Coastal Photographer's Guild bio picture

Coastal Photographer's Guild

The Coastal Photographer Guild’s mission is to be an effective, vibrant advocate for all photographers of any skill level in our community and to provide an opportunity for area members to cultivate photographic expertise in a supportive, enjoyable atmosphere. Membership includes beginners, serious amateurs and working professionals; providing great opportunities for networking, questions, and informal education.

Our meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month from 7p.m. until around 9p.m. The location is at the end of the St. Simons airport at the Glynn County Police Station. (1927 Demere St., SSI, GA) They have graciously opened their doors for our meetings and here we have a comfortable setup complete with a projector for our homework display.

During our meetings, we have a presentation of the previous month's homework assignment with a critique, a presentation from either a guild member or guest speaker that will relate to the upcoming homework. We also try to include workshops and field trips to further drive home the topic for the month. As always, we continue to tweak our format and are always hoping for fresh eyes to help us fine tune our two hours together. Please come visit as a guest and see how you like us.   

Image to the left is our Big Photo Show winner - Photographer: Jim Squires. 

Upcoming workshops…

At our last meeting, Jim made an announcement about The Mindful Eye website. He sent me an email the other day after gathering all the workshops offered by the group. Here is a list and we owe Jim S. a big Thank You for researching this for us:

The Mindful Eye Photography School – TME 2011 Workshops

  • Jekyll Island – Light, Place and The Grand Scale Scenic Photograph  – Feb 23-27, 2011
  • Next Step: The Artist Journey – Savannah, Ga.  – March 20-26, 2011
  • Callaway Gardens and Warm Springs – April 5-10, 2011
  • Street Portraiture in Savannah, Ga. – March 8-13, 2011
  • New Mexico and the Spirit of Georgia O’Keefe – April 30-May 6, 2011
  • Composition Intensive in Savannah, Ga. – September 13-18, 2011
  • Grand Teton National Park – September 24-30, 2011
  • Arches National Park – October 8-14, 2011
  • Zion National Park – Oct 29-Nov 4, 2011

I believe there is another workshop coming up as well that Barney is attending, but for the life of me, I can’t find it in my emails. I’ll update the post when I locate it. I want to say it’s in Atlanta for an architectural workshop and is limited to 12 people. I’ll keep looking.

A Local Contest…

One of our members sent in this neat contest for a Jekyll Island coffee table book. Please make special note of the Rules section, especially bullet item three. This should not dissuade you, just make you aware.

The deadline for entry submissions is September 22nd, 2010.

Calling all Poets and Photographers

Everything you need for The Big Photo Show…

Select the links for entry form and calendar you can keep handy:
TBPS Calendar
TBPS EntryForm 2010

TBPS-Calendar

April’s Meeting…

First I must apologize… I have just been incredibly busy and haven’t had the opportunity to update the site lately.  I do however, want to quickly extend a great big huge THANK YOU to Bobby Haven for being our guest speaker at our April meeting. For those who were able to make it to the meeting, we got a day in the life of the chief photographer for The Brunswick News. He took us through his way of approaching a shoot, getting the insurance shot and then working the scene to get other compelling shots. He made us think about composition, lighting and general interaction with a subject. Thank you Bobby for sharing your enthusiasm for our little hometown paper!

Other things we need to take care of are dues for the club. If you are up-to-date, many thanks for signing on again for another year of fun and learning. Others who haven’t renewed yet, you received an email from Richard as a reminder. If you plan on renewing, please let us know as soon you can. We do understand that sometimes you need a break or interests can wax and wane, if you have decided not to renew, just respond to the email so that we can get our books in-line.

This Saturday, May 8th, we’ll be going on our field trip to a private rose garden. We hope you can make it. There’s a link with all the information below.

I hope to put another blog up before our next meeting, but just in case – remember the homework is photojournalism and telling a story in no more than three photos. Bobby will be back to guest critique so let’s make him proud!

May – Rose Garden Field Trip
CPG Membership Application 2010
CPG 2010 Dues Notice

March’s meeting and field trip…

All I can say is — they were both a BLAST!!! If you missed them, you missed a wonderfully educational piece from Rick on F-stops and “What the F” are they (Cute presentation opener by the way Rick), as well as Steve doing a very well received presentation in how he prepares for his own photo shoots. I had so many people after the meeting come up to me and say how helpful the presentation was. A great big HUGE thank you to Steve for getting up amongst his peers and letting us know his little secrets.

I also wanted to share with you all how a guest from that night has gotten back with me and told me how much she enjoyed the meeting. She said it was like attending a mini-class — Yay!!! That’s exactly what we were trying to accomplish and still keep it fun and we did it! Our format seems to be falling into place with a constructive critique opener from the previous month’s homework assignment, a 5-minute talk on a photographic subject (this time was F-stops) and a presentation on a topic that will flow into that month’s homework assignment. We’re getting the hang of it now and we’ll repeat next month :)

Oh yes, and our field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo was just perfect. I think Vickie ordered up a perfect weather day for us that Saturday – was that all your doing Vickie too? She organized and put together a great ‘on your own’ photo shoot at the zoo. We all met at 9am then headed out for adventure. Lunch was also scheduled at the Trout River Cafe where we could all meet back up and talk about the day. I’m sorry I had to miss it, the Florida pollen got the best of me and had to leave for tissue and antihistamines around 11:30.

