South Jersey Camera Club Monthly Presentations

2023-2024 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 14, 2023 @ 7:00pm
Lisa Cuchara – Photographing Birds

Birds are everywhere! You can find, observe, study, photograph, and enjoy birds in your yard, at the beach, in the woods, etc. But it can be hard to capture their grandeur, colorful personality, and interesting behaviors with your camera. The program will go over some of the gear, techniques, technologies, and expertise you need to craft stunning bird images and tell stories with your camera. While birds are very interesting creatures, it is not so easy to photograph them. Birds do not usually pose for you, and it can often seem like you cannot get close enough to take stunning photographs of them. This presentation will provide tips for getting better bird images.

Bio
Lisa Cuchara, PhD, OM SYSTEM Ambassador, Master Craftsman (PPA), Master of Artistry (PPA), Master of Photography (M. Photog.), HonNEC is very passionate about photography and enjoys both being behind the lens and in the digital darkroom. She loves to photograph nature but finds many subjects equally intriguing. Lisa and her husband Tom are known for their expertise in Photography and in Photoshop, and for their inspirational and informative photography workshops. They also lead tours in the USA and abroad for Wildside Nature Tours. Lisa has created numerous award-winning photographic images and enjoys sharing her vision, passion, and her knowledge! Her photographs have appeared in Adirondack Life, Wild Bird, Birder’s World, in calendars, on the cover of a fictional paperback novel, in many galleries & exhibitions. Lisa & Tom have published two books with Amherst Media “Create Fine Art Photographs from Historic Places and Rusty Things” and “The Frog Whisperer”. They love to Teach, Mentor, Motivate, and Inspire and hope that their passion and creativity will inspire you to capture beautiful photos and manipulate pixels with impact.

Website: PhotographyByLisaAndTom.com

Thursday, October 12, 2023 @ 7:00pm
Bert Sirkin – How AI is Changing Photography

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is RAPIDLY changing the photography world. In less than a year, AI has changed how we think of “photography”. Over the several years, the word “AI” has crept into just about every aspect of photography. Our cameras have AI features built into them; the tools we use to edit our images have AI built into them; we can now create “photographs” from mere text. These past 2 years were just the tip of the AI iceberg, as AI is continuing to evolve and will have more and more impact on our future lives.

This presentation is about 2 hours in length. In this presentation Bert will briefly review the history of AI, how AI affects our daily lives, what AI tools are available for photography and how photographers can best make use of these new tools. He will demonstrate various AI options available to photographers today showing the different ways you can use the AI features in Photoshop along with several other AI tools.

Bio
Bert Sirkin apprenticed at with a Professional Photographer in Boston when he was 18 years old and has done part-time Professional Photography since he was 19 years old. He’s taught various photography topics since 1970 and has spent 10 years teaching workshops in Everglades NP, Joshua Tree NP & Monument Valley Tribal park. He taught various computer programming languages at Capital Community Technical college in Hartford, CT for 20 years. He currently teaches online photography workshops and frequently speaks to photography groups.

Website: PhotoBert.com

Thursday, November 9th, 2023 @ 7:00pm
Lee Varis – Creative Infrared Photography

Join Lee Varis on a journey into the unseen world of the infrared spectrum with IR converted cameras. Lee shows you how to get started with infrared capture using the various IR conversion filters. See how different camera conversions compare and how to make the most of your IR camera files in Lightroom and Photoshop. Lee explores color and B&W infrared captures, the ideal subject matter, and various approaches to interpret the dream-like color and tone of the infrared spectrum.

Bio
Lee Varis is a photo-illustrator now working in the Boston area. He has been involved in commercial photography for over 40 years. He started working with computer imaging over 20 years ago and currently works with his wife, Bobbi Lane, also a famous photographer, leading photo tours and workshops all over the world.

Lee’s work has been featured on movie posters, video box covers, CD covers, numerous brochures and catalogs. He is responsible for the moth on the “Silence of the Lambs” movie poster, as well as photos of the Starship Enterprise for the Star Trek movies! His creative imaging has been featured in National Geographic, Newsweek and Fortune magazines as well as trade journals like PDN, New Media, Micro Publishing News, Rangefinder and Photo Electronic Imaging.

