This Month

Calendar

• September 15–16: Happy Valley Rodeo at Grange Fairgrounds
• September 18: Annual Meeting and Election of Officers
• October 4: SCPC Annual Exhibit photo drop-off at Kish Expect More Store, 9–11 am
• October 6: First Friday Reception, Youth Showcase and SCPC Annual Exhibit, 5:30–7:30 pm
• October 15: Ann’s Backyard Wildlife Shoot, Sandy Ridge, PA, hosted by Ann Taylor-Schmidt
• October 16: Competition: “Water” and “Open”
• October 22: Hyner View field trip, hosted by Bill Duffy
• October 31: Photo pickup at Kish Expect More Store
• November: Youth Showcase at Teens Create Space, Schlow Library

Note: the 2023-2024 calendar on the website will be updated for the entire year after Monday.

Annual Meeting Agenda

Monday, September 18, 2023, 7–9 pm, Patton Township Meeting Room. Snacks and desserts will be served.

Election of Officers. The following is the proposed slate for the 2023-2024 program year. We will also take nominations from the floor.

Proposed Officers 2023-24
President	Jane Liechty
Vice President, Competition (Scorer, Record-Keeper)	Vacant, see separate job description
Vice President, Programs	Bill Duffy
Vice President, Membership	Richard Shore
Publicity	Lisa Marie Cirincione
Social Media	Ann Taylor-Schmidt
Youth Showcase Coordinator	Carolyn Todd-Larson
Digital Projectionist	Bill Duffy
PSA Representative and Interclub Competitions Coordinator	John Larson
Webmasters	Carolyn Todd-Larson and Jane Liechty

• Announcements: Carolyn Todd-Larson
• Treasurer report and membership dues collection: Richard Shore
• Presentation of the 2023-2024 program: Bill Duffy will provide an overview of the monthly calendar, including workshops, field trips, and competition themes
• PSA Interclub Competitions: John Larson
• Annual judging: Linda Hale, President of the Art Alliance of Central PA, will be our judge this year. Linda is a former member of the State College Photo Club who is an accomplished photographer. We will review in a slide show all the photos that placed in competitions this year, and Linda will comment on and choose the overall winners for the year.
• Presentation of awards: ribbons from the last six months, annual winners and overall points winners, by Ann Taylor-Schmidt
• Closing remarks: Carolyn Todd-Larson and Jane Liechty

Club News

Dues! Dues! Dues! Our program year begins this month! Art exhibits and competitions are for the benefit of members only. Bring a check to our annual meeting or pay by PayPal. The cost is $35 for individuals, $20 for students.

The Happy Valley Rodeo is this Friday and Saturday at the Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall. The rodeo performances start at 7:30 pm each night, general admission seating only, and gates open at 5:30 pm. Tickets will be available at the gate. Rodeos are great photo opportunities. Some of us are going on Saturday; if you are interested in connecting, email Bill Duffy.

Volunteers are needed to help photograph the “Boots, Band, and Barn” fundraising event for Housing Transitions on October 7 from 5:30–7:30 pm. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Chuck Carroll.

Water is our first competition theme for the year, for our October meeting. Lots of possibilities! I am very excited about the rest of the themes, which will be presented on Monday along with some guest speakers for the year. Can’t wait to discuss!

The September PSA Journal featured an article on this year’s Youth Showcase that includes a bio of Alexandra Antoniono, of State College Area High School. Alexandra’s photo Julia #8 was the First Place winner in the People and Animals category. A great accomplishment for our club! Again, congratulations to Alexandra for her successful entry!

The Program Committee, led by Bill Duffy, has been busy this summer planning the 2023-2024 program, which will be presented at our Annual Meeting. As you can see from the upcoming dates, they are proposing some field trips, including one this weekend! Many thanks to program committee members Bill Duffy, Jane Liechty, Ann Taylor-Schmidt, Rich Shore, Alan Lucas, Tricia Rubio, Chuck Carroll and John Larson for their input and involvement.

This Month

The Meeting

You should be receiving an email soon asking you to score the photos submitted for this month’s competition. Please follow the links given to PollUnit and provide your scores by Monday, July 17, at 12 noon. Note that for photojournalism, special editing rules and emphasis on storytelling value should be considered when scoring images.

