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Membership Director:
Assistant Directors:
Bob Costanzo,
robert.costanzo101@gmail.com
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Welcome to the 2020 Spring Issue of
The PSA NH Membership Newsletter!
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Karen Lord
, of the North Country Camera Club,
explores Frozen Soap Bubbles.
'
The image was taken when the outside temperature was -11 to -17 degrees. I added a little glycerin to my mixture of dish detergent, sugar, and water and then placed the mixture into the freezer to get it really cold - but not frozen. Then I blew the bubbles through a straw, and placed the bubbles on the snow. It was fascinating to watch the crystallization process and to see the bubble implode when the weight of the crystallization became too heavy. It was intriguing, technical, and very fun.
Oh yes, and COLD too."
My camera is a Canon Rebel and the images were taken at various speeds from 1/80th to 1/4 sec. the F stops were f22-f5.6 as I explored the light and sought to achieve differing
bokeh effects"
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Joe Drapeau & Bill Gehan
"Winter can be a tough time for photography, so you need to think out-of-the-box. As you can visit a Zoo pretty much anytime when we do not have the current Covid-19 issues, Bill and I went to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence RI. It is a great place to have and up-close view of many animals. Here is a sampling of our favorites.
The Franklin Park Zoo and the Stone Zoo are great places to visit as well..
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Cheetahs at the Roger Williams Zoo - Joe Drapeau - Manchester CC
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Bill Gehan - Manchester Camera Clubs
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Dick Hudnall – Manchester Camera Club
I
n the NECCC Interclub Winter Print Contest, two of Dick’s images were ribbon winners!
Tied for first prize
is his is his stunning image "
Approaching Storm over Madison"
"The Yellowstone photo was taken in September, 2019 on an early (cold) snowy morning. The clouds were added along with the elk.
PS/LR was used for all image processing."
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Dick's
"
Storm approaching the Badlands"
was tied for Third.
“
The Badlands photo was taken in June 2019 on a western trip to Yellowstone with a lot of storms with great clouds.
This image is a montage using a Badlands pan with a storm cloud image. PS/LR was used for pre-production and merging the images. B/W conversion used PS adjustment layer with post-production additional adjustments."
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WEBinars and On-line Learning
PSA
is offering free courses and webinars
to individual members
..
Fred Orkin,
Assistant membership director for NH,
says
"
Kudos to
Shiv Verma
for setting up this new online education program! I'm sure it was a challenge to get them launched
!!"
To take advantage of them, here is the information about becoming an individual member of PSA.
This new online educational program is just the tip of the iceberg of PSA membership benefits..
Although I (Arabella) find the PSA website very difficult to navigate, and the emphasis on competition and stars, is overwhelming, everything else really is there...and bit by bit I am finding more about of these amazing services... so hang in there!!
I belong to two study groups and love the monthly exchanges. Try joining one of the study groups and share your images with the members. . Or once the Covid crisis is over take one of their PSA workshops!
Below is a screen-shot/link to a short list of member benefits on the PSA web site.
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Speaking of Hunt’s, do consider taking any one of their educational classes, courses, walks, or adventures. They are an amazing resource. During this period of time while we must stay home, Hunts is offering a very comprehensive series of webinars and virtual meetings.
NECCC
- The educational opportunities are extremely informative.TheNECCC Blog that comes to me via email is excellent.
.
http://necccnews.blogspot.com/
Colleen Minuik Online Learning
- Both Fred Orkin and I are student's of Colleen's and find her to be an extraordinary teacher. She has the intuition of an artist and technical skill of a scientist and teaches to both ends of the spectrum.
Lisa Langell Photography - Most of us know her from NECCC and PSA meetings. I'm hoping to go to her workshop on bats and hummingbirds this summer.
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New NH Members of PSA!
We welcome our newest PSA NH members
Chris Quinn, Derry, NH
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News from our NH Members
Sara Cail
- sends greetings. "I'm spending my winter months in FL photographing beaches, gardens, and wildlife. It's actually a nice change from NH which I always have in my heart. When i return to my NH home, I feel as if I'm seeing it with new eyes and find so much that inspires me photographically.
I do have a solo show through NHAA, at Church Landing in Meredith this summer - July 14 -November 8, 2020. Of course, I have no idea which images I may choose for this show, but here are a few possibilities."
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Judy Burgess
,
President, North Country Camera Club
"Our programs have been educational, as well as entertaining. Highlights of the year started right away with Bill Brochu critiquing our images to prepare us for our upcoming monthly competitions.
There were nine club competitions this year - 4 were Open subjects, and specific topics were Nature, Stormy Weather, People at Work, Place - an image that needs not title, and Animals Wild or Domestic.
The NECCC Nature Circuit program in October showed us what to look for in a good nature image.
In November, we were lucky to have Ryan Knapp, meteorologist /photographer give a program on the Night Sky Photography and Weather Images. We had scheduled and re-scheduled a workshop with him but had to cancel all three dates because of weather! We plan to try again in the fall.
