Photography Café
Welcoming New Members!
We are a friendly group of area photographers getting together to share our common interest in photography and photographic art.
Who we are: Center for the Arts (CFA) Photography Café was established in 2019 as a venue for those interested in photography to share their knowledge and advance their craft through regular meetings, whether in-person or virtually.
When/where we meet: The group meets on the second Thursday of each month starting at 6pm. Meetings take place at the Tracy Library in New London, virtually via Zoom, a location for photo shoots, or one of the member’s homes (to be announced well in advance). Occasionally, members meet at other times and locations such as for photo walks when we want to explore new areas conducive to picture-taking.
What we do: While one can learn a lot about photography by watching online videos (i.e., YouTube) and attending classes and workshops, meeting regularly with like-minded photographers gives everyone an ongoing outlet for their questions about any aspect of photography. We all learn from each other in an informal and friendly setting. During our regular meetings, group members share some of their recent work, and offer it up for discussion. We often work together on special “challenges” such as shooting in black and white, creating “minimalist” images, and setting up and photographing still life, seasonal images, and so on. We also discuss composition, matting and framing, upcoming exhibit opportunities, photography equipment, software, printing, and more. The goal is to keep learning, sharing, and enjoying the company of others with similar interests.
Venues for shows and sales: As a member of the CFA and Photography Café, many opportunities are available to exhibit and sell your work. Examples include the many microgalleries, annual member shows, and other venues such as Naturally New England at Sunapee Harbor and Arts on the Green.
What’s the cost: Membership in the Photography Café is free of charge to current members of CFA. If you are interested in joining or want more information, please email Jay Fitzpatrick using jall@tds.net or call (603) 455-6595. Regular emails are sent to those interested in advance of upcoming meetings.
CFA Photographers Create Abstract Art
The Center for the Arts’ Photography Café had a fun, productive and creative meeting at the Tracy Library. Members practiced photographing “swirls” and colorful liquid combinations to create abstract photos, seen in this post.
Members explored what can happen when you have your camera and light source ready, then pour cream into coffee, food coloring into water or a combination of milk, oil and dish detergent. A great way to practice close-up (macro) capture and put a creative spin on colors in a coffee cup or soup bowl.
Thanks for those contributing their photos to include with this post: Bill Balsam, Nate Carey, Jay Fitzpatrick, Lindsay Holmes, Tom McHugh and York Xavier.
The Photographers’ Café meets on the second Thursday of each month, and sometimes in between
meetings for special activities such as gallery strolls, photo shoots, etc. For more information or to join the mailing list, contact Jay Fitzpatrick at jayfitz6932@gmail.com.
Photo caption: photographers York Xavier (left) and Bill Balsam work on shooting colorful swirls and the Photography Café meeting in July.
January 2025 Meeting Update:
First, Happy New Year to you! Time flies and, again, it’s time for the next meeting of the Center for the Arts’ Photography Café at the Tracy Library. That is, Thursday Jan. 9, starting at 6 p.m. All are welcome.
As always, please bring a few photos on a thumb drive, or prints or anything else of the show-and-tell variety for viewing and discussing.
Also on the agenda for discussion purposes:
· exhibit opportunities at a microgallery – something to be thinking about: we may have an opportunity to have a permanent (although nothing is really permanent?) opportunity to exhibit at the Bar Harbor Bank in downtown New London. There are two potential trains of thought about this: 1.) it’s a great space and a great opportunity to have Café members exhibit their work and put it up for sale; 2.) while #1 is true, there’s quite a bit of space to fill on an ongoing basis, so more than just a couple of photographers need to be committed. If done, it will take a bit of coordination to make sure the space is pretty much filled with new work on a quarterly basis (or at least two quarters per year) and that all participants are given a fair opportunity with no single person dominating the space (although that could depend on the number of participants.) We want all photographers to feel welcome and treated fairly. To be continued….
· A couple of field trips are being considered: 1.) a visit to Exeter Town Hall to view the current exhibit by members of the NH Center for Photography, 2.) a visit to a photography gallery in Woodstock, VT., and a talk with its owner, 3.) other ideas at the discretion of members.
· Looking ahead, our next two meetings have been changed from the second Thursdays to the first Thursdays (library schedule change), meaning we will meet again Feb. 6 and March 6 at Tracy Library.
Upcoming Meeting
Past Updates
December 2024 Meeting Update:
Group will be meeting at 6 p.m. at the Tracy Memorial Library (1st floor conference room) on Thursday, December 19 (rescheduled date).
Our ongoing “challenge” is “After the Fall,” and hopefully you’ve had a chance to try and capture the change of seasons from fall into the post-foliage period heading into winter. It’s kind of an interesting time and a challenge to portray that transition. Think of snow on the pumpkin; ice starting to form on ponds, windshields and gardens; single dying leaves; snowmaking or snow blowing underway; ski-sharpening; early bird brave ice fisherpersons; bare wind-blown trees, etc. etc.
As always, please bring some of your photos on a “thumb drive” to share with others. We’ll project them and discuss them and provide opinions if it would be helpful, and perhaps even debate those opinions, all in a friendly and supportive way. Depending on the number of members sharing photos, expect up to about 10 minutes (or so) for a review of each set.
