Topics discussed at the February 2016 BOD meeting included upcoming workshops, field trips and speakers, the closing of the PSRI exhibit at Dryden Galleries, changes and additions to the PSRI website, strategic planning and, of course, the Treasurer’s report. From these discussions, a number of ideas were shared, some of which will be implemented in the near future.

One such idea was to add an ongoing feature to the website in which a random (and willing) member will fill out a questionnaire about his/her photography. This will help the membership to learn more about one another, and may spark interest in other aspects of photography. We hope you will enjoy this new feature.

Also discussed were ways for club members to become more socially involved with one another, both online and in person, by adding a Twitter feed to our existing online presence, and by spreading the word about our current Facebook group and page. This can help make it easier for members to ask questions, get feedback, stay informed about club happenings, organize indoor or outdoor photo shoots and share information.

As always, we welcome member input. If you have thoughts on any of these ideas, or club-related ideas of your own, you are invited to reach out to one of the officers or leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you. After all, this is your club!

All are welcome to the open house for the PSRI members’ print show at the Dryden Gallery Saturday 5 December 2015 from 6:00 – 8:30 PM. Over 400 prints have been assembled for display. The gallery is located at Providence Picture Frame, 27 Dryden Lane, Providence, RI 02904. Snacks and drinks will be available.

PSRI member, mentor and workshop instructor A. Cemal Ekin’s has a gallery showing of prints from Hagia Sophia and Panagia Isodion, both churches in Turkey having undergone extensive restoration. Hagia Sophia is a massive structure with a corresponding volume of space covered in elaborate mosaics. In contrast, Panagia Isodion is a compact church, and as such, the ornamentation seems more lavish, with every square inch seemingly covered in hammered silver and gold leaf. Cemal’s use of a rectangular fish-eye lens is impressive in that he corrected the images used so that some, and in one case all, the linear structures are restored in processing. His decision to leave the edges assume the line resulting from the linear correction inside the image leaves a three dimensional impression of the scene. The sixteen images are printed onto aluminum, and the results are spectacular; the gold and silver decorations sparkle.

More than 50 people attended the opening night reception of his gallery show at the Central Congregational Church at 296 Angell Street, Providence, RI. Cemal’s gallery talk highlighted his experience of touching history as he photographed each church, and he projected two short image shows to music; one of the interior of Hagia Sophia, and the other of the surrounding area taken from the rooftop ledge around the church.
The gallery is open for visitors 9 – 11 AM and 1 – 4 PM weekdays.

TAKING STRIKING PHOTOS/PORTRAITS …. A Perfect Blend of Techniques and Esthetics

Taking striking and memorable portraits require careful planning and skill. Our speaker Parish Kohanim of Georgia will discuss his techniques in depth, not only during his photo shoots, but will share his post-production enhancing techniques to make your photos stand out from the rest. These are a few of the  powerful insider techniques that Parish will discuss during his presentation: finding inspiration, coming up with a concept, finding a new creative perspective and approach while finding your strength, and storytelling while keeping it simple. Also discussed in the presentation will be dynamic lighting techniques, proper composition and natural posing techniques. Post production image processing and creative Photoshop techniques as well as much more inspiring discussions will make this both a teaching and an inspirational program you will not want to miss. PSRI gratefully thanks Canon very much for making this presentation and world class speaker available to us.

PARISH KOHANIM — Commitment, passion and love to elicit ‘magical beauty’ are the paradigm of Parish’s intuitive philosophy of three decades of photography. Consistently original, diverse, inventive and timelessness are the hallmarks of his photography.  His uncommon use of colors, whether vibrant or pastel, as well as multitudes of tonalities in his stunning and luminous black & white images have become his distinctive and unique signature and style. During his career, he has worked commercially for many Fortune 500 Companies, including IBM, Coca-Cola, and DeBeers to name a few and his work has appeared on the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazzar, Forbes, Time and Newsweek. Parish has been a Canon “Explorer of Light” since it’s’ inception in l994 and a Canon Print Master, which consists of a very exclusive group of photographers worldwide. Parish has been named -One of the World’s Top 100 Photographers- in 2011, 2012 and 2013 by Graphis. In June of 2013 some of Parish’s fine art images were part of an exhibit of American artists shown at the Taylor Foundation in Paris, and now the works are in a permanent collection in Barbizon, FR.  Our speaker has an insatiable desire to explore and expand his artistic horizons and he still remains true to his approach to simplicity and to the visual dialogue that is intuitive and innate.