Join Mark Johnson in the spirit of his internationally-acclaimed book, Botanical Dreaming, for an inspiring lecture on a variety of creative techniques for crafting expressive flower portraits—including montaging with textures, adding creative borders, and creating luminous soft-glow montages.

Bio:

Mark S. Johnson is an Adobe Photoshop luminary, a photographer, an author, and one of the most passionate instructors you will ever encounter.  It is this passion that inspired him to write, photograph, and design the internationally-recognized book, Botanical Dreaming.  Mark’s immensely popular eBook, the Photographer’s Photoshop Companion, has helped thousands of photographers from around the globe understand and enjoy Photoshop.  His signature video tutorial series, The Photoshop Workbench, was viewed by half a million unique visitors last year.  Mark’s latest eBook, Illuminating HDR, is one of the most comprehensive HDR resources on the planet, and his sensational Photoshop Impressionism Video Tutorial Series is the first of its kind anywhere.  

Through the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, The Radiant Vista, and Boulder Digital Arts, Mark has lectured in front of and worked side-by-side with countless individuals, including Adobe’s Chief Executive Officers, the U.S. Ambassador to Finland, and 2010 Academy Award winning director, Louie Psihoyos.  His tutorials appear regularly on the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) web site, and his imagery and articles have been featured in Photo Techniques, Nature’s Best, and After Capture magazines.  Watch hundreds of Mark’s free and entertaining Photoshop tutorials at www.msjphotography.com.

The February meeting of the Flatirons Photo Club will be held this month on Thursday, February 9, at the Main Library on Arapahoe Avenue (just west of Broadway) in the Boulder Creek Room. Park in the main library parking lot – free. Enter the library at the main entrance, go up the stairs and up the ramp to the right and you will be facing the room. WE WILL BE STARTING AT 6:45 PM BECA– USE WE NEED TO BE OUT OF THE BUILDING BY 8:45 PM.

Creation of a digital slide show set to music is the focus of the February 9 talk by Richard Holmes.  Everyone should be able to do this with the equipment they already have.  Richard will explain general procedures and techniques that should apply to any slideshow software program, whether on Mac or PC.  Richard also feels music is just as important as the photos in a successful slideshow presentation, and will also illustrate that.

 Richard’s bio reads as follows:

 I have been in Boulder for thirty years and a photo club member for most of that time.  Nearly everyone starts out with scenic photography and so did I.  After seeing so many beautiful wildlife photos in the early years, especially birds, I became hooked on wildlife, and traveled extensively to photograph birds.  Forty thousand slides later I converted to digital and kept doing it.  Interests evolve however, and recently dragonflies, butterflies, and other small critters have been my main attraction, causing me to buy still another lens.

 Flatirons Photo Club and Colorado Nature Camera Club, I must say, made all this possible.  Over the years I have met and learned so much from so many talented photographers in both clubs.  And I am still learning.

We are excited to welcome to Flatirons Photo Club an artist and teacher known to many of us from his participation in Open Studios and from his inspired teaching. Chris Brown has a unique approach to landscape photography that he has developed over several decades of work.  His approach is best described in his own words, “I have spent much of my life living in the wilderness, and my photography is both homage to our home, and an attempt to share some of the beauty, and solace, that derives from wild places. He will share his process as well as his book PATH OF BEAUTY: PHOTOGRAPHIC ADVENTURES IN THE GRAND CANYON. 

 Chris Brown will be presenting and signing his new book: Path of Beauty, Photographic Adventures in the Grand Canyon, and will display prints from the book.  He will give a short talk about his process of First Sight and the Art of Seeing, which is the foundation of his practice of photography.  He discusses the difficulty of seeing the world clearly, and the demons and human psychology that get in our way.

 Chris has photographed in the West for over 4 decades, and makes prints in his Boulder studio.  He has exhibited in over 100 shows, and his prints are in many private and public collections.  He recently collaborated with Boulder’s Sound Circle Chorus in a live concert combining a video of his book with songs about the Grand Canyon river experience, which will be presented again this spring. 

 He teaches one-on-one classes and custom workshops in his studio, and displays his work there each October during Open Studios.  This April he will be doing a joint show at NCAR with Boulder Quilter Judith Trager, featuring photographs from his book, and quilts inspired by them.

In his jurying for club members he will be looking for work that is unique and original.  “I would like to see photographs I have never seen before, in choice of subject matter, interpretation, and its treatment in printing.”  

 (Signed copies of the book will be $30.00,which is 25% off the retail price.)

Our new Vice-President and Program Chair, Ginger Zukowski, has prepared the following list of special topics for 2012. Have at ’em with gusto.

January- Holiday Lights

February: Boulder Landmarks (natural and manmade)

March: Flora

April: Eyes

May: Storms

June: Architectural Detail

July: No Meeting

August: No Meeting

September: Members’ Slide Shows

October: Landscapes

November: Environmental Portraits

December: Year-end Competition

Though Christmas has passed, most holiday lights remain with the approach of the New Year. Our January 2012 competition special topic is “Holiday Lights.” This should be a lot of fun, given the numerous displays of color, but a challenge as well due to contrast issues.

Let’s see what we can do.