Hello, Sweetwater Camera Club members, visitors and friends . . .

This Thursday evening, October 14^th at 7:00 p.m. the Sweetwater Camera Club will hold its monthly meeting at St. Julian’s Episcopal Church in the Parish Hall. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Our presentation this month will be given by widely-acclaimed nature photographer  Don Saunders. His presentation is entitled "Gizmos and Gadgets - 50 products for Nature Photographers".

Don is a member of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA), The Nature Conversancy and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). Don’s website, which displays a number of examples of his work, is located at http://www.donsaundersphoto.com. He will be showing his work as well as critiquing and judging our Reflections and Field Trip contests.

Election News: Last month I announced that we are looking for volunteers for the SCC Nominating Committee to help us select our officers for the next year. Our current officers include Angelo Muhammad, Vice President; Stella Spyrou, Secretary; Gene Spicer, Treasurer; and me, Richard Nichols, President. Thus far none of our 85 members have stepped forward to suggest any of you with greater talents. That indicates that the group is satisfied with the current leadership or they fear becoming a nominee themselves if they speak up. We will discuss this issue briefly at our meeting along with job descriptions. As you know, all leadership positions are voluntary. If you would like to serve responsibly in one of these positions, let an attending member know so that you may be nominated. The election will be held at our monthly meeting to be held on Thursday, November 11^th.

In case you haven’t made a recent visit to the Cultural Arts Center here in Douglasville to see our “Douglasville Celebrates Photography” exhibit, please take some time out to pay a visit. Laura Lieberman and the staff at the CAC have done a marvelous job of arranging and displaying the best of the best from our club members. A significant article appeared in the Douglas County Sentinel’s Sunday paper this week describing our exhibit which runs through Friday, October 29^th.  Thank you to all of our talented image makers who are participating in this show. According to the Sentinel, an exhibit in our honor will only be held at the CAC once every two years, so don’t miss this opportunity to see our photographers’ works!

In addition, the Douglasville Neighbor Newspaper which is distributed throughout Douglasville and Douglas County today, has a front page article by journalist Stephanie Siegel about Laura (CAC Executive Director) entitled “A True Artist – longtime arts expert leads Douglas center.” The story includes an inspiring list of Laura’s past and recent accomplishments and includes a picture of Laura standing alongside a large photograph of the Varsity Drive-In sign in downtown Atlanta, submitted by SCC member Larry Hunter.

This Month’s Photo Contests:
(1) Reflections: An image that features subject matter that is repeated by means of a reflective surface.
(2) September Saturdays Field Trips: a visit  to Douglas County’s September Saturdays festivals held on September 18^th and 25^th this past month.
(3) Sunday in the Park: A visit to Oakland Cemetery for the Victorian celebration.
You can find out more about the contest rules on the web at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/contests . The rules state that you may enter two photos each in the color, monochrome and field trip categories.

This month’s upcoming field trip: We will be discussing this briefly at the meeting. Frank Karycinski, who has done a great job as field trip chairperson for the majority of 2010, has undertaken employment which precludes him from some types of involvement in the SCC. Thank you, Frank, for your well-researched and nicely illustrated event invitations this year. One of our newest members, Dominique Chaponot, has agreed to help us as field trip chairperson. We soon hope to be carpooling to Paris with Dominique as tour guide.

Two possible field trips could happen this weekend if there is enough interest:

1. Jim Morton, the meeting space manager/building manager at St. Julian’s has indicated that this weekend is the time for the Stone Mountain Highland Games. I am attaching a PDF file with his description of this. You may visit http://www.smhg.org for more information. The cost for this event is $15. SCC Member John Fuller heartily recommends this event!

2. The Little 5 Points Halloween Parade in Atlanta http://www.l5phalloween.com/schedule.htm happens on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., but you will want to show up at least an hour or two in advance. Many of us had a great time at this event last year. The ghosts, goblins and headless horseman are guaranteed to enhance your attitude as well as provide you an opportunity to make some award winning pictures. Admission is free.

You are not required to be a member of the SCC to attend one of our field trips or to come to our meetings, but you must be a member in order to enter any of our photo contests.

North Georgia Camera Club Shootout: This past weekend, 19 members of the Sweetwater Camera Club met at Berry College on Saturday morning for the dress rehearsal of the upcoming North Georgia Camera Club Shootout which will occur starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday, October 23^rd. We need for everyone who has signed up to get with our Team Captain, Erik Peterson, and/or with me in advance of the shootout in order to make sure that you understand the rules of engagement, that you have your camera set to the correct day and time, and that you are shooting with the correct color space: all images must be submitted using the SRGB color space, as JPEG files. You may use Camera Raw while you are shooting your pictures. However, we will need as many as 8 laptops or more available for the day of the shoot.

I will be sending out more detailed information to NG3C participants concerning our approach to the shootout during the next two days. If you were not able to attend the dress rehearsal, you will need to pay special attention to a number of the issues we encountered. It is not a requirement to have attended the dress rehearsal, but those who did had a wonderful time. The energy and synergy that is present in this special group is both amazing and energizing.  Many people have already begun to realize how valuable this NG3C opportunity is. It involves intensive learning, precision teamwork, competition, image processing, very strong deadlines, art and science. Our team currently consists of 29 shooters and two administrators.

As I have mentioned before, this competition is not just for accomplished photographers, it is for any member of the Sweetwater Camera Club who is willing to take on the challenge and reach beyond the boundaries of where you are right now in your photographic learning. For more information and to download the NG3C program/handbook, go to http://www.ng3c.org . If you are not already registered for the event but would like to participate, we can get you registered on the day of the event, as long as you show up with the rest of us by 7 a.m.

See you at the Sweetwater Camera Club meeting tomorrow! http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org .

For those of you who would like to join the Sweetwater Camera Club, the fee from now through December is $10 for an individual membership and $20 per family. You may join on-line at http://www.SweetwaterCameraClub.org/membership .

Richard