Lllsfggsgs
Of Silver and Pixels
February 2015
Newsletter of the Southwest Photographic Arts Association
SPAA January 21 Meeting
Southwest Photographic
Arts Association
(S.P.A.A.)
What a great meeting. Possible field trips were discussed. The rest
of the evening was spent doing Table Top Photography. Everyone
had a great time and we all shared and learned new ideas.
From Jim Cook, Acting Chairman
Next Meeting:
Tuesday,
February 17, 2015
6:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian
Church
2720 Cortland
(corner of 27.5 Road and
Cortland)
What a great way to start off the New Year.
From the feedback I’ve gotten the tabletop workshop was a big success.
A big thank you to everyone who brought items to photograph, especially
Phil Dorr with his awesome fish, and Bob Elliott who furnished the light
tent and floodlights. On this note I want to see what everyone
photographed, so please if you attended the workshop and shot some
photos bring your images to the February 17th h meeting for discussion.
Due to time constraints please limit the number to 5.
For our February 17th meeting, as discussed previously, be sure and email
Ed Kunzelman two of your images converted to B/W which you would like
to have him critique.
[email protected].
Mission Statement
To bring together
photographic enthusiasts for
the sharing, teaching, and
enjoyment of all photographic
arts, past, present, and future
and to do so in an enjoyable
and supportive environment
that fosters artistic growth in
each member
A lot of good things are planned for this next year. We have interest in a
flash & night photography workshops we need to set a date. Now is the
time to start planning for any field trips for this year such as flowers &
mountain scenic etc.
From Ed Kunzelman on February 17 Meeting
The subject for this month's SPAA meeting on the 17th is black and
white photography. I plan to demonstrate my approach to converting
images from color to black and white, but this will largely be a
discussion format. There is no one "best" way to make black and
whites, and some images seem to have more impact in black and
white, while others are possibly better in color. Bring your thoughts,
questions, and suggestions for your own black and white conversion
process.
Steering Committee
(In lieu of officers)
The assignment before the meeting is to email me two color images
and your black and white conversions for each of them. If you are
totally at a loss for converting to black and white, send me two color
images and we'll work on them at the meeting.
Acting Chair: Jim Cook
Please send everything before the meeting though... by Sunday, the
15th would be great.
Treasurer: Darlyne Merkel
245-3032
[email protected]
Committee Members
Bill Mitchem
970-675-8960
[email protected]
John and Diane Bruce
255-8816
[email protected]
Rod Martinez
[email protected]
Judy Morehouse
243-6459
[email protected]
Newsletter
Barbara Austin
260-6221
[email protected]
Annual Dues
$35.00–Family
$30.00–Individual
.
(Dues can be mailed or paid at
the meetings)
Mailing Address
SPAA
P.O. Box 1982
Grand Junction, CO ;81502
I will acknowledge receipt of your images, so if you haven't heard
back from me, I did not receive them. Large files sometimes bounce
back so try and keep the resolution to no higher than 1500 x 1000.
Please email me, or feel free to call, with any questions or comments
in advance of the meeting.
Ed ([email protected] or 970-241-1124
S.P.A.A.
Southwest Photographic
Arts Association
is an affiliate of
John’s Tabletop Photos
Finished
Bill Mitchem would like to pass on about 20 ink cartridges for the Epson
Stylus Photo 2200 since his died. $2.50 each would please him immensely.
Contact Bill at 970-675-8960.
_______________________________________________________
Snacks and Drinks for February Meeting: Rennie
Darlyne Merkel
This past December, I was notified that the two photographs that I submitted to the fourth annual "Share the
View" International Nature Photography Contest had reached the semi-finals. Their email said that was a
commendable accomplishment, although I was hoping to be among the 250 winners if not a finalist.
The winning photographs are amazing. They can be viewed at:
denveraudubon.contestvenue.com
Two local photographers were among the 250 finalists.....Donna Fullerton and Sharon Bradshaw. Their photos
are great.
These are the photographs I submitted.
Great Blue Heron
Eyeing Dinner
Coming In For A Landing
From Rod:
Hi folks
See the note below from Lorie. Kudos to all who were able to participate. Notify here if you interested in being in the
ongoing exhibit. If need be we may be able to join forces.
I also recommend going to the website: www.gjarts.org and getting your name out front as a local artist. Go to the
website, click on the tab Local artists, tab down to register.
Some things you should have in place before starting:
A brief bio on you and what you like to do
6 pictures and captions, make sure they are sized to 4x6 or 6x9, the file name only contains letters-no numbers or other
weird symbols, save as a high quality JPEG at 96-150 DPI.
Once done submit and Lorie will get back to you confirming your acceptance. Click on the website and do a search for
me to see what I have done.
