo exhibitions and met excellent photographers and artist from whom he has learned and who have given him inspiration in his hobby.  Some of the photographers who have inspired Jose are current or past members of CPS.

Why Black and White?

At the beginning of Jose’s second photographic period, he was shooting with color negative film as well as reversal or slide film. In fact, because of his passion for nature, Jose started documenting the four seasons and the corresponding changes in nature.  This photographic documentary is in reversal film, about 1,500 images.

In August 1996, Jose’s wife gave him as a gift a used enlarger. Without knowing it, that gift would change his focus in photography. Jose didn’t know anything about processing and printing in black and white and was very lucky that a good friend and professional photographer spent half a day showing Jose how to develop and print in black and white, this friend is Charles Hope and Jose truly thank him for the time he spent teaching him the basics of black and white.  Also, and because 100% of Charles’ current work is digital, half of Jose’s darkroom equipment was Charles’.

In 1997 and through the Calgary Slide Shooters Club, Jose submitted two black and white prints to enter in the Prairie Region of the Tony Attaniy Trophy. To his surprise, he won the third place with his print called “Stoney Indian Reserve” and his “Saturday in the Park” print got honorary mention. This single event changed Jose’s life and gave him motivation to continue learning more about the art of black and white printing and techniques.

Black and white or monochrome photography is a unique artistic medium. The images are abstract; they often represent but never duplicate reality. In fact, we cannot duplicate a 3D world in a 2D image!  The lack of color appears to be a limitation but in fact is an advantage that provides greater freedom to interpret the world and to express ideas.  Black and white is a language of the senses.  In many cases, viewing a black and white print provides an experience that cannot be explained with words. And the experience of the viewer varies depending on the psychology, culture, and background of the viewer; in many cases very different from those of the photographer himself.  

Because of lack of color, an element so strong that will compete with the idea behind the image, black and white photography is the ideal medium to express feelings, emotions and a personal view of the world.  The use of shapes, lines, and gradations of grey tones are the only elements that the black and white photographer has to express his or her ideas.

During the last ten years of his life, Jose has done a lot of experimentation with different films including infrared, near infrared, high speed as well as low speed, fine grain films such as Agfapan 25 and Ilford Pan 50; different chemicals, papers, and presentation styles. As well he has invested in medium format and large format systems, always trying to find that “perfect” camera to better express his ideas.  

Jose has done some commercial work shooting weddings, babies, family portraits, baptisms, engagement photos and others. All his clients hired him because they wanted timeless, “fine black and white prints” as memories of their events.

Lith Printing:

In 2007 Jose started experimenting with lith printing and simply loves it. The results of the lith prints are surreal and it is very difficult to duplicate or obtain a second print that will look like the previous one.  Results will vary based on the age of the chemical, the brand, the paper used and the exposure time.

The main differences between the results using traditional chemicals Vs. lith developer are:
•    Exposure times: 30 seconds conventional, Vs 2 – 3 minutes lith.
•    Developing times: 1 minute conventional Vs 5, 10, 15 minutes or more lith.
•    Black and white prints Vs a range of tones when using lith, from a creamy finish to salmon or peach tone depending on the paper.
•    Surreal images, with far more contrast.
•    Must pay a lot of attention once the image starts to appear in the developer, after few seconds may get a completely black image.
•    Chemicals are dangerous, you must use mask and gloves.

Eight Photo Exhibit:

A dream came thorough last November.  Although Jose had exhibited some of his prints in the past, whether in a charitable silent auction, or during a Christmas sale and other smaller events, it was not until last November that he had the great opportunity and experience to display 12 of his fine prints in a group photo exhibit open to the public.  What did Jose learn about the experience?
•    Invest a lot of time choosing your best negatives (of digital files)
•    Create a story or a common theme – Because of space, Jose managed to enter two themes: trees and the prairies.
•    Don’t include commercial work (weddings, portraits)
•    Be original; try to show not your best work but your most original one.
•    Show prints that express feelings, emotions or ideas.
•    Be ready to spend money and lose money!
•    Use good to excellent quality materials (paper, developers, inks, mounting stock, frames).  
•    Be consistent (same size and type of frames, etc).

Most of the prints Jose displayed at the exhibit were lith developed and printed on Agfa Brovira Faber Based, Grade 3 paper from the 70’s. Prints on traditional developer were printed on FORTE FB paper.

Final Comments:

During the last 10 years, Jose has seen the evolution of the Calgary Photographic Society.  From a black and white print club to a color digital print club. From the expression of ideas to emphasis on technical achievements.

It is perfectly fine to use digital technology to capture images however keep in mind that the most recent version of Photoshop or the most expensive digital camera or digital printer are only tools, the same as film cameras, trays and enlargers.  The most important creative tool that you have is your mind and your creative eye, invest more in your “mindware” and less in your software and hardware.  Spend $8 and a nice day in Banff to visit the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. Next month, attend the events, shows and presentations of Exposure 2008 here in Calgary, Canmore and Banff.  If you have more time and money, take a plane to Ottawa and visit the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Contemporary Photography and then take a train or a bus to Montreal and visit photo galleries there.  Educate your mind and learn to see creatively.  Focus on the idea more than the technical execution of the image.

PS Jose submitted the following list of books and magazines for those interested in pursuing black and white fine printing and increase your ability to “see creatively”:

Magazines:
Black & White Photography – Published by the Photographers’ Institute Press Ltd., England.
Lenswork – LensWork Publishing, USA

Books:
Approaching Photography – Paul Hill
The Tao of Photography – Gross & Shapiro
The Photographers’ Master Printing Course – Tim Rudman
An Ansel Adams Guide, Basic Techniques of Photography – John P. Schaefer
The Family of Man – The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Three Seconds of Eternity – Robert Doisneau
Jean Loup Sieff – Taschen
And, All Freeman Paterson Books!