South Jersey Camera Club Monthly Presentations

2025-2026 Presentation Schedule – The 2nd Thursday of each month at 7PM on Zoom

Presentation meetings will be held online to afford us the opportunity to learn from a wide range of photographers without regard to geographic location.

Thursday, September 11, 2025 at 7PM
Problem Solving in Photography by Grant Ordelheide 

Problem solving is one of the key traits of all great photographers. Almost all challenges in photography fall into two categories: technical and creative. The solutions to these challenges also divided into the technical and creative. Understanding what the issue is, and more importantly, what is the best solution, will be one of the quickest ways to start improving your photography. In this presentation we will talk about how to identify problems, and further more, how to find the right type of solution for creating striking images.

Bio
Grant Ordelheide is a Montana-based outdoor and adventure photographer. Growing up in the Colorado Rockies, in a family that explored and played in the outdoors at every opportunity, instilled in him a profound reverence for the landscape. Grant’s love of nature and wild places preceded his love of photography, which emerged as a natural extension and by-product of his adventures in the mountains as an avid backpacker, climber, and snowboarder.

Following his passion, Grant earned a Bachelor’s degree in photography with an emphasis in business from Pacific Union College in California’s Napa Valley. In 2016, Grant was a recipient of the Art Wolfe Next Generation Photographer Grant organized by Luminous Landscape. His work has won numerous awards, including one of the top honors in the U.S. Landscape Photographer of the Year contest. His photos have been published in National Geographic Traveler, Backpacker, Outside, Climbing, The New York Times, The Yosemite Journal, and many other print and online publications. Grant’s fine art prints hang in gallery, corporate, and private collections across the country.

For several years, Grant has shared his eye, expertise, and contagious passion for photographing the outdoors, teaching photography workshops throughout the country. Grant currently resides in Columbia Falls, Montana with his wife Alexis. 

Website: grantordelheide.com


Thursday, October 9, 2025 at 5pm and 7pm
Story Telling with Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) by Kaisa Siren

IMPORTANT: Kaisa lives in Finland. For her to not start her presentation at 2am her time, we will do the live presentation at 5pm and then play the recording at 7pm. Those attending the later recorded meeting can still ask questions. We will forward them to Kaisa and she will answer them for us. 

The program description and Kaisa's bio is coming soon.


Thursday, November 13, 2025 at 7pm
Pathway to Creativity by Jacki Dickert

In this lecture, Jacki Dickert will delve into "the art of seeing," incorporating elements of design into images, awakening imaginative and personal responsiveness, and using the camera to its fullest to create special effects. In addition, she will demonstrate some digital editing effects and techniques that will allow for the creation of unique works of art. You will leave feeling encouraged about making beautiful images without having to travel to exotic locations

Bio
New Jersey photographer and educator Jacki Dickert is passionate about sharing the beauty of the natural world. Her images reflect an open and creative way of seeing, often incorporating exquisite lighting and flowing forms. A recently retired elementary school teacher, Ms. Dickert is now an exhibiting artist who lectures at photography clubs, libraries, and community centers around the state and online.

Website: lightdance.org

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 7pm
Cultivating Connection: Techniques for More Expressive Imagery by Michele Sons

"Connecting with nature" is a buzzy and popular media term these days, and we're also seeing it pop up more and more in relation to photography instruction. But what does it mean, exactly? What's the point, and why do we care as photographers? How can we connect with nature and landscapes? Join me as I share some examples of how I connect with the places I photograph, and how I use that connection to harness and hone my unique artistic vision. Comes with a FREE short eBook for participants.

Bio
Michele Sons is a fine art landscape and nature photographer, writer, and educator based in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, with clients including National Geographic, The Wilderness Society, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Smokies Life, Eastern National, and other non-profits that serve our nation’s national parks. Her work tends toward quiet, pared-down, subtle representations of her deep reverence for the natural world. Fog, mist, and soft light are intrinsic elements present in many of her images. Michele's uniquely nomadic background, advanced degrees in environmental biology and physical geography, and a 20-year corporate career in spatial analysis provide a personal perspective that informs her creative focus on connection and expression. 

Michele empowers creative outdoor photographers to find meaningful connections with nature and grow in their artistry. The Art of Place is Michele’s holistic education resource for landscape and nature photographers, encompassing the entirety of the art and craft of photography. Through her eBooks, private online mentoring, and private field workshops, Michele shares her unique approach to expressive image-making. Learn how to connect with the natural world and express yourself confidently and creatively. Michele also teaches regularly at online and in-person conferences across the United States.

Michele’s work has been featured extensively in the National Geographic Beautiful Landscapes calendars, she has participated in group and solo museum and gallery exhibitions both domestically and internationally, and she has collaborated with non-profits on editorial work in support of America's national parks. Her work has been featured in numerous local and regional print publications as well as highly regarded websites. Michele served as 2022 New River Gorge Creative-in-Residence at our nation’s newest national park, and is a 2023 recipient of the Inspired Creator Grant. 

