Please join us for the RPS April meeting to be held Monday, April 17, 2023, at 7:30 PM in the Reston Community Center at Hunters Woods.  Janet Sifers, one of our members, will take us into the world of Abstract Photography.  Her work is both exciting and mysterious. This meeting would be interesting to both photographers and painters and all are welcome.

Creating Abstracts with Photography

Most photographers have a specialty like nature, flowers, landscapes, or street photography. Just about any of these images can be raw material for abstracts — both found and created — and lead to an amazing new piece of art. In this presentation, we’ll walk through ways to look for abstracts in the images you’re capturing as well as how to create abstracts from images using tools like Photoshop and Fragment.

Janet Sifers 

Janet is an award-winning fine art photographer and technology marketer from Herndon, VA. She is a member of the League of Reston Artists, the Reston Photographic Society, and Falls Church Arts. 

She is inspired by the amazing diversity of our world, from gorgeous outdoor vistas and colorful plants to the lines and shadows of great architecture. With her images, she reminds us to pause and take in the world’s beauty. 

Connect with her on Instagram (@janet.sifers) and Twitter (@JanetSifers) or visit her website​ ​www.janetsifers.com​ to see and purchase her work.

Please join us for the RPS March meeting to be held Monday, March 20, 2023, at 7:30 PM in the Reston Community Center at Hunters Woods.  Patricia will take us to Africa through her photography.  This meeting would be interesting to both photographers and painters and all are welcome.

Africa on Safari, Culture, Stories and Amazing Wildlife   

Another World

Patricia Deege

The African bush is a world that many of us aspire to visit but perhaps will never see.  Patricia’s travels there began in 1989, with subsequent visits in 2013, 2015, and 2019.  Many changes were evident during that time period, but the excitement and fascination of seeing the multitude of wildlife in its natural environment never fades. This story takes you from the jungles of Botswana, to the vast open spaces of Kenya’s Massai Mara, the majesty of Victoria Falls, the marvels of Kafue National Park in Zambia and Huange in Zimbabwe. And, finally, the street life of Arusha in Tanzania and the wonders of Ngorogoro and the Serengeti.

Reston Photographic Society will meet on Feb 27, 2023 at the Reston Community center at Hunters Woods beginning at 7:30 PM.  We are excited to have Sandi Croan as our guest speaker.  Masks will be required for this meeting.

 “Seeing Creatively – Before and After” with Sandi Croan

 Have you ever thought about how many individual decisions, both conscious and unconscious, you make to produce a single photographic image? By breaking down the process using her images and stories, Sandi’s presentation, “Seeing Creatively Before and After,” will take you through the potentially hundreds of steps and decisions that we, as photographers, all make from the moment we decide to take a picture to the final photographic image.  This presentation is geared for all photographers from novices to advanced and will get you to think about your creative process, reinforce what you already know, and hopefully give you some new ideas or approaches to your photography – all in a light-hearted and humorous manner.

Sandi Croan

Sandi Croan is a Northern Virginia photographer specializing in landscape, nature, and travel photography with an eye for capturing the unique and creating fine art for homes and offices.

Sandi has won numerous competitions and awards for her fine art photographs including: 2021 Finalist in Outdoor Photographer’s Natures Colors Contest; Photographer of the Year and Print of the Year numerous times as well as Versatile Photographer of the Year at Northern Virginia Photographic Society (NVPS); Best Landscape and People’s Choice awards at Nature Visions Photography Expo; and Best in Show and 2^nd Place at the juried Meadowlark Photo Expo in Vienna, VA, as well as awards at Art Space Herndon Fine Art Photography Exhibit, Reston Artists PhotoArt, and many more.

Her images have been selected to be put on permanent display at the Fair Oaks Hospital Cancer Center, Inova Schar Cancer Center, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens and the Joseph Miller Center for the Photographic Arts. She has also been juried into numerous art shows. Sandi was a featured artist in Elan Magazine, and her photograph “Blue Lagoon” was on the cover. She has also had photographs published in other local and national magazines.

