Film Noir Photo Shoot – Members of the WPC

Film Noir Photo Shoot – Members of the WPC

by Steve Iadarola

The Worcester Photography Center, aka “The Worcester Photography Meetup” is a collection of amateur and professional photographers.  The group was created so like minded photographers can gather and discuss their enjoyment of photography and pass along ideas and information to those just starting out and share tips and network with other professionals. The group is open to all genre’s of photography as the idea behind the group is to share our love and excitement of photography in all it’s forms.  Occasionally, we even get together and create some amazing photographs.

I am not really sure how our latest photo shoot started out, but I think it is safe to say the concept was suggested during one of the monthly gathering a few months ago.  Once the concept of a Film Noir style photo shoot was born, a few of the members jumped at the opportunity and the planning began.  A casting call was put out by John on an online modeling/photographer forum, the studio was secured and the ideas for scene, sets design and props started flying around.

Fast forward a few weeks to early November.  It was early Saturday morning when a group of six Worcester Photography Center members and three models invaded Jeff Baker’s photo studio, Visions by Baker in Worcester, Massachusetts.  After a brief meet and greet, we started to finalize the wardrobe and the sets.

A total of five scenarios were planned for the four hour shoot.  The first concept was designed by Dana Lane.  His series of three scenes were designed to tell a story.  The end result was to tell the story in the form of a triptych.  The concept was to tell a story of Love, Cheating and Revenge.

Film Noir Triptych by Dana Lane

The last two concepts were designed by John Beilawski, Steve Iadarola and Dana Lane.  The concept was to tell the story of a card game gone bad.

Poker Game I by Steve Iadarola

Poker Game II by Steve Iadarola

The lighting for most of the images consisted of between 1-3 Alien Bee Strobes with a 10 or 20 degree grid on them and where triggered using Pocket Wizard radio transceivers.  The brick wall was a 4×8 foot sheet of fake brick paneling that can be found at your local home supply megastore.

I think the shoot was a great success.  It was fun to meet and shoot with some new photographers and models.

Models:  Erika Rose,

Erika Rose by Steve I

Model :  Jo-Jo,

Model JoJo by Donna Dufault

Model : Josh Silver

Josh by Steve I

Photographers: Donna Dufault, Maureen O’Sullivan, John Bielawski, Jeff Baker, Dana Lane and Steve Iadarola

Scene1-Steve I

Scene 2-Steve I

Scene 3-Steve I

Photo Contest- Art in the Park – Elm Park that is…

 

Art in the Park

 

Photo Contest!

Sponsored by the Worcester Cultural Commission and the Worcester Photography Center

 

The Worcester Cultural Commission and the Worcester Photography Center are getting together to bring you the “Art in the Park Photo Contest.” There are many events and happenings surrounding this years Art in the Park and we are hoping you‘ll all want to help capture these fun events and then share the images with the Cultural Commission. There are some very impressive pieces in the park this year and having you all show them off with your photographic creativity is a perfect challenge for a photo contest.

 

What are the contests categories?

The subject matter is the Art Work in Elm Park, but these are the categories to submit your images into for the contest:

·       The Art Itself: Images of the art visibly identified within the context of Elm Park

·       Interaction: Public’s reaction to or interaction with the sculptures

·       Daily Life: Sculpture as a backdrop to daily life in Elm Park

·       The Events:

• Art in the Park Opening Ceremony, August 6th
• ART in the PARKing Lot, August 9th
• Art that Hangs Around, August 13^th
• Creative Laundry, August 14th
• Fresh Floral Art, August 15^th

Each Category Winner will receive a prize and there will be a Grand Prize awarded for the best overall image.

Each entrant may submit entries in any Category he/she wishes and may submit entries at different times during the entry period, but no entrant may submit in total more than six (6) entries. Images Must be Submitted by Oct 5^stth 2009 Midnight

For more information, rules, to learn about the Judges and the prizes: please visit the Worcester Photography Center Web Site at http://worcesterphotographycenter.org

 

Do you accept photos shot with a digital camera, or digitally manipulated?

Yes. In fact – We are only accepting digital images to be uploaded to the Meetup Web Site. Digitally manipulated photos are also acceptable, and certainly encouraged. Photographs must be in digital format. Only online entries will be eligible. No print or film submissions will be accepted for entry into this Contest. The photograph need not be taken with a digital camera; scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are acceptable.

 

What are the image specifications?

• Image Size: Image should have a long dimension of at least 1000 pixels and no more than 3000 pixels

• Save file as (JPG) with maximum quality.
• Color Space: Adobe1998 or sRGB  
• File Size: The file should be no more than 8×10 at 300 DPI. 
• You MUST label you photo with your name and what category it is being submitted for. Example: DonnaDufault_Events1.jpg

 

Where do I submit my Photos?

http://www.flickr.com/groups/artparkphotocontest09/ 

You MUST label you photo with your name and what category it is being submitted for. Example: DonnaDufault_Events1.jpg

 

Who are the judges?

