Thank you Chis Zsarnay. for an informative night of image critique. If you want to learn more about Chris' studio, he is at Z Studios in Ventura.

We have serveral workshops planned for the 4th Wednesday of the month.

March 28: Painting with Light with Ron Matson

April 25: Basic Exposure with Nancy Lehrer

May 23: Challenge the Experts with Hutch Hutchison (you bring the questions - solving real-world photographic challenges)

Also in May - Ken Sklute, Canon Explorer of Light will be giving a lecture at the Thousand Oaks Library, sponsored by the Ventura County Camera Club and the Thousand Oaks Photo Group

June 27: Building a Website - John Ferritto and others

In February our judge will be Chris Zsarnay and the topic is Riduculous and Absurd. It should be a fun time.

Annual Banquet: Jan 25th 6pm to 9pm

Our annual banquet will start at 6pm on Wednesday January 25th at our regular location. Dinner will be served at 6:30. If you have not already given us your name and paid for your dinner it may be too late, but you can contact us at info@venturacountycameraclub.com and we can see what we can do.

If you are coming to the banquet and have new or lightly used items that you would like to donate to our raffle, please bring them in and look for Harold Epstein or Randi Siegel who will be collecting them and managing the raffle tickets.

Non Meeting Events and Workshops

Our next workshop will be held on March 28th at 7pm at our regular meeting place. Ron Matson will be demonstrating his painting with light techniques.

If you have ideas for other events or field trips, please email fieldtrips@venturacountycameraclub.com with your ideas.

Casa Pacifica Looking for Compact Digital Cameras

Kevin Charbonneau is deeply involved with Casa Pacifica, a Center for Children and their Families. He is looking to start a camera club for the kids and is looking for donations of compact digital cameras. Please contact Kevin at editor@venturacountycameraclub.com if you can help.

Mountain Light by George "Hutch" Hutchison (Merit Winner Assigned Topic - Let There Be Light)

Announcements

Our judge this month is Anne Hutton, our Assigned Topic is The End

A reminder to bring your $40 annual dues for 2012 to the November meeting. Bringing them early allows our club leadership to better plan our 2012 operating budget and provide better service to our members. Due must be paid by the January meeting to be eligible to enter photographs for critique in January.

Also, please bring your end-of-year merit winning prints to the November meeting to allow us to organize for the December judging. There is no regular meeting in December.

We will be holding elections for President, Vice President and Treasurer at our November meeting. If you wish to serve in one of these capcities, you need to ensure that someone from the membership nominates you at the meeting and that you are present to accept the nomination. We will then hold elections open elections by voice.

A big thanks to Don Hoffman and Sharon Kolseh for providing refreshments this month.

End of Year General Business Meeting

We will hold a General Business Meeting on Monday November 14th at 6:30 pm at Coco's Bakery Restaurant in Camarillo. We have reserved the back room. The meeting is open to all interested members.

Coco's Bakery Restaurant
301 E Daily Dr.
Camarillo, CA
Map

Meeting Agenda:

• 2012 Budget - Susannah Krammer
• Membership - request to discuss limiting the membership
• Acceptance of gallery wrap for printed images
• End of year banquet
• Year-end judging procedures
• Workshop ideas - Roy Allen

Photography Opportunities in November

Nov 11 & 12: Civil War Reenactment in Moorpark

The Moorpark Rotary Club presents: The Blue & The Gray, Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. The Largest and Grandest Civil War Event in Southern California and the Largest Civil War Battle Reenactment West of the Mississippi! More Information

Nov 19 @ 2pm: A World Wide Photo Meetup in Ventura California

Lead by Mark and Holly Jansen of Jansen Photographic Exhibitions. Meet at 2:00pm at the Ventura Pier in front of Beach Tacos on Saturday, November 19. More information.

Photo by Greg Cooper

Our judge for the evening is Christopher Brown with the topic Let There Be Light

Reminders:

• Bring your end-of-year Prints to the November meeting so that we have them for the December end-of-year judging
• No regular meeting in December
• Annual dues of $40 are due by the first meeting of 2012 - January 11th.
• November meeting nomination and election of officers: President, Vice President, and Treasurer

Up Coming Events

• Wed Oct 26 @7pm - Constructing the Photograph: Precision in Practice - a Workshop by Greg Cooper faculty in the Visual Journalism program at Brooks Institude. Admission is free for all members.
• Wed Jan 25, 2012 - Photo Banquet - SAVE THE DATE! Food, Photography, Prizes and more. estimated fee of $25/per person.