Also on the agenda will be discussions of upcoming “challenges,” ideas for field trips, special projects or exhibit opportunities. Always feel free to share your thoughts and ideas!
Bill Balsam and Tom McHugh will be running this meeting.
Jay met up with a Maine photographer, Darren Day, and he has agreed to join us via Zoom in either January or February to both show his work and demonstrate how he photographs still lifes using light painting.
November 2024 Meeting Update:
It will be Thursday, Nov. 14 (second Thursday) starting at 6 p.m. at the Tracy Library.
The ongoing theme or (voluntary) photo challenge for the group is “After the Fall,” which could include photos AFTER most of the colorful leaves have fallen and winter begins to set in. Ice forming on flowers and rivers’ edges, leaf blowers at work, snow guns at work at the ski areas, bare trees, “closed for the season” signs, lifeguard stations stored away, empty mooring balls, holiday sales, frosty windows and windshields, etc. etc. I mean there’s a lot to choose from, plenty of potential subject matter at this time of year.
Please bring in a thumb drive with some of your photos, whether related to the challenge or not, for viewing and discussing.
Four group members have set up an exhibit of “Images in Black and White” at the Bar Harbor Bank and Trust on Main Street. We’d love to have a discussion about that grouping if you’ve seen it. It is kind of a unique project for us to get away from color for a bit.
I’d also like to discuss a winter project, such as a still life session at our next meeting and potential date change for December. Also on the agenda will be potential plans to visit area galleries with current photography exhibits, and potential projects/challenges for the new year.
October 2024 Meeting Update:
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Tracy Memorial Library, Oct. 10, and all are welcome.
On the agenda:
· Prep for our upcoming exhibit at Bar Harbor Bank, Images in Black and White (final title to be determined). Details include a write-up for the CFA and accompanying images, dates for hanging and take-down, who’s in, questions about hanging, art tags, and the First Friday opening reception (Nov. 1@ 5-7 p.m.).
· Photo share: please bring some photos on a thumb drive to share and discuss. What have you been photographing lately?
· A look at some black and white prints made on various papers.*
· Possible field trip to view photography exhibits at the NH Art Association and nearby galleries.
· Other business at the pleasure of participants (“all things (photography) considered.”)
· Ongoing photo challenge: “After the Fall.” Can we capture images of our surroundings as autumn turns to winter? Think floating leaves, frost on leaves and windows, ice forming on lakes and rivers, ski-tuning, snow-making, skate sharpening, Thanksgiving looming. Etc.
* For those interested, Nate Carey sent us the following link to a free webinar on printing, “Ask the Experts: Printing Webinar,” hosted by Digital Silver Imaging this Thursday at noon which sounds great. The details and link are found below. I’m registered. You have to register to attend. Thanks Nate for sharing this:
Webinar Summary:
In this hour long FREE webinar the experts at Digital Silver Imaging will answer your questions about inkjet printing. This webinar is for anyone who wants to make fine art inkjet/giclée prints with a lab or on their own inkjet printer. During this open Q&A webinar we will be available to answer your questions about printing paper, inkjet printers, archival issues, monitors, calibration, presentation considerations and anything else inkjet print related.
Potential Questions to discuss:
How do printer inks differ?
How do inkjet papers differ?
Why don't my prints match what I see on my monitor?
What is the "right" resolution for my print?
Should I use soft proofing?
Is it better to buy a printer or have a lab print my work?
Please prepare a few photos of yours to share and discuss. Everyone gets a chance to view others’ work, to share their own work and/or to visit and observe what goes through the minds of photographers at various levels of experience.
September 2024 Meeting Update:
Our monthly meeting of the Center for the Arts Photography Café will take place on Thursday, September 12, at the Tracy Memorial Library starting at 6 p.m.
There are no pending assignments or challenges, but please bring some of your photos on a thumb drive to share and discuss with others.
Speaking of challenges, I was thinking of suggesting this one for this fall: "After the Fall." Most of us are eager to capture the brilliant colors of autumn. But what I'm suggesting is keeping your cameras ready and focused on the landscape as the colors turn to brown and the leaves collect on the ground. Those are the days when mist and fog sometimes can create spectacular landscapes, especially near dawn and dusk and especially near ponds and streams. So, it's just an idea and for me a cause to continue shooting after the colors fade.
At our last meeting, we reviewed many of our black and white photos. I really do like quality black and whites, but I'm told that "they just don't sell." So be it. We also briefly discussed the possibility of having a group show featuring only B&W. Let's have another discussion about that and, if the group agrees, we can put in an official proposal for a group show at one of the micro galleries in town.
August 2024 Meeting Update:
Our monthly meeting of the Center for the Arts Photography Café will take place on Thursday, August 8, at the Tracy Memorial Library starting at 6 p.m.
Two things in mind for this meeting:
1.) swirls and things…please bring in some of the “swirl” photos from our last meeting, so we can view and discuss them, quickly. What challenges did we face? If we were to do it again, what would we do differently?
2.) black and white vs. color…consider converting a few photos from your files from color to black and white and bring them on your thumb drive as well so we can discuss the differences and see if we can come to any conclusion as to when color or black and white might be a better choice for some photos, and Why.
Other choices: if you aren’t sure how to convert to b&w, we can do it for you on our computer. Next choice: bring nothing except your own self to the meeting and sit back, relax and take it all in.