Speakers

Photographing Waterfalls Day & Night

 

Mr. Simmons has been photographing for over 50 years. His photography has been heavily weighted to the Smokies and Blue Ridge Parkway since moving to Knoxville in 1986. Starting with calendar and magazine submission, he progressed to self-publishing and released the Smoky Mountains Photographer’s Guide (with Bill Campbell) in 2003. Since then, Nye has published more books and calendars. He is now offering photographic field workshops in the Smokies, Blue Ridge Parkway and beyond, as well as Photoshop instruction. His emphasis in his workshops is helping his participants develop their own sense of “photographic vision”. Mr. Simmons’ program will be “Photographing Nature’s Extremes: Death Valley to Caddo Lake”, in which he will be discussing what makes each of these places special, and techniques, equipment and safety tips to capture the beauty of these places.

Social time will begin at 6:00pm, and the presentation will begin at 7:00pm. Visitors are welcome.

Refreshments will be served during the social hour, there will be gift bags for attendees and drawings will be held for door prizes. Berrie Smith will be on site to clean camera sensors and perform lens calibrations for a fee (Sensor cleaning=$40/camera, Lens Calibrations=$25 per lens/body combo, $50 for 1 lens/two bodies, $75 for 3 lenses/1 body). To make reservations for Mr. Smith’s services, please email Bill Mueller at shooter@epbfi.com by October 15, 2024, to get your place in line. The club will be holding fundraising activities with a GotSneakers.com shoe drive and spare change bucket. Come out and join us for a great night of fun, food, and photography.

“Photography as Art and Fun”

This program will go over what is needed for a photograph to be considered artistic. It will emphasize composition and how to balance the photograph. Photographs will be mostly of nature and wildlife subjects.

 I’ve been a wildlife and nature photographer for over 30 years and can’t imagine doing anything more rewarding.  I’ve had a chance to photograph many parts of the world and at the same time I have many more parts to go.
 

My main interest seems to have become BIRDS, as you probably have noticed from this site…. although I enjoy photographing just about everything.
 

If you have any questions about the photographs or about personal lessons, then feel free to send me an email or give me a call.

Hope you enjoy my world of photography.

https://claythurston.com

The Decisive Moment in Wildlife Photography

with David Akoubian

During this presentation we will learn about how to prepare for, and implement, capturing the decisive moment with wildlife. We will talk about settings, gear, and preparing for “that” moment. We will also talk about wildlife photography in general, but focus on predicting behavior that will take an image to the next level.

David has been a photographer since 1972 when his father presented him with his first camera, but his career in photography started in 1992. David learned his craft originally as a painter and from his father who shares his love of nature and photography. Early in his career he traveled with, learned from and taught beside some of the masters of nature photography including John Shaw, Art Wolfe, Galen Rowell, Bryan Peterson, Pat O’Hara, and Rod Planck. David has been teaching photography since 1994 in the classroom and leading workshops around the United States. David presents and leads workshops at many of the country’s top photographic conferences such as the Photographic Society of America Annual Conference, as well as many camera clubs across the United States.

David’s clients include, but are not limited to, Coca Cola, PNC Bank, Tamron, Sirui, the Mountain Conservation Trust of Georgia, Lensbaby, The Nature Conservancy, Scholastic Books, and Gibbs Gardens. His photographs and articles have appeared in publications such as Nature Photographer, Audubon Magazine, Blue Ridge Country, Birder’s World, Outdoor Photographer, Backpacker Magazine, and many local publications. His work has appeared in several feature books, calendars, as well as in instructional guides. David is a Tamron Image Master as well as being designated as a Sirui Professional.

David resides in the mountains of North Georgia with his wife Evelyn in an area they have named Bear Woods. www.bearwoodsphotography.com

“The Photographic Journey”

Vinny will go through phot image samples from wildlife to landscape. He will share camera setting and techniques for the images as well as locations and stories on how the image came about. He will also share his equipment list, why he picked what he carries and how he gets it to the locations.

Filter techniques for landscape will be gone over as well as when to use filter for wildlife and birding photography.

Presenter and award – winning photographer Vinny Colucci has been an active photographer since 1979 and a shooting professional since 1995. He has photographed North Carolina to the west coast and north to the Canadian Rockies. Along with his wife Annette, Vinny conducts nature and wildlife photography workshops throughout the year.

Vinny is an active outdoorsman and a member of Nikon’s Professional Services and Wimberley Professional Services and a Singh-Ray Filter Ambassador & Technical Advisor. Vinny is represented by Picture Stock. His images have appeared in multiple publications, including Nature Photographer Magazine, New Bern Travel Magazine, Microwave Journal, and various other publications. His speaking engagements have included Popular Photography Magazine, as well as presented at Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), St. Augustine Photo & Birding Festival, Orlando Wetlands Festival, Crane Festival and multiple universities around the country. He has also authored and co-authored multiple books.

Hazel Meredith is an award-winning photographer and a sought-after teacher, speaker, and competition judge. She began teaching in 2007, and now does seminars at camera clubs and conferences across the U.S. – both in-person and virtual. She offers her own workshops and webinars, and has done webinars for several software companies.

She has written two eBooks on working with textures, and released two creative courses. She and her husband, Dave, produce the “Virtual Creative Photography Conference” with attendees from around the world. Hazel loves the creative aspect of photography and postprocessing, specially the use of textures and software to create unique images.

She is actively involved with the photographic community, and has held leadership roles and received honorary distinctions from several organizations. In the Fall of 2020 she was the recipient of the Ashbrook Award for Digital Imaging Instruction from the Photographic Society of America.

www.MeredithImages.com
www.MeredithImages.wordpress.com
www.Facebook.com/MeredithImages

Mr. McLemore is the owner and visual storyteller of Colby’s Photo & Videos. He is a full-time professional whose work revolves around advertising photography and videography for businesses as well as for individuals.  Colby has earned his Master’s, Craftsman, CPP and Certified Drone Photographer designations. He has also won many prestigious awards. Mr. McLemore’s presentation will be, “Pocket Pixels:  Harnessing Your Cell Phone Camera’s Potential”.  To learn more about Colby and to see examples of his work, visit his website www.colbysphotosvideos.com.  The presentation will begin at 7:00 p.m.  Visitors are always welcome.

Join Boot Camp at 6:00 p.m.  Maury Griffith will be discussing, “Pixel Dimensions, Resolution, Aspect Ratios and Image and Print Sizing”.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Thursday, January 18, 2024, the Photographic Society of Chattanooga will present Donna Bourdon. Ms. Bourdon is a former healthcare executive who left corporate life to pursue her lifelong ambition to share the beauty of wildlife through her lens. In 2021, Donna joined the team at Denise Ippolito: A Creative Adventure as a workshop leader. Her approach with all projects is to capture the spirit and drama of the wild through the photographic medium, expressing not only the beauty, but also the hardships and challenges that are being faced by wildlife each day in their ever-changing world. For her work, Donna has received critical acclaim for many of her works and her images have been featured in several publications and social media posts. Her most recent publication is an image of a bald eagle featured on the cover of the 2023 Winter edition of “Sierra” magazine. You can find Donna’s work on her website, https://donnabourdon.smugmug.com.

Ms. Bourdon’s presentation will be, “Wildlife Photography: From Good to Great”. She believes that what separates a good image from a great image often comes down to attention to the little details. While proper exposure, shutter speed and aperture are the foundation of a good image, the magic comes with the little details. She will discuss composition, use of light, background considerations, action and more.