Calendar

• July 13, 2023, 5:30 pm: “Images 2023 Awards Reception” at Schlow Library
• July 17, 2023: Competition themes: “Photojournalism” and “Open”
• August 2023: No meeting this month
• September 18, 2023: Annual Meeting and Election of Officers
• September 25–30, 2023: PSA Photo Festival, Williamsburg, Virginia
• October 2023: State College Photo Club Exhibit and Youth Showcase at the Kish Bank Expect More Store, downtown State College

Club News

Program Committee

The Program Committee, led by Bill Duffy, held its first meeting recently to begin program planning for the 2023-2024 program year. If you have ideas for what you would like to see for themes or for programs, please email your ideas to Bill Duffy. Or volunteer to join the committee.

That’s all the news for now. Hope you are enjoying your summer and the many festivals in and around Centre County!

Opportunities

Photography Around Town and Elsewhere

Arts Fest Images 2023 at Schlow Library: the State College Photo Club will present the “Best Photograph” Award at the Awards Reception, Thursday, July 13, at 5:30 pm. If you can’t make the reception, you can visit the exhibit during library hours through July 30 or view it online.

June 2 – August 27, 2023: Awash in Color at the Bellefonte Art Museum features three photos by photo club member Lisa Marie Cirincione, taken during her recent trip to the PSA Photo Gathering in India. Check it out!

July–August 2023: Farmland Preservation Artists present photos, prints, and paintings at Kish Bank, the Expect More Store in downtown State College. Photo Club friend and recent speaker R. Thomas Berner has a couple of photographs in this exhibit.

Central PA 4th Fest: Kudos to photo club members Lisa Marie Cirincione, Sam Knutson, John Larson, Jane Liechty, Kevin Reilly, Tricia Rubio, Kelly Russo-Petrick, Chris Taschner, Carolyn Todd-Larson, and Jim Valent for donating their photography talents to this event. The photos are varied, well-done, and we covered most of the desired events. We each received free passes to the entertainment and VIP fireworks for ourselves plus another person in exchange for our involvement. The fireworks were excellent. Celesta Powell, the new 4th Fest Executive Director, was a delight to work with, and she has already credited us on the 4th Fest Facebook site for our involvement. Save the date for next year! It’s fun.

PSA Photo Festival

PSA’s annual photo festival will be held in Williamsburg, Virginia, this year. There will be photo tours, workshops, a model shoot, a line-up of evening speakers, and an enticing group of fellow photographers to meet and enjoy. John Larson, Lisa Marie Cirincione, and I will attend, and we would love to have you join us! If you have questions about it, reach out to any of us. PSA holds such a festival on the east coast once every three years.

This Month

May Meeting

Our May meeting was a discussion on the competition theme “Not Your Ansel Adams Landscape” (see the results). Due to an emergency, I was not able to attend, nor was I able to get these President’s Notes out before the meeting. I apologize for that.

Thank you to Ann Taylor-Schmidt and Bill Duffy for leading the meeting in my absence. I hear it was a very thought-provoking discussion, as the submissions showed wide variations in what people thought were Ansel Adams landscapes, and especially what were NOT. The people who were at the meeting thought that as a club we should do more of this: explore the photography styles of well-known photographers and then do a competition related to that photographer.

Calendar

• May 7–28, 2023: “In Focus” exhibit at the Bellefonte Art Museum
• June 19, 2023: Equipment Round Robin: show and tell on your cameras, lenses, tripods, and other photography gear
• July 17, 2023: Competition themes: “Photojournalism” and “Open”
• August 2023: No meeting this month
• September 18, 2023: Annual Meeting and Election of Officers
• September 25–30, 2023: PSA Photo Festival, Williamsburg, Virginia

Club News

PID Interclub Round 3

The highest score for the latest batch of photos submitted was a 10, not enough for a recognition award this time. Our final standing for the year in Group F is tenth place out of eighteen clubs. Note that the Academy of Science and Art in PA is in 5th place. That’s the Pittsburgh camera club, folks. We need to figure out how to beat them!

3rd Annual Youth Showcase Results

SIX of the fourteen photos we submitted to the PSA Youth Showcase have been accepted into this international competition: four in the print category and two in the projected category. A 42% acceptance rate is a very good result, as PSA acceptances usually run between 28–34%.

Accepted print submissions

Accepted projected (digital) submissions

This is the first time our club’s Youth Showcase submissions have produced a First Place winner. So special congratulations to Alexandra Antoniono for her first-place submission Julia #8! This winning photo and a brief bio of Alexandra will appear in the September print edition of the PSA Journal. It will also be prominently displayed at the PSA Photo Festival in Williamsburg in September.

