Workshops

South Jersey Camera Club Photography Workshops

SJCC Workshops return for the 2023/4 season

Unless otherwise noted, workshops will be conducted at Medford United Methodist Church, 2 Hartford Road, Medford. Workshops are for club members only and registration is required. Use the button above to register.

Sunday, September 9, 2023, 7 PM – Slow Shutter Light Painting

Presented by Pat Worley

Explore Light Painting Photography. This photographic technique where the artist opens the shutter of a camera for an extended period of time and uses various light sources to create color and design within the frame. There is no photo editing. Light painting images are created in real time and captured in the camera in one single photographic frame.

We will begin the workshop reviewing the work of inspiring light painting artists and then practice what we learned. The techniques are fun and easy to do. This is a hands-on workshop! Tripod and cable release are required.

There will be some new surprises!

Saturday, October 7, 2023, 10 am-noon: Pet Photography

Presented by Jane Kelly

In this two-part workshop we’ll start with a presentation where you will learn the difference of photographing people vs. pets, tools of the trade and the different types of pet photography.

We will follow it up with a demonstration of dogs being photographed, experiencing what was learned in the presentation portion of the workshop. Weather permitting the demo portion will take place outside. To keep the dogs safe and as stress free as possible we will have a few club members participating as photographers while others will be observers. Please contact the workshop leader if you are interested in being one of the photographers.

Saturday November 4, 2023, 10:00 am-noon: Photo Printing Methods

Presented by Peter Hewitt

Fine art prints are the yardstick by which critics measure our craft. The only way to truly judge the quality of an image is through the creativity and effort that generates a fine art print.

In this workshop, Peter Hewitt, a professional landscape photographer and fine art print specialist, will share with you practical considerations over a range of topics that he has learned about both common and difficult printing issues. Among the topics to be covered will be color management, which aids in correcting the situation that your eyes and brain might not be seeing what you think you are looking at on your monitor. In addition, Peter will discuss the selection of the right fine art papers, diagnosing printer issues, and developing a non-destructive image editing and printing workflow to preserve image quality from start to finish and print what you envisioned.

Plan on a thoughtful and open discussion with plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

Saturday, December 2, 2023, 10 am-noon – Backup at Home and On The Road

Presented by Mike Fox & Dwayne Botnick

Backing up important files on your computer or phone is one of those things that most people have good intentions on taking care of, but often they don’t take care of as much as they would like. For many of us, there is almost nothing more important than preserving our photos, many of which are pictures of loved family members. For others, their photos represent many hours of travel and hard work in order to create them. In this in-depth workshop, Mike Fox and Dwayne Botnick will go over various options and approaches in developing a regular habit of backing up our photos (and other files) so that they are safe from the ills that can impact our modern computing devices.

You will learn about the various backup methods that exist, when to use each of them, as well as the different options for storing your backups offsite so that if something happens to your home, your images will be protected. We will also go over some approaches to backing up images when away from home, such as when you are on an extended trip.

Saturday, January 13, 2024, 10 am-noon – Lightroom – Part 1

Presented by Chuck Kuski

Lightroom is a powerful image editing and organization program. In this workshop, Chuck Kuski, a longtime Lightroom user, will give a general overview for those who are new to Lightroom or just having problems getting started. What is Lightroom? What does it do? How do I install it? How do I get my images into it? Where are the pictures? What should I do next? It is intended to help the photographer get ready for more intermediate and advanced workshops. Chuck will also cover some of the “best practices” when editing your photos in Lightroom. It is expected that 1/3 of the workshop will be devoted to Q & A. If you’re expecting to learn details about the seven different modules in LR, this is not the workshop for you. If you do not know what modules are, or have basic knowledge of them, then this may be the workshop for you.

Saturday, February 24, 2024, 10 am-noon – Lightroom – Part 2

Presented by Mike Fox & Dwayne Botnick

Many of us have thousands, if not tens of thousands, of photos on our computers which we have taken over the years. Adobe’s Lightroom program has been a favorite tool for photographers to edit and to hone their images since it was released in early 2007. In addition to its editing prowess, Lightroom also has some very powerful features which can help us to organize and cull our collection and which makes it much easier to find photos that we are looking for in our photographic haystack, or to collect images into a group for a specific project.

One of Lightroom’s standout attributes is its exceptional search functionality. With remarkable precision, these tools allow us to pinpoint images based on the lens used, shutter speed settings, specific dates, or any combination thereof. And once we get into the habit of using keywords, they can be a huge help in finding the photos we are looking for. In this workshop, Mike Fox and Dwayne Botnick will introduce and demonstrate the power of many of the tools mentioned above.

Saturday, March 2, 2024, 10 am-noon: Introduction to Adobe AI in Photoshop

Presented by Sara Ascalon

Artificial Intelligence (AI), once the stuff of science fiction, is now here and it’s developing at an astonishing rate. Software developers, like Adobe, are in a race to put some amazing technology in the hands of photographers like us. While many fear that it will take the place of cameras and photographic skill, it actually gives us the tools to amplify our creativity by making it easier to communicate and execute our vision. This workshop will introduce you to some of the ways that Adobe Sensei technology, including Firefly Generative AI, can remove the roadblocks from your workflow and help you accomplish what you could only dream of before.

Saturday, April 13, 2024, 10 am-noon: DSLR vs. Mirrorless & Full Frame vs. APSC vs. Micro 4/3 vs. Phones

Moderated by Dwayne Botnick

A camera is merely a “tool” we use to capture our images. There has never been more of a selection of tools/cameras to choose from, ranging from your phone to an older DSLR and the choices are overwhelming. Mirrorless vs DSLR… sensor size (Micro 4/3, APSC, full frame & even medium format) … or just your phone? What if you shoot a wide variety of genres? Our club members use all these types of equipment/technology and there is no better experience than ours. We will interactively discuss our likes and why we choose the camera(s) we have and where do you want to be in the future.

Saturday, May 4, 2024,10 am-noon: Tech/Equipment & Sharing Lightning Talks

Presented by Scott Malin & Mike Fox

This workshop is intended to be a series of interactive discussions/presentations about gear, accessories, technique, etc. This will be a good follow up to the camera discussions in April, but expanded to accessories such as lenses, tripods, filters, flash, on and off camera lighting, lens accessories, etc. The topics will depend on member interests and available presenters.

Saturday, June 8, 2024,10 am-1pm: SJCC Fling

Fun, Fellowship and Photography. SJCC’s end of the season bash with a mix of photography discussions, games and food. Details to come soon.