Optional theme: B&W

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

David Fox will be our special guest for our education night meeting on April 28.  He’ll be sharing some of his commercial images and works from his personal portfolio, and talking about his experience as a commercial and artistic photographer.  The main topic for this meeting is “Pre-Visualization: A Technique for Photographic Artists”.

What’s the difference between “taking a picture” and “making a photograph”?  Come hear David share his perspectives on this interesting question.  His presentation will include:

• What is pre-visualization, and how do you do it?
• Where can one find artistic inspiration?
• How can an artistic photographer pursue personal projects while building a successful commercial business.

David’s Web site is: http://www.davidfoxphotographer.com/

The meeting will be at 7:30 pm, as usual.  The location is 17 Fox Hill Drive, in Natick.  See you there.

Optional theme: Fruit

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

Optional theme:  Dangerous

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

Optional theme:  Waterfall(s)

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

Optional theme:  Hot

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

Optional theme:  Rain

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

Tonight’s topic:  Photography Goals

We tried this last year, and had a great discussion!  I think it is a great way to start the year.  (Credit for the original idea came from the Worcester Photography Meetup group)

The topic for our next Education Night on September 22, 2014 will be a discussion about our individual artistic goals for the coming year  This meeting will start at 7:30 pm and take place at 17 Fox Hill Drive in Natick as usual.

I’m starting with the assumption that we all have our own ideas and our own pace.  We don’t all work the same way, and different approaches help each of us be productive.  That said, it is generally helpful to envision where you’d like to be in a year’s time and to express it in your own words.  This will be an open-ended discussion, including:

• What type of goals do you want to set for yourself?  Will you have succeeded if you produce a certain number of pieces, if you complete a specific project, or if you spend the desired number of hours each week.  How will you decide that your goal has been achieved?

• How much detail to you want and/or need?  Is it enough for you to just state your goal, or would it be helpful for you to identify some interim steps (milestones) in the direction of your goal?

• Would it help you to put your goals down in writing, or are you more comfortable just discussing them?  Would you be comfortable sharing your written goals with the group?  Would this help you?

• What can NELP do to support you and encourage you?  What can you do to support and encourage the rest of us?

• How often would you like to discuss progress towards your goals?  Annually?  Quarterly?  Monthly?

Please give a little thought to the above, and come prepared to discuss your goals (if you have any) for the coming year and how NELP can support you.  Please come even if you’re not sure what you want to set as goals (spectators welcome).  I’d like to have as many different perspectives represented at the meeting as possible.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Optional theme:  Motion

Please join us for our monthly image review night. This is a great opportunity to share your work with other artists and receive useful feedback. Feel free to ask for our thoughts in specific areas, or to seek general impressions of your artwork. Some of our artists bring more than one variation of a piece, or several stages of a work-in-progress. Let us know what you’re seeking, and we’ll do our best to provide it.

The “optional theme” for each meeting is just that … optional. Some of our members enjoy finding or creating images that fit the theme, while other members have specific images or projects that they would like feedback on. Whatever works for you is fine.

Our general guideline is that each artist may bring up to 8 images for a typical review. Prints are encouraged, as this is the best way to see an artwork as its maker envisions it. Digital images are (of course) welcome, on USB memory sticks and a variety of other digital media. If you bring more than eight images, we’ll need to go through them quickly. If you want to spend more time discussing an image, just bring fewer. We want to make sure everyone has time to present their work.

Our digital display is 1920 x 1080 resolution. You may want to optimize your image for this size, though our display software will scale your image if it is larger or smaller. The JPG file format is preferred, to keep file size down and ensure compatibility with our software.

If you are new to the group or have any questions, please let me know. We look forward to seeing you and your photographs.

– David   {artphotos(at]davidlkahn[dot)com}

With Adobe’s recent change in licensing approach, many photographers have expressed concern that they can’t count on continued use of the latest version of Photoshop unless they agree to pay a monthly fee.  Even before this change, Photoshop was considered an an expensive, if useful, tool.  Are there any viable alternatives to Photoshop that photographers can consider?

For our October Education Night, Dick Miller will be giving us an overview of Fotoxx, a free, open-source Linux program for photo editing and collection management. The goal is to meet most user’s needs while remaining fast and easy to use. Fotoxx upgrades are monthly, and each includes some significant additions.  Did I mention it’s free!

Dick Miller is a recent NELP member, with background in electro-optical physics.  He helps develop Fotoxx, is an enthusiastic Fotoxx user, and will demonstrate some of its speed, power, and ease of use.  To emphasize these points, Dick will demo Fotoxx on an inexpensive computer.

Dick and his wife Jill are owners of Miller Microcomputer Services in Natick.  For those who are interested in FOSS (Free, Open-Source Software), they also lead a free Thursday-afternoon FOSS User Group at the Natick Community-Senior Center.

The meeting will be at 7:30 pm, as usual.  The location is 17 Fox Hill Drive, in Natick.  See you there.