We will again display all fourteen State College Youth Showcase winners in October at the Kish Expect More Store, sponsored by the Art Alliance.

Congratulations also to Frederick Kissinger for his Honorable Mention. That is quite an achievement as well. And finally, congratulations and thanks to Danielle Crowe of the State College Area School District for encouraging State College high school students to enter the Youth Showcase.

That’s all the news for now. Be well and get out there and use your camera!!

Opportunities

Photography Opportunities Around Town and Elsewhere

2023 PSA Photo Festival, September 25–30: PSA’s annual photo festival will be held in Williamsburg, Virginia, this year. There will be photo tours, workshops, a model shoot, a line-up of evening speakers, and an enticing group of fellow photographers to meet and enjoy. John Larson, Lisa Marie Cirincione, and I will attend, and we would love to have you join us! The Early Bird discount ends on May 31! PSA holds such a festival on the east coast once every three years.

“In Focus” exhibit at the Bellefonte Art Museum in the R. Thomas Berner Photography Gallery. One more weekend to see it, as it ends May 28. Fifteen Centre County photographers exhibit one piece each. Photo club members exhibiting there include Art Heim, Jane Liechty, Gary Perdue, Lou Saporito, Carolyn Todd-Larson, Jim Valent, and David Whiteman. Photo club friends Stacie Bird, Chuck Fong, and Linda Hale also have photos there.

Any poets on this mailing list? If so, check out the Bellefonte Art Museum’s Ekphrastic Poetry Contest this month. Jim Valent’s photo, “Lean Right,” was chosen for this contest. Congrats to Jim for this honor! The due date for entries is May 26.

Central PA 4th Fest: It’s back! We are again being invited to provide photographers for the 4K race, the parade, the fireworks, and all the activities at the venue during the 4th of July celebration. Another photojournalism opportunity in time for our contest! Email Carolyn Todd-Larson if you can participate.

Art Alliance photographer request: Marie Doll, Executive Director of the Art Alliance, is retiring in June. She has been very instrumental in supporting the State College Photo Club and has arranged each year for our Annual Exhibit and Youth Showcase at the Kish Expect More Store in downtown State College. I have received a request for a few photographers to attend her retirement party on Saturday, June 10, from 7–9:30 pm at the Mount Nittany Winery. I plan to attend with my camera, but am looking for 1–2 other photographers who are better at people photos than I am. Please contact me if you can help.

Bellefonte Art Museum Artist Registry. A message from R. Thomas Berner: “I somehow have ended up as a volunteer curator for photo shows at the Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County. In order to be considered for a show, one must be registered in the Registry. I am already working on two shows by members of the State College Photo Club and will be seeking entries for a third show that focuses on black and white photos. If you’re in the Registry, you’ll be invited. The show will be juried, and we have room for just 15. As Shakespeare once said: Get thee to the Registry.” I hope you consider joining, as the Bellefonte Art Museum does a great job promoting its artists and events.

This Month

Guest Speaker: R. Thomas Berner

R Thomas Berner is a professor emeritus of journalism and American studies. Before and after his professorial days he practiced journalism at small-town newspapers and magazines, beginning in 1961. Today he is the associate editor of State College Magazine, where he edits, writes, and photographs.

Having previewed his talk, you can expect to be informed and entertained by the many examples and ethical dilemmas he will discuss.

Because “Photojournalism” is the theme for our July competition, John Larson will also brief you on specific editing guidelines for this reality-based photography discipline.

Calendar

• Now through April 29: State College Photo Club Exhibit at the Schlow Library.
• April 17, 2023: Executive Committee Meeting at 5:30 pm, before our regular meeting.
• May 6, 2023: Central PA Festival of the Arts Images 2023 Entry Deadline (see below)
• May 7, 2023: Centre County Photographers reception at Bellefonte Museum (see below)
• May 15, 2023: Competition Theme “Not Your Ansel Adams Landscape” and Advice Session
• June 19, 2023: Equipment Round Robin: Show and tell on your cameras, lenses, tripods, and other photography gear.
• July 17, 2023: Competition Theme: “Photojournalism” and “Open”

Club News

PID Interclub Round 3

PID Interclub Round 3: Thank you to this round’s judges Lisa Marie Cirincione, Richard Shore, and Brian Simpson for choosing these photos for submission:

3rd Annual State College Youth Showcase

3rd Annual State College Youth Showcase: This month we submitted 14 Youth Showcase photos to the PSA Youth Showcase competition. We will hear the results sometime in May as to which photos will be exhibited for the Annual PSA Youth Showcase in Williamsburg, Va September 2023. We will also exhibit these photos at our annual exhibit at the Kish Expect More Store sponsored by the Art Alliance in October 2023.