Sandi has sold many of her photographs to private, corporate and government clients, and does shows for businesses and other local events.

Sandi has been a member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society (NVPS) since 2004 and has served in a variety of board positions since 2005. She served as President of NVPS for two terms from 2009-2011. She also is a speaker and serves as a judge for area photographic clubs, competitions and exhibitions, as well as mentoring high school photography enthusiasts.

You can see a sample of Sandi’s work on www.sandicroanphotography.com

Reston Photographic Society’s November meeting will be held on Zoom and welcome back Lewis Katz.  Lewis has received very positive reviews for his prior presentations to RPS.  Lewis will discuss abstract photography.

Abstract Photography

What is abstract photography? Just an out of focus image – hardly! Abstract photography can take on so many different forms its hard to pin down an exact definition. That is what makes it so fascinating. In this presentation I will cover and discuss the many forms of abstract photography and the techniques used to create them. Simplicity, composition, angle of view, lighting, harmony and most importantly mystery. I discuss how to create effective abstract images using everyday objects, using design elements, using macro lenses, shooting through objects, capturing motion, playing with lighting and how to create a home studio to create and capture abstract images.

Lewis Katz

Photography has been part of me from a young age. An early memory of my Dad is him looking down through the viewfinder of his twin lens reflex camera. He soon graduated to a Konica rangefinder that was constantly by his side. I vividly remember the slide shows of family vacations as well as more private moments shared by my parents. My first camera was the Olympus Pen F half frame beauty and I soon moved through the full line of Olympus OM models. Fast forward to the digital cameras and images of today. I still shoot Olympus but have added a Nikon to the bag.

Emotive displays were not commonplace in my home growing up. The camera and the image became an outlet for suppressed feelings as well as for artistic expression. Many years after college I lived in southern York county Pennsylvania and its rural beauty. Although I had been out west as a teenager it was here that I truly discovered landscape photography. Through my career in the travel industry many other trips followed including visiting most of the major National Parks.

After moving to Baltimore in 2001 I discovered and joined the Baltimore Camera Club. I was quickly in awe and humbled by the talent and more importantly I found the companionship of fellow members which is so important to me to this day. The Baltimore Camera Club remains an integral part of my photography life. I have been honored and have received many awards from the competitions at the club.

Teaching photography is another essential component of my photography life as I love sharing my passion. I currently teach for the Johns Hopkins Odyssey program, the Capital Photography Center of DC and for private students as well. I live for those aha moments that only teaching can provide.

My favorite Ansel Adams quote is “A great photograph is one that truly expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.” In the same way that your camera captures the light being reflected my photography reflects who I am and all of the experiences of my life.

“A still photograph is the illusion of a literal description, of how a camera saw a piece of time and space….I like to think of photographing as a two way act of respect. Respect for the medium, by letting it do what it does best, describe. And respect for the subject, by describing it as it as. A photograph must be responsible to both” Garry Winogrand 1974

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The Critique 

An open conversation to discover our artwork in a new light, to overcome a stasis moment of an unfinished artwork, and to better convey the message we want to transmit to spectators.

A group support for the art makers where judgments are banned, and constructive discussions are welcome.

Join us for a relaxed and artful evening. Bring your painting, drawing, sketchbook, or idea to share with us.

Let’s discover where your lines direct us and what your shapes and colors suggest. Learn more about your artwork and what is hidden inside, a constructive game to open a broader vision of our artwork

Meeting will be at RCC Hunters Woods on Thursday, November 3 from 7-9PM. Please email Antonella to sign up at antomanganelli@aol.com

ABOUT ME:

Antonella Manganelli is a member of the LRA since 2012, she has spent her entire life in art, embracing and experimenting with it through different lenses: as a student, collector, curator, art dealer and artist.

Her interest is in communicating and sharing her vision of life and world through artworks and collaborating with other artists and people who come across her life journey.

She has exhibited her art and curate art shows, throughout Italy in Naples, Rome, and Milan, and in the U.S. in Northern VA, Maryland, Washington DC, and North Carolina.

