Optional theme:  Windows (topic originally scheduled for January meeting, which was cancelled due to snow)

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’ve done this for the past two years, and have had a great discussion!  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 28, 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:  Seven

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:  Paper

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:  Urban Night Photography

This is a visual introduction to urban night photography by local fine art photographer Jürgen Lobert. Jürgen will show how to create urban nightscapes, hauntingly beautiful views of captured time and deepened colors. Night photography transforms the familiar and can create exciting cityscapes, revealing beauty in the mundane. Night images relay a profound serenity by capturing time, where clouds and cars become streaks, water ripples smooth over and stars form trails in the sky. Urban night photos require balancing highlights of a multitude of sources, which becomes a rewarding challenge needing different approaches compared to naturally moonlit scenes. Jürgen will show many examples of waterfront images, motion, different vantage points and, yes, even urban startrails! The presentation will also touch on equipment, basic camera settings, white balance, sources of light and how to process the outcome.

About the speaker:

Jürgen Lobert is a Massachusetts-based fine art photographer born and raised in Germany. He received a Ph.D. in atmospheric chemistry from Gutenberg University in Mainz before moving to the US in 1991. Jürgen is a self-taught photographer who specializes in night photography, daytime long exposures as well as Urban Exploration. According to Jürgen, there is a profound peace in roaming the nights in remote places, capturing the element of time to create other-worldly, serene and hauntingly beautiful photos.

Jürgen is an executive member of the Boston Camera Club and the founder and organizer of the Greater Boston Night Photographers Meetup group. He has organized more than 100 photo excursions and he is a lecturer, instructor and judge for regional camera clubs.

Jürgen can be found online at:

• LeyeTscapes.com
• facebook.com/JurgenLobertPhoto
• jmlobert.blogspot.com
• meetup.com/GBNight
• flickr.com/photos/brom-productions/

Optional theme:  Panorama (any image that is much wider than it is tall)

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}

Our annual NELP holiday dinner will be Monday, December 28, 2015 at 6:30 pm, at the Lotus Flower restaurant in Framingham (near Walmart).  They have an excellent dinner buffet (~$17), or you can order exactly what you’d like from the menu.   They have a great bar too, with a selection of delicious drinks.

If you can’t make it at 6:30, it is ok to arrive a bit later.  The buffet is open until 8:30.  If you’d like to join us, please let me know so I can reserve enough seats.  I’ll call in a count on Sunday (Dec 27), with a few extras for walk-ins.  Friends, spouses, etc. are welcome too.  I’ll initially reserve a table for 12.

See you then!

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}

Tonight’s topic:  Donna Dufault “Culinary Imaginings” Opening Reception

I’m pleased to announce that the January NELP Education Night will be held at the opening reception for Donna Dufault’s new solo exhibit at the Krikorian Gallery in Worcester.  It is rare to have a special event that falls on our regular meeting date, and many thanks to Donna for inviting us to join her.

From Donna’s Meetup announcement:

Privileged to enter the inner sanctum (the kitchen) of chefs all over the East Coast, photographer Donna Dufault lets us discover the places where the chefs’ and the restaurateurs’ tools momentarily sit as they wait to be put into service. Over 30 photographs, some in groups and representing two series from her work, CULINARY IMAGININGS is the first major solo show of Dufault’s work. The show opens January 20 in the Center’s Krikorian Gallery with an opening reception on January 25, 2016 from 5:30-7:30 pm, a Monday evening so that those in the hospitality industry can help celebrate this remarkable work and photographer.

As artists, some of us are working to create a body of work with a solo show as one of our goals.  This reception will be a great opportunity to view this exhibit and to discuss the planning, preparation and creation of the displayed artworks with Donna.

Some of us may wish to grab some dinner in Worcester after the reception to continue our discussion.

Donna’s announcement is on Meetup (here), and there’s additional information on Donna’s blog (here).  If you plan to attend, you can RSVP for the reception via the Meetup.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Optional theme:  Violet

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}