Any questions or any way I can help let me know. Dawn is also on there-she just needs to add some of her great photos.
Rod
Rod,
I'd appreciate it if you pass this along to the group:
Every time I go to City Hall someone stops me and compliments your group exhibit. They use words such as "stunning",
"breathtaking", "starts my morning off with great joy"! The exhibit IS beautiful and is a true asset to City Hall! I hope your
members will get registered on gjarts.org so we can promote them more. Also, if any of your members are interested in being
on our ongoing exhibit list for our public spaces please have them contact me! Typically they would need between 10-14
pieces. We show 4 photographers a year downstairs and we exhibit at Two Rivers and Tiara Rado Golf Course as well.
The Commission wants to do all we can to support our local artists! (Yes, photographers are artists!)
Lorie Gregor *Recreation Coordinator * Grand Junction Parks and Recreation *
970-254-3876 * [email protected] *http://www.gjarts.org
Altering Reality– It’s Nothing New
By Arthur H. Bleich–
Critics of computer-altered images usually divide photography into two time periods: the honest analog days
and the dishonest digital ones. If it were only that easy. Tinkering with images is as old as photography itself;
it’s merely become more sophisticated.
It took years before this image was proved to be a hoax
because “the camera never lies,” right?
In the early days of photography, “spirit” photos
depicted departed loved ones hovering near the living,
and fairies were shown dancing in the woods. And
because people believed that cameras captured reality
(and knew very little about photographic techniques)
they accepted these altered images as truthful.
General Blair (seated r.) really wasn’t there.
When the Civil War ended, General Sherman and his general staff were scheduled for a group portrait at
Matthew Brady’s studio in Washington. Unfortunately, General Blair couldn’t make it so Brady photographed
him at a later time, pasted him into the group picture and re-photographed the image.
Ansel Adams also altered reality. His famous Moonrise,
Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941 had some clouds in the
upper sky that annoyed him.
The original contact print of Moonrise.
So after selling a number of prints with the intrusive
wisps, he simply removed them; later photos are
cloudless. Early prints with clouds might be quite
valuable today– if they can be found.
Poof! The upper clouds are gone and a large dose of
contrast has been applied.
A more audacious manipulation was done by W. Eugene
Smith, one of the world’s greatest photojournalists and a
self-proclaimed champion of truth-in-photography.
Returning from Africa in 1954 after shooting a photo
essay on Dr. Albert Schweitzer for Life magazine, he was
distraught over a damaged negative and set about
resurrecting it.
A alteration like this today, if found out, would cost a photojournalist his or her job– and in some recent
instances actually has.
After burning, dodging, bleaching, and performing other alterations to the image, he still was not satisfied. So
he took new pictures of hands and saws and superimposed them on the original image. It took him days to finish
the composite, something that now could be done in an hour or so with Photoshop. Smith never revealed he had
altered the photo; it ran in Life and became one of his classic images.
As I see it, there’s really not much difference between analog photo alterations of the past and the digital ones
of today. Both raise the same ethical questions. However, the public’s growing knowledge that photos can now
easily be altered mitigates against blind acceptance of photographs as reality– as was the case when people
weren’t as aware of what manipulative techniques could yield.
Photoshopped? No way. This was shot with a real bubble. © Kiyoshi
Togashi
In fact that knowledge can sometimes have unintended effects.
Nowadays, if a talented photographer makes an outstanding image the
old-fashioned way, it is likely to be labeled as “Photoshopped” because,
after all, how could it be that good without digital manipulation?
There are certain kinds of photos that would be impossible to make if it
were not for contemporary software. Take, for example, high dynamic
range images, digital focus shifting for infinite depth of field and the
enhancement and registration of multiple star shots. On a more mundane
level, look at all the pre-set modes in amateur cameras– many of which
alter reality on the fly, sometimes to a ridiculous degree.
Painters have always altered visual elements of historic scenes to make
them more compositionally pleasing and dramatic. Though I was not there at the time, I can assure you that
George Washington did not stand up in the boat when he and his troops crossed the Delaware River nor was the
crossing made in broad daylight. Photographs that are artistic expressions should be judged the same way– with
digital manipulation accepted as just another creative tool made possible by technological advances.
Not exactly authentic.
I see no need for creative images to be marked as “digitally altered” any more than artists should label their
works as “not exactly authentic” though, in the publishing world today, “photo illustration” is the new phrase.
The question, of course, is where does photography end and photo illustration begin? No one has yet come up
with a definitive answer to that and I doubt it’s coming anytime soon.
A Few More Photos!
Rod Martinez
“Good Morning”
“Hard At Work”
“Fall Along Ripple Creek Near Meeker
Andrew Borman
Seattle Zoo
Barb
Austin---Whidbey Island, Washington