Website: varis.com  For workshop information: bobbiandleesphotoadventures.com

Thursday, December 14th, 2023 @ 7:00pm
Julia Vaughan – Milky Way Photography for Beginners

In this comprehensive session geared toward beginning and intermediate night sky photographers, you will learn the basics of Milky Way photography, from planning to capturing to post-processing your images.
In Planning, Julia will cover where and when to find the Milky Way core, mobile apps and other resources to help you plan, and what to bring.

In Capturing, she will review camera settings, focusing techniques, single shots, foreground illumination, and provide introductions to image stacking and blends.

The session will wrap up with Post-Processing, which will cover basic editing in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, including color, contrast, noise reduction and sharpening.

Bio
Julia Vaughan is a landscape and nature photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Her childhood in the green hills of Vermont gave her an appreciation of nature at an early age. Since her first camera in high school, she has loved capturing, revisiting and sharing special moments. A trip to New Zealand with her first DSLR kindled a deeper interest in nature photography that has become a passion. In her landscape, nightscape and close-up plant images, Julia aims to bring some of the joy and wonder she feels when out in nature to those viewing her photographs. Helping others progress in their own photography through sharing her knowledge is a more recent source of fulfillment for Julia, and she is excited to present to the South Jersey Camera Club!

Website: juliamegan.photography

Thursday, January 11, 2024 @ 7:00pm
Padma Inguva – Floral Photography with Passion

Padma will share information about some of her techniques in creating stunning flower portraits.
These techniques include photographing flowers on Lightbox, multiple exposures both in Camera and via Photoshop, applying textures to floral images, selective focus, blurred backgrounds, compositional elements, backlighting, and bokeh! This program also includes tips on processing colors which are considered difficult to photograph, like red and purple.

Artist Statement
In her own words “My goal as a photographer is to get people to slow down, unite with the natural world and absorb the beauty of flowers, create an oasis in this rapid, constantly demanding stressful daily life. There is no better way to escape this running-around than spending time looking through a lens. I want to set people on a path of inspiration, hope, joy, and love that comes from an appreciation of these tiny treasures all around us. It gives me immense joy in taking you down a beautiful journey into flowers through my lens where you admire and observe flowers with a whole new perspective and create art that lasts far longer than the flower itself.”

Website: PadmasWorld.com

Thursday, February 8, 2024 @ 7:00pm
Todd Nettelhorst – The Joys of Macro Photography

Been curious about those small creatures or flower interiors? This session is a chance to learn about capturing exciting images of small things. Todd will take you through Tips and Tricks for Macro Photography, like the four basic tips for EVERY shot; determining focus and controlling depth of field; macro effects and creative macro techniques. Plus, he will provide a healthy resource list of useful equipment.

Bio
Todd Nettelhorst is an award-winning photographer and international speaker that has had a passion for photography and filmmaking much of his life. He started photographing at a very young age when his father gave him his first SLR camera. His appreciation of photography grew while capturing moments in time throughout the country during the summer family road trips. Though his passion for the arts continued to grow, after college, Todd worked in sales and marketing for a variety of companies quickly becoming successful in building relationships in a variety of industries.

His path of becoming a professional photographer began while documenting the honesty in his children’s lives as others asked him to capture that same spirit for their family. His un-posed, un-planned, spontaneous style of photographing people living, helped him develop extreme patience and a keen eye for capturing the “real life” personality and expressions in those cherished moments. Through years of delivering those precious moments for those families, other opportunities opened up in commercial photography including: events, architecture, engagements and various products. While still engaging in commercial work with new and established clients, Todd enjoys bringing his charismatic energy, unique photographic perspective and deep passion for the visual arts to others by helping them explore and develop the best of their creative abilities through coaching during workshops.