To determine the grand Prize and Category Winners and Honorable Mentions, we are employing a panel of 5 judges, all from the Worcester Cultural Arena. The Judging will take place at the Worcester Art Museum on October 18^th - 2PM and be open to the Public. All Folks who enter the contest are invited to come see the images judged, hear feed back and comments about their entries, and view all the submissions! Awards will be given at the end of the evening.

They are:

Alex Dunn – Worcester Art Museum

Deb McNamara – Chair of the Worcester Cultural Commission

Kate Egnaczak – Publications at WAM

TBA Worcester Cultural Commissioner

Elm Park Area Biz Owner

 

Who can enter the Contest?

The Art in the Park Photo Contest is open to all photographers, both students and non-students, amateurs and professionals – anyone that is a member of the Worcester Photography Center. Joining the Worcester Photography Center is free and you can sign up and RSVP at http://photo.meetup.com/22

Contest Prizes

The first-place Winner in each Category will each receive a small gift basket containing but not limited to: 2 Passes to the Worcester Art Museum, Awards Certificate, and a bit of Photography Swag.

Grand Prize Winner will receive a Photo Gift Basket-  2 Passes to the Worcester Art Museum, Awards Plaque, and Photography Swag….and much more! (We are still gathering prizes from area businesses…)

 

What about copyright?

Copyright(s) remain with photographer.

Small Print: Photo Release: If any persons appear in the photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner set forth in these Official Rules without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any photograph is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.

By entering this contest you are giving permission to the Cultural Commission to use your images for Publicity of the Art in the Park events. Basically it is a Publicity Release and License in which the entrant warrants that he/she is the owner of the photograph and grants to WCC and its licensees the irrevocable perpetual, nonexclusive license to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry (along with a name credit) in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest and Worcester Cultural Commission without additional compensation.  No prize transfer, assignment, or substitution by winners permitted. If a prize (or part of a prize) is unavailable, the Sponsor, in its discretion, reserves the right to substitute the original prize (or that part of the prize) with an alternative prize to the equal monetary value and/or specification, unless to do so would be prohibited by law. NONCOMPLIANCE OR RETURN OF PRIZE NOTIFICATION AS UNDELIVERABLE, WHETHER BY REGULAR MAIL OR BY EMAIL, MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION AND SELECTION OF AN ALTERNATE POTENTIAL WINNER. Any of the above can change at anytime!

The Digital Asset Management Workshop: Story by Jeff Langevin

The Digital Asset Management Workshop story by Jeff Langevin

Benjamin Franklin once stated, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.”  Well, had good old Ben lived in the digital age, he’d be wrong.  Because another certainty is digital media will eventually go bad.  Even if its never happened to you, trust me, you want to plan for it.  Enter the world of Digital Asset Management (D.A.M.). 

 

On Saturday, May 30th, 15 photographers descended on Worcester to meet at Visions by Baker photography Studio to learn D.A.M.  I went looking for alternative methods for parts of my own workflow.  But it was also clearly eye-opening for those attendees with little exposure to the topic. 

 

The workshop was divided up into two sections.  The first discussing good practices for managing photos and the second covering the three workflows used by the workshop presenters -Scott Erb, Steve Stearns, and Steve Iadarola.

 

The first section covered topics like folder and file naming conventions.  This included using codes in file names to indicate a point in the workflow or the end purpose of the image.  It also covered methods for grouping images for backing up to DVD and other media – probably one of the most important things you can do as a digital photographer.  While I’ve never lost an image, I have had hard drive failures.  Fortunately, back-ups saved me in those instances.  Believe me, I know photographers that haven’t been so fortunate.

 

The second session put into practice what was learned in the first.  The three workshop presenters showed the software they use to manage their images and the processes they each use downloading, archiving, importing, and cataloging their images.  The session covered the two biggies in the cataloging software arena: Lightroom by Adobe and Aperture by Apple.  Though there are many more software packages out there, the concepts are similar regardless of your chosen software.

 

You may be thinking to yourself, “Digital Asset Management sounds about as interesting as watching paint dry.”  Fortunately, the presenters made the topic interesting and the group interaction with questions and in-depth discussion made for an enjoyable afternoon. 

 

D.A.M. can seem pretty intimidating at first look.  But, in reality, it is fairly easy once you’ve gotten a workflow down.  And put simply, its something that all digital photographers must learn.  Because, if you don’t, you’re gambling with all that hard work you’ve put into creating your images. 

 

So the next time this workshop runs, take it.  I’ll guarantee that you’ll be glad you did the first time you experience a hard drive crash or need to dig up that image from two years ago for a client.

 

DAM Workshop Attendees Worcester Photo Center Meetup