Join in Scott Kelby's Worlwide Photo Walk on August 23

Author Scott Kelby is organizing a photo walk on August 23rd to celebrate the publication of his new book "The Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers." A photo walk is a social event in which photographers meet at a location, take pictures, and view those pictures afterwards at a restaurant or cafe. Photographers will meet at locations in cities all over the world on the 23rd. After the pictures from each city are taken, they will be posted to groups on the online photosharing site Flickr. The best photos are eligible for prizes and recognition.

In Cleveland the photo walk will happen in the Little Italy neighborhood. Visit the website for a map where they will walk and contact information for the local organizer, Tony Salonia.

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals is organizing the event. Thanks to Howard Kass for bringing this information to our attention.

Where:
Cleveland: Public Parking Lot on corner of E. 119 St. and Mayfield Rd.
Other cities: visit the website.

When:
Saturday, August 23rd, starting at 11 a.m.

Cost:
Free, but participation at each location is limited to 50 people. Register here for Cleveland or any other city.

More Information:
Visit www.photoshopuser.com/photowalk

Parade the Circle: June 14, 2008

Parade the Circle 2006
Photo Credit: Charles Burkett

I've been going to this event for years. This celebration of arts, culture and a sense of whimsy brings out an eclectic mix of people.

Come see The Cleveland Museum of Art's award-winning Parade that integrates visual arts, dance, and music. More than 20 museums, churches, and organizations will sponsor fun, family-friendly activities at Circle Village, presented by UCI. Enjoy a parde through Univerity Circle, live entertainment from some of Cleveland's most talented music and dance groups and delicious treats from local vendors and restaurants.

Time:
06/14/08
Exhibits & Food: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Parade begins at noon

Location
University Circle's Wade Oval
Cleveland, OH 0
Wade Oval, off East Boulevard

Cost:
Free

For More Information:
Including a map and detailed description, visit
http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/parade/html/index.html
Source: the Plain Dealer

Avon's Duct Tape Festival 6/13-6/15

Photo Credit: avonducttapefestival.com

Looking for an interesting photographic opportunity? Attend the Avon Duct Tape Festival. There's a parade on Saturday, June 14 at 10:00 am. It begins at Avon Village School and ends at Avon Middle School.

This information is from the Plain Dealer

What's the most creative thing you ever did with duct tape? Go to the Duct Tape Festival this weekend and get inspired. Pirates are the theme this year at Veteran's Memorial Park, 38975 Detroit Road, Avon, and that means you're likely to see buccaneers, galleons and parrots made of the sticky stuff.

In addition to the art, there will be games, rides and refreshments. Hours are 4 to 11 p.m. today, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 1-866-818-1116 or go to www.avonducttapefestival.com.

The Festival Hours are:
Friday, June 13: 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Saturday, June 14: 11:00 am to 11:00 pm
Sunday, June 15: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Thanks to Simplyjake in the Flickr group Photowalk Cleveland for bringing this to my attention.

June Digital Photo SIG Meeting: Advanced Amateur & Professional Lighting

Professional photographer Marc Golub of Marc Golub Photography and Digital Services Inc. will speak about lighting at the June 2008 Digital Photography Special Interest Group. He will cover topics in advanced amateur and professional lighting, including natural lighting, soft box lighting, and a tennis ball sized light you've never heard of that costs $40 and produces beautiful light. The interior above was photographed with this light.

This talk grew out of my admiration for Marc's control of lighting in his photographs. You can see his other examples of his work from his website and from his Flickr photostream.

Marc literally grew up in the photography business. He has been taking pictures since his father put a camera in his hands at the age of two. He shot for his high school yearbook and college newspaper before joining the family business — Laurel Camera Shops — upon graduating from college.

He left the family business in 1984 and went to work for Jerome Schmelzer & Associates, doing advertising and public relations account and creative work. Wanting "to do his own thing," Golub started his own photography company in 1988.

Marc specializes in editorial photography. Current editorial clients include Crain’s Cleveland Business, The Cleveland Jewish News, Shaker Life Magazine, Cleveland Magazine and Associated Press. He has also created imagery for USA Today, Newsweek and The Plain Dealer as well as a number of other corporations and nonprofit organizations.

A self-described computer guru, Marc uses seven computers — three laptops and four desktops in both Mac and Windows platforms.

When: Thursday, June 19, 2008, at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Maple Heights Branch of the Cuyahoga County Library
5225 Library Lane
Maple Heights, Ohio 44137-1291
Off Libby Road between Broadway & Lee

Cost: Free and open to the public

20th Annual Blossom Time Balloon Festival is This Weekend

Photo by Charles Burkett

The Chagrin Valley Jaycees are once again presenting the Chagrin Blossom Time Balloon Festival as part of its Memorial Day activities. The hot air balloon festival will started today with the "Blossom Glow" where almost a dozen balloons were inflated. Activities will continue over the Memorial Day holiday weekend with balloons being launched and/or landing each day.

