Hello, Sweetwater Camera Club members, visitors and friends . . .

You are invited to join us tomorrow (Thursday evening, April 14^th) at 7 p.m. for an evening hosted by our Photographer of the Year for 2007 and 2008, Nicolette Dunn, who will be presenting some of her work. Nicky has consistently won a place in almost every contest she has entered at the Sweetwater Camera Club. Laura Lieberman, executive director of the Cultural Arts Council, commented a few months ago about how consistent Nicolette has been in her artistic vision. Nicky tackles one of the most difficult art forms and processes in photography, black and white imagery.

This month’s contest: Graveyard: A photograph made in a cemetery. This theme also coincides with one of our field trips in March, which was to the Marietta National Cemetery (and to the Confederate Cemetery there also). Our other field trip in March was to the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth.

2011 Contest Topics: You can view the contest topics for this year at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/contests/contest-topics-a-descriptions/contests-2011

You can find out more about the contest rules on the web at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/contests . The rules state that you may enter two photos each in the color, monochrome and field trip categories.

Attached you will find a proof of the SCC Photo Contest page to appear in the May issue of the Chapel Hill News & Views.

Upcoming Field Trips: You are not required to be a member of the Sweetwater Camera Club to take part in our field trips, but you must be a member in order to participate in our contests.

1. Field Trip to Arabia Mountain this Saturday, April 16^th at 10:00 a.m. Lowell Sims has been kind enough to provide the following:

Although the trip is slated for 10:00 a.m., Lowell feels that those who desire to take advantage of the finest natural light would be better off arriving around 7:30 a.m., so for those who can make it that early, go for it. The Arabia Mountain Park Headquarters is where there is ample room for parking, so whichever time you decide to arrive, please meet there. From there a carpool is suggested because the trail begins at least a mile farther into the park, but there is not much room to park there.

Here are directions to Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, 3787 Klondike Road Lithonia, Georgia 30038 770-484-3060:

From Douglasville, travel east on I-20 to exit 74 (Evans Mill Rd). 
Once on the exit, travel all the way to traffic light (exit ramp is approx 1 mile long) You will see a sign directing you to the right to Evans Mill Rd - do not take it - go all the way to traffic light.
Turn right on Evans Mill Rd.
Go straight thru next intersection onto Woodrow Dr.  Woodrow Drive dead ends at Klondike Rd. 
Turn right and proceed to Arabia Mountain Park headquarters on right.  PLEASE PARK HERE AND CARPOOL AT THIS POINT IF POSSIBLE.
Just past headquarters, you will see a boardwalk trail that parallels Klondike Rd.  Follow Klondike Rd until the boardwalk ends. 
Limited parking area is on the left. Proceed through entrance and follow cairns (rock pile markers) to top of the mountain.

2.  The Taste for Douglasville Arts festival held at O’Neal Plaza in Downtown Douglasville is rapidly approaching. Each year the Sweetwater Camera Club has a strong presence at Douglasville’s largest outdoor festival which also serves as a major fund raiser for the Cultural Arts Council’s many great programs here in Douglas County.

This event is also considered one of our most important and well-attended field trips. It is all about community outreach and sharing opportunities. This week we have begun putting together a  Taste Dream Team to create and sell portraits to attendees. Would you like to help? Thus far the team is headed up by SCC Treasurer Gene Spicer, Secretary Stella Spyrou, new member Hubert Yoder, and others. Gene and Stella will make a presentation at our meeting concerning our need for volunteers to help with our three booths which will be set up side-by-side during this event. One booth will house a gallery of fabulous visual artwork FOR SALE created by those volunteers who come to help, and the other two booths will be our outdoor portrait studio and printing area. It is rumored that portrait photographer Michael Toles may make an appearance. Last year Mike was our star portrait photographer.

At this year’s event we will have more opportunities for those of you who are interested in helping our cause. We will need volunteers to shoot portraits, print pictures, handle the portrait sittings, take email addresses for our mailing list--  we also need cheer leaders to reach out to people in the crowds and suggest that they have their portraits made. Help us close the sale!

