Good afternoon, Sweetwater Camera Club members, visitors and friends . . .You are invited to join us this Thursday evening, August 11^th at 7 p.m. for an evening hosted by our treasurer, Mr. Gene Spicer.

Gene has recently begun a new business initiative which includes creating very high quality art prints and gallery wraps. He will be discussing a number of topics and sharing his knowledge of printing substrates including a variety of papers and canvases.

We haven’t chosen the contest critiquer and judge for the evening, so if you are capable of rendering this service, please reply to this email.

Library Display: For the past week we have been installing a major show put on by the Sweetwater Camera Club and the Digital Image Group. This exhibit includes 56 digital images and two electronic photo frames. The electronic picture frames include well over 1200 pictures by members of the Digital Image Group.

If you click on this link: http://youtu.be/Dph2win4OzA you will see a brief YouTube video showing our display. This exhibit will be seen by thousands of people who come in and out of the library over the next 8 weeks. We have been asked to keep the show up until October 1^st. Patrons of the library can pick up a business card for the two groups on either side of the display area. We would like to thank Jerry Frost for helping us set up the display. We appreciate the photo contributions from Jim Gardner, Dominique Chaponot, Rob Hainer, David Stephens, Jeannie McKnight, Kent Owings, Norma Nichols and Jerry Frost. In the future, if you would like to have some of your photos displayed at one of our exhibitions, please participate.

If you have framed photos that you would like to display publically, we have some exhibit space open at the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce. Pictures displayed there need to be framed or matted and framed, preferably but not necessarily in black frames. For more information, please reply to this email.

Citizen’s Police Academy: If you would like to join us for the next 9 weeks at the new Douglasville Public Safety building for the Citizens’ Police Academy, there are at least 8 slots left. I am attaching a pdf of the Agenda HERE. This series of talks and demonstrations is photography and videography friendly. Dinner is served at each meeting as part of the program. If you are interested, please call Officer Matt Underwood today or tomorrow (Tuesday) at 678-293-1789. This group meets once a week on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at the new Public Safety building on Fairburn Road. You may also join by showing up tomorrow evening. Tomorrow’s program is about crime scene investigations and identity theft. I am attaching a .JPG file showing the agenda over the next couple of months HERE. You don’t have to make pictures to attend, you can come as an enquiring citizen.

This month’s contest: found Object: ”A photograph of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose.”  Several people have asked us to clarify this topic and definition. In one sense, any photograph you make of one or more things that you present in an artistic way could theoretically be termed a “found object.” However, within the realm of Art, Art History and Art Education, “found objects” have traditionally been defined by the use of everyday objects within a work of art. A canvas by Picasso, for example, might contain pieces of newspaper, or ordinary brass rings and other objects embedded in the canvas. Something you find by the side of the road that is juxtaposed in its environment in such a way that you can make a creative photo of it would fit the description. If you search Google Images or Bing Images for “found object” you will find some good examples. Often, found objects are everyday ordinary objects put together in a collage. I am attaching 5 examples, but do not restrict yourselves to these models, just be aware that our contest topics, chosen by Eric Peterson, the contest chairman, are designed to be challenging learning experiences.

2011 Contest Topics: The contest topics for this year are located at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/contests/contest-topics-a-descriptions/contests-2011. 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. Attached you will also find a proof of the next SCC Photo Contest page which will appear in the September issue of the Chapel Hill News & Views magazine. If you participated in this month’s shootout on July 24^th at the Douglas County library, you can enter up to two of your images in this month’s field trip contest.

Upcoming Field Trip: Our field trip chairlady, Dominique Chaponot, is happy to announce our next field trip:

Saturday, August 20^th at 9 a.m: Smith Gilbert Gardens, Kennesaw, GA: http://www.smithgilbertgardens.com/at-the-gardens/points-of-interest-in-the-gardens/
The gardens are open on Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for children 6 — 12, children 5 and under are free. The Gardens are located at 2382 Pine Mountain Road, Kennesaw, GA 30152, off of Cobb Parkway. 

On the Agenda:

We are currently putting together the Sweetwater Camera Club TEAM to compete in the North Georgia Camera Club Council’s Shootout at the Booth Museum on Saturday, October 1^st. We must turn in a list of those who plan to participate within the next couple of weeks. If you think you might join us in this adventure, please let me know ASAP. Even if you think you might cancel, it is better to sign up now. There is no charge for you to participate. We will have a dress rehearsal for the shootout within 2 weeks before the event. From 300 to 500 photographers representing 14 photo clubs will participate. The sign-up fee is paid for by the Sweetwater Camera Club. In order to participate, you must be a member of our club. Currently the membership fee is  $10 per person or $20 per family—your membership is for the calendar year, meaning it lasts through December of 2011. Please visit the NG3C website for all kinds of information at http://www.NG3C.org . You may join us on-line at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/membership or come to this month’s meeting and find our secretary, Stella Spyrou.

Election of Officers for 2012: In September, according to tradition and the bylaws of the Sweetwater Camera Club, the president is to appoint a nominating committee whose job it is to contact those who might be interested in serving as President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer for the following year. If you would like to be on the nominating committee, please get in touch with me either by phone or e-mail. The job descriptions of our officers are fairly straight forward— the gist of each title’s duties are listed below:

The President presides over meetings of officers, committees and members. In addition the president is a member of every committee, represents the club to the public and works to ensure the smooth running of the group.

The Vice President presides when the president is absent or cannot continue in office. The vice president is the Program Chairperson, meaning that she or he along with the Program Committee finds speakers and critiquers / judges for the monthly meetings.

The Secretary records all meeting minutes and submits them through the website. She or he also takes in all club money, handles new memberships, deposits money in the bank and keeps our records up to date. It is a good idea for the Secretary to also find an assistant who can handle matters when she or he is absent or in need of help.

The Treasurer watches over the club’s money and handles expenses; He or she pays out all fees required in the everyday running of the club, and provides reports to the officers as needed.

Committee chair people are not usually officers—except as described above. They are volunteers who serve the club in a variety of ways. Committees include the Contest, Field Trip,  Publicity, Welcoming, Programs and Exhibits committees. Other committees can be formed at any time to handle special projects.

If you would like to become an officer and have the time, ability and desire to do so, please let it be known to one of our current officers. We are also working to get a head start on committee chairpeople and members for 2012.

Digital Image Group on Thursday, August 18^th: For those of you who are interested In attending the Digital Image Group meeting, to show your work or see what others are doing, our next meeting is Thursday, August 18^th at 6:30 p.m. or later. It will be held at the Douglasville School of Art at 6774 West Broad Street here in Douglasville. I have placed all recent images for the past 3 months up online for the world to see at http://www.digitalimagegroup.org/photo/index.php?folder=/2011/ . We need for people to bring their own chairs to the DIG meeting. There are a few chairs available for those who don’t or can’t bring one.

See you at the Sweetwater Camera Club meeting!

Richard