The Aperture
Newsletter of the Johnson County Camera Club
Established April 1963
jococameraclub.org
jococameraclub.blogspot.com
Meeting: April 8, 2013 (second Monday)
Time: 6:30 P.M. (chat time), 7:00 P.M. meeting
Location: Asbury United Methodist Church
Music Room
75th St. and
Nall Avenue, Prairie Village, Kansas
(Park behind the church;
meeting entrance is near the corner on the back of the building near
Nall.)
Meeting Agenda
Scott Bean will be our guest speaker for April. He grew up in Kansas and came to really love
being outside. His first forays into
photography were an excuse to be outside, and that 'excuse' is still a major
driving force for him to get behind the camera.
Scott just likes being out away from it all. He’d like to be able to say something deeper
about why he chooses to make photographs, but "I like to" is the most
honest thing Scott can come up with.
Scott wants his photography to connect him to the landscape,
to drive him to go outside, to really “be there” to capture his experiences and
share them with others. He wants viewers
to experience what he experienced when clicking the shutter, not just visually,
but to feel a sense of what it was like to have been there.
Scott’s has now lived in the Flint Hills longer than any other
area of Kansas and yet is constantly stunned by the beauty of this area. He believes you have to spend some time with
Kansas landscapes, and learn how to really experience them, but he feels it is worth
the effort.
Notes from Our Last Meeting
Art At The
Center, Tomahawk Ridge Community Center, 11902 Lowell, Overland Park, KS
(913-344-8656). Hours: Monday thru Saturday 8am-9pm, and Sunday 10am-8pm.
"The
2013 Juried Exhibition" The City of Overland Park presents their annual jurored
art exhibit, and among this year's selected entries are photographs by Johnson
County Camera Club members Crystal Nederman, David North, Brian Schoenfish
and Steven Wall - Closes June 9.
Note: Opening
reception will be held Friday, April 5, 5:30 - 7:30pm. Public is invited.
Community
Art Gallery, Community Christian Church, 4601 Main, KCMO
(816-561-6531).
Hours:
Monday thru Friday 9am-4pm, and Sunday 10am-noon.
"Photographs
From Bhutan, China and Vietnam" Adventure photographer, Charles Porter, presents a
series of striking images (made during short stays in each of these Asian
nations) that illustrate the unique quality of location, people and culture - Closes
May 14.
Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art - Block Building, 4525 Oak, KCMO (816-561-4000).
Hours:
Wednesday 10am-4pm, Thursday and Friday 10am-9pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, and Sunday
noon-5pm.
"Invented
Worlds: Photographs by Ruth Thorne-Thomsen" Forty of her works spanning
more than three decades are on display. She uses the simplest of imaging
devises, a handmade pinhole camera. By making or arranging subjects to be
photographed by this technique, she creates a dreamlike vision of wonder and
discovery resulting in a landscape of imagination, blurring reality and myth.
Besides creating her own camera, she also made all the props in her photos -
Closes July 28.
Revocup
Coffee, 11030 Quivira (behind McDonalds), Overland Park, KS (913-663-3695).
Hours:
Monday thru Friday 6:30am-7pm, Saturday 7am-5pm, and Sunday 8am-5pm.
"Photography
by Ernie Lowden" JoCoCC member Ernie Lowden's photographs offer the viewer a
frequently revised range of subject matter and pictorial genre, from
traditional landscapes and nature, to subjective abstraction -
Closes (eventually).
The Editor’s Corner – Bill Staudenmaier
That something can exist in some form, and then not exit
in the same form, after a period of time, has always fascinated me. I know that a friend exists because I get
emails from him. He is physically
present in another part of the city. Yet
in this day of digital manipulation his existence could be faked. Another friend, now deceased, sent me emails
when he was alive. No, I haven’t gotten
anything from him recently, so I will assume he is still deceased. Reading some of his emails that I saved
however, it is as if he still exists, yet he does not. But his words at a particular point in time,
when he was alive, are every bit as vivid and real as if he had just written
and sent them.
The same goes for the photos we take. They preserve what was, and may still be in
similar form, but now, is not in the same manner as it was when the image was
made. Minor changes to a scene may have
crept in today, or two weeks ago, we may not notice, but they are there. And as is the case in historic preservation
of buildings, the exterior is most often what is preserved. The interior may retain some of the rooms,
but most often it is revised to suit the user of the facility. So, what was is really no more, in its
totality, although the shell leads us to believe it is the same.
If your parents or a sibling are deceased, consider, that
as time goes on, it is almost as if they never were. We remember as if a video were playing in the
background showing snippets of scenes from their lives and our interactions
with them. But the view is from the
perspective of an adult, not that of the child we visualize in the scenes of
our mind. Often these images are based
consciously or unconsciously on the photographs we have taken or seen. I have objects, keepsakes, and antiques,
whatever, from the days when I was a child; they also bring back memories, some
crisp, others foggy and vague.
A trip across the country is real while it is happening,
but unreal and edited in retrospect.
