Friday, September 29, 2006

slinkies on escalators

Word up, brothas and sistas. Hey, do you guys get just as worked up as I do about getting these posts late?? Hmm... Well, they say that good things come to those who wait, so we're gonna pretend that's applicable in this instance.

Anyway, we shall embark on a journey of ecclesiastical proportions tomorrow as we venture into the realm of the National Cathedral at 11 (meet near the lawn out front). We'll stick with the usual routine of talking about photography (specifically shutter speed) and then we'll have lunch before doing our shoot. Since the weather is supposed to be more awesome than a bucket of oatmeal let's all pack lunches and eat in the rockin' cool garden area next to the Cathedral. Afterwards, we'll take pictures both inside and out.

If you have a tripod, I would recommend bringing it. Shooting inside the Cathedral can be a major pain if you don't have one. I've been told both that the Cathedral does, and does not allow tripods, so we'll find out once we get there. I will also have a calendar of events printed out for you all, so you'll know in advance when and where we'll be this fall.

Can't wait to see you all tomorrow! It'll be fun times, and besides, the weather demands that we enjoy it! Somebody bring some syrup... you're gonna need it!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

a moose once bit my sister

Dude.... Is this not awesome weather we've been having the last couple days?! It's even better than eating a whole stick of butter in one sitting! As I see it, we should carpe diem, dust off the ol' camera, and take some pictures!

Old Town Alexandria is the place to be this Saturday. We'll meet at the Starbucks on King Street at 2:30. I don't think we're gonna have a mad rush of new people, so we won't have to do the usual, "What's your name, where ya from, whaddya do?..." sort of thing. Instead, I thought we could all just sing "Feliz Navidad" and take pictures of people who are trying not to stare at us.

Once we finish that, we'll hit up the old town and see what awaits us. Any photo group veterans out there will know that we've been to Old Town before, but alas, the group has morphed and changed and now a new, bolder group shall marcheth on! Watch ya'self!

Okay but seriously, first 45ish minutes will be talking shop at Starbucks (e.g. what makes a good picture and how to capture it, sort of stuff...) followed by the, "Let's see if all this stuff Stephen is saying is actually true" part where we take pictures with our (hopefully) newfound knowledge.

Is it just me, or am I running in circles? Okay, moral of the story: Old Town, Starbucks, 2:30, be there or else....

Friday, September 15, 2006

Thoughts from an AWOL leader

Hey everybody! It feels like it's been forever --or, at least half of a forever-- since we hung out / took pictures / made fun of Stephen. First of all, Tropical Storm Ernesto decided to join us on the 2nd, but I decided that he was a poop head and didn't deserve to be part of our group, so we bailed. Then last week our very own Stuart got himself hitched! I was out of town for the wedding, so we can all blame him for a no-show group last week. Finally, this week I'm going to be out of town once again ...and all the people said, "BOO!" and proceeded to throw tomatoes at me --by the way, does anybody really carry tomatoes around with them just in case they get the perfect opportunity to throw it at someone? Do we have any personal testimonies of anybody that has been hit by one of these tomatoes?? Let me know if you have. I'm way too fascinated by this idea.

Moving on... Actually! Speaking of moving, my brother is going to be moving next weekend (23rd) and we would love some help! Our photo shoot will start in the afternoon that day, but ya know, if you're looking for a good pre-photo-shoot workout, moving some boxes and such might do you some good.

Moving on for real now. This semester (if it ever starts) is destined to be greatness! I haven't laid out a calendar yet (any volunteers?? =) but here's a short list of some of the photo shoots / activities we'll be doing as a group. Some of these you will seriously want to mark your calendars for 'cause they're gonna be swiggityeeeetness! Here's the 411:

Cathedral
Rock Creek Park
Old Town, Alexandria (yes, again)
Night Shoot in Federal Triangle
Sunrise (location TBD)
Sunset at Tidal Basin
Old Town Marina
Corn Maize (ahh yeah!)
Apple Picking (who wants to make me some homemade apple pie?!)
Studio Portrait Session

So those are the shoots we'll be doing, and here are some of the "lessons" we'll go over:

Posing for portrait photography
The business of photography (determining prices)
Selling and Publishing your photos
Understanding Lighting
Shooting in Camera RAW
Building a Portfolio

At the end of the semester, we'll do another photo exhibit at Ebenezers like we did back in May. If that goes well, we'll set up an exhibit/display at Mocha Hut and have the chance to sell our photos!

Basically, there is lots to look forward to this semester, and I think it will be a great chance for us to sort of grow with the group. As I said before, we will definitely still cover the basics of photography --yes, that means I'm going to ramble again about the Rule of Thirds, Depth of Field, B&W VS. Color, etc... You love it and you know it =)

In conclusion, no meeting tomorrow (16th), but after that, get ready for a crazy-fun semester! Can't wait to hang with you all again! Keep on telling me how awesome I am! ...and plant a tree while you're at it. (Kips says:) "Peasthe out."

Friday, September 01, 2006

uh..... yeah

Just in case there was any speculation, we will not be meeting tomorrow (the 2nd). More info about the semester should (hopefully) be found 'round these parts in the next few days, but we'll see how that shapes up. Catch you later, peeps.