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The Fort Wayne, IN SMUG has a great first meeting!
The Fort Wayne SMUG’s first meeting took place at the Allen County Public Library. The schedule included a meet and greet, a review of SmugMug’s services, an Adobe Lightroom tutorial, and a giveaway of a SmugMug Pro account where 22 members were in attendance.
Before our Lightroom tutorial, led by Brian Stopher, we spoke about our experiences. Most of the attendees knew each other through other groups we’ve formed in the area to practice our craft. It was nice to see new faces and hear stories from all everyone during the meet and greet.
We are mostly hobbyists and amateur photographers that have been working with anything from playing around with the family’s digital camera to shooting with a 5D Mark II. Some of us had been in the industry for more than 30 years and others were just getting into the field. Many of us have yet to charge for our work, and we’re mostly doing photography for our family and friends. Others have made it to the point in their craft that the unpaid work became too much, and have started to utilize SmugMug pro accounts to make their new money making adventure a little easier.
Our keynote speaker and SMUG leader, Brian Stopher of Silvertouch Photography, led us through an in depth discussion about Lightroom for the final hour of our meeting. We did a text message poll of the room using pollEV.com, and about half of the group had used Lightroom in the past. The group asked many questions and generated lots of buzz about the product.
Many were glad to learn that Lightroom is non-destructive. No matter what you do to a photo in Lightroom, there is almost always a way to get back to SOOC. It’s also a great compliment to your Photoshop workflow. Many were interested in ways of saving money on the software. It was mentioned that student discounts at our local community colleges are available.
Finally, for our giveaway, Korey Kord had been looking to create a website for his photography hobby, and thanks to Smugmug and the Fort Wayne SMUG, Korey is the winner of a brand new Smugmug Pro account. Congrats to Korey!
The inaugural Fort Wayne SMUG event’s success was due to Brian’s leadership and the community’s involvement. If you need to surround yourself with more people like you, join our Facebook group! We look forward to more new faces at our next meeting.
Submitted by the Fort Wayne SMUG Scribe: Brandon Wittwer
Brandon is an amateur photographer and owner of Wittwer Photography. Wittwer Photography has been in business unofficially for 3 years in portrait, engagement, family, wedding, and fashion photography. You can follow Wittwer Photography on Facebook here.
The Mansfield, Ohio SMUG learns about long exposure images!
This month’s meeting took place at the Shelby Senior Center. We had 15 attendees at this meeting, and this month’s main topic was Long Exposure Photography.
To start the meeting, we discussed last month’s photo assignment, which was “Animals.” Almost everyone who shared their photos had a very interesting story about the time it was taken to go along with it. After all of the participants put their name in a hat for a random drawing, Stephanie M. was the winner of the $50 B&H gift card!
The main speaker of this month’s meeting was Andy S. Foster. Andy is a graduate of the Ohio Institute of Photography and uses a Canon 5D Mark ii. His link on Flickr is http://www.flickr.com/photos/fosterphotography17/.
To start off his presentation, Andy hooked up a laptop to the monitor in the room so he could show some long exposure sample images. Andy’s presentation was very well planned and organized; he often paused from speaking to ask if anyone had any questions or needed help understanding what he was talking about. Andy then showed us many of his own long exposure shots and light paintings, which stunned the crowd.
He talked a lot about your camera’s aperture and shutter speed, and how these things factor in when trying to snag a good looking long exposure shot. He also showed us some of the equipment he uses when he does long exposure photography, like lenses and his shutter release. Andy also dipped into a specific type of long exposure called light painting, and he showed us some images of light painting on the monitor. To make his presentation a little more hands on, we shut off the lights and took our cameras out to do a little bit of our own light painting.
After Andy’s presentation, it was up to the group to decide on the photo assignment for next month. We all felt that it was appropriate to choose long exposure photography for the assignment, since we just had lessons on it. Everyone in the group seemed really excited about trying out this new type of photography. I’m very excited to see what everyone comes up with for the meeting next month!
Submitted by the Mansfield, OH SMUG Scribe: Alec Broderick
Alec is 17 and based out of Shelby, Ohio. He’s been shooting for about 5 years and still uses his Nikon d40, which is the first DSLR he ever purchased. He loves taking portraits and mostly behind-the-scenes type photos. He loves photography because it lets him transform memories and people into an art form that can be shared with everyone. Make sure to check out his photos!
SMUGs are looking for speakers!
The SmugMug User Groups (SMUGs) are putting out a call for speakers for our 2012 monthly speakers series.
A SMUG is a place where you can learn, teach and meet up with other photographers who share your passion. It’s also how we can tell you what’s happening in our world and discover what’s happening in yours. SMUGs are a great way to connect with other photographers and add a few weapons to your creative arsenal. There are over 90 SMUGs worldwide. Rain or shine, it’s always a great idea to come to your SMUG’s monthly meetings. This way, you have a great collection of photos in every season!
We are looking for presenters that can speak about various photography related topics. Examples: Business topics, software, lighting, fusion, camera usage, portraits, photojournalism, sports, nature/landscape, commercial, boudoir, sports and weddings.
All types of photographers are welcome to present.
If you are interested in speaking, please send a short bio and course description and let us know why you would be great for our groups. We really want people with something interesting to say so let us know why this is you. These presentations are not sales-oriented so while you are more then welcome to mention products and workshops at the end, the bulk of the presentation should be on the chosen topic.
This is a great opportunity for anyone to get in front of a large, active group of photographers.
You will also receive a free SmugMug Pro account as a special thanks from SmugMug (for as long as you are a speaker).
To submit your presentation or if you have questions, please email Rocky Bowles at rocky@smugmug.com. Once we receive your email, we will send out a manual that explains all of the details for speaking at SMUGs.
All submissions will be kept on file and we’ll contact you if we choose your presentation.
SmugMug cannot thank you enough for your participation in becoming a speaker. It is the people like you that give SMUGs such a great reputation!
The Paducah, KY SMUG congratulates its co-leader!
What’s a SMUG?
A SMUG is a place where you can learn, teach and meet up with other photographers who share your passion. Learn More!
Want to be a SMUG leader?
If you enjoy bringing people together and are stoked about sharing your know-how, we'd love to have you on our side to charter new and upcoming groups. Learn More!
SMUGs Podcasts
- SmugMug Podcast Series - Social Media: Getting started and best practices with Aaron Hockley April 17, 2013
- Capturing Love - A Guide to Gay and Lesbian Weddings March 1, 2013
- SMUGs Podcast Series Becoming a PRO - Podcast 3 - Jason Grubb from Jason + Gina Photography October 27, 2012
- SMUGs Podcast Series on Becoming a PRO - Podcast 2 - Gustavo Fernandez September 19, 2012
- SMUGs Podcast Series on becoming a PRO - Podcast 1 - Hanssie Trainor August 8, 2012