I’ve made many trips to Colorado to visit my daughter and her
family. The road spins by in my mind,
images in rapid succession, changes of light, altering views, some taking on an
aerial effect as if I’m flying rather than driving. Light and shadow collide. Bare roadside trees in winter reveal the
interior layers of brush and vines that compose the undergrowth. Going west the morning sun casts long
shadows, illuminating the hidden areas among these trees. Then as the sun rises toward mid-day shadows
diminish and the drama evaporates into flat light that neither flatters nor
defines the landscape. Just another trip
across Kansas, nothing seems to have changed, but in reality it has.
What was done yesterday is of no concern today, yet the
work of yesterday was part of the foundation of today. The images I shot yesterday are but the
source of the photos I will print today or tomorrow. They are the memories of my attempt at
capturing the landscape, a still life, or portraits that define and enhance
their subject. That perfect moment when
all things came together, and the light was right, creating a depth of field
that shows the beauty of the Flint Hills or the strength of a still life
composition set up with a few bottles in constructed light. It is the eloquent shape of a human face,
showcasing the wisdom in the eyes or the strength of a smile.
What we do today in the present is the past, but more
importantly it is the future we build.
Our photography is a progression toward the right side of a graph, the
expected high points that culminate in continual exposures to people and
places. We learn by doing, but for me
the doing must also in include acute observation, mental note taking of the
learned specifics of the journey. All
our photos are a record of this progress, the path we’ve taken, and the
direction we are going. As with everyday
life, course corrections may be required along the way ------
recalculating.
Images for Show and
Tell
There is always a
possibility at all of our meetings (if time permits) for member images to be
shown and discussed. Please see the
information below regarding sizing of images.
All images should be sized for 1024 pixels on the
longest dimension and saved as jpeg.
Images should be renamed to include the artist’s last name in the first
characters of the title. Check your
image, if it looks blurry or pixilated (unintentionally), you may have started
with a low resolution or highly cropped image.
In this case, you may need to increase the setting in the resolution box
to improve the image; but be sure to retain 1024 on the longest side. Submit JPG files on a flash drive tagged with your
name. Drives will be returned
after the images have been loaded into the computer for projection.
Subjects for the Year-End 2012-2013 Photo Contest
Submittals
for our Year-End-Contest are due at our May 2013 meeting. Only images shot since May 2012 are
eligible. There are nine subjects to
choose from. You may select a maximum of
six subjects with a maximum of two entries for each of the six subjects
chosen. A professional photographer will
judge the contest, with the results to be presented and discussed at the June
2013 meeting. A comprehensive
list of the rules may be found in the June 2012 newsletter which is on the JCCC
website.
2012-2013 Year-End-Contest Subjects
- Architecture
- Critters
- Square
- Cloudscapes
- Happiness Is
- Saturated
- Pattern Interrupted
- People
- Vintage
Please patronize the following area businesses when you need
photographic supplies or camera repairs.
Overland Photo
Supply, Inc. 8700
Metcalf, Overland Park, KS 66212 (913) 648-5950, FAX (913) 648-5966, e-mail – sales@overlandphoto.com, Hours: M-F 10-7, Sat 10-5
Crick Camera
Shop 7715 State Line Rd. Kansas City, MO 64114
(816) 444-3390, e-mail - crickcamera@sbcglobal.net Established in 1946
The Aperture, newsletter
of the Johnson
County Camera Club, is published monthly. Meetings are held the second Monday of each
month, unless otherwise announced, at the Asbury United Methodist Church. Short articles written by club members, or
selected from other sources of possible interest to club members, may be sent
to the editor for inclusion in the newsletter.
Membership dues of $25.00 for one year are to be paid during the month
of September, which is the beginning of the club year. Anyone who joins the club after March 1st.
will not be required to pay dues and will not be eligible to participate in the
year end competition.
For additional information or questions on the Johnson
County Camera Club, activities, meetings, and membership contact the following
members:
President - Steve Wall 913-782-6339 seeque2@gmail.com
Vice-President - Erin Schuerman 913-322-3959 schuermanerin@gmail.com
Treasurer - Michael Stone 913-469-5724 mstoneopks@kc.rr.com
Newsletter Editor - Bill Staudenmaier 913-381-0264 wstaude@sbcglobal.net
Program Committee Chair - Erin Schuerman
Program Committee Members - Steve Wall, Brian Schoenfish, Carol Barlau, Ernie Lowden, Carol Henderson, Bruce Hogle, Patricia Fries, Paul Douglas
Vice-President - Erin Schuerman 913-322-3959 schuermanerin@gmail.com
Treasurer - Michael Stone 913-469-5724 mstoneopks@kc.rr.com
Newsletter Editor - Bill Staudenmaier 913-381-0264 wstaude@sbcglobal.net
Program Committee Chair - Erin Schuerman
Program Committee Members - Steve Wall, Brian Schoenfish, Carol Barlau, Ernie Lowden, Carol Henderson, Bruce Hogle, Patricia Fries, Paul Douglas
