One Minute Update (Sep 24th)

Greeting to all,

Another great week for the Group.  We taught somewhere more than 30 Boy Scouts a photography class so that they could obtain their Photography Merit Badge.  Thanks to Paul Martin and Arnett Luce for their time and their efforts.  Arnett is a Scout mom with a passion for photography.  Paul equally shares a passion for photography-- bottom line thank goodness for Arnett and Paul.

We are exploring becoming the Official Boy Scout Pikes Peak Council Photography Merit Badge Sponsor.  We taught more than 70 Scouts this year and hope to teach more than 100 in 2015.  We are also going to try and start a Scout photo contest.  But I can tell you that 'baby steps' need to happen.  We need to take it all one step at a time.  One of the challenges is funding our efforts.  IF you would like to contribute to the Scout Photography Program please visit this link https://secure.meetup.com/creative-photography/contribute/

Other 'big news' is that we are giving away a seat to a Great Sand Dunes Photography Workshop ($225) being held 7-10 November.  The Workshop is being hosted by Professional Photographers of Colorado Master Craftsman Photographer of the Year for 2013 Jeff Johnson.  That title should be enough to impress you (it mean that of all the Master Craftsmen Professional Photographers in Colorado Jeff was chosen as THEE BEST.) But if you need to be further impressed you can check out Jeff's work and Workshops at http://www.soulroadtrips.com  I am very excited to be able to offer Jeff's workshops to the Group.  He is a consummate professional, he has a great sense of humor and knows how to have FUN with photography.

On the topic of Student Scholarships we dropped off our display check to Carol Turner the teacher that we are working with for our first Student Photography Scholarship at CMJH.  It was great to see Carol again and share her enthusiasm for teaching photography.  This past week we also Liberty High School and their administration has agreed to be our 2nd Student Photography Scholarship partner.  So stay excited and tuned in to find out how our outreach to students is going.
heard from Leah Rachlis at the Visual Arts Department of

We have grown some new Co-Organizers this week.  In no order of importance please join me in welcoming Chris Gilbert, Skip Chang and Carol Turner to the leadership team.  Chris and Skip will take over the Student Photography Scholarship program and Carol has agreed to share her knowledge and be part of the Community Photography Critique team.  IF you are interested in entering the contest (every dues paying member is eligible to enter (1) image for FREE) and would like to have someone to look at your entries for you before you submit them, please plan to attend the Critique on the 22nd of November. Sign up today

This week I also confirmed our gallery display space at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts.  Winners

in the 'Community' Photo Contest will hang at the gallery for the month of March.  You can look forward to hearing more about the 'Community' Photo Contest as the weeks pass by.

Photo by Richard Firth

Think with all that said, I will sign off with that. . .

Let's have FUN!
Charlie

Our Vision:  Educate, Showcase and Serve our Community Founded May 17th 2007

One Minute Update (10 Sept)

Hi Everyone,

I had quite a busy week last week.  So I have lots of 'stuff' to share.  One of the exciting things that happened was I got our CMJH Student Scholarship check printed.  I am still trying to find a 2nd school to sponsor, and I have heard lots of suggestions, but I actually need the teacher's information.  When I check the schools web site no Photography Teacher is listed.  So the search will continue.  FYI-- I enjoy being an advocate.  But I have to tell you that it is a little unsettling when you consider that only a few kids choose to take a photography class.  Only a few of those will go on to study photography in College or at a Trade School.  I think it makes what we as a Group are doing that much more important.  Here is hoping that you agree.

Chris shows off the brand new
CSCPG t-shirts

Member Profile:  I would like to recognize Chris Gilbert this week.  I cornered him behind the Mike's Camera and got him to sign on to being a Co-Organizer for the Group.  So for those of you looking for photography education options, Chris will be sharing what classes the camera shop has to offer.  There are certainly a lot of options out there.  He also agreed to share us with his student and teacher contacts.  I look forward to turning the whole program over to this smart and talented young man.  (Many of you may recall that Chris took the Best of Show award in our very own 'Community' Photo Contest.)

My plan for the new t-shirts is to pin 'Community' Photo Contest winners ribbons to the shirts and present them at the 2015 Gala at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts.  The other way that you can earn one is by referring a friend to to join the Group (and pay their dues :-)

I could of course sell them, but driving around and selling t-shirts out of the trunk of my car has little appeal to me.  Just sharing.  Sure we will figure something out.  Maybe you'll be able to get one for a $25 donation to the Student Scholarship Fund.  Just ideas.

I am looking into having the CSCPG become a 'Ready when the Time Comes' partner with the Red Cross Visual Story Telling class on Sept. 18th at the Red Cross Headquarters on 8th Street starting at 6 pm.  I need 10 people to volunteer to be volunteers to get us into the program.  There is a lot of different opportunities.  We already have a Visual Story Telling arrangement with the Red Cross and if your interested their will be a

I would be happy to hear from anyone in the Group that is attending Pikes Peak Community College's Photography classes.  I would like to see us find ways to collaborate with them and maybe even start a Photography Club for the college if there is interest.

Good Links to Follow:
National Press Photographers Association has put up their past issues up online.  I think everybody knows that Photojournalism is my background.  I am currently a Retired member of NPPA and am happy to talk to anyone thinking about a future career in Visual Story Telling.  If you enjoy being blown away by photographs check out their Digital Archives.

I readily admit I am a dinosaur.  I would say that I am still a 50/50 photographer in that I could make a decent image with a completely manual camera as easily as I could make a decent image with a DSLR.  It is what it is.  But I am not a dim-witted dinosaur.  I continue to read and avoid the tar pits that digital photography has produced.  So I read with interest the "Facebook Zero: Considering Life After the Demise of Organic Reach" whitepaper.  But the gist is pretty simple that to quote the findings "the best thing you can do now is to stop asking people to follow you on FaceBook."  It all has to do with FaceBooks algorithm maneuvers.  The paper goes on to say that "Soon the only viable option for having posts seen on Facebook fans will be to pay for promoted posts."  Which would make perfect sense for a profit-minded Facebook.

Subscribe! it is only$1.66 an issue!

On a more pleasant note "download a free return on investment guide that breaks down the important steps in planning your photography business's marketing budget at ppmag.com/profit-center." (courtesy Angela Pointon, Professional Photographer Magazine) and OBTW if you REALLY care about marketing visit Angela's web site steeltoeimages.com and subscribe to her blog and get her weekly eBlasts.  Just a tip...

Also in the July issue is an article on "Perfectly Flawed" images by Felice Boucher who "reinvigorates her art with an ongoing personal project.

Kelly Brown, (of Australia)
 won a Gold medal in
the Portrait category.

And finally...here is the link to the Inaugural World Photographic Cup 2014 Digital Archives.  The World Photographic Cup is a not-for-profit organization founded as a cooperative effort by The Federation of European Photographers (FEP) and Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Its singular goal is to unite photographers in a spirit of friendship and cooperation.  The WPC organizing body is made up of photographers from across Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Slovakia and the United States.

Photo by Richard Firth

Think I will sign off with that. . .

Let's have FUN!
Charlie

Our Vision:  Educate, Showcase and Serve our Community