COUNTY CAMERA CLUB
MEETING NOTES - OCTOBER 10, 2017
Rhoads Building ~ Chester County Hospital
* PRE-MEETING - MEMBERS FORUM ~ Bob Kelly welcomed the group to the pre-meeting and asked everyone to please silence their cell phones.
* Anita Bower introduced the Members Forum topic, CAPTURING MOTION IN PHOTOGRAPHY by Betsy Wilson, to the audience.
* Anita announced that November’s Member’s Forum will be presented by Carol DeGuiseppi on GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHY -- More Than Just Flowers.
* Anita has lined up an excellent group of pre-meeting forums for the calendar year.
MEETING ~ Bob Kelly called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Chester County Camera Club. Again, he asked everyone to silence their cell phones.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS & GUESTS ~ There were 2 new members/guests at tonight’s meeting.
UPCOMING OUTINGS ~ Howard Sundwall discussed future outings with the club. He encouraged members to take advantage of the outings to meet members, improve their photography skills and have fun.
Saturday, October 14 ~ Myrick Conservation Center of the BVA - This event will be held from 8:30 am - 12 noon. This beautiful site is part of the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance property in Pocopson Township (Route 842). Explore 300+ acres of nature trails, fall foliage and historic barns and buildings. Some structures will be open exclusively for our club. For further information, please click here: /club/Events_view.aspx?Eventid=6c2b8029-598d-4ad1-b583-a78139c9288a
Saturday, October 28 ~ Bus trip to Liberty & Ellis Islands - This event is sold out.
Saturday, November 11 ~ Valley Forge National Historic Park - This event will be led by Betsy & Jim Wilson from 9:30 am - 4:00 pm. For more information, please click here: /club/Events_view.aspx?Eventid=3e359664-0678-4850-b97c-6a3907289b21
WORKSHOP ~ Three new workshops are being planned for December, January and February. Announcement forthcoming from Wayne Dixon and Peter Guman.
MENTOR MEETING ~ The next mentoring meeting will be Wednesday, October 18 at 7:00 pm in the Rhoads Building, Chester County Hospital. Please contact Paula Miller if you are interested in attending, or just show up! There will be a main presentation, Choosing the Right Lens, followed by one-on-one breakout sessions to address camera questions, photo techniques (portrait, sports, landscape, etc.) and post-processing questions. Mentors & mentees need to bring their cameras & laptops.
NEXT MEETING ~ Tuesday, October 24 at 7:00 pm, competition night! The theme for the evening is “Rule of Thirds”. A maximum of 3 entries per paid club member may be submitted no later than 11:59 pm, Sunday, October 22. The judge will be announced on Monday, October 23.
TONIGHT’S PRESENTATION ~ Carol DeGuiseppi , Vice President, introduced the guest speaker, Larry Lefever who presented "Miksang: Architectural Street Photography.”
‘Miksang’ is a Tibetan word meaning ‘Good-eye’ or more accurately, pure seeing. At its core, the practice of Miksang allows us to see beyond our conceptual view of the world. Instead of seeing familiar objects, we can experience pure color, texture, shape, and the negative space they interact with for what they really are. A chair can become a piece of sculpture and buildings turn into abstract geometry once labels are removed.
Simple in theory, perhaps a bit challenging in practice, Miksang also helps us identify the real image when something catches our eye and not a formulated version of photos we’ve seen before. We’ve all had the experience of being stopped in our tracks, knowing there’s a picture in front of us, but unable to make a satisfying image. Miksang provides a path to uncover our own unique vision and the tools to turn our experience into a photograph.
Architectural Street Photography: Though photographing people doing everyday ‘people things’ has been going on since the invention of the camera, in recent years ‘Street Photography’ has become extremely popular, and often ambiguous in its voice. My thirty years as an architectural photographer has led me to explore people interacting with their environment and discovering that however small the human figure may be in an image, they can convey a powerful presence. I often work with silhouettes, shadows, and reflections to explore scenes that often go unnoticed.
You may not think that growing up on a farm, followed by 16 years working in construction would be good preparation for a thirty year career in photography, but that’s exactly how things worked out for Larry Lefever.
Ready to move on from construction work in 1984, Larry shared his passion for photographing the rural landscape with Grant Heilman, owner of the world’s largest stock photo agency specializing in agriculture and there was an immediate connection. He spent three years working on staff for GHP, and then became self-employed as a commissioned shooter for the agency. It generally takes a five-year investment of time and money before one can turn a profit from shooting stock. To supplement his income during this time Larry drew on his construction experience by taking assignments with local architects and contractors, and by the late 90’s was shooting architecture full time.
Retiring in 2014 and thrilled at the opportunity to shoot whatever he wanted, he quickly learned the meaning of ‘Be careful what you ask for.’ Any solid body of work requires focus and that doesn’t come from jumping from one genre to another. From landscapes to flower close-ups, light-painting to mobile photography, nothing seemed to root itself until Larry came across a book on contemplative photography by Andy Carr and Michael Wood. The technique known as ‘Miksang’ is really more about seeing than photography. Miksang can be practiced anywhere, but works exceptionally well in an urban environment and before long Larry discovered another passion…street photography with an architectural flair.
Today Larry shoots every day, posting the work on his website (lefeverphoto.com) and Flickr, hoping that others may be inspired to see the world through fresh eyes.
Minutes submitted by Stephanie Vacek, Secretary