Author: Matthew G. Schmidt

Simply Beautiful Photographs: A National Geographic Traveler Seminar

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date September 8, 2013

NatGeo Traveler is doing a full-day photography seminar titled “Simply Beautiful Photograhs” at National Geographic Society on October 6th.

Simply Beautiful Photographs

Your photographs can be artistic creations and you’ll learn the secrets to making the most appealing photographs possible. Renowned photographers Annie Griffiths and Dan Westergren take you on a visual journey and share their perspectives on what creates beauty in a photograph. They’ll cover how to use color, light, composition, and—most important—how to see your subjects with a different eye.

Dates & Locations

October 6, 2013
9:00AM - 4:00PM
National Geographic Society • Washington DC

Cost: $195

Topics Covered

Composition and Light

Explore two of the most basic elements needed to create any beautiful image. You’ll see the importance of defining your subjects; incorporating shapes, colors, and textures; and using lighting techniques to vary and influence a photo.

Vision and Voice

How do you choose the content for your images? Learn how to express something personal through your images and create your own artistic voice. Great subject matter often comes from seeing something that others don’t within a familiar setting and then capturing it in your photo.

The Power of Moment

Great photographs convey information, ideas, and emotion. Learn how to sharpen your skill for finding and capturing decisive moments that will reflect what’s truly special about the places, people, and experiences you witness.

Learning to See

Train your eyes to look for photos that tell a story. Discover the visual, intellectual, and intuitive elements that go into making stunning photographs. Explore how travel photography styles have changed and what makes certain photos leave a lasting impression.

The Art of Taking Pictures

Color is the most significant element in composition. It commands the viewer’s eye and influences the feel of a picture. Discover how to work with color, contrasts, and balance, so you can make the most aesthetically appealing images possible.

Still have questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page or email: info AT ngtravelerseminars DOT com

News

Stay & Shoot Overnight at a C&O Canal Lockhouse This Fall

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date September 3, 2013

Canal Quarters Interior by Chris Hanessian

The C&O Canal has always offered photographers some of Washington, DC’s, best nature and historic structure subjects. This Fall/Winter rediscover this photographer’s playground from evening through morning with an overnight stay in one of the Canal Quarters lockhouses.

Magnificently refurbished with the help of the C&O Canal’s nonprofit partner, the C&O Canal Trust, the six lockhouses dot the towpath from right outside Georgetown to 110 miles out in Washington County and are furnished to evoke different eras in the canal’s history – its construction in the 1830s, the Civil War, the turn of the century, and up through the 1950s.

Capture history, architecture and nature while being immersed in a true Washington experience. Canal Quarters is now booking dates through August 2014 for weekdays and weekends. Fees for staying in the houses range from $100-$150 per night and each can accommodate up to eight people. Visit www.CanalQuarters.org to learn more and reserve a night in Washington, DC, history.

From Leigh Kessler of the C&O Canal Trust.

News

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Light The Night Walk

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date August 29, 2013

To all of you photographers out there, here is an opportunity to develop your skills and provide a valuable service in the process.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Light The Night Walk is the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring help and hope to millions of people touched by cancer. Light The Night Walk funds lifesaving research and support for people battling cancer. Friends, families and co-workers form fundraising teams and millions of consumers help by donating at retail outlets. These efforts culminate in inspirational, memorable evening walks in over two hundred communities each fall across North America. National Capital Area Chapter has three walks in the DC Metro Area:

Northern Virginia will be held on October 5, 2013 at Reston Town Center from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Montgomery County will be held October 12, 2013 at Rockville Town Square from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Washington, DC Walk will be held on October 19, 2013 at Freedom Plaza from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

We are currently looking for photographers of all skill levels to come out and capture the true spirit of Light The Night. For your talents, time, and copies of the photos you would be compensated with marketing incentives, recognition, and photo credit on all photos that are used. Light The Night is a visually stimulating and memorable walk that will give you the opportunity to show case your talents. The time commitment would be from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and potential photographs requested could be team photos, general walk photos, photos of top participants, and walk site.

For more information please contact Emily at Emily.Seeger AT lls DOT org or by phone at 703.399.2924. Our events would not be possible without the support of our local communities, I thank you in advance for your time.

