This Month

Happy October!

Hello all! As I drive around Pennsylvania, I am reminded that this month is Halloween. For fun, here’s a skeleton picture I took yesterday in Hawk’s Run, north of Philipsburg. Fall foliage is at its peak this week (or so I was told). Hopefully, you are all making pictures of these beautiful colors.

Calendar

• Thursday, October 24, 6–8 pm: Monochromatic Photography Gallery Talk at the Bellefonte Art Museum. This is a BAM members-only event and requires an RSVP. Eight club members have photos in this exhibition. Curator R. Thomas Berner and exhibition juror Eric Roman will attend.
• Friday, November 1 is the deadline for submitting photos to the PSA. For more details, check your inbox for the email from John Larson on October 4. You can submit one color and one monochrome photograph. A panel of three SCPC volunteers will then select the top six to enter in the Interclub competition.
• Monday, November 18, 7–9 pm: Monthly meeting: Guest speakers Joe and Mary Ann McDonald from Hoot Hollow will present “Best Techniques and Settings for Wildlife Photography.”

Club News

Club Dues

Dues for the 2024-25 calendar are $50. This is higher than last year because we must now pay to rent the Patton Township meeting room (until April 2024, it was free). Dues cover all regular club meetings and a few extras, too. We are still a great deal! If this hike is a hardship, please talk to me. We don’t want you not to come because of this.

You can pay dues at the meeting in cash or check, or pay online via PayPal.

News

A big thanks to Linda and Bob Hale, who presented a workshop on Studio Photography at the Art Alliance last month.

The downtown Kish Bank Let There Be Light exhibit runs until October 28. The show is mostly the PSA Youth Showcase winners (sponsored by our club) and a few prints from club members. Stop by and take a look if you can.

Judging is complete for the Keystone Salon of Photography 2024 competition. I have no other details yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

End of Year Photo Contest

Congratulations to our End of Year Photo Contest winners, as judged by Sarah Ann Wharton last month (see the Photos of the Year).

• 1st Place: David Whiteman, Storm Over Oklahoma
• 2nd Place: Carolyn Todd-Larson, A Dizzying View of New York
• 3rd Place: Chris Creager, Amsterdam Street Vendor
• 4th Place: Jane Liechty, Toward the Light
• Honorable Mention: Scott Pilutik, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
• Honorable Mention: Kathy Smith, The Fall

This Month

Welcome Back!

Hello all! I’m excited to welcome you back for another season of the State College Photo Club. The Executive Committee and I have worked hard over the summer on an exciting agenda for this year. You’ll hear all about it at tomorrow’s meeting, and it’s also on the website.

Our Annual Meeting includes club business, such as reviewing the new calendar, electing officers, and making exciting changes to bylaws and rubrics. We’ll then announce the winners of our Photo of the Year Competition, judged by Sarah Wharton from the Palmer Art Museum. We’re excited that she has agreed to visit our club!

The remainder of the meeting will be devoted to print critiques. This is an opportunity to bring in a new print or pull something off the wall and get Sarah’s expert opinion. This is not a scored competition, so feel free to take some risks and pose the questions you always wanted to ask!

Calendar

Please put the following dates on your calendar:

• Tuesday, September 24 is the last day to submit to the Keystone Salon of Photography competition, between 12 photo clubs in the Pittsburgh region. There is a small entry fee.
• Ending September 29: Jason Smoyer’s The Calendar of Mary is at the Bellefonte Art Museum. Stop by and see it if you can!

“This show captures a small fragment of the infinite range of creativity. It is twelve different photographs of the same person. It is a showcase of different techniques and styles blended together then anchored to one person in an attempt to convey the message of human potential. Whether you resonate with the model to adopt different roles or with the photographer pushed to utilize different skills, both leave their comfort zone and face the challenge of creating this series.”

• Monday, October 7, extra meeting: Linda Hale will demonstrate studio lighting for portraits at the Art Alliance in Lemont. This event follows up on our Portrait Photography meeting last May. Attendance is free to club members and $10 for anyone else who wishes to attend.

