Photo by Beth Sargent:
Lake in the Sierras
Photo by Don Eaton: Eureka Dunes Death Valley
Photo by Don Eaton: Grand Canyon Thunderstorm
Photo by Jenn Lawrence: Blue Light Special
Photo by Josh Patching: Clearning Storm Shell Beach
Photo by Mimi Ditchie: Through the Arch
Photo by Renée Besta: Acoma Pueblo Kiva Ladder
Photo by Renée Besta: Bodie Ghost Town
Photo by Renée Besta: Secret Story
Photo by Twila Stofer: Heart's Desire
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January 2010
SLO Photography Exhibitions & Events
by Renée Besta
"If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up." –– Richard Avedon, Fine Art, Fashion & Celebrity Photographer
The genesis of the New Year on the spellbinding, rugged California Central Coast breathes fresh air and light anew into the meaning of Richard Avedon's profound words. For local photographers, the most significant New Year's resolution typically invokes the intent to create more time each blessed, glorious day to capture majestic images. To never again be caught off guard without a camera in those precious fleeting moments, which ofttimes lead to deep regret at missed opportunities. The namesake of the month of January, Janus, was the Roman God of beginnings and endings, transitions, gates, and doorways. Janus was often depicted as having two faces, each looking in opposite directions, signifying the past and future, an exchange of one set of circumstances for another, or one set of principles and perspectives for those more suitable.
January 1st also signifies the grand entrance and exits (doorways) of three renowned American photographers, who were either born or died on New Year's Day: Alfred Stieglitz, who was born on January 1, 1864; and Edward Weston and Harold Corsini, who transitioned from this plane on January 1, 1958 and January 1, 2008, respectively. In honoring these late, great photographers, let us examine what lies behind our doorway as we kick off 2010.
January 4th through 31st – Double Vision Photography Exhibition at SLO Art Center
The Central Coast Photographic Society (CCPS), an affiliate artist group of the San Luis Obispo Art Center, presents Double Vision: Timeless Black & White Images of the American West, a two-person exhibit featuring select works by members Don Eaton and Renée Besta (your friendly columnist). The show will run from January 4th through the 31st, 2010, in the McMeen Gallery of the San Luis Obispo Art Center, located at 1010 Broad Street at Monterey on Mission Plaza. An artists’ reception will be held from 2:00 to 5:00 pm on Saturday, January 16th, at which time the photographers will be present for a "meet and greet" and to answer questions concerning their works and specific techniques.
A fitting photographic tribute, Double Vision will showcase iconic, black and white images of the rugged American West ranging from national parks and monuments to craggy mountains, windswept deserts, ghost mining towns, otherworldly volcanic rock formations, historic Route 66, Native American pueblos, petroglyphs, ancient ruins, and much more. The history, lore, and legend of the classic American West as portrayed in art, literature, and cinema has captured and influenced the cultural mythos of historic Americana since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Double Vision depicts this rough-hewn frontier from the unique points of view forged through the eyes of two photographers, while emphasizing the immense geologic and topographic diversity of the Western landscape. The photographic prints will be produced on wide format Epson Professional printers with a variety of fine art cotton and bamboo papers using pigment-based Epson Ultrachrome K3™ and third-party carbon inksets for maximum longevity.
Both photographers were recently interviewed by Ashley Schwellenbach, Arts Editor for the New Times entertainment weekly paper, and a feature article about the exhibit is scheduled to run in the January 14th issue. You can pick up a copy on newsstands throughout the County or visit the website. The San Luis Obispo Art Center is open from 11:00 – 5:00 each day except Tuesdays, when it is closed. The McMeen Gallery is located on the second floor. Sample black and white images can be found in the column to the right. Visit website for more information.
Sunday, January 10th - SLO Camera Club Field Trip – Morro Bay Nature Excursion By Catamaran
Each month, the San Luis Obispo Camera Club (SLOCC) embarks on a field trip to destinations rich in photographic opportunity. Although most months these excursions are local, at times the Club travels outside the area to shoot special environs such as the Eastern Sierras and other magical places. On January 10th, the Club will enjoy a one-of-a-kind catamaran cruise on beautiful Morro Bay, getting up close and personal with wildlife that cannot be photographed or experienced from shore. Morro Bay attracts a diverse array of wildlife due to the confluence of creeks, wetlands, salt marshes, mudflats, sand dunes, and open water. In addition, bird migration is at its peak in January, offering a prime viewing opportunity.