Don’t forget homework this month is “People’s Choice”. I’m sure we’ll have some wonderful shots from the zoo and if you weren’t able to make it, no problem – it’s your choice. Think about Steve’s presentation on setting up your shot and get the best photo by waiting for the moment and working your subject. I can’t wait to see everyone’s homework! Be sure to send to cpgpictures@gmail.com for all homework submissions (member’s only).

If you haven’t come out to one of our meetings yet, what are you waiting for? Come as a guest and see if it’s for you. We have all skill levels from beginner to advanced and we all get something out of it. So if you think we’re just a bunch of advanced shutterbugs – think again and come on out.

Here are the bulletins Richard put together for our April meeting.

The Big Photo Show…

The Big Photo Show 2010Okay everybody, here’s what you’ve been waiting for… The Big Photo Show Entry Forms – 2010

Here is a breakdown of the important information, but please download the entire rules and entry information from the link above.

  • Important Dates
    • Early application fee ($20) due no later than June 18th
    • Late application fee ($30) due no later than June 26th
    • Work drop off at Glynn Art begins June 23 and no later than June 26th
    • Awards reception at Glynn Art July 1 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM (Presentation at 6:15PM).
  • Entries will be displayed at Glynn Art Association during the entire month of July.
  • Early entry fee is $20 for up to three photos (no later than June 18)
  • Late entry fee is $30 for up to three photos (June 19 – June 26.)
  • Entrants are limited to members of the CPG in good standing at least 60 days prior to the show (4/26).
  • Photos that have won an award in any contest are excluded from entry
  • Five Categories:

    • (1)  Wildlife;
    • 2) Macro/Close-up;
    • 3) People (includes portrait);
    • (4) Extreme Digital;
    • (5) Landscape
  • Photo must be ready to hang with back wire not visible from the front. Glass is required for framed/matted prints and optional as appropriate for other presentation styles. Maximum exterior dimensions are 24 in X 32 in and minimum dimensions 8 in. X 10 in.

***This is a members only competition, so please make sure you have your dues up-to-date.

March meeting…

Here is the bulletin for our next meeting. Also, the homework information is here in case you missed it:
CPG March Meeting Bulletin

The homework is designed to let us understand how to adjust to light sources. This is one of those aspects of photography which all of us should know.
CPG Homework for March

We’re getting details for The Big Photo Show coming together and will have something posted before long.

Thanks,
-Debbie

Important Things on the Horizon…

Photo courtesy of: Bob Kelterborn

Photo courtesy of: Bob Kelterborn

Hey Everyone,

Our last meeting was a great turnout for current members, new members and guests as well (they don’t know it yet, but they’re already future members – no subliminal messaging will be in the remainder of this post) :-)

Harlan was selfless enough to devote some of his time to come back in and critique the work on our homework assignment. For those of you who missed our January meeting, Harlan Hambright, local and well renowned architectural photographer did a presentation on how to capture texture and beauty in something we see everyday… architecture. Following his presentation, as part of keeping a common thread, our homework assignment was to shoot an architectural piece and submit for a critique from none other than our presenter. It was a wonderful lesson in how to look for the light. How does if fall on the structure? Can you see dimension and texture? Many people after the critique came up to me and said they learned so much about light following the critique. Kudos and Thanks to Harlan for his time to the Guild.

Photo courtesy of: Jim Squires

Photo courtesy of: Jim Squires

Next is a couple of housekeeping items. It’s renewal time for the Coastal Photographer’s Guild and Glynn Art Association. In order to be a member of CPG, you must also be a member of Glynn Art Association. Please download the following documents in order to renew. Deadlines are fast approaching (March 31st) so please get your dues in as soon as you can.

Glynn Art Association Membership Dues / Renewal
CPG Membership Dues / Renewal Application 2010

Also, Vickie M. is doing some strong research in making our next field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo an exciting one. That will be in a separate post with all of the final details, but we did want you to know she is getting together a time to meet, go out on our own and if you so desire… meet up at one of the on-site restaurant establishments so we can all reconvene and talk about our morning. Thank you Vickie for getting that rolling for us.

Photo couresy of: Rick Lutz

Photo couresy of: Rick Lutz

To preface our field trip, CPG’s own Steve K. will be doing a presentation on planning your shot. Basically it’s everything from the night before a shoot to all the preparations he makes during the actual shot. He is an amazing nature photographer, well… more like he’s an amazing photographer period. He manages to get exquisite shots and now we’ll get the opportunity to ask “Hey, how’d you do that”?

Another post to come along shortly is the 2nd Annual Big Photo Show. Remember, you must be a CPG member in order to exhibit (there’s another reason to join right). If you click the link above that says Big Photo Show – 2009 you can see all of the entries – It was such a good turnout.

Keep checking back for more updates,
-Debbie

We have a full agenda for February’s meeting

In case you are looking for the documents for this week’s meeting, here is the bulletin, homework assignment and supplemental handout.

CPG MEETING 2 18 10 HOMEWORK
CPG MEETING 2 18 10 BULLETIN
Color Space supplemental handout

See you tomorrow,

-Debbie

Program Commitee Needs Your Input

Hey everyone, just wanted to do a really quick post and see if we can’t get a little input from you all. Our Program Committee is meeting next Wednesday (Feb. 10th) to finalize our calendar. If there are any photography topics you’d like to hear discussed or taught, please comment on this post before the 10th.

Also, if you have any ideas for workshops or field trips, we’d love to get your input — we are but a small group that wants to represent the entire club — help us make this a good one for all by submitting your ideas in the comment section below.

Thanks a bunch,
-Debbie