PPGCS Newsletter: June, 2006

Volume 17, Issue 6

1. Imaging Workshops of Colorado

2. A message from the President

3. June Meeting: STEVE HAGGERT, Marketing your business

4. June Member Profile: Taralyn Turner Quigley

5. PPGCS Members in the News: Elaine McDonald

6. Upcoming Events
   

7. Renew your Membership
   (Pricing and who to contact)

8. Membership and Advertising

9. Classified Advertising

10. PPGCS OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS– 2006

Did You Know?

  Imaging Workshops of Colorado is an official PPA affiliation. School. You can receive PPA merits while receiving “first class” instruction right in our very own picturesque backyard. Please visit
www.coloradoworkshops.com

(ONLY A FEW SEATS AVAILABLE
REGISTER TODAY)

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A message from the President

  Hello Troops!

  Welcome to June. Hopefully all of you are busy with weddings, seniors, families, and great outdoor landscape images. Now is the time. This month our speaker will be Steve Haggert. Steve is a marketing guru with lots of experience in marketing all kinds of businesses. He knows how to help you get clients to call you and to get them in your studio doors. He will provide us with insight into the various types of marketing available, and what might work best for your industry. Hope you will all be there for the meeting.

   The rest of the year is shaping up nicely for education and social activities. Please keep your eyes on the calendar for upcoming events. REMEMBER: To all who are current active members in good standing....You need to attend 16 hours of continuing education. Then just submit your proof of attendance along with your receipts. You are entitled to $40 rebate from your annual dues toward your education! Only a few have taken advantage of this offer so far this year. Get your receipts in and get money back in your bank account! What a great deal! See you all soon!

PPGCS President,
Pat Moore, Cr.Photog., PPA Certified

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MEETING REMINDER

Social 6:30 pm
Meeting 7:00 pm

June 15th
STEVE HAGGERT
Marketing your business

ViewPoint
Retirement Center
555 Rockrimmon Blvd.
Activities Room

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June 2006 PPGCS Member Profile

Taralyn Turner Quigley

I've always wanted to compose a novel, so, when I was asked to write the member profile for this month, it seemed the perfect time to hone my skills. J It only seems right to start at the beginning…

"The Balloon Dragon"

Childhood memories of watching my father pointing a camera at the people whom he loved seemed to have subliminally made its mark on me. Having grown up in a quiet, small town in Northern New York State, I recall the many evenings in our living room when my dad would carefully pick through the slides preserved in the silver metal boxes and put on a show for our family. How I loved those nights, the anticipation of setting up the screen, dusting off the projector, organizing all the slides, then finally viewing our precious family photos just like at the movies! I could never wait to see what magical moment frozen in time dad would show us next.

Remembering the joy those times have brought, I always felt a connection with the camera. After hinting around, on my 35th birthday my wonderful husband Ed presented me with a Pentax MX SLR. Interest in photography smoldered, but did not burst into flame. In 1999, one of Ed's co-workers purchased a digital camera which he generously allowed me to use in order to photograph some items to sell on EBay. After seeing the magic of digital photography--but having no money to afford such a gem of technology--I decided to have a garage sale and used every cent to purchase my first digital camera, a 2-megapixel Olympus Camedia. This proved to be the beginning of something good!

With that same first little digital camera, over Mother's Day weekend in May of 2003 I took my mom on a special trip to see the old churches in Santa Fe New Mexico where we visited the San Miguel Mission, St. Francis Cathedral, Loretto Chapel and finally the rural church named Santuario de Chimayo where my photographic career ultimately got its true spark. Here begins the story in detail….

"Silhouettes of Faith"

It was early morning, the mist still rising off the earth as the sun peeked over the low foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Behind the back of the Sanctuario there is an outside worship area and a chain link fence surrounding the borders of the property. Interwoven between the links of the fence, I marveled at the hundreds of make-shift crosses visitors had placed made out of sticks, twigs and even straws. Also twist-tied to the fence by the grommets was an American flag, hanging down limply. Curious about some words I saw written on the edge of the flag, I pulled a corner to spread it out against the fence and was awestruck by the silhouettes the twig crosses created behind the flag. I knew at that moment that this was an image I just had to capture. My mother held the flag while I composed a shot with the sun back-lighting the flag, silhouetting the crosses. All the way home I could not wait to see the image, and was not disappointed. I saw as a photographer for the first time, and I felt in my heart that this image was destined for something bigger. So, on a whim, I searched online for a competition that involved American flags. The first search engine result was a website on the America 24/7 project. I investigated it further. The project rules stated that images entered had to be taken between May 12 and 18th, 2003 with a digital camera. Imagine my heartache when I realized that this photograph had been shot just one day too early: May 11th! I was CRUSHED! But I truly believed that I had something with this image and was determined to try again. On Wednesday, May 14th, Mom and I loaded the kids into the van, stopped and bought a brand-spankin' new 5 megapixel Olympus C-5050 and made the 6-hour trek to New Mexico AGAIN, in hopes of duplicating the shot. Sadly, the next morning, when we were all set up, Mother Nature did not cooperate; clouds shrouded the sun I needed for the silhouette effect, and the shot did not happen. We drove home. It was a waste. Still, I was just CERTAIN that I was meant to get this shot. Thus, Friday night May 16th at 11:00pm

