The annual banquet dinner and awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, September 20.  RSVP by September 7 by mailing in the registration form.

Time: 5:30 pm (Doors open for guests at 5:15 pm Come early for no-host cocktails and enjoy the PRINT Exhibit.)
Place: Michael’s at Shoreline – 2960 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mtn View

Full details can be found at http://www.pacamera.com/mppa/mppaBanquet.html

View the winning competition images here.

Judge: Dick Stahlke

Image of the Month
Stephen Terlizzi- “Reflecting on Success”

General B

• 1st – Stephen Terlizzi- “Reflecting on Success”
• 2nd – Karen Aden – “Spring Runoff in Yosemite”
• 3rd – Sarah Mitchell  – “Up Up and Away!”
• HM- John Brittain – “Chilean Brooms”

General A

• 1st – Ted Nidy – “Twirly Suckers”
• 2nd – Lou Beaudet – “Sorry Boss, I Can’t Get Rid of the Gray Lines”
• 3rd – Dawn Nidy – “Slush Puppies”
• 4th – Dawn Nidy – “Beach Umbrellas Aerial View”
• 5th – Trudi Clifton-Vizvary – “Spring Salad”
• HM – Richard Johnson – “The Book”
• HM – Janet Morrison – “Sahara Desert Oasis: Libya”

Monochrome

• 1st – Ted Nidy – “Repeating Arches”
• 2nd – Lou Beaudet – “Save my Children, Please!”
• 3rd – Dawn Nidy – “Wine Bottles”

Special Category: Travel

• 1st – Janet Morrison – “Ready to Snorkel in the Galapagos”
• 2nd – Janet Morrison – “Sahara Village: Algeria”
• 3rd – Lana Hysinger – “Maasai Grandmother”
• 4th – Karen Aden – “Old Town Geneva, Switzerland”
• 5th – Lana Hysinger – “Transportation in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China”
• HM – Sarah Mitchell – “Towering Spider in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan”

Judge: Jim Hager
Special Category: Nature

Club results: 6/28 entries (21%)

General B:

• Award of Merit – “All dressed up and no place to go” – Peter Ebbing
• Honorable Mention -  “Mt Moran at Oxbow” – Bill Jennings
• Honorable Mention – “Torres Del Paine” – John Brittain

General A:

• Award of Merit – “Maroon Bells” – Darrel Torgerson
• Honorable Mention – “Waterslide in the Poconos” – Lou Beaudet

Monochrome:

• Award of Merit – “Woven Shadows” – Lou Beaudet

View the full list of results for all clubs here.

• Birds in their Habitat
• Bird Portraits
• Bird Behavior
• Endangered SpeciesHuman Interaction,Birds of the World. 

Participants can begin submitting images to the SFBBO on July 27th, 2009. Submission must be received before October 9th, 2009.

One of our members,  Stephen Terlizzi, has started a new website called http://www.wearephotographers.com

Their first content theme is “Scenes of Summer.”  The first 750 entries have the chance to win great prizes and get their entries judged by local prestigious judges.

Prizes from from Keeble & Shuchat photo store in Palo Alto:

• First prize: $1500 in merchandise
• Second prize: $500 in merchandise
• Third prize: $250 in merchandise
• Up to five additional awards of recognition

The competition judges are:

• Gary Fong: Genesis Photo Agency, Former Director of Photography SF Chronicle, Pulitzer Prize winner
• Kim Komenich: Asst. Professor of Multimedia at SJSU, Former photographer at SF Chronicle, Pulitzer Prize winner
• Tom Kennedy: Kennedy Media, Former AME Washington Post Online, Director of Photography for National Geographic Magazine

Enter at: http://www.wearephotographers.com/contest
The contest entry fee is $10 for a portfolio of 3 images which are judged together.  Entry deadline is September 8 or when they receive the 750th entry, whichever is first.

