APCUG Reports
January-March 2008

APCUG has announced the winners of the Second Annual APCUG Digital Photo Contest. There were 62 entries representing 19 User Groups from the United States and Canada. We would like to thank the members of The Center for Photography at Madison (Wisconsin) for judging this contest. APCUG thanks each participant in the contest and congratulates all of the winners. We encourage all User Group members to consider entering the next contest.

1st Place – A - Untitled   photo   Don Wiegel, Computer Users’ Group of Greeley, Colorado

Prizes were awarded to the 1st and 2nd place winners of each of the four categories as well as the 1st and 2nd place winners of the Judges’ Choice for Best of Show and the People’s Choice as chosen by attendees at the 2008 APCUG Convention. Certificates were provided to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. The judges also provided overall comments as well as comments for each of the entries.

Because of space limitations we do not have room to print all of the winning photos, or the judges comments here, but see the web version of this article at http://reports.apcug.org/2008q1/30.htm

Note: if you click on the "photo" link it will take you to the comments page which shows a thumbnail for the photo and the comments by the three judges for the image. If you click on the thumbnail, you can see the actual image full sized.

2nd Place – Categoy A - Young Masai Girl, Northern Kenya   photo   Rick Edwards, Big Bear Computer Club, California

Category A: People

2nd Place – Young Masai Girl, Northern Kenya   photo   Rick Edwards, Big Bear Computer Club, California

3rd Place Tie – Canoeing Paradise Cove   photo   Douglas Agee, Southwest International Personal Computer Club, Texas

3rd Place Tie – Historic Reflection   photo   Ron Sherwood, Licking County Computer Society, Ohio

3rd Place – B - Tiffy   photo   Bob Crossett, Southwest International Personal Computer Club, Texas

Category B: Animals

2nd Place – Bird   photo   Karl Wester, Temecula Valley Computer User Group Inc., California

3rd Place – Tiffy   photo   Bob Crossett, Southwest International Personal Computer Club, Texas

3rd Place Tie – C - Civita   photo   Joe Nuvolini, Pikes Peak Computer Application Society, Colorado

Category C: Landscape

2nd Place – Palm Trees at Kona   photo   Douglas Agee, Southwest International Personal Computer Club, Texas

3rd Place Tie – Civita   photo   Joe Nuvolini, Pikes Peak Computer Application Society, Colorado

3rd Place Tie – Untitled   photo   Carol Laws, Quad Cities Computer Society, Illinois

Category D: Still Life

1st Place Tie – Mileage   photo   Larry Klees, North Orange County Computer Club, California

2nd Place – Two Leafs on a Step   photo   Art Silvergate, Central Maryland User, Maryland

3rd Place – Untitled   photo   Gary Miller, Evans Computer Society, Colorado

1st Place Tie – D - Under Construction   photo   Les Muldorf, Mid-Hudson Computer Users Group, New York

Judges’ Choice for Best of Show by The Center for Photography at Madison

2nd Place – Untitled   photo   Don Wiegel, Computer Users Group of Greeley, Colorado

3rd Place -- Under Construction   photo   Les Muldorf, Mid-Hudson Computer Users Group, New York

People’s Choice as chosen by attendees at the 2008 APCUG Convention 3rd Place Tie – Untitled   photo   Cruz Moncivais, Evans Computer Society, Colorado

People’s Choice as chosen by attendees at the 2008 APCUG Convention

2nd Place – Young Masai Girl, Northern Kenya   photo   Rick Edwards, Big Bear Computer Club, California

3rd Place Tie – Historic Reflection   photo   Ron Sherwood, Licking County Computer Society, Ohio

3rd Place Tie – Untitled   photo   Cruz Moncivais, Evans Computer Society, Colorado

1st Place Tie – D - Untitled   photo   Larry Klees, North Orange County Computer Club, California

The Center for Photography at Madison (Wisconsin) is a nonprofit membership arts organization that acts as an umbrella organization for photographic activity in Wisconsin. CPM offers a quarterly roster of classes, speakers, and programs. In addition, the organization sponsors lectures and workshops by renowned photographers, plus exhibitions and community events. Several special interest groups have been established over the years at CPM. They include the Landscape Group, Nature Group, Plastic Camera Group, Human Interest Group, and Digital Group. Since 2000, the organization has also sponsored PhotoMidwest, a biennial, month-long celebration of photography, which includes lectures and workshops by internationally- and regionally- known photographers, a seven-state juried photography exhibit, and extensive exhibitions at over 80 venues in the area. Judges for the APCUG Digital Photo Contest are all members of CPM, and have established credentials as vital, knowledgeable photographers with special area of interest and expertise. They are:

Patricia Delker is immediate past president of CPM, a position she held for 4 ½ years. In this capacity, she has planned exhibits, programming, educational offerings, and workshops and edited the CPM quarterly newsletter. She has co-chaired or chaired PhotoMidwest since 2002. She holds a B.S. in Communications and Art and has pursued graduate study in Arts Management, Art History, and Photography. She has also studied in Texas with internationally-known fine art photographer Keith Carter. She is primarily interested in black and white photography, alternative processes, and toy (plastic) camera imagery. Her photography has been exhibited in one person and group exhibits, plus juried exhibits throughout the U.S. She is also a member of CoPA (Coalition of Photographic Arts) in Milwaukee. She organizes photographic workshops on the U.S. and Ireland (through VisionQuest Workshops in Minnesota) and teaches photography classes through CPM, VisionQuest Workshops, and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Arts at Rhinelander.