"Nostalgia in Red"

my mother and I looked at each other, then at my husband. I said, "We have to try it one more time!" My husband thought we were crazy but he agreed to stay home with the kids. We loaded the camera gear and a foam mattress in the van and hit the road at midnight--just enough time to get there by sunrise--and yes, the third time proved to be a charm. The sun shone, the flag was illuminated, the silhouettes were there, but so were some extra leaves from trees behind the fence! ARGH! I quickly sent my mom around behind the fence to move the branches out of the shot, and as she was moving them I saw the silhouette of her profile added to the composition of the image and it worked like MAGIC! I took the shot. I sent it to the America 24/7 project and was rewarded for all my determination when I was notified that out of 100,000 photographs submitted, one of the 7 unedited images I was allowed to submit as an amateur was selected for publication in the New Mexico 24/7 book! It was the flag photo of course. Consider that just one month prior to this shot, America had gone to war with Iraq. The powerful symbolism I saw in the image is what I hoped others would also see….the American flag itself, which (of course) stands for freedom, the steel chain link fence representing a barrier to or from freedom, and the hand-formed crosses and human profile juxtaposing both. The photograph also appeared in the June 3, 2003, issue of USA Today and on the USA Today Website.

"Barefoot Journey"

It was quite the start for me and certainly a tough act to follow, but, from that moment on, I've held the belief that photography was & is my destiny. While at a local print shop I met Guild member Mark Kirkland. He printed some of my work and invited me to join a local amateur photography group, later encouraging me to join PPGCS to help increase my level of photographic competence and professionalism. I am forever grateful to Mark for his guidance, mentoring and encouragement throughout my journey--and for inviting me to become a part of the Guild, which has proven to be an invaluable organization.

Since joining the Guild in January, 2005, I have immersed myself in learning everything I can about photography, taking full advantage of the monthly meetings, attending seminars, and tackling assignments outside of my "comfort zone". In October, 2005, I joined PPC, the Professional Photographers of Colorado, and bravely entered my first judged competition at the State level with 4 prints. Much to my honor, I came home with several awards including the "PPC Photographer of the Year" in the General division. I am still dazzled by this tribute and feel grateful to those who have helped me along my journey.

Encouraged by many, I continued my upward climb in February, 2006, when I entered the same 4 prints in the Regional print competition. Again, they did very well: 3 of the 4 received Merits. So, to climb still higher, I joined PPA, recently submitting a print case to the Professional Photographers of America International Print Competition which is to be held in July.

"Ancient Window"

When asked by people what kind of photography I do, I respond by saying that I most love to photograph candid relationships of one kind or another. I am a relationship photographer. These interconnections can take many forms: emotional relationships between people; relationships between people and their environment; relationships between different things within the environment. I love to photograph unsuspecting subjects that are heading away from the camera, compositions with strong leading lines and angles, images that portray a sense of singularity or "alone-ness", and images that capture strong emotional moments that occur at weddings, reunions, or on the darker side of disaster.

It has all been an amazing ride so far! Which bend in the road will my camera and I take next, and where will it lead us? Somewhere. That's for certain.

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PPGCS Members in the News

Elaine McDonald’s images of Ireland will be on exhibit
at the BAC Gallery in Manitou Springs Aug. 4 - Sept. 2

An exhibit of 20-30 photographs I took in Ireland last year will be on display from Aug. 4 - Sept. 2 in the Spencer Hall Gallery at the Business of Art Center in Manitou Springs. I'm busy right now working on creating some interesting collages that will be included in this exhibit.

This will be a joint exhibit with another photographer whose photographs of Kenya will be displayed.

Please note that Spencer Hall is not in the main BAC building at 513 Manitou Ave., but is right next door at 515 Manitou Ave. in the "Venue 515" building -- some of you may have attended Manitou Art Theater performances in Spencer Hall.

The exhibits in Spencer Hall are open to the public for viewing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except when the facility is in use for a private function.

I haven't decided yet if I will have a "meet the artist" reception or not. I'll let you know about that when I send another reminder closer to the time. Meanwhile, I just wanted to let you know that the dates of this exhibit have been set. This will be my first big exhibit at a gallery, so I'm very excited about it!

Elaine
www.fourwindsphotoart.com
719-237-4064

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