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

You are invited to join us this Thursday evening, February 10^th at 7 p.m. for a great presentation and evening hosted by John Williams, the General Manager of Showcase Photo & Video. John gave us an outstanding lecture and demonstration on photographic lighting and light modifying gadgetry a couple of years ago at our April 2009 meeting.

John will be our master critiquer and judge of our February photo contest. (more information is included below).

For a tantalizing video commercial about Showcase Photo & Video, hosted by John, visit http://www.northgeorgiacameraclubcouncil.org/showcase-photo-a-video .

Congratulations to SCC member Ashley Schenck whose Valentine photo submission appears on the cover of the February, 2011 issue of Chapel Hill News & Views. I am attaching the cover photo. Ashley learned about the SCC at the Taste for Douglasville Arts festival held last May.

We would like to thank those of you who sent in potential cover photos—please keep submitting your work. The Sweetwater Camera Club provides the CHN&V cover photo 6 times a year, so if yours wasn’t chosen this month, please try again. The next cover submission date is “by March 7^th ” for the cover of the April issue. If you have a gripping spring photo of people, places, things or events that can be formatted to 8.5” wide x 11” tall at 300dpi, please send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with a copy to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

MEMBERSHIP: If you haven’t already done so, please consider joining or rejoining the Sweetwater Camera Club for the calendar year 2011. The cost is minimal, just $20 per individual or $35 per family. You may pay on-line at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/membership or you can pay in person at the meeting. You will need to see SCC Secretary Stella Spyrou when you check in. To enter our contests you must be a member in good standing. (In good standing means, your dues have been paid, and you haven’t been arrested for moonshining, goat stealing etc). 

2011 Contest Topics: Erik Peterson, our contest committee chairman, has selected new contest topics for the next year. You can view them at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/contests/contest-topics-a-descriptions/contests-2011

This month’s contest: Silhouettes: A photograph that shows an outline or profile of the subject or subjects that are rendered black or very dark; such as when the subject is back lit.

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 find a proof of the SCC Photo Contest page to appear in the March issue of the Chapel Hill News & Views. Because snow and ice caused us to cancel our  January meeting, we decided to feature 10 “Honorable Mention” pictures from several of last year’s contests.

This month’s field trip contest covers a trip several of us made on December 18^th, 2010 to the Ansel Adams Exhibit at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA.

Do you have field trip suggestions? If you know of good places for photo field trips, please send suggestions to our field trip chairperson, Dominique Chaponot. We try to schedule most of the SCC field trips inside Douglas County and the Atlanta 18-county metro area to encourage maximum participation with minimal cost in travel, time and admission fees. Before a field trip is suggested or scheduled, please make sure that the venue is “photographer friendly.”

Announcements and Workshops:

1. Lisa Hunter’s mother is in critical condition. Please keep the Hunter family in your thoughts . . .

2. City of Douglasville “Discover Douglasville” Photo Contest: The Douglasville Convention & Visitor Bureau is holding its first ever photo contest in conjunction with National Tourism Week coming up in May 2011. They are looking for excellent pictures showcasing Douglas County. You can learn more about this at http://www.ci.douglasville.ga.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=107 .

3. SCC Member Dominique Chaponot offers “amazing” Photoshop training at her home. If you are interested, please email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You can view many of Dominique’s outstanding photo compositions at http://dominiquechaponot.mosaicglobe.com/ .

4. Ledra Davis and Natural  Connections Workshops for 2011 are listed at http://naturalconnectionsphotoworkshops.com/. Some of the venues include Savannah and Jekyll Island, Glacier National Park, Death Valley and Zion National Parks.

5. David Akoubian of Bear Woods Photography says: There are only a FEW spots remaining for David's Southeastern Railway Museum & HDR Class on Saturday, February 19, 2011. . . You can find out more about David’s photo workshops at http://www.bearwoodsphotography.com/

6. Judy Pisconeri is teaching a variety of classes this year. Check out her class listings at http://www.pisconeri.com/instruction-workshops.htm

7. Kathryn Kolb and the faculty at Serenbe Photography Center would like you to visit http://www.serenbephotographycenter.com/PW_2011 to check out their schedule. They have a number of interesting venues listed for this year including Australia . . .

8. Larry Winslett will be doing fieldtrip workshops through the Showcase Photography School. Visit http://www.larrywinslett.com/workshops.htm for more information.

9. Showcase School of Photography:  You may view a long list of Adult Education Photography Classes by visiting http://www.theshowcaseschool.com/site/Default.asp?Page=245

Thank you, Gene Spicer and Michael Hunter for representing the Sweetwater Camera Club last Thursday at the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce’s “Leadership Douglas” presentation at the Cultural Arts Center. Gene and Michael met, greeted and assisted 25 of the up-and-coming leaders in Douglas County. Linda Britt gave us a crash course in how to create imagery using one of Polaroid’s newest Instant Digital Cameras and Printers.

FYI, the North Georgia Camera Club Council is considering having their 2011 Shootout in the vicinity of the Booth Western Art Museum, hosted by a new photo group called the Booth Photography Guild that has formed there. For more information check out http://www.meetup.com/Booth-Photography-Guild/ .

If you need to know more about what individual camera clubs in Atlanta and North Georgia are doing, look at the list of clubs and their websites at http://tinyurl.com/4quhe8l

If you have ideas and suggestions you would like to share, please let one of the officers or committee chairmen know.

See you at the Sweetwater Camera Club meeting!

Richard