As an added bonus, there will be a minus tide of -0.25 feet at 1:58 pm that day, perfect for photographing the plethora of delicate sea creatures that make their watery homes along the rocky coast. The Club will be meeting for lunch beforehand at the Flying Dutchman restaurant at 11:30 am on the historic Embarcadero, then convening next door at Sub Sea Tours and Kayaks at 12:50 pm to depart on the cruise. Sub Sea Tours is located at 699 Embarcadero Road at the base of Pacific Street. This tour will be docent led by catamaran and is limited to 17 people. The cost of the tour is $20 for Camera Club members and reservations are required. At press time, this special tour was nearly sold out. To sign up for the field trip, please write to SLOCC Field Trip Coordinator Malcolm Carlaw. Surf on over to Slo Camera Club - Field Trips for more information.
Tuesday, January 12th – Photographic Society Meeting: "Expose Yourself" At Print Night
Kick off 2010 in style with the Central Coast Photographic Society at the January 12th meeting, which marks the return of our ever-popular, show-and-tell, roundtable print forum, providing photographers with the opportunity to exchange artistic and technical information. Members are invited to bring up to three handmade prints to share. Each person will have an opportunity to discuss techniques used to make their prints, share tips, and answer questions. Prints may be produced digitally or via the traditional darkroom. Matted or mounted prints in clear bags are encouraged, as they are easier to view, but please refrain from glass. Print Night is truly a rich learning opportunity for photographers who produce their own inkjet prints, due to the wealth of experienced master printers who are in attendance, eager to share their knowledge of this craft.
By popular demand in February, I will present a fine art printing, profiling, and paper demonstration, at which time I will demystify the color management process by giving tips on how to produce and use ICC profiles in Photoshop to achieve prints that will closely match what you see on your monitor. More information will be provided in next month's column. The Photographic Society meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm in the Nybak Wing of the SLO Art Center, located at 1010 Broad Street at Monterey on Mission Plaza.
Thursday, January 14th – SLO Camera Club Meeting: Special Guests Gordon & Cathy Illg
At the January 14th meeting of the San Luis Obispo Camera Club (SLOCC), we will be fortunate to welcome special guests Gordon and Cathy Illg, full-time professional wildlife, nature, and travel photographers based in Colorado who have been submitting images for publication in books and magazines for over 20 years. The Illgs are true multi-taskers with over 10 years experience as national and international photo tour leaders, and are Certified International Tour Managers. Their spectacular images have graced the covers of magazines such as Backpacker, Defenders, National Geographic Young Explorer, and National Wildlife, and decorate the tails of Frontier Airlines jets. In addition, many of their photographs have won Highly Commended and Second Place in the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" contests; their second book, Dynamic Wildlife Photography, has been very well-received.
For the past few years the Illgs have been conducting a January photo tour, Beauty and the Beasts, of our majestic California Central Coast, capturing the elephant seals at San Simeon, the monarch butterflies and sunsets at Pismo Beach, and hummingbirds at various locales along the way. This year they will be giving a special presentation at the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, emphasizing techniques used to create bird images that pop and captivate. This presentation will take place on Sunday, January 17th from 1:00 – 2:30 pm at the Morro Bay Public Library, located at 625 Harbor. For detailed information, visit Morro Bay Bird Festival.
The Illgs' presentation for the Camera Club’s January 14th meeting will be on the Pro Wildlife Tour that they have participated in and will again be entering in April 2010. Cathy is the shooter and Gordon the assistant wearing many hats in this competition held on ranches with a minimum of 1,000 acres in Texas. The Pro Wildlife Tour was established by the Images for Conservation Fund headed by John Martin, a rancher on a mission to convince his fellow south Texas ranchers that they could count on added revenues to offset the pressures to sell their property to developers if they would open their land to wildlife photographers. His vision has expanded in such grand proportions that 40 ranchers were competing against one another for the 20 available slots for the 2010 competition. John Martin’s greater dream is to create a Pro Tour of Wildlife Photography in every state like a Pro Tour of Golf. You can read more about this exciting program by visiting Images For Conservation, where you can also click on the winning images from previous competitions and see some portfolio shots of this year’s participants. The 2010 competition will be in the counties of southwest Texas, with Laredo serving as the host city.