This is another great opportunity to take pictures.

When: May 22nd - May 26th, 2008
Here is a schedule of events

Where: All events take place at Chagrin Falls High School (map)

400 E Washington St, Chagrin Falls, OH, (440) 247-2072

For More Information: visit the website for the event.

Veterans Memorial Bridge Tour Saturday, May 24th

The Veterans Memorial Bridge, formerly known as the Detroit Superior Bridge, is open for tours four times a year. On Saturday, May 24th you can tour the lower deck of the bridge. This area is normally closed to the public. If you miss this date, there will be two more this year, Saturday, July 5, 2008 and Saturday, August 30, 2008.

This picture was taken from the lower deck of the bridge
(Photo from Cuyahoga County Engineers Office)

During the tour, you can walk the lower deck of the bridge, take pictures, and learn more about the history of the bridge. The bridge's lower deck was where the street cars ran. It has been closed to the public since 1954 when the street car service was discontinued.

Thanks to the Cleveland Photographic Society for bringing this to my attention.

Time: Saturday, May 24th, 9-3 p.m.

Location: Northeast Corner of W. 25th Street & Detroit Avenue, at the west end of the bridge.
FREE parking is available at the County Engineer’s Bridge Garage, which is located at the tour’s entrance.

For More Information:

• The Cuyahoga County Engineers office has a site devoted to the bridge: http://www.cuyctyengineers.org/subway_tour.htm There you will find details on the tour, pictures of the bridge and from the bridge, and links to past media coverage about the tour.
  
• For questions, please call the Public Information Department of the Cuyaqhoga County Engineers office at (216) 348-3824
• The Cleveland Memory Project has a site devoted to the Veterans Memorial Bridge.
  
• To see pictures taken from of the bridge, there is a group on Flickr.
  

Demonstration of Photoshop Elements 6 on 3/20/08

Photoshop Elements 6 screen, Pictures by Charles Burkett

The March meeting of the Digital Photography Special Interest Group will feature a discussion of Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. We'll pay special attention to the new features that were added in the upgrade from version 5. Charles Burkett will do the presentation.

WHEN: Thursday, March 20th at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Cuyahoga County Library, Maple Heights Branch
5225 Library Lane
Maple Heights, Ohio 44137-1291
Map: http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/Branch.aspx?id=616

2/28: CDPUG Presents Google Applications

Want to know more about the wide world of Google applications? Attend the next meeting of the CDPUG (Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group) on Thursday, February 28th. The title of the presentation is "Rockin’ in the “G” World? What’s It Really Like in the Googleverse?" Topics include Picasa, Google spreadsheets, maps, calendar, alerts, Youtube and Google analytics. You will pick up a googol of useful insights from this presentation.

When: Thursday, February 28, 2008
Reception starts at 6:00 p.m.,
Meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

Speakers: The Cleveland G-7. Spike Radway, Howard Kass, Erin O'Brien, Henry Lee, Anita Orenick, Al Wasco, Penny Stetz

Where: Dodd Camera & Video (Downtown)Map & Driving Directions

Cost: Free for members, $10 for non-members.

March 6th: Photography Lecture at the Akron Art Museum

Lecture:Photobiography with Martin Parr
March 6, 2008, 6:30 pm

British documentary photographer and photojournalist Martin Parr will lecture about his distinguished work and career. Parr’s photographic projects take a critical look at modern society, specifically consumerism, foreign travel and tourism, motoring, family and relationships and food. This lecture is sponsored by The University of Akron Myers School of Art, Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Lecture Series.

Location: Charles and Jane Lehner Auditorium, Akron Art Museum Admission: This program is free and open to the public.

Thanks to the Friends of Photography of the Cleveland Museum of Art for making me aware of this event. Additional information about Martin Parr and the Bidwell's support of the Lecture series was referenced in Brewed Fresh Daily.

Learn to take better portraits with Jack Ulman

Wedding photographer Jack Ulman will share the techniques of
portrait photography that he has developed from taking 40 years of
wedding photographs at the February meeting of the Digital Photography Special Interest Group. He will do a demonstration of portrait photography and share photographs from his extensive portfolio.

Jack has attended a number of our meetings in the past and is a good
example of the wealth of experience that exists in our Digital Photo
SIG group. Jack is a member of the Cleveland Photographic Society and
is responsible for telling me about the group and encouraging me to join.