Exhibit News

Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date July 28, 2013

MEDIA RELEASE Multiple Exposures Gallery

The Torpedo Factory Art Center

105 N. Union Street
Alexandria, VA
703-683-2205
www.multipleexposuresgallery.com

“Daily Differences” by Colleen Henderson
“Street Portraits” by Karen Keating

September 3 – October 13, 2013

Reception:

Sunday, September 8, 2-4pm

Fine art photographers, Colleen Henderson and Karen Keating will present new work in their two-person exhibit at Multiple Exposures Gallery.

Colleen’s images are from an ongoing body of work from her “shot of the day” series started in 2008 after attending a contemplative photo class. The challenges of seeing and being present changed the nature of her shooting and image capture. In addition to framed photographs, Colleen will be exhibiting a limited edition of hand bound artist books.

Karen has long used the street as her stage for observing people, often in other countries. Previous portfolios are from Honduras, Bulgaria, Africa, and most intensely Cuba. A trip to Sicily during Easter week 2012 and the start of a new project in Key West are the locations for her continuing attraction to street portraits and the observation of daily life. Watching and waiting for the visual gift is both her challenge and reward. Her “Cuba: Watching and Waiting” book will be available.

Gallery Hours:

Daily 10am – 6pm; Thursdays, 11am-9pm

Contact:

Karen Keating, kwkeating AT comcast DOT net ;
Colleen Henderson, colleen AT colleenhenderson DOT com

Exhibit News

AWSome Call For Art!

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date July 25, 2013

A Fantastic Opportunity for Metro Washington artists! ArtSpace Herndon is proud to announce that they have been chosen by Amazon Web Services and Gale Waldron, Fine Arts Consultant, to create an exhibition of art. The exhibit will be installed for Amazon Web Services’ August 26, 2013 reception, celebrating the grand opening of Amazon’s new offices in the Monument IV building on Worldgate Drive in Herndon.

The call for art is now open. You are encouraged to submit art of all media, styles, and subject matter. Amazon Web Services will purchase art from the exhibit to install in their officesfour at the Monument IV building. The deadline for submission is August 9, 2013.

For complete details on how to submit art for the exhibit, visit www.artspaceherndon.com and select “Calls for Art” on the menu bar.

Exhibit News

Artful August in the Villiage at Leesburg

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date July 15, 2013

Artists living in Virginia (Clarke, Loudoun, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick and Prince William Counties), Maryland (Frederick County) and West Virginia (Jefferson County) are invited to submit artwork for the Village at Leesburg’s “Artful August” Juried Art Show.

Two dimensional artwork in the following categories: acrylic painting, collage, ink or charcoal drawing, oil painting, pastels, photography, printmaking, watercolors, and mixed media (which is only comprised from any of these previous listed genres) are eligible for entry. Adult artists can submit up to 5 entries, High school artists can submit one entry. The independent jury panel will select artwork from both adult and high school artist division entries for display at the “Artful August” Show on August 14 – 18, 2013 at Village at Leesburg.

The jury panel consists of three art industry professionals from outside the call area. This jury panel will select adult division winners to receive the following awards: $1,000 Best of Show, $500 1st Prize, $400 2nd Prize, $300 3rd Prize, and 14 $200 Honorable Mention Prizes, for a grand total of $5,000 in prizes awarded. The Jury will select three high school artists to each receive a $500 scholarship with a matching donation to the student’s high school art department. Award winners will be announced during a VIP Preview Reception on August 13th.

Artwork to be juried must be delivered to the show site (1603 Village Market Blvd, Unit 100, Leesburg, VA 20175) on August 3rd, 2013 between 11am and 4pm. For expedited check in on August 3rd, artists can submit their paperwork in advance by July 15th.

Download detailed show information & application materials at: http://www.villageatleesburg.com/info/artfulaugust

Please submit questions via email to Mara Bauserman at mara.bauserman AT villageatleesburg DOT com.

Blog

New Work at Nature Visions

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date June 25, 2013

I’ve been away from the site for a while, but hope to be back to posting on a semi-regular basis. The last few weeks my vocation has been taking up an inordinate amount of my time, and I accepted a volunteer role as the primary webmaster for the Nature Visions Mid Atlantic Photo Expo, a local nature photography exhibit that attracts hundreds of entries each year.

Updating the website was quite a bit of work, there are 13 presenters and 21 presentations that required updated pages/posts, tons of linkages to other websites and a tremendous number of functional fixes. The theme that is being used is quite dated and created menus based on the page hierarchy, which meant the only posts were related to the blog.