Join the Virginia Chamber Orchestra with Artworks from the League of Reston Artists on November 5th, 2022 at 8 pm at Lewinsville Presbyterian Church. Tickets available at: https://www.vco.events

For Reston Photographic Society’s first in-person speaker since the Pandemic they welcome back Nikhil Bahl who will discuss techniques for creating dynamic images.  The presentation is at 7:30 PM on October 17 at the Reston Community Center, Hunters Woods. Room 6, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston VA 20191.

Nikhil is a full time professional photographer, author, educator, workshop instructor and environmentalist residing in the Washington D.C. area.  Drawing continuous inspiration from nature, Nikhil adopts novel approaches and seeks meaningful interpretations:  to create photographs that transcend the commonplace, reflect deeper insights, and convey an enchantment of the subject’s beauty.

An offshoot of Nikhil’s fine art photography and love of nature is his documentation of wildlife behaviors and habitats.  As a volunteer with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, his goal is to portray environmental stories with an artistic appeal, so his photographs educate and motivate about the imperative of conservation.

Each year Nikhil leads numerous photography tours and instructional workshops in the United States and abroad. His teaching encourages participants to advance beyond ordinary photos and develop their own style and vision. Nikhil is a popular speaker at photography clubs, expos and industry events. He authored the acclaimed eBook, Creative Interpretations and writes articles on the creative and technical aspects of photography. His work can be viewed at www.nikhilbahl.com.

Techniques for creating dynamic images 

While a great light display can lead to attractive images, a good photographer does not rely on great light to create compelling images. From capturing energy and motion to the serene and surreal, Nikhil will talk about techniques and ideas that you can use to create dynamic images. Nikhil will also give you insights into how and when these techniques are best applied.

The League of Reston Artists Collage Workshop

Date: Sunday, October 16, 3-6 pm

Location: Reston Community Center at Hunters Woods, Room #6

Cost: Free to LRA Members!

Instructor: Bettina Brunner

Contact: bettina@bettinabrunner.com

Phone: 571-242-9758

The League of Reston Artists is sponsoring a Collage Workshop for LRA members on October 16 from 3 to 6 pm at the Reston Hunters Woods Community Center. In the workshop, each student will each make collage papers using a variety of tools, papers and techniques, then combine them to make a triptych of small collages. LRA will cover the supplies and other workshop expenses so there is no cost to our LRA members to participate. To sign up for the workshop, email the instructor, Bettina Brunner at bettina@bettinabrunner.com or phone her at 571-242-9758. Class size is capped at 20 participants, so sign up soon!

About the instructor: Bettina Brunner is an abstract artist from Reston Virginia who loves leading art workshops and exploring different mediums. Check out her work at bettinabrunner.com.

The Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens is located in Washington, DC. It is an Opulent 25 acre estate with 18th Century Russian Imperial & French decorative art. There are 13-acres of gardens to walk and enjoy! The estate is the former residence of Marjorie Merriweather Post.

A café is on the estate that provides food and beverages.

Their website provides details of all there is to see at this estate! www.hillwoodmuseum.org/estate

Special Exhibition: Grace of Monaco

Trip Date and Time: Wednesday, September 21, 2022 from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm

Complimentary Transportation, Admission Ticket and Tours of the Mansion and Grounds at Hillwood Estate will be provided FREE by the League of Reston Artists for any active LRA Member and One guest. You will have an hour after the tours to have lunch, wander the grounds, shop the museum store, or view additional exhibits. Transportation to and from the museum will be provided by Reston Limousine. Participants will depart from the Lake Anne Plaza parking lot at 10:00 am so please arrive by 9:30am. Dropoff will be back at Lake Anne at 3:30pm.

Any additional guest museum tickets can be reserved and purchased on-line. www.hillwoodmuseum.org/estate

If you would like to reserve transportation and ticket(s), please send a confirmation email to president.lra@gmail.com by September 7, 2022. Include member name with a mobile contact phone number and guest name if any.

Reply soon as Space is limited!