WHEN: Thursday, February 21st at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Cuyahoga County Library, Maple Heights Branch
5225 Library Lane
Maple Heights, Ohio 44137-1291
Map: http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/Branch.aspx?id=616

January 17th Digital Photo SIG Meeting: Learn to Create Photo Ecards

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

The holidays are over. You intended to get your cards sent earlier. Maybe you got them done on time. Maybe you didn't get to them at all. You think, there must be a better way to send personalized greetings to your friends and family.

At this month's Digital Photo Special Interest Group meeting we'll cover how to create free photo ecards using 4 websites:

Phreetings
Webshots.com
JibJab.com
Smilebox

These sites allow you to put your photographs in greeting cards that can be emailed to your friends and family. All four sites are free or have free offerings.

When: Thursday, January 17th, 2008
6:30 - 8:30

Where: Maple Heights Branch of the Cuyahoga County Library
5225 Library Lane
Maple Heights, OH 44137-1242
MAP

Speaker: Charles Burkett, SIG Leader

----------------------------------------------------------
Post Script: The Powerpoint presentation that I did, complete with links, can be found here.

Meet The Artist: David Bergholz January 29th at 7 p.m.

Fine Arts photographer David Bergholz will appear at a reception for his Play and Learn Photos exhibit currently on display at the Shaker Heights Main Library. He has been a long time photographer and was responsible for commissioning the work of nationally known photographers for 12 years of annual reports while executive director of the George Gund Foundation.

Artist Statement
“I have been a volunteer reader at the Play and Learn Center for the past few years. Since I started this assignment I have also been taking photos of the children. Some of these images on display are mounted in the Center and others are gathered in an album on display in the center. I am very busy in my "retirement" but my time at Play and Learn is the most rewarding fun I have all week. I hope you get some sense of that from viewing these photographs.”

About the Artist
David Bergholz is a fine arts photographer who has exhibited his images and conceptual work at SPACES, Heights Arts, Murray Hill Galleries LLC, the Cleveland Botanical Garden, Firelands Association for the Visual Arts in Oberlin and the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh. His work is represented by Bonfoey Gallery.

Meet the Artist: January 29, 2008, 7 - 8 p.m.

Exhibit on Display: Monday January 07, 2008 - Friday February 08, 2008, 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Where: Main Library, 16500 Van Aken Boulevard | Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120 | 216.991.2030

For more on the exhibit and David Bergholz, visit the Shaker Heights Public Library website.

Herb Ascherman January 25th Gallery Talk: Bodies: 1967 - 2007

Please join Herb Ascherman at the Corcoran Fine Arts Gallery, Shaker Square at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 25th, 2008 for an informal gallery talk about his exhibit Bodies: 1967-2007. The work represents 40 years of Black and White and Platinum photographs that explore human form and sexuality. Admission is limited to those 18 years of age and older.

The photographs include this quotation from Alfred Hitchcock: "I have a feeling that inside you somewhere there's somebody nobody knows about."

What: "Bodies: 1967-2007 -- Photographs by Herbert Ascherman.
When: Through Friday, Feb. 15. (Gallery Talk January 25th, 2008, 7 p.m.)
Where: 13210 Shaker Square, Cleveland.
Admission: Free.
Info: Call 216-767-0770 or go to www.CorcoranFineArts.com.

About Herb Ascherman:

Herbert Ascherman Jr. has been creating fine art portraiture for over 30 years, specializing in stunning black and white and the resurgent art of platinum photography.

Internationally recognized for his photographs of people in creative, commercial, and social settings, Herb’s work has been exhibited and commercially published throughout the US and in Europe, Japan and India.

Plain Dealer art critic Steven Litt had this to say about the exhibit:

Cleveland photographer Herbert Ascherman Jr. is not one to turn down a dare. In a review of a 2006 exhibition in which he displayed borderline risque photographs, I wrote that he should "give free rein to his inner Robert Mapplethorpe."

Mapplethorpe was the gifted photographer whose notorious "X Portfolio" portraying gay sadomasochism helped launch the culture wars against public funding of the arts in the late 1980s.

Little did I know that the phenomenally productive Ascherman was more than ready to meet my challenge. It turns out while making a career locally as a busy portrait photographer he has been photographing nudes and various kinds of sexual encounters, gay and straight, since the late 1960s.

January 30th Exhibition of Work By Alternative Process Photographers

The Cleveland Society of Alternative Process Photographers presents the opening of an exhibit entitled "The 21st Century with a 19th Century Vision".

The Cleveland Society of Alternative Printers seeks to encourage, enhance and preserve the 19th Century photographic techniques known as The Alternative Processes. These processes include, but are not limited to: Daguerreotypy, Platinum, Albumen, Collodian, Cyanotype, and Gum Bichromate printing methods among others.