Photographic Opportunities:

• Day of the Dead at Hollywood Forever Cemetery – Saturday October 22nd - www.ladayofthedead.com
• West Hollywood Costume Carnaval - Halloween Night October 31st - www.westhollywoodhalloween.com

Workshop by Greg Cooper - Wed October 26 @ 7pm

Photography is enjoyable in any form be it, capturing on the fly as a photojournalist, capturing a snapshot of your family or capturing a pleasant scene like Ansel Adams. Regardless, taking time to "make" your photograph, will improve your images.

Greg Cooper will present a method of 'making' pictures using a recipe, which can improve any photographer's work; showing you how to photograph in a whole new way. Greg Cooper is faculty in the Visual Journalism program at Brooks Institute in Ventura, Calif. Greg Cooper is a Ventura County native and a regular contributor to the local camera clubs.

Photo by Greg Cooper

Volunteer to help the club!

We are looking to fill the following positions

• Vice President
• Judge Coordinator
• Room setup committee members
• Website editing and maintenance
• Newsletter and Website contributor

Tell us how you can help by filling out this Survey

Help us pick our 2012 assigned topics.

Vote for your favorites here. The survey will close on October 9th.

Eastern Sierras Fieldtrip Oct 7-9: Bryan McCall and Ed Pinsky are organizing a group to hit the Eastern Sierras October 7-9. Please speak with them or contact them at fieldtrips@venturacountycameraclub.com if you are interested in joining. There will be signup sheets at the meeting.

In general, it is a busy time for the club as we prepare for next year and our end of year judging and banquet. Here are some things you need to know.

End of Year Banquet - Our end of year banquet, honoring our club's photographs and photographers, will be held the third Wednesday in January 2012 - January 25th. The general consensus is that, although pot-luck is much less expensive, it is much more work and the Poinsettia Pavilion is not well suited to accommodate the required kitchen activities. General consensus among the leadership team and previous banquet volunteers is that we will pursue a catered dinner, held in the small room at the Poinsettia Pavilion. The cost will be determined based on the final cost of the catering, but we expect to keep the cost to under $30 per person with the club picking up the cost of the room. In addition, we will hold a raffle of donated photography and non-photography related items and local services.  The money raised will be used in 2012 to provide a small budget cushion for any needed club equipment repairs and to subsidize speakers, workshops and/or the banquet for next year. We are looking for volunteers to help with the Banquet Coordination and pulling together a nice set of raffle prizes. If you have other fundraising ideas, please speak to me at the meeting.

Elections for President, Vice President, and Treasurer will be held at our November meeting by a voice count. Our current nominations are Nancy Lehrer, President; Susannah Kramer Treasurer. If you are interested in running for any of these positions, please let us know.

In addition we are looking for members who are willing to help in any of the following areas for 2012:

• Vice President - works closely with the President and Treasurer to keep the club running smoothly. Develop recommendations for changes requiring approval by the full Leadership Team or for presentation to the full club membership. Provides back up for the President when needed.
• Judge Coordinator - works with the President and Vice President to identify and invite judges. Responsible for communicating with the judge with reminders, thank yous, and orientation to our procedures. This is a great opportunity to get to know our judges a little better.
• Room setup committee - Allyson Barnes has graciously volunteered to lead the Room setup committee but she needs help. The job entails working with Allyson before and after the meetings to bring out our easels, power cords, and microphone. We start the setup 1/2 hour before each meeting.
• Website editing, and/or maintenance - rudimentary knowledge of HTML is a plus, but not required. Our website is primarily maintained with easy to use tools.
• Newsletter and Website contributor - if you like to write articles, tutorials - please let us know and we will get your contributions into our Newsletter and on our website.

Please come speak to me at the meeting if you are interested in any of these positions.
And a big, big THANK YOU to all who have volunteered their time in 2011 and those who will continue in their jobs in 2012: Allyson Barnes, Susannah Kramer, Joyce Schoppe, Anne Allen, Bernie Goldstein, Kevin Charbonneau, Bob Murtha, John Ferritto, Ed Pinsky, Bryan McCall, Roy Allen, and general advisors Hutch Hutchison and Don Hoffman.


Photo by Ron Matson

Ron Matson's Old Metal portfolio has won a coveted spot in Color Magazine's Fall portfolio edition. Join me in congratulating him on his accomplishments and passion.

He was also features as Rick Sammon's Friday's Fab Photographer.

Congratulations Ron!