Print submissions

Projected (digital) submissions

Opportunities

Photography Opportunities Around Town

Shutter and Palette, Bellefonte Museum: Through April, Photo Club member Art Heim has collaborated with watercolor artist Fran Jones in an exhibit featuring both of their works at the R. Thomas Berner Photography Gallery. Visit https://www.bellefontemuseum.org/exhibits/389 for more info.

The Penn State Pow-Wow: April 22-23. “Powwows are American Indian celebrations of community and spirituality, featuring American Indian drum and dance as well as American Indian vendors offering American Indian arts and crafts items.” If you are interested in a fabulous photojournalism opportunity plan to attend! For more info visit https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/powwow

Images 2023: Images for this Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts juried exhibition are due by May 6. I encourage you to consider entering this contest. Several photo club members have had their photographs accepted in the past in this prestigious exhibit, and there is prize money involved! The Best Photograph Award will again be sponsored by the State College Photo Club. For more information, visit https://arts-festival.com/images-exhibition-gallery

Centre County Photographers Exhibit: During the month of May at the Bellefonte Museum. Fifteen photographers from Centre County have been invited to exhibit new works, including current photo club members Art Heim, Jane Liechty, Gary Perdue, Lou Saporito, Carolyn Todd-Larson, and David Whiteman. Opening reception is Sunday May 7 from 12-4:30 pm.

Central PA 4th Fest: It’s back! As it was before the pandemic. The photo club has a tradition of providing photographers to document the events and fireworks. We are again being invited to provide photographers for the 4K race, the parade, the fireworks, and all the activities at the venue during the 4th of July celebration. Again, another photojournalism opportunity in time for our contest! See Carolyn Todd-Larson if you can participate. Check out their website at https://www.centralpa4thfest.org/.

This Month

The Meeting

President’s Notes are intended to provide you with current news about the photo club and a notice and agenda for the next meeting. They are also emailed to dues-paying club members, usually a few days before our next meeting.

Themes for both competitions are “Open.” Detailed instructions for the print competition were emailed to you. Please bring your print(s) to the meeting. Prints should be printed on the photo paper of your choice. The size limit is no more than 12” × 8.5”. It should be unframed and unmatted. However, if desired, you can mount it on foam core. Put your name and the photo title on the back of the print.

We are pleased to host Danielle Crowe, Advanced Photography Instructor for the State College Area School District, who will be judging the prints in person and providing live feedback.

For the open digital competition, please score the photos on PollUnit by 12 noon on Monday. When you try to score the first photo, it will ask you if you want to continue as a guest or log in. Continue as guest and provide your name.

Calendar

• January 10-April 4: State College Photo Club Exhibit at the Elk Creek Café + Aleworks,Millheim, PA. Tear-down date is the morning of April 4. Please see announcements about this soon.
• March 19, 2023: Photo Club Luncheon at Elk Creek Café + Aleworks. There are a few more openings for lunch. Email Bill Duffy to make a reservation
• March 20, 2023: Monthly Meeting Competition “Print (Any Subject)”, or Open.
• April 1, 2023: PSA Inter-club competition 3rd Round photos due
• April 4, 2023: Hanging date for State College Photo Club exhibit at Schlow Library, downtown State College – please see announcements about this soon.
• April 17, 2023: Monthly meeting. Guest Speaker: R. Thomas Berner on Photojournalism. This is intended to help prepare you for the Photojournalism competition in July.
• May 15, 2023: Competition Theme “Not Your Ansel Adams Landscape” and Advice Session

Club News

Revised Website! Thank you to Ann Taylor-Schmidt, Jane Liechty and Brad Shearer for their help in fixing a broken website. We have a workable website now, that also works with iPhones, but we need to work some more on getting it up to speed in terms of photo uploads and other issues. We expect to tweak and refine it over the coming months. Please visit www.statecollegephotoclub.org and check it out!