The club's holiday party was held at Stonehurst Manor in December, and our January meeting was with Dan Houde "Ten Ways to Improve your Action shots."
John Hoffman and Judy Burgess hosted our February meeting with a Macro Hands-on Photo Workshop.
Susan Pfeil took this picture of the members enjoying the set-ups Judy and John provided.
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The Set- Ups
were midsized light-boxes with mini light strips attached to the top.....we used color backgrounds or black ones.
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Judy Burgess
Hardest, was dealing with mini light reflections on the face of the watch...
Shot with a Nikon Camera D7100 with a 105mm macro Nikon lens. I also tried it with my 18-300mm Nikon lens with close focus ability.
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Arabella Dane
"
The marbles were photographed with my Canon using the LensBaby velvet 56 - wide open. Do the highlights bother you?
Funnily enough, the LensBaby lens takes amazing closeups with no distortions when aperture is set to f8-22 but i have not conquered the in-camera exposure issues.".
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Arabella Dane
"This was an egg-shaped cut glass object photographed with the LensBaby wide-open. The object looses all its facets becoming starfish-like form over an orb.
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North Country CC April Competition Meeting
Topic - Animals Wild or Domestic -
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First place in Class A went to Judy Burgess for her image "Fox Enjoying the Sun."
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First place in Class B went to Bill Provencher for his image "Just Passing By'
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George Glennie Memorial Nature Salon 2020
hosted by the Merrimack Valley CC, is open to camera clubs world-wide. Each club may submit 10 images. There were more than 600 entries
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North Country CC members win 2 Merit Awards in the Glennie
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Donna Dolan - North Country CC - for her photo "Fun Guy" (above)
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Kathy Bergeron - North Country CC - for her image "Denali"
Acceptances were Bill Brochu's 'Hungry Bear" Donna Dolan "Star of Wonder" Karen Lord "Lake & Mt Chocoura, John Keator "Red Fox" and "Underast" and Kathy Bergeron "Brothers"
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T
he first image is
Paddle Person
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The score for Paddle Person
was 22
The Judge said" Tells a nice story. I might suggest adding a bit more light with the shadow of her face."
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The second image -
The Surfer
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The Surfer got 23 points
and the comment by the judge was " Late afternoon light on surfer works great. The wave also agitated adds"
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Bob says: “The winning images provided more action and were more compelling and they deserved get their winning scores. "
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Q & A to follow ........to find it, keep going!
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Fred Orkin - Assistant NH PSA Membership Chairman
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Fred asks :
Have YOU had any of your images published in any of these magazines? Have you entered any of the contests they may offer?
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Sharon Nahill
– Lakes Region Camera Club Congratulations to Sharon Nahill for her two images that scored 24 and
were under consideration for Merit Awards in the Glennie Nature Competition.
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Loon Morning
- Sharon took this image of the Loon with its chick while she was kayaking on Lake Waukegan last summer. This image won Best in show at the Lakes Region Art Association 2019 members' show,
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Howler Monkey
- Sharon says " The baby howler monkey was taken while in Costa Rica last year, from the skywalk near the
Childrens' Eternal Rainforest
."
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Dan Robusto – Lakes Region Camera Club
Congratulations to
Dan Robusto for winning an Honorable Mention with "Puffins in Action" in the 2020 NECCC Winter Interclub Electronic Nature Class B Competition.
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In addition, several members of Lakes Region Camera Club had acceptances in the Glennie: Dan Robusto with "Heavy Kill' and "Zebra Love" (featured in the Dec. Issue ), Arabella Dane with "Praying Otter" and Carolyn Sharp with "Garter Snake".
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The
Ocean State International Competition -
hosted by the Photographic Society of Rhode Island, had entries from several NH member clubs. There were more than 1,000 images with only 300 acceptances.
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Congratulations ot our NH winners
Frank Forward - Seacoast CC
won the PSA Gold for "Dinner Time"
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Frank Forward - Seacoast CC
and the PSA Bronze for his 'Cheetah Family",(below) both taken in Tanzania
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Frank Forward - Seacoast CC
and a PSA Bronze for "Stellar Eagle Fighting", taken in Japan
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won the award for the "Best Night "
"Northern Lights Dance #4"
t
aken around midnight in Feb. 2018 in Loften, Norway. Loften is about 100 miles inside the Arctic Circle. That night there was an amazing and unusual magnetic storm. The aurora lit up the sky in all directions. Each exposure was around20-30 seconds wide open at f2.8. Shot with my Nikon 14-24 on a tripod, of course. it was a very cold night. The bright "star" in the images is actually 1/4 moon.
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Mike Goodman - Seacoast CC
won an Honorable Mention for "Li River"
"The fishermen use cormorants for fish. They have been trained and get to swallow one fish out of 10. I recently converted the original Fuji slide into a high resolution digital image using a simple Nikon device mounted on my D850 with 60 mm micro lens."