• Monday, October 21, 7–9 pm, regular meeting: Competition: Markets. This includes farmers’ markets, garage sales, auctions, craft shows, or wholesale and retail markets. It could be the market, the participants, the mood… whatever captures your interest. Also, we will have a presentation on composition by Ann Taylor-Schmidt.

Club News

Club Dues

We will start collecting dues at tomorrow’s meeting. Dues for the 2024-25 calendar are $50. This is slightly higher than last year because we must now pay to rent the Patton Township meeting room (before April 2024, it was free). Your dues will cover all regular club meetings and a few of the extras, too. We are still a great deal! If this extra is a hardship for you, please talk to me. We don’t want anyone not to come because of this.

You can pay dues at the meeting in cash or check or pay online via PayPal.

Exhibitions

October is Photography Month in State College. Both the Art Alliance and the Bellefonte Art Museum will host photography shows.

Our club typically exhibits at Kish Bank in October, but this arrangement has changed. The Art Alliance now runs this event. If you wish to participate in their Let There Be Light show, the entry deadline is September 27. The show runs from October 4 to 28. Notably, it will feature 14 PSA Youth Showcase photographs, sponsored by our club.

Also in October, BAM will host its Monochromatic Photography show from October 4–27. It will include photographs from, among others, eight members of our club: Art Hiem, Carolyn Todd-Larson, Gary Perdue, Jim Valent, Jane Liechty, Jason Smoyer, Linda Hale, and Lou Saporito.

“Humans see the world in color, but photographers sometimes see beyond the hues of everyday life and convert their images to what is commonly called black and white, but which is more accurately monochromatic. We invited the photographers in the registry to submit monochromatic photographs for a show. Eric Roman, an associate teaching professor of art at Penn State, selected the final 15 entries.” Some of you may remember Eric, who judged our print competition last December.

Congratulations on making it to the end of this newsletter.

This Month

Calendar

• Monday, July 15, 7–9 pm: SCPC Monday meeting. Competition: Portrait and Open
• July 4: Central PA 4th Fest. If you photographed this event, please submit your photos to the Google Drive link I shared in a previous email last week. Please reach out if you have any questions.
• Monday, September 16, 7–9 pm: SCPC Annual Meeting
• July 5–28: Chris Taschner has an exhibit at the Bellefonte Art Museum, called Reflections on State College.

• August 2–25: Jane Liechty will have an exhibit at the Bellefonte Art Museum, called Cambridge: Portrait of a Place.

Scoring Guidelines

At Monday’s meeting, we will take a moment to talk about how we score photographs for competitions. I have compiled a draft of a rubric to start this discussion. Please come to the meeting and share your ideas for improvements.

Opportunities

Our club sponsored the Best Photograph prize at Images 2024. Congratulations to rodeo photographer Katrina Lawecki from Hollidaysburg, who won.

Art Heim and Jane Liechty have images in the Images 2024 show. Their work is on display at Schlow Centre Region Library from July 1 to July 31.

The Keystone Salon of Photography 2024

Don’t forget to submit to this! This multi-club competition is organized by Fred Doerfler of the Pittsburgh Photography Club and eleven other local clubs, including the State College Photo Club! The small entry fee covers the cost of the website and prizes. Submissions are accepted from now until August 24.

This Month

• Monday, June 17, 7–9 pm: SCPC Monday meeting. Competition: Long Exposure or Movement
• Tuesday, June 18, 6 pm: Program Committee meeting, Centre Hills Country Club. Dinner is followed by the planning meeting to create next year’s agenda. This meeting is open to all club members. Please let me know if you plan to attend and have not yet RSVPed. This event is separate checks.

July 4: Central PA 4th Fest

For the last two years, our club has provided volunteer photographers for this event. Celesta Powell, the organizer, would love for us to do this again. I have a list of events (similar to last year) that she would like photographed. I am waiting for the last few details. Hopefully, I will be sending a sign-up to the club within the next week.

Photographers will receive a free pass to all events and be invited to a thank-you party at Medlar Field on July 6, where all volunteers will be recognized, thanked, and fed.