Please visit the Illgs' website at Adven Photo for more information. SLOCC meetings are held at 7:30 pm on the 2nd Thursday of each month (except December). The Club meets at the Veteran's Memorial Hall in San Luis Obispo, located at 801 Grand Avenue near the corner of Monterey and Grand. There is a large parking lot next to the building. The meeting room is in the lounge to the right of the main entrance, not in the main auditorium. Please "click" on over to the Club's web site for more information.
Saturday, January 16th – Artists' Reception for Double Vision Photography Exhibition
As noted in the Double Vision photography exhibit section above, the Central Coast Photographic Society will host an artists' reception on Saturday, January 16th from 2:00 to 5:00 pm at the San Luis Obispo Art Center. The reception for the show, which will hang in the second floor McMeen Gallery, will offer fine wines and hors d'oeuvres as well as the opportunity to meet the photographers, who will be present to discuss their body of work on the iconic American West and specific techniques used to process and print the show images. Double Vision: Timeless Black & White Images of the American West, runs from January 4th – 31st. See the top section of this column for detailed information on the exhibit.
SLO Camera Club Final 2009 Competition Results
On December 10th, members of the San Luis Obispo Camera Club joyously participated in the Club's 2009 year-end competition, which showcased "cream of the crop" images from the five prior events. Only images previously submitted in the first five competitions of the year were eligible for the year-end contest. Club members submit their work bimonthly to the scrutiny of professional judges, who give oral critiques along with scores ranging from 3 to 9 points, where 9 is "perfect." Although this very popular event is intended to be fun and educational, it is most certainly "stiff" with the submission of dozens of exquisite images from talented members living in diverse environs around the County. At the end of each year, the Club distributes six awards, including "Image of the Year" and the "Members' Choice Awards."
Our December year-end judge was Dale Reid, a Morro Bay commercial and documentary photographer specializing in product and architectural photography. Dale's ability to enhance product imagery comes from years of professional experience, all grounded by a photographic education at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, and Brooks Institute of Photography, where he earned a Master's degree from the highly respected school. Dale is also the author of "Project Avila: An Environmental Issue Mandates a Change in the Face of a Small California Beach Town," which showcases some of his black and white Avila Beach imagery representing intriguing historical views and vignettes of the town's once funky side, now lost due to an invasive cleanup effort occurring there in 1998 after a major oil spill.
In addition to scoring each image at the final competition, Dale chose what he felt were the two top images of the year: Mimi Ditchie's Through the Arch, a digital black and white photograph taken in the Alabama Hills of the Eastern Sierras (Image of the Year), and Twila Stofer's Heart’s Desire, a color slide photograph taken of objects in her home placed on a tabletop and lit with window light (Runner-Up). In overall scoring, First Place went to Mimi Ditchie with 25.5 points, Second Place to Renée Besta and Alice Cahill with 25 points each, and Third Place to Jenn Lawrence and Beth Sargent with 24.5 points each. Participants are allowed to submit a total of three images, so a completely perfect score would be 27 points. Sample images can be found in the column to the right. The January 2010 issue of the Club's newsletter, the Courier, will provide a full list of the December scores and images, as well as results for the Members' Choice Awards and overall top yearly scores. Please visit Slo Camera Club in January to read the newsletter or download the PDF.
In laying out my New Year's resolutions, as alluded to in this column's foreword, I will heed the sage advice of Richard Avedon to partake daily in my photographic vitamin regimen. As artists everywhere come to realize in watershed moments, the deprivation of the creative process for any extended length of time makes for one very irritable, frustrated human being, quite unpleasant to be around. For as the "Band of Photographic Brothers" know, art and photography are essential to our health and well-being. That said, I hope to see many old friends as well as new photographers to the scene at many of January's splendid events and exhibitions. May your eyes, hearts, and souls be filled with beautiful imagery!
Photo Pulse: The Local Beat focuses on the activities of the Central Coast Photographic Society and San Luis Obispo Camera Club, as well as events and exhibits of interests to SLO County photographers. Renée Besta is President of the Central Coast Photographic Society and serves on the Board of the SLO Camera Club as Writer, Editor, and Designer of the Courier newsletter. A former biomedical professional, Renée now works in the areas of graphic design, fine art photography, teaching, writing, and digital printing for artists. She can be contacted at Renée M. Besta or by calling 805.450.4640. For more information please visit Linkedin.
Sea Star image on banner by Renée M. Besta |