I found code that allowed me to add the PHP code necessary to integrate the WordPress 3.x menus, which caused a Z-index issue that had the menu displaying below galleries and sliders on certain pages. After I got that fixed for every browser to which I had easy access, someone else experienced the issue running a 64-bit version of Chrome (or at least Chrome running on a 64-bit version of Windows 7).

Also on the agenda was creating pages with lists of things like presenters and presentations. Fortunately I found WP List Posts Shortcode that creates lists of posts by Category, and Posts by Tag that creates lists of posts by Tag(s). These two plugins allowed me to simply categorize and tag presentations and presenter information, updating the relevant pages automatically. I also stumbled upon an RSS feed plugin called RSS Multi Importer that allows us to import posts from the presenters’ RSS feeds and add them to the presenter’s page automatically. Together I believe that these plugins make the site appear more professional, which is not bad for a non-profit organization.

Ultimately this is all part of my goal of paying to back to a community that has provided so much to me without reservation.

Exhibit News

New Abstract Photography Exhibit – Photoworks

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date June 9, 2013

Dear Camera Clubs:

Below please find information about our upcoming exhibit, Perspectives: A Photography Exhibition by Dennis O’Keefe and Sarah Hood Salomon. We are trying to get the word out about this exciting new photography show. Anything you can do to let your members know about the exhibit would be much appreciated. PLEASE NOTE: June 14th is the night of the reception, as well as “ART WALK IN THE PARK” — featuring artist demonstrations and open studio throughout Glen Echo Park — should be a great time!

Thanks,

Lisa Murphy
Photoworks Gallery and Photography School
Glen Echo Park, MD

PHOTOWORKS GALLERY
MEDIA RELEASE FOR NEW PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT

Contact: Lisa Murphy, murphymail5 AT comcast DOT net or Gayle Rothschild, gaylesue AT me DOT com

Perspectives: A Photography Exhibition by Dennis O’Keefe and Sarah Hood Salomon
June 14 – July 22

Exhibition Dates: June 14 – July 22
Reception and Gallery Talk: Friday, June 14, 6:30 – 8:30 PM*
Artists: Sarah Hood Salomon, sarahsally AT verizon DOT net and Dennis O’Keefe, dok6100 AT aol DOT com

*PLEASE NOTE: June 14th is also “ART WALK IN THE PARK” featuring artist demonstrations and open studio throughout Glen Echo Park, http://www.glenechopark.org/art-walk-park

Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 1-4 PM and Sundays, 1-8 PM (and anytime there is a class in the photography school)
Gallery Appointments Available: Contact Photoworks, gaylesue AT me DOT com or kwkeating AT comcast DOT net
Cost: FREE to the public

Photoworks Gallery and Photography School @ Glen Echo Park
7300 MacArthur Boulevard
Glen Echo, MD
www.glenechophotoworks.org

Photoworks Gallery and Photography School in historic Glen Echo Park is pleased to present Perspectives: A Photography Exhibition by Dennis O’Keefe and Sarah Hood Salomon. Abstract art and photography intersect in this exciting new show.

Sarah Hood Salomon utilizes camera motion and slow shutter speeds in order to compress transitional qualities of light into one image. By moving the camera while the shutter is open, light is formed into specific ‘brush strokes,’ and familiar objects are abstracted to textures, shapes, lines and colors. She presents a subject that no longer exists within a single instant, but moves through a confluence of several moments.

Perspectives by Dennis O'Keefe — Perspectives by Dennis O’Keefe

Dennis O’Keefe’s images showcase the multi-colored hues and textures of the beaches of California. He writes, “From a distance, this California beach looked like any other — beautiful, but familiar. Actually walking the beach however, provided a bit of a surprise. The sand was multi-colored — blue-black, mixed with light grey and flecks of something like pale red and amber. Apparently the result of differential erosion from nearby cliffs, the sand was a show unto itself. Each ebb and flow of the waves erased the palette and created a new image. Particularly interesting was the effect that pebbles, shells and kelp detritus had on the resulting ‘canvas’ — colors and patterns were amplified on the seaward side of the obstruction, which contrasted starkly with the lee side colors. The resulting patterns often resembled birds in flight or inter-lacing leaves and fronds. It was particularly absorbing to rush from one pattern to the next, trying (often times in vain) to frame the image before it was erased forever.