• Monday, July 15, 7–9 pm: SCPC Monday meeting. Competition: Portrait and Open
• July: Chris Taschner will exhibit his photographs at the Bellefonte Art Museum
• August: Jane Liechty will exhibit her photographs at the Bellefonte Art Museum

Other events around town that you might want to photograph:

• Bellefonte Cruise, June 14–15 (bellefontecruise.org)
• Happy Valley Ironman, June 30 (ironman.com)

Opportunities

Congratulations to Art Heim and Jane Liechty, whose images were accepted into Images 2024, the juried fine art exhibition of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. You can see their work on display at Schlow Centre Region Library from July 1 to July 31.

The Keystone Salon of Photography 2024

This multi-club competition is organized by Fred Doerfler of the Pittsburgh Photography Club and eleven other local clubs, including the State College Photo Club! The small entry fee covers the cost of the website and prizes. Submissions are accepted from now until August 24.

As always, email me if you want anything mentioned in the next newsletter.

This Month

Monday, May 20, 7-9 pm Meeting: Studio Portrait Photography by special guest Linda Hale, who runs the Art Alliance, and is also a member of our club.

Lou Saporito has an exhibit at the Bellefonte Art Museum, May 3-26, 2024 in the R. Thomas Berner Gallery.

Also at BAM, Chris Taschner will exhibit in July, and Jane Liechty will exhibit in August.

Save the date! Central PA 4th Fest will be held on July 4, 2024. We have the opportunity to photograph this event again this year. More information will be coming. All photographers will receive a pass that gives them free access to all events.

Club News

Our Fourth Annual PSA Youth Showcase photographs are in! Thank you, Carolyn Todd-Larson, for all your hard work coordinating this. Our club submitted 14 photographs by 8 students. Judging takes place in May/June.

The club Program Committee will meet in June to begin work on next year’s agenda. The meeting is open to any club members who want to participate. If you want to be part of the Program Committee, email me so I can include you in the planning. In early May, I will contact everyone who is interested to determine the best date and time to meet.

We’re thinking of a field trip to Loretto in May. Check it out here: https://pabucketlist.com/exploring-the-sunken-gardens-at-mount-assisi-in-cambria-county/. It’s near Hollidaysburg. Open dawn to dusk, and free. We’ll talk more about this at the meeting.

Bonus! Events happening around town that you might want to photograph:

• Bellefonte Cruise, June 14-15 https://www.bellefontecruise.org/
• Pennsylvania Painted Horse at Grange Fair, May 11-12, https://pphconline.com/2024-horse-shows, May 11-12
• Happy Valley Iron Man https://www.ironman.com/im703-pennsylvania, June 30

Opportunities

Images 2024

Images 2024 Juried Exhibition is open for submission. Our club is sponsoring the Best Photography prize, worth $200. This is your chance to win!

The application deadline is May 3, 2024. Enter at https://arts-festival.com/images-juried-exhibition

Art of the State

Art of the State is a second competition to enter (if you want). This is an annual juried exhibition held at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

The application deadline is May 3, 2024. Enter at https://statemuseumpa.org/artofthestate/

Keystone Salon of Photography

This new competition, the Keystone Salon of Photography, is led by Fred Doerfler, president of the Pittsburgh Photography Club. Submissions will be accepted from May 1 to August 25.

This Month

The Meeting

This meeting will be in three parts:

• David Whiteman’s Lightroom Hacks presentation, which we missed in January
• A discussion about photography sequences for the competition in April
• A discussion about movement in photography for the competition in June

We’ll look at the work of famous photographers and the work of our club members. This includes Harold “Doc” Edgerton’s famous bullet photographs. I mention this because of Lou Saporito’s show at BAM, see below!

Calendar

Monday, April 15, 7-9 pm Meeting: Competition: Sequences and Open

Monday, May 20, 7-9 pm Meeting: Studio Portrait Photography by special guest Linda Hale, who runs the Art Alliance, and is also a member of our club.

Club News

Lou Saporito has an exhibit at the Bellefonte Art Museum, May 3–26, 2024, in the R. Thomas Berner Gallery.