September's Topic: Botanic with Anne Hutton

Announcements:

Congratulations to all the Ventura County Fair Winners!

We had many many winners at the Ventura County Fair. It is a wonderful venue for all our photographers.

Kevin Charbonneau's invites everyone to celebrate his 50th Birthday

An invitation from Kevin. Please RSVP to kevcharbonneau@gmail.com by September 1st.

I turn 50 this year. So rather than having a sour attitude and complaining about this inevitable milestone, I want to turn this into something positive - Sue and I have decided to have a party for our friends as a fund raiser for Casa Pacifica.  In lieu of a gift, we are asking everyone to bring a small donation.  As you probably know, Casa Pacifica is a home for abused kids in Camarillo.  I am sure most of the members of our club have been involved with Casa Pacifica in one way or another over the years.  We would be thrilled to have our friends from VCCC join us!

 

The party will be in our backyard on Saturday, Sep 10 beginning at 3:30PM.  We are asking everyone to RSVP by September 1 so we can let the caterer know how many to plan for.  I will have a flyer with the details for the back table on Wednesday.

 

Stay just for dinner, or party all night, we hope everyone will come and celebrate this worthwhile cause with us!

August 24th Workshop on Book Making and Slide Shows with Anne Allen and Susannah Kramer

Join our talented Anne Allen and Susannah Kramer as they show us how to make books using the Blurb Booksmart software and slide shows using ProShow Gold. We even have a copy of ProShow Gold to give away to a lucky participant.

7:00 pm at the Poinsettia Pavilion

Upcomming Classes and Events:

• Samy's Camera's August class schedule
• Mark Jensen's Fall Workshop Information
• Gary Moss launches new Camera Whisperer site and classes

August Assigned Topic: Tell me a Story with Joe Sohm

Thank you Ed Nailor for Refereshements

Announcements:

Conejo Valley Wide Open Show – Congratulations!

• Best of Show: Kevin Charbonneau
• 1st B&W: Darrel Priebe
• Honorable Mentions: Susannah Krammer, Anne Allen, Roy Allen, John Ferritto, Carl Volpe; Special Award: Nancy Lehrer
• Encore show @ Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks Fine Arts Center - Sat August 6, 10am to Noon

Ventura County Fair

• Entry forms due by Sunday July 17 (on web or by mail)
• Bring in dates July Fri 22, Sat 23, Sun 24 10-5pm
• More info at http://venturacountyfair.org/pages/4585/Photography.htm

Spirit of the Mountains Photography Contest

• Entries accepted Sept 1 - 30
• Awards announced Oct 15^th
• Images on exhibit Sat Oct 15-Dec 17
• More info at http://www.nps.gov/samo/photocontest.htm

Rick Sammon speaking at Brooks Institute

• Tues Aug 2, 6pm - 9pm
• More info at http://www.ricksammon.info/2011/07/exploring-light-in-california-in-august.html

Focus on the Masters – Founder Donna Granata

• Westside ArtWalk July 23 & 24 downtown Ventura, with Art Education Benefit Auction Suney July 24 5pm – 8pm
• More info at http://www.focusonthemasters.com/ and http://westsideartwalk.org/focus-on-the-masters/

VCCC July Workshop - Creative Exposure by Nancy Lehrer

• Wed July 27 @ 7pm in Poinsettia Pavilion
• Beginning and intermediate photographers
• Open to all VCCC members in our regular meeting room at the Poinsettia Pavilion.
• Bring your camera to experiment with the techniques that will be discussed at the meeting.

Here’s Steve’s website with beautiful images from many galleries. Very inspirational!

http://www.stevemccurry.com/main.php

(From FotoTV site)

Photographer, Steve McCurry might be most famous for his mysterious and arrestingly beautiful photograph, "The Afghan Girl", but his entire collection of work is so much profound.

In this interview McCurry reflects on his photography and speaks with FotoTV about his unique experiences and stories behind his iconic work. McCurry’s first trip abroad as a photographer was to India. Shortly after he took a trip to Afghanistan during the early days of insurgency and revolution, which was the turning point of his career. Always fascinated with meeting new people and discovering new countries and cultures, McCurry began to pitch his own ideas for stories to magazine editors. Those ideas were always simple, to take meaningful photos of situations and things that were moving and inspiring, merely his response to the world surrounding him. Human behavior seems to be the element always present in McCurry’s images, the human face and its expressions and how people differ from culture to culture.

http://www.fototv.com/steve_mccurry
(Note: this is just a trailer, to see the whole interview you need to pay for FotoTV training)