Michele’s educational eBooks RIVERSONG: Creative, Holistic Approaches to Photographing New River Gorge, DAWNLAND: Creative, Holistic Approaches to Photographing Acadia National Park, and THE ART OF FOG: A Primer for Expressive Landscape and Nature Photography in Fog are available for purchase on her website.

Website: michelesons.com

Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 7pm
Forests: The Art of Photographing Trees & Woodlands by Mark Bowie

In celebration of the majesty of trees and woodlands, this project examines in-depth the fine art of seeing and photographing these magnificent life forms.  It is commonly thought that to photograph forests well, one has to make order out of the chaos.  That's true, but there’s so much more to artfully portraying trees.  

Mark will delve deep into seeing creative possibilities, composing for visual separation and to accentuate lines, forms, patterns and textures.  I'll offer strategies for photographing deep inside forests, along their edges and from on high, and illustrate the artistic opportunities presented by different weather and lighting conditions, most notably, fog.  

Good tree and forest imagery is also elevated through artistic processing.  I'll cover effective contrast and color adjustments, image softening techniques, abstract expressionism and amazing black and white conversion — all with the goal of creating moody, atmospheric woodland images that convey the beauty, grace and power of trees.

Bio
Mark Bowie is a professional nature photographer, writer and much sought-after public speaker.  He has done three coffee table books on his native Adirondacks.  He has also released two instructional videos, FORESTS: The Art of Photographing Trees & Woods and Multiple Exposures for Maximum Landscapes.  Mark is a staff instructor for the Adirondack Photography Institute and leads landscape photography workshops.  

Website: markbowie.com

Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 7PM
HDR (High Dynamic Range) Imaging – “The Natural Look” by Hazel Meredith

High Dynamic Range – what does that mean? Our eyes can see much more light in a scene than our cameras can capture. The purpose of HDR is to capture the extremes of light that your camera cannot capture in one image (for example, when there are very bright highlights and/or deep
shadows where you wish to retain detail). Typical definitions consider it a process of capturing a high dynamic range of light and rendering it in a single image, which consists of putting it through a program that can “tone map” the image. I will be demonstrating with Photomatix, Nik & Aurora. People often think of HDR images as the highly processed “grunge” look. This presentation will show how to utilize HDR for creating a “natural” look in your final image (even on flowers) while accenting texture and details

Bio 
Hazel Meredith is an award winning photographer and a sought after teacher, speaker, and competition judge. She began teaching in 2007, and now does seminars at camera clubs and conferences across the US, both in person and virtual. She offers her own workshops and webinars, and has done webinars for several software companies. She has written two eBooks on working with textures, and released two creative courses. She and her husband, Dave, produce the “Virtual Creative Photography Conference” with attendees from around the world. Hazel loves the creative aspect of photography and post processing, especially the use of textures and software to create unique images. She is actively involved with the photographic community, and has held leadership roles and received honorary distinctions from several organizations. I n the Fall of 2020 she was the recipient of the Ashbrook Award for Digital Imaging Instructi on
from the Photographic Society of America.

Website: MeredithImages.com

Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 7pm
How to be an Artist with a Camera by Eva Polak

Coming to us from New Zealand, Eva covers a variety of interesting topics related to the world of art and photography. It will begin by discussing how to find beauty in the world around us, and share some tips on how to develop and improve our visual skills. We will explore the fascinating relationship between the left and right brain and how it affects our ability to create and appreciate art.

Eva will also delve into the visual language of light, colors, and lines. She will explain how to use these elements effectively to create powerful visual imagery and convey emotions and messages through art. After the presentation, we will engage in a discussion to enhance their understanding of the topics further. Eva will share her personal techniques and methods for creating my photographs.

Overall, this talk promises to be a highly informative and engaging experience for all participants, providing them with a wealth of knowledge and insights into the exciting world of impressionist photography.

Bio
Eva Polak is an artist, author, speaker, and educator, renowned for her passion and enthusiasm for impressionist photography. With a background in graphic design, she brings an innovative, creative approach to her work.

Eva has held three solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions, with her photographs now held in private collections across New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.

As a dedicated educator, she shares her expertise with aspiring photographers through a variety of online courses. Eva is also the author of nine books, which explore ways to use your camera for a painterly effect. 

Website: evapolak.com

Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 7pm – TBD  

Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 7pm – TBD  

Thursday, June 11, 2026 at 7pm
SJCC’s Behind the Lens Presentation

South Jersey Camera Club members nominate their favorite photographs of the year and the photographers who created them get to speak about how they were inspired, captured and processed.