Opportunities

Images 2024

Images 2024 Juried Exhibition is open for submission. Our club is sponsoring the Best Photography prize, worth $200. This is your chance to win!

The application deadline is May 3, 2024. Enter at https://arts-festival.com/images-juried-exhibition

Art of the State

Art of the State is a second competition to enter (if you want). This is an annual juried exhibition held at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

The application deadline is May 3, 2024. Enter at https://statemuseumpa.org/artofthestate/

Keystone Salon of Photography

This new competition, the Keystone Salon of Photography, is led by Fred Doerfler, president of the Pittsburgh Photography Club. Submissions will be accepted from May 1 to August 25.

This Month

The Meeting

This meeting will be a critique of photographs submitted by club members in two categories: street photography and open. The meeting will begin with a short discussion on critiquing photographs, focused on interpretation and finding meaning. Come prepared with all your good ideas!

Calendar

Monday, March 18, 7-9 pm Meeting: Workshop on Long Exposure, Movement, and Sequencing. This meeting will also include David Whiteman’s presentation on Lightroom Hacks. This is an in-person meeting.

Monday, April 15, 7-9 pm Competition: Sequences

Club News

News

This week, SCPC submitted 18 photographs by club members in the second round of the PSA Inter-club Competition. Thank you to Alan Lucas, Bill Duffy, and Trica Rubio for making these selections. The photographers represented are Lisa Marie Cirincione, Chris Creager, Jane Liechty, Scott Pilutik, Chris Taschner, Carolyn Todd-Larson, John Larson, Kelly Russo-Petrick, James Valent, Bill Duffy, and James Thomas.

Exhibition. Congratulations to Gary Schubert for his Carpe Lucem: France in SuperBlue exhibition at the Huntingdon Museum of Art in West Virginia, November 4 to February 11.

Program Committee Chair Wanted

Our club is looking for a new Program Committee Chair. Our current chair, Bill Duffy is moving soon. Bill has done a great job in this position!

Responsibilities include:

• Convene meetings of the Program Committee
• Make recommendations about programs and competitions
• Survey members regarding interests and proposals for programs and competitions
• Compile and announce the annual schedule of programs
• Help to organize programs and/or delegate program leadership to committee members

The planning phase is especially active between May and September.

If you are interested in helping our club in this way, please contact anyone on the Executive Committee, or Jane Liechty.

Opportunities

New Competition

New Competition! We are working with the Pittsburgh Photography Club on a new competition called the Keystone Salon of Photography. This effort is led by Fred Doerfler, president of the Pittsburgh Photography Club. Many thanks to Carolyn Todd-Larson who also worked hard on this effort.

We had a great field trip to the Bellefonte Art Museum on Monday, February 5, to see exhibitions by Lisa Marie Cirincione and Jim Valent. Thanks, Lisa and Jim, for your presentations and excellent work!

Save the date! We have the opportunity to do photographs for the Central PA 4th Fest again this year on July 4. More information to come. All photographers will get a pass that gives them free access to all events.

Finally, the Art of the State 2024 juried competition is open for entries from January 12- May 3, 2024. More details can be found at https://statemuseumpa.org/artofthestate/.

If you have an event or exhibition that you would like mentioned in this newsletter, please email me. My head is like a full hard drive; anything mentioned in passing may or may not be stored in my cache for later retrieval. Email is best!

This Month

The Meeting

This meeting will be presented by members of the club. Ann Taylor-Schmidt, Bill Duffy, Jane Liechty, Alan Lucas, Jim Valent, and David Whiteman will all share short presentations. Come prepared to join in the conversation and learn some tips and tricks to improve your photography.

Special thanks to Lisa Marie Cirincione for designing such fabulous flyers!

Bonus! Zoom Webinar with Eddie Soloway

Monday, January 22 7-9 pm by Eddie Soloway

You must register for this event. Registration is easy: simply send an email to Carolyn Larson at statecollegephotoclub@gmail.com and she will reply with the webinar link. Or, you can sign up using paper and pen at Monday’s meeting (January 15).