The work of the following photographers will be featured:

Herbert Ascherman
Jeannette Palsa
Charles Caito
Roy Woda
Richard Wolf
Ryan Durdella
Bruce Gates
Greg Martin

Where:
The Plain Dealer Gallery
1801 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio

When:
January 30th, 2008
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Please note that the gallery is not a public space and anyone wishing to see the exhibition other than the opening must make arrangements.

Creative Oxygen for Your Soul: A Presentation by Gigi Clark

On October 21st, the Society of Northern Ohio Professional Photographers (SONOPP) presents a seminar by Gigi Clark entitled Creative Oxygen for Your Soul. Gigi Clark is a professional photographer who specializes in teaching others how to tap into their creative potential as artists. Here's more on her background:

These days you can express your creativity with both your camera and your computer. She believes both cameras and the software tools available need to be demystified so photographers can use them creatively. Beware of thinking, however, that these images are therefore "digital tricks".

In her workshops, Gigi also shares some of the marketing and promotional strategies she uses to bring in, book and serve her clients. She hates the idea of "short-changing" or "nickel-and-diming" her clients, and she explains how she avoids it. In life and in business, what you give determines what you get back, so generosity is her by-word

Where:
Holiday Inn
4181 West 150th Street
Cleveland, OH 44135

When:
October 21, 2007
1 PM to 4 PM

Cost:
$39 for SONOPP members
$55 non members in advance
$60 at the door
For more Info or credit card payment:
(440) 570-3983

About SONOPP:
The Society of Northern Ohio Professional Photographers was formed in 1949 to provide "a professional photographic association to allow professional photographers to network with each other, to share tips and experiences, to train new photographers in the profession, and to help consumers in selecting the right photographer for their needs."

October SIG Meeting: Matting & Mounting Your Photographs

Photo by Moonriver&Me

The October meeting of the Digital Photography SIG will be Thursday, October 18 at the Cleveland Heights Utrecht Store.

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN LOCATIONS.

The topic will be matting and mounting your photographs. Store manager Maureen Ryan will do a demonstration of how to mat photographs for display. She will cover

• how to cut double and single mats
• ways to mount photos to backing board
• how to hinge mats
• use of several mat cutting tools

Ms. Ryan will demonstrate using actual photographs. Bring a photo with you if you'd like to have it mounted. We will chose from the photos that people bring.

Where:
1798 Coventry Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118-1630 map
Phone: (216) 371-3500

When:
Thursday, October 18, 2007, 6:30 p.m.

About Utrecht:
Utrecht is a national art supply store that sells over 15,000 professional quality art materials and supplies from over 500 of the world's leading brands. The store was founded in New York city in 1949.

Thanks to all of the people who responded to the survey. This meeting topic was chosen based on your responses.

Hear Rick Sammon at OSU on Friday, October 12th

Cord Camera is sponsoring a talk by photographer, author, and world traveler, Rick Sammon at OSU. He will share pictures from around the world, discuss the business side of being a freelance photographer, and share his favorite Photoshop techniques.

Where: Fawcett Center Auditorium, OSU Campus
When: October 12, 7-9 pm
Cost: $20
For more information contact: Cord Camera

Three of Rick Sammon's 27 books
Photo courtesy ricksammon.com

Exhibition: A Song for Unsung Heros: African American Soldiers in the Civil War

Special thanks to the Friends of Photography of the Cleveland Museum of Art for bringing this to my attention.

A Song for Unsung Heros: African American Soldiers in the Civil War

An exhibition of the work of photographer William Earle Williams

Williams will be in Akron to lecture on his work as part of the Bidwell Visiting Artist Lecture series on Wednesday, April 4 at 6 pm in the auditorium of

Folk Hall (150 E. Exchange St., Akron).

An opening reception for the exhibition will follow, from 7:30-9 pm. All events are free and open to the public.

The exhibition runs April 2 -25 in the Emily Davis Gallery of the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art, The University of Akron

Williams’ work in these photographs seeks to bring recognition to the contribution of African American troops to the Union victory. African American soldiers, who were over 180,000 strong, have been considerably underrepresented in the documentation of the Civil War. As Williams noted while creating the series Gettysburg: A Journey in Time (1986), the stories of the sites that serve as relevant landmarks in the story of minority soldiers were given little to no mention in historical documentation. The combination of these realities served as the motivation for Unsung Heroes, as he asked himself, “Are these sites not as equally important to our country’s history?” Williams’ responded by creating a pictorial documentation of these notable landmarks and a historical record of a forgotten national memory.

Williams was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003-2004, during which much of Unsung Heroes was created. Recently, Williams has been granted a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, as well as a Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellowship. His work has been exhibited in many major institutions, such as the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Smithsonian, and his photographs can be found in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Williams served on the national board of the Society for Photographic Education from 1997-2003. He is currently a professor of fine arts and curator of photography at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, where he has been since 1978.