President's Message

SCVPA President’s 

Message July 2024

     Would someone slow down the train, I’d like to get off! We are halfway through the year! I cannot believe how fast June went by! June was a full month of activities, West Coast School of Photography was held at the Valencia Hyatt Regency and boy, what a week! Over 60 students attended 5 classes and everyone had a great time and learned a ton of stuff by the school’s staff. West Coast School will be back next year as the Hyatt is its new home. 

     A week after WCS, I left for a week in the Central Sierra Nevada, no cell, no internet and no email! Boy was that great! If you haven’t been able to get away from all the distractions, you should do it as soon as possible, I feel totally refreshed! 

     We visited the Venice Beach Skate Park as our “On Location” assignment and tonight we see the images that our members provided. There is again some really good work. So, don’t miss it, we start at 7 pm via Zoom, the link was sent out Sunday. Check your email or the Facebook page (or group page) as the link was sent out in those three locations. 

     This month we are visited the Nethercutt Collection - https://nethercuttcollection.org/visitor-information. The Museum is located at 15151 Bledsoe Street Sylmar, CA 91342. Open for self guided tours - admission fee is $5.00 - no reservations required. Hours are Thursday - Saturday from 9 - 4:30 pm. 

     The Nethercutt Collection is located across the street at 15200 Bledsoe Street and is open for Scheduled tours only Thursday & Fridays at 10 am, Saturday at 10 and 1:30 pm. Admission is $20.00 per person and includes admission to the Nethercutt Museum. 

     You decide which or both you want to go photograph, we will have the image review on Tuesday, July 30th at 7 pm Pacific. I will be on the road and hopefully have Cell service or wifi at the location (Somewhere in Milwaukee). 

     Our meeting this month will be held on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 starting at 6:45 pm. We will be looking at the works of some of the iconic “Street Photographers”, Vivian Maier, Saul Leiter, Robert Frank, Elliott Erwitt and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Their work is all different, but the same in some ways. They mostly used small 35mm cameras or twin lens reflex cameras like the Rolliflex. Great stuff! We will also review the “Weekly Photo Challenge and Member Photos”. Then on the 13th we are going down to Santa Monica 3rd street open air market to make some “Street Photography Style” photographs. We can meet at the clubhouse at 9 am and carpool down to Santa Monica and escape the heat!! 

     In August, I will miss the meeting as I’ll still be on the road (expect to be back on August 16th). So Mel Carll will run the August 13th meeting. We will be holding our annual “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” print competition - One image sized anywhere from 8x10 inches to 20 x 24”, as long as the image was made by a photographic device it is eligible for the competition. It is best to have the image mounted either on mattboard or foam core. If you frame the image the presentation cannot be larger than 20x24”. Framing is NOT required. Our judge (TBD), will choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner, they will receive a gift card for different amounts. So get your images ready now. All you have to do is bring your print to the August meeting, turn it in and during the meeting the judge will score the images. His choice for 1st, 2nd and 3rd is final, there are no ties or honorable mentions. Let’s see YOUR BEST SHOT! 

See you Tuesday night! 

Kevin