Sarah Hood Salomon is a photographer and writer living in Bethesda, MD. Dennis O’Keefe specializes in the photography of intimate landscapes and lives in North Potomac, MD with his wife and family.

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Blog

Formal Photography Education

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date June 9, 2013

I was recently contacted by Photography Degree, a comprehensive collection of colleges and universities offering accredited degree programs in photography, so I thought that I would write something quick up for their website here.

Photography Degree provides a wonderful directory that can be filtered to assist you in finding the degree program that fits your needs. You can quickly filter by online versus brick and mortar, state, type of degree, and field of study to narrow your search down to appropriate schools.

You can also find information on building your portfolio, finding a job, learning what classes you’ll take and what you will do on the job. You’ll learn what to focus on to improve your photography, what the average pay is, and what the job outlook is for your chosen career field.

All for free!

Check out their website at: http://www.photographydegree.com

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News

Photographers’ Field Day at Meadowlark

Post author By Matthew G. Schmidt
Post date May 21, 2013

Photographers’ Field Day

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Saturday, June 1, 2013
Gates open 5:30 a.m.
Admission Fee is $5 per person until 10:00 a.m.
After 10:00, regular admission fees and discounts apply.

Come early to Meadowlark to catch that lovely first light. Garden gates open before sunrise so you can get your best shots. Participate in one of our class offerings, or walk the gardens in search of your own unique subjects. Three classes will be offered: “Cool Creatures Photo Ops,” “Capturing Insects Through Your Camera,” and “What’s in Bloom.”

Cool Creatures Photo Ops

9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Meet in the Log Cabin

Photographers and nature enthusiasts of all ages will be able to enjoy a unique photo opportunity with some native creatures of Northern Virginia. Join Roving Park Naturalist David Garcia and some of his naturalist friends at the Log Cabin, where they will display some local reptiles and amphibians for everyone to take pictures and learn of their special lifestyles. Free with paid admission to the Gardens. Reservations at 703.255.3631 x 0.

Photography Class: ‘Capturing Insects Through Your Camera’

Date:  June 1, 2013
Time:  9:00 am to noon
Location:  Meadowlark Botanical Gardens – meet at Visitor Center
Instructor:  Bill Johnson of Bill Johnson Nature Stock Photography

Class Size: Limit of 25 participants
Class Fee: $60 payable to Bill Johnson Nature Stock Photography
Entrance Fee of $5 also applies (payable to Meadowlark Botanical 
Gardens upon arrival at the Gardens)

Enroll in Class: Send an email to billjohnson AT usinternet DOT com

How do insect photographers get those amazing shots?! In this class, I’ll be doing ‘hands-on’ insect photography with the class participants. I’ll be talking about the equipment that I use and showing people the various ways that I use it to create the images that I get.

The class will be mostly outdoors (weather dependent) where we’ll all meet in a group and proceed to walk around the gardens doing a ‘bug hunt’ and attempting to photograph what we run into. I’ll show ways to be successful at it, things I’ve found that work and those that don’t work. Throughout the class I will encourage people to ask questions, and I will do the best to answer them.

Class participants can bring cameras if they want to. If they don’t have a camera, that’s OK too. I’ll show them about how some cameras are limited in what they can do, as opposed to camera systems that can get amazing results. My hope is that everyone will come away from this experience with a whole new view and respect for insects.

I will end the class by bringing everyone into my photo exhibit to show them results of what we had just been doing in the field. I will answer any questions people might have about how a certain photo was taken, etc.

At the end, I will have some handouts of articles I’ve written about insect photography for everyone to take home. A select group of images from the show will be available for purchase as notecards in the gift shop.

Bill Johnson owns his own Stock Photography business in the Minneapolis area and has been published in over 800 publications. He writes the column ‘Insect ID’ for Horticulture magazine and currently has the photo exhibit ‘Insect Pollinators – Beyond the Honey Bee,’ which is being shown at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia.

What’s In Bloom

10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Education Specialist Patricia Dietly will lead a discovery tour of Meadowlark to see what’s in bloom. The tour is helpful to photographers who want to identify their botanical subjects, but everyone is welcome to come along. No reservations necessary. Meet in the Visitor Center.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!

Patricia K. Dietly
Education Specialist
703.255.3631 x106 office
814.450.3113 cell
703.255.2392 fax

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court
Vienna, Virginia 22182

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