Info from one of our members, Stephen Terlizzi, on his new website for photographers:

WeArePhotographers.com Launches New Online Community for the Advancement of Digital Photographers

The site uses a unique philosophy of “The Scene, The Shot and The Shop: A Holistic View of Photography” to evaluate and improve today’s digital photographers, from the advanced enthusiast to the entry-level professional. Through access to award-winning photography experts on our Council of Photographers, combined with a wide range of educational tools and social networking, our members can learn how to make compelling photographs, instead of simply taking pictures.

“Approximately every 12 seconds, a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) camera is sold in the U.S. with the dream of making outstanding, potentially sellable, photographs. We help people make that dream a reality,” said Stephen Terlizzi, CEO of WeArePhotographers.com.  “Access to mentoring is key.”

Our professional Council of Photographers includes a Pulitzer Prize Photography judge, several Pulitzer Prize winners, a leading sports photographer whose pictures are in the Baseball and Football Halls of Fame, and a former photography editor of National Geographic magazine.

“As someone who believes passionately in photography’s power to communicate, I am excited to be part of this project.  I hope we can encourage others to grow their skills and have fun creating visual images with impact,” said Tom Kennedy, founder of Kennedy Media and former managing editor of multimedia at Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive and former director of photography at National Geographic Society.

To help further improve our members’ photography, we offer our “Photo Gauntlet™” where a professional photographer from our Council of Photographers will critique selected photographs on-line.   This critique is complemented by our monthly contests that provide a venue for users to gauge their skills against their peers, win valuable prizes and gain exposure for their work.   Sponsored by Keeble and Shuchat Photography – Northern California’s Premier Digital Imaging Store, the “Scenes of Summer” photography contest challenges our users to deliver not one, but three compelling photographs in a mini-portfolio that illustrates the themes of summer.

“We are delighted to partner with WeArePhotographers,” said Alain Brie, Sales Manager at Keeble and Shuchat Photography. “We are looking forward to lots of fun while helping the photography community.”

The Scenes of Summer Photography Contest starts on July 15th and runs through September 9th and has a $10 entry fee.  For additional information on the company and our “Scenes of Summer” Photography contest, contact Gary Geschwind.

ABOUT WeArePhotographers.com – Founded by photographers for photographers, WeArePhotographers.com is the recognized destination for online digital photography content for the advanced enthusiast and entry-level professional to help “Elevate Your Talent.”   Highlighted by our professional Council of Photographers, which includes award-winning photographers and photo editors, we offer our customers a valuable experience through our monthly photo competitions, our “Photo Gauntlet” professional critiques and our unique holistic view of photography.  For more information, please visit www.wearephotographers.com.

ABOUT Keeble and Shuchat Photography – Keeble & Shuchat is the premier photographic and digital imaging camera store in Northern California and beyond. KSP has been serving the needs of professional and amateur photographers alike for over 44 years, supplying them with the most complete inventory and most knowledgeable staff.  Classes, seminars and field trips have become an essential way to better educate KSP’s customers. For more information, please visit www.ksphoto.com.

For some stunning images of insects and other critters in flight, visit Stephen Dalton’s home page and just sit back.

http://www.stephendalton.co.uk/

Technical details may be found on the Canon UK site: http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/btl/stephen_dalton.do

I thought you all might enjoy the Wall Street Journal photo blog, which has daily stunning images related to photojournalism.

http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/

Here’s a note from Laurie Naiman of the Palo Alto photo club raving about the Avedon exhibit:

“This retrospective of 60 years of Avedon’s work runs from July 11 thru Nov., and is spectacular (I saw it with friends at a members preview today).

For those who saw his American West exhibit at the Cantor Museum at Stanford a few years ago, this goes far beyond those subjects and into the lives of the rich, famous, powerful and glamorous in the latter half of the 20th century – in a way that only Avedon could have done. And like most good artists, he breaks all the rules, and it’s refreshing.

Details here: < http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/384>

If you haven’t seen the Robert Frank show this is a good excuse to see both, but take a rest or grab lunch in between.”