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won and Honorable Mention for "Hummingbird on Salvia" (below)
Jutta says she took this in her backyard. " While I have photographed many hummingbirds on different plants in my backyard, this one on a Salvia was a first. My Camera is Canon 7DMkII, Canon Lens 100-400 spot meter, high speed, approx. 1600, Natural light, no flash."
Jutta also won an
acceptance for her ‘At the Spa”
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Other NH residents have also had images accepted in the OSI competition.
Including Vera Kaufman for "Matilda Mantis" .
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The Situation
:
“
Since I have always been a bit of a numbers guy, I looked at the ranking of the best five images in each category (which is provided by the club) to see the best of the photographers. Then I google them and discovered some were professionals who did weddings and other commercial activities and some had been military photographers. No question they are all great photographers. Many have traveled all over the world
.
” Bob
The Question:
Does the PSA have more levels than A & B in judging? I admit I have limited knowledge of the star rankings and other contests in the PSA.
The Answer:
from Rick Cloran:
"
Let’s start at the beginning. PSA and NECCC interclub competitions are separate and distinct from the ROPA Distinctions (star ratings) associated with individual success in the international salons / exhibitions recognized by PSA
.
NECCC interclub competitions are based on a Class A and a Class B structure driven by the success of the club’s entries from year to year. The first year a club competes it is automatically in Class B. If it comes in in the top five for a year, it will move into Class A and remain there unless it comes in within the bottom five of a year at which point it will move down to Class B. The selection of the images entered by a club is handled by that club’s NECCC representative and, hopefully, is based on an objective assessment of the image’s chances to score well for the club irrespective of the maker’s competition class within the club’s own competition structure.
(e.g., PID, ND, TD, PJ, PPD, etc.).
For example, PID (the Projected Image Division) that most clubs might choose to compete in, offer Five “Groups” (Classes) from A through E. Similar to NECCC, the group you are in is based on the club’s success over time. All clubs start in Group
E. If they come in in the top five in that group, they move up to the next group.
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There are typically 20 – 30 clubs in each group and they are from all over the world. Just as with NECCC, the entries in the competitions are selected by the club’s PSA representative and, again, should be based on an objective assessment of whether the image will score well as part of the club’s entry.
Is there a potential that some of the images entered by a club may have been made by a professional?
Yes. There is no restriction against that. Going back to the days of slides, we had one club from California called Los Amigos that won Group A in color slides year in and year out and my main goal as GLPA’s ( Greater Lynn Photography Association) rep was to try to beat them either in an individual competition or over-all standings for the year. There were only six members in that club. Five of them were on the staff of the LA Times.
Individual competitions
NECCC does not offer individual competitions other than the Conference Competition
. There are no classes in that competition. The only restriction on entry is that NECCC asks Conference speakers not to enter as the competition is for attendees. You are up against whoever enters.
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There are no classes. The only restriction is that you must be a PSA member. You are up against anyone in the world who is a PSA member and enters irrespective of whether they are a Pro (or should be a Pro).
The PSA international exhibitions that lead to Star ratings and then to the ROPA
(Recognition of Photographic Achievement)
Distinctions, are individual competitions
.
A good deal of information describing the nature of the competitions and how to enter can be found on the PSA website
https://Http://www.psa-photo.org
under the “Exhibitions” menu on the home page. These competitions are open to anyone, whether PSA members or not, worldwide and without any restrictions on professional status.
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A separate question is in the:
“
Why would a professional compete in a club competition?”
…. Most professionals will not because they feel it is a “no win” scenario. If they win people say, “of course they won, they’re a professional”, so they get no credit for winning. If they don’t win, people say ‘look at that! They call themselves a professional but (fill in the name) beat them.” If there is one competing in his or her club, they should view it as a challenge. Strive to get so good you can beat that person. You will have made major strides in the quality of your images. Hope that helps. Rick
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Click Here
for a link to our very own NH state membership page on the PSA site: this is where you can tell us about yourself and submit examples of your work in the PSA
members’ galleries
for NH. We look forward to knowing more about you and about your work!
The NH camera clubs that currently belong to PSA, in addition to belonging to
NECCC
, which is our regional PSA council, are:
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One of the most exceptional opportunities for members of PSA is the annual PSA Photo Festival. This year’s PSA festival in Colorado Springs, has been postponed until next year because of the Covid virus.
Another great PSA membership benefit is their monthly publication
,
The PSA Journal
,
which is now coming to us online as well as in hard copy, and extra copies can be ordered from HQ too! So when you join as an individual member you can receive it either on-line or hard copy.
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New England Camera Club Council of PSA
So that is it for now! Please keep in touch and share your news with us. Our next issue will be in the fall. Arabella Dane, Bob Costanzo, and Fred Orkin, your NH PSA membership team
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Would you like to participate on our PSA NH Newsletter committee?
Please share your ideas about how our PSA NH membership team can be helpful to you. Ever gratefully, Arabella Dane, Fred Orkin, & Bob Costanzo
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Hillcrest Farm PO Box 711, 252 Dane Road
Center Harbor, NH 03226
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