In his free time, Todd enjoys many outdoor activities such as climbing, biking, hiking, playing golf/hockey and spending time with his beautiful family. Todd lives in Chicago with his lovely wife Tambi and their three girls.

Thursday, March 14, 2024 @ 7:00pm
Francie Schwabenland – Passage to Lofoten

Bio

Thursday, April 11, 2024 @ 7:00pm
Hinda Schuman – Done Doing Time

This presentation will show work from Hinda Schuman’s Done Doing Time series, including earlier photographs from the halfway house where she met the two protagonists -Concetta and Linda-who are the focus of Done Doing Time. She will elaborate on the photographs with stories of what their lives were like at the time of the photographs, and what has transpired for them since. Hinda spent from 2018 to 2022 documenting this story.

Hinda will also talk about her photographs from the Mississippi Delta. They are images that are part of what she hoped will be another book. The project is not complete, halted in part because of COVID, and other reasons having to do with travel. It will show how a project looks midway. Hinda will talk about what she like about it, what might be missing and hopes for a return to the Delta.

Bio
Hinda Schuman is a documentary photographer, photojournalist, and educator. She spent 20 years at The Philadelphia Inquirer covering regional news and sports. Prior to her career at The Inquirer, she taught reading and other classes to students in grades 1-8 in Vermont. Hinda was the volunteer coordinator for the Brattleboro (VT) Area Women’s Crisis Center, assisting women who were fleeing their abusers. She also worked as a counselor at a group home, baked bread in a factory and built two houses foundation to roof.

After getting her MFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture in 1985, she installed door knockers in an apartment building and was an office manager. For two years she wrote curriculum and taught career development classes at Jersey City University. A wonderful meeting with a photography editor enabled her to become a full-time photojournalist. After being laid off in 2009, she taught photography and hustled as a free-lancer.

Hinda’s first book, Dear Shirley was published by Daylight books in 2018. It is about her divorce from Jeremy, coming out and marrying Susan Toler, her wife for most of the last 40 years. Her second book, Done Doing Time was published June 1, 2023 by Daylight Books. Done Doing Time is the story of Concetta and Linda returning to their neighborhoods after several incarcerations. An earlier project, Halfway Home was about women serving the final year of multi-year sentences in a less restrictive prison environment. She has projects in the works now, with photographs from the Mississippi Delta and Cuba.

In 2022 she was selected to be included in Hundred Heroines, (hundredheroines.org), dedicated to promoting women in photography.

She currently lives in Philadelphia PA with Susan. They have 3 fabulous grandchildren. Hinda was born in Brooklyn NY in 1948. Brooklyn has never left her.

Website; hindaschuman.net

Thursday, May 9, 2024 @ 7:00pm
Sara Ascalon – Creativity: A Conversation with Yourself

Humans are innately creative creatures. For many, that creativity is freely expressed. For others, that expression is shackled by repression. Learn how to tap into the creative energy within you and experience the joy of letting go and sharing your vision with others.

“What is it like being inside that head of yours?” I’ve always had a slightly off-beat way of looking at the world and have been asked that question many times over. But how do you respond to something like that? After decades of searching, I found my answer in photography.

Photography allows me to reproduce my vision in a shareable, accessible form. Whether it’s the things I see with my eyes or my mind, I can capture a moment, a view, or a flight of fancy and relive it with those who honor me by coming along for the ride. From the things you see every day and tend to overlook, to the absolutely extraordinary, it’s a strange and wonderful world.

I seek to share that wonder – real and imagined – in my images and inspire and embolden my students to unleash their own creativity and do the same.

Bio

Sara is a former creative marketer and New Yorker who became a statistic in the economic downturn of 2008. With the loss of her career came a loss of purpose and identity and a relocation to South Jersey. She picked up photography as a pastime and found that it quickly became an obsession. Photography became her redemption during the rebuilding. It gave her a creative outlet and opened up new social and professional opportunities. A few short years later and she is now a photography and post-processing educator, frequent exhibitor, and the recipient of numerous local, national and international awards.

Thursday, June 13, 2014 @ 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.