Eddie Soloway will present on “Memories, Moons and Imagination” and “Eyes Wide Open: Light, Focus, and Movement.” More about this event is on our club website https://statecollegephotoclub.org/eddie-soloway-webinar/.

Note: This event is not on a regular meeting night. We are coordinating with three other clubs: the Frederick Camera Clique in Maryland, the ABC Photo Society in Hollidaysburg, and the Pittsburgh Photography Club.

This event is free to club members and $15 for anyone else who wishes to enroll. We are also offering half-price discounts to PSU students. Please let your photographer friends know about this event.

Club News

R. Thomas Berner is curating photography shows at the Bellefonte Art Museum in 2024.

Lisa Marie Cirincione has a show at BAM from January 5-February 27, 2024. The show is called “Places and Faces of the Olympic Games.”

There is a First Sunday Opening Reception on Sunday, February 4, from 12-4.30 pm. Lisa is also working to schedule an artist talk. Date and time TBA.

Kevin Reilly, our friend who works at The State College Framing Company, has an exhibit at BAM January 5-28, 2024 in the upstairs photo gallery. His show is called “Impressions of Happy Valley” and features digital paintings plus a new body of work called “Megacosm.”

In February, Jim Valent has a show, tentatively titled “Barns: The Cathedrals of Rural America” and Lou Saporito will have an exhibition in May. In October, there will be a juried show of black and white photographs.

Finally, the Art of the State 2024 juried competition is open for entries January 12-May 3, 2024. More details can be found at https://statemuseumpa.org/artofthestate/.

This Month

The Meeting

This meeting has 3 elements (as opposed to my Canon EF 24-70 lens, which has 18):

Print Competition

Please bring you print(s) to the meeting. Don’t forget to submit copies of your prints to PollUnit for display on the projector during judging. PollUnit closes at midnight on Sunday, December 17.

Eric Roman, Associate Professor of Photography at Penn State’s Arts and Architecture Department, will be our guest judge for this competition.

Several of you cannot make the club meeting, but are submitting prints. Let me know if you would like me to video-record the critique of your prints and send it to you afterward.

White Elephant Gift Exchange

This is supposed to be a bit of party fun. Look through your photo gear and see if there’s anything useless, or that you don’t want any more and are happy to part with. If you purchase a gift, don’t spend more than $5. Wrap it up and bring it with you on Monday. If you don’t have an idea, please still come to the party; we will have a few extra gifts.

Refreshments

Please bring a savory or sweet snack to share if you can.

Calendar

Monday, January 15 Meeting 7-9 pm, Workshop: Favorite Lightroom Hacks presented by club members! If you want to present for 1, 5,10, or 15 minutes on a few of your Lightroom or Photoshop tips and tricks, contact Bill Duffy or Jane Liechty.

Bonus! Monday, January 22 Zoom Presentation 7-9 pm by Eddie Soloway.

This event is not on a regular meeting night. We are coordinating with three other local clubs (the Frederick Camera Clique in Maryland, the ABC Photo Society in Hollidaysburg, and the Pittsburgh Photography Club). Mark your calendars for this special event.

Eddie Soloway will present on “Memories, Moons and Imagination” and “Eyes Wide Open: Light, Focus, and Movement.”

This event is free to club members, but $15 for anyone else who wish to enroll.

Club News

R. Thomas Berner is curating photography shows at the Bellefonte Art Museum in 2024.

Kevin Reilly, our friend who works at The State College Framing Company, has an exhibit at the Bellefonte Art Museum January 5-28, 2024 in the upstairs photo gallery. The opening is on Sunday, January 7, 12-4:30 pm. It will feature his “Impressions of Happy Valley” digital paintings and a new body of work called “Megacosm.”

In February, Jim Valent has a show, tentatively titled “Barns: The Cathedrals of Rural America.”

Lou Saporito will have an exhibition in May.

In October, there will be a juried show of black and white photographs.

If you have any news to share, let me know so that I can include it in the President’s Notes. On a personal note, I am happy to share that I survived a grueling Penn State semester and that I got an A in my Portrait Photography class!