3rd Place – D - Untitled   photo   Gary Miller, Evans Computer Society, Colorado

Milt Friend photographs a broad spectrum of subjects and is currently interested in photography to make social statements about the relations between humans and the environment. Much of his previous work focused on wildlife and landscape. He uses 35 mm cameras and predominantly slide film to make in-camera images that capture as close to the final product as possible. His work has been displayed in exhibits in Europe as well as shows within the U.S. Thematic work has appeared in museum exhibits in San Diego and Palm Springs, California. Individual images have been seen on book and magazine covers in popular and scientific literature including National Wildlife Magazine, National Geographic, Science, and GeoScience. He has also received a number of awards for his photographic work in the U.S. and Europe. He initiated the Nature Group at CPM and has provided short courses on outdoor and macro photography at CPM. His work can be viewed online at the Wisconsin Academy Gallery at http://PortalWisconsin.org.

Heather Solomon holds an MFA in Photography from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a B.A. in Studio Arts from University of Montana. She works as a free-lance photographer in the Madison area and beyond. She has actively shown her photography since 2001 in group, juried, invitational, and one-person exhibits both in the U.S. and in Brazil. Her images have been features in Bowhunter and Fur, Fish, Game magazines, and on a Jones Soda Co. bottle. Her work can be viewed and purchased at www.hasarts.com. She continues to study and travel extensively, and she will be teaching introductory photography courses through the Art Department at UW-Madison in Spring 2008.

Overall Comments from the CPM Jurors on the 62 Entries

While obvious that some photographers took great pleasure in presenting their image for consideration and no doubt worked hard to achieve an appealing photograph, several elements occur regularly that tend to distract from many of the entries.

First, photographers should be careful about having too much in their picture, be it too much clutter, too much extraneous background, and nowhere for the eye to freely and automatically focus. Be aware of bushes growing out of people’s heads, posts out of people’s bodies, or some bright object in the background fighting with the intended subject matter. You want the element that drew you to make the picture to be what the viewer’s eye is drawn to first, or make certain that other elements in the image lead the eye to that subject matter. In general, be more aware of getting rid of that which is extraneous or which steals attention from the main subject and the elements that initially made you stop and look. Make certain the viewer can see what made you stop and look. Taking a picture is rather like pointing a finger....“Here, look at this… this right here.”

Second, in the vast majority of instances, it is generally boring composition to center your subject in the bulls-eye, dead center of the picture frame. Compositions that are off center are generally more dynamic and appealing. Draw your picture frame into nine squares. Where the lines intersect are the places where the main focus, subject matter should be positioned. (Select one intersection, not all of them.) Also, diagonal compositions, where your eye is drawn by objects diagonally through the scene, are generally more vibrant and dynamic. Also, be aware of edges and use them to your compositional advantage. It can be interesting to have a subject come out of an edge or touch an edge, dissolve into an edge, rather than float free-form in the middle of the frame. Generally, you should be aware of the rule of thirds for landscape photographs; the sky to ground ratio should be 1/3 to 2/3. In other words, wither the sky should take up two thirds of the picture frame and the ground one third or vice versa. Having half sky, half ground divides the picture frame into halves and halves are static and tend to stop the eye when the two halves meet.

Photography means literally, “writing with light.” Be aware of the light in your photograph. Is it falling on the subject you want people to see? Perhaps moving the object, or yourself, slightly would create a better light situation. Sometimes you may have to wait for the light, or for the subject matter to move so it is correctly positioned in the light. Be aware of too much light on elements that will tend to blow out detail or create a harsh distraction. Several times we have mentioned “catch light” in the eyes. It’s that little twinkle, glint of light off the eyeball, and having it generally makes a subject that has eyes more vital, dynamic, and alive. Also be aware of the color of skies in landscapes. Rarely, if ever, is a sky white. If your sky is white in a landscape, it tends to look like the top of the picture is missing.

Finally, while digital manipulation can be intriguing and fun to play with, do it with taste and moderation. Wildly intense or unnatural colors tend to get in the way. The focus of the viewer becomes the color and not the image. Don’t let your image be overshadowed by overuse of color saturation, or add color choices. Nature’s colors are grand on their own; you probably should make an effort to digitally reproduce the color as close to what was there as you can make it.

All three jurors wish to thank you for the opportunity to view your images. Please take all our comments as efforts to strengthen your efforts and provide some insights that will take your images beyond the norm, and into the realm of the dynamic and awe-inspiring.