January Meeting Recap

We had a great first meeting in 2018 Thursday with 40 people attending at United Christian Church at 3500 West Parmer Lane.

Welcome back all 2017 NAPfS members. Just a reminder that its time to renew for 2018 by bringing a $24 check to a meeting or PayPal at our web site https://napfs.club/joining-napfs/. Thank you to the 37 members who have already paid for 2018.

Tonight persons who signed in as guests were Rodney Almodoyar, David Margulis, Juan Hedtler, Mark Wilson, Sylvia Anchia, Mary Kay Schamburech, Arlie Pfeifer, Bruce Jones, Michael Sunderman, Mayra Travino, and Amy Cooper. Two joined on the spot. (My apologies for misspelled names.) There were another 28 members who signed in.

News

Club President Andrew Fritz announced that the club will soon sponsor a second monthly meeting with a “hands-on” focus. The day of the month and location will be confirmed soon. For the March “how-to” meeting, Andrew will demonstrate proper ways to print your photos, for example, getting the colors right and choosing different papers, and then making contest-quality matts to mount your photographs. Andrew also will tutor some members who want to build a portfolio of their photography. Andrew urged members who had a winning photo in 2017 to contact him for the club’s February show at Precision Camera. Chris Davis Cina announced that she has photos included at a show at the Old Bakery and Emporium at 1001 Congress Ave that will be up for a month. The February 1st speaker will be NAPfS member Dave DeVore who will present his photography of Africa .

Print Table

Joshua Guenther exhibited a selection of his printed photographs from his job with UT RecSports as a Production Assistant. The work covered a broad area from documenting Intramural championships to product advertisements to events, such as the Longhorn Run. In talking with Joshua, I found out his favorite photo was a UT hockey team huddle right down on the ice because the coach had finally relented to let him get closer just for the shot. Joshua also handles the technical job of displaying on the big screen TV the contest photos with his laptop. Thank you!

Competition

The January competition was judged by Laura DiMeo, also our guest speaker. There were 29 Class 1 entries and 15 Class 2 submissions. In Class 1, there were 3 awards and 4 honorable mentions. In Class 2, there were 3 awards and one honorable mention. To see the winning photos, see the separate post on  our web site NAPfS.club. Although she said she regretted being the “mean teacher” as the contest judge, Laura DiMeo gave her critiques straight, but with generous praise and helpful pointers for improvement.

She complimented many submissions for “cinematic narrative” for their ability to take your eye on a journey around the image. She also liked photos that “were emotional and moody,” “have 3-D depth,” “have a focal point of interest,” and “put the subject off-center or turned 3/4 and not face on.” She was especially sensitive to lighting, sharpness, and exposure values. She urged us to “soften or darken” the background so it doesn’t distract from a photo’s subject like a person. She wanted eyes to be sharp and no “marshmallow” fuzzy faces.

She chose class 1 first place “the Hunter” for its dramatic sepia tone and 3rd place “Crystal Ball” for its swooping curved lines and blue color tone, both pictures by Cynthia Stein. She marveled at Mark Donnell’s macro image of a flower only to discover a spider eating a fly.

Presentation

Guest Speaker Laura DiMeo teaches at Austin Community College in the RTF department. Her students love her hands on, practical lessons and think she’s “awesome” at sharing her experiences. Her expertise comes from doing freelance TV work since 1980 for such powerhouse companies as WGBH Boston, MA, Century 3 Teleproductions, Boston, MA, numerous TV networks and affiliates, Hollywood features, independent films, and network movies of the week.

For her presentation, Laura showed us “behind the scenes” pictures of numerous productions she worked on. She explained the essential roles played by Camera, Key Grip, Best Boy Grip, Dolly and Crane Operator, Gaffer, Rigger, and other specialized jobs needed to set up and operate large and expensive movie-making equipment in all manner of places and all types of weather. Everyone enjoyed her “this is what really happened” stories that only a movie crew knows about famous actors. Its no wonder that ACC students listen closely to Laura DiMeo’s teaching.

Meeting candid photos are also posted on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/napfs.club/. The submission page for February 1, 2018 “Oldies”themed competition will be available until midnight Saturday, January 27th at https://napfs.club/competitions/competition-submission/

January Candid Camera

This batch of photos taken with iPhone and Eken action camera by Clay Leben, Marketing VP. Volunteers needed to take next month’s photos.