More information: Saturday, all day, May 14^th beginning at 11 a.m. and lasting through 5 p.m., TASTE OF DOUGLASVILLE ARTS: Food & Fun, Outdoor Arts Exhibition, Crafts, Kids Korner & Entertainment, O’Neal Plaza in Historic Downtown Douglasville. Free and open to the public. Proceeds will go to support the Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville/Douglas County. A portion of the funds raised by portraiture will go to help the Sweetwater Camera Club pay our meeting space rental. For more information, please read the attached PDF flyer. The charges listed for booth rental do not apply for our booths.

Do you have field trip suggestions? If you know of good places for photo field trips, please send suggestions to our field trip chairperson, Dominique Chaponot. Her email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We try to schedule most of the SCC field trips inside Douglas County and the Atlanta 18-county metro area to encourage maximum participation with minimal cost in travel, time and admission fees. Before a field trip is suggested or scheduled, please make sure that the venue is “photographer friendly.”

Other Announcements and Workshops:

1. Photographer and teacher Larry Winslett is hosting a free Nature Photo Walk at Stone Mountain on Saturday, April 16^th, from 10 a.m. until noon. Call the Park at 770-498-5658 to sign up. The group will meet at the Nature Garden parking lot. By the way, you could go to Arabia Mountain at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and when you are finished, continue your travels up to Stone Mountain . . . just a thought!

2. Photographer and workshop guru David Akoubian will be holding a new workshop in Metairie Louisiana from April 29^th through 30^th at the City Park Botanical Gardens. Join David as he takes you on a photographic instructional tour of the City Park Gardens where the concentration will be on macro photography and outdoor portraiture. Lighting techniques, proper use of tripods and other tools will be discussed. For more information please visit http://www.bearwoodsphoto.com/index.php/articles/view/21.html

3. More from Larry Winslett: In May I will be doing of my favorites - On May 7th Macro and Close-ups at the Perimeter College Native Plant Garden.  The Garden is one of the best kept secrets in the Atlanta area, filled with great macro subjects.  Learn about the equipment needed and techniques for capturing the small world of nature.
On May 21st I will be at Zoo Atlanta, another personal favorite with guaranteed opportunities.  Learn about capturing great wildlife images, both in captivity and the wild! Go to http://www.theshowcaseschool.com/site/Default.asp?Page=245 to register. Thanks and I hope to see you in the field! Larry Winslett 404.375.8405.

4. Cory Photography continues to excel in their interesting schedule of workshops and lectures. To read their latest newsletter, visit http://www.tomandpatcory.com They have recently returned from a Costa Rica photo tour and have several short local workshops coming up soon. One of these is to photograph the Tennessee Aquarium after hours in Chattanooga. Call 423-267-FISH to register.

5. Showcase School of Photography:  You may view a long list of Adult Education Photography Classes by visiting http://www.theshowcaseschool.com/site/Default.asp?Page=245

6. FYI, the North Georgia Camera Club Council is considering having their 2011 Shootout in the vicinity of the Booth Western Art Museum, hosted by a new photo group called the Booth Photography Guild that has formed there. For more information check out http://www.meetup.com/Booth-Photography-Guild/ .

7. If you have a workshop or need a workshop of a particular kind, we suggest that you exchange emails with each other—get on their mailing lists.

 If you need to know more about what individual camera clubs in Atlanta and North Georgia are doing, look at the list of clubs and their websites at http://www.northgeorgiacameraclubcouncil.org/images/stories
/AreaCameraClubs.pdf

 If you have ideas and suggestions you would like to share, please let one of the officers or committee chairmen know.

Membership: If you haven’t already done so, please consider joining or rejoining the Sweetwater Camera Club for the calendar year 2011. The cost is minimal, just $20 per individual or $35 per family. You may pay on-line at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/membership or you can pay in person at the meeting. You will need to see SCC Secretary Stella Spyrou when you check in.

See you at the Sweetwater Camera Club meeting!

Richard