October 2008 Newsletter
Upcoming Meeting: November 5th, 2008
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
| N/A |
|
Novice Open - Mike Johnson - Ghost Tree |
| Score | Photographer | Title |
| 7.0 | Mike Johnson | Ghost Tree |
October "Theme" Print Competition Results: "Insect(s)"
Advanced Theme
 |
|
Advanced Theme - Scott Winter - Take a Look at This |
| Score | Photographer | Title |
| 8.3 | Scott Winter | Take a Look at This |
| 7.6 | Bob Lee | Bug |
Intermediate Theme
| N/A |
|
Intermediate Theme - Murray DeJagger |
| Score | Photographer | Title |
| 9.3 | Murray DeJagger | Jumping Spider |
| 8.3 | Georgette Swenson | <Untitled> |
Novice Theme
 |
|
Novice Theme - Mike Johnson - Hello There |
| Score | Photographer | Title |
| 5.6 | Mike Johnson | Hello There |
Upcoming Print Competitions Themes
| Date | Theme |
| 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 |
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.