PSA Inter-Club Round Two: Congratulations to David Whiteman for achieving a Merit Award for his photo “Refraction” in the second round, which was judged by the Edinburgh Photographic Society in Scotland.

The results for all the photos submitted are as follows:

Photo	Photographer	Score	Award
Black Moshannon	Brad Shearer	9
Atlantic City Shoreline	Carolyn Todd-Larson	9
Refraction	David Whiteman	13	Merit
Golden	James Valent	9
Sharpie	Lou Saporito	10
Sunset at Bass Hole	William Duffy	8

The good news is that we are ranked seventh out of twenty in the overall standings in Group F.

State College Youth Showcase: Thank you to everyone who helped to vote on the Youth Showcase photos. 65 photos in total were submitted. Your votes helped us narrow down the final choices. On Monday March 13 Carolyn Todd-Larson, Lisa Marie Cirincione, Richard Shore, and Ann Taylor-Schmidt made the final choices of 14 photos. We believe we have some very strong candidates for this year’s PSA showcase. We will announce and show the photos on Monday March 20 at our regular meeting, and once we get the permissions needed, we can display them on our website and on Facebook.

Opportunities

Photography Opportunities in the Near Future

Art Alliance Photography Class: Check this out at https://artallianceofcentralpa.org/

The Penn State Pow-Wow: April 22-23. “Powwows are American Indian celebrations of community and spirituality, featuring American Indian drum and dance as well as American Indian vendors offering American Indian arts and crafts items.” If you are interested in a fabulous photojournalism opportunity plan to attend! For more info visit https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/powwow

Central PA 4th Fest: It’s back! As it was before the pandemic. The photo club has a tradition of providing photographers to document the events and fireworks. We are again being invited to provide photographers for the 4K race, the parade, the fireworks, and all the activities at the venue during the 4th of July celebration. We will discuss at our Monday meeting. Again, another photojournalism opportunity! Check out their website at https://www.centralpa4thfest.org/.

This Month

The Meeting

President’s Notes provide you with current news about the photo club and also a notice and agenda for the next meeting. They are also emailed to dues-paying club members, usually a few days before our next meeting.

The theme for this month is “Kindness.” Note: we are extending photo uploads for advice for one more day! If you have submitted two photos already, you may submit one more for advice only. The deadline is Friday at midnight. Look for emails from Ann Taylor-Schmidt regarding the start of scoring and giving advice.

Calendar

• January 10-End of March: State College Photo Club Exhibit at the Elk Creek Café + Aleworks, Millheim, PA. See more info under Announcements.
• February 20, 2023: Monthly Meeting Competition Theme “Kindness” plus Advice Session
• March 6, 2023: State College High School Youth Showcase Photo Deadline
• March 13, 2023: Judging Session via Zoom for Youth Showcase Photos
• March 20, 2023: Monthly Meeting Competition “Print (Any Subject)”, or Open.
• April, 2023: State College Photo Club exhibit at Schlow Library, downtown State College

Club News

Elk Creek Café Exhibit: Features photos from the following twelve members: Lisa Marie Cirincione, Bill Duffy, John Larson, Jane Liechty, Gary Perdue, Lou Saporito, Brad Shearer, Rich Shore, Ann Taylor-Schmidt, Carolyn Todd-Larson, David Whiteman, and Naveen Yellappa.

March Print Competition: Be thinking about what you will bring to the meeting for next month. Prints should be no larger than 12 x 8.5 inches and unmounted and unframed. Danielle Crowe, Advanced Photography Instructor at State College Area High School, will judge the prints. Further instructions will be emailed closer to the date.

Art Alliance Photography Class: Two Sessions Starts this Saturday! Check this out at https://artallianceofcentralpa.org/

PSA Inter-Club Round Two: The following photos will be submitted to PSA Interclub for Round Two. Thanks to Lou Saporito, Ann Taylor-Schmidt, and Naveen Yellappa for their help in judging these photos, and to John Larson for organizing the selection process:

State College Youth Showcase: I presented a Youth Showcase Invitation to Advanced Photography students in Danielle Crowe’s class at State College Area High School on January 30. The students had some very astute critiques of some of the PSA winners included in the presentation. They discussed several ideas of what to submit for this year’s competition. I also presented the PSA certificates to Kara Johnson and Danielle Crowe. We will be having a Zoom session to judge the youth photos on March 13. You will be invited to participate.