2024-02-20 Fine Art Photography SIG meeting notes

We met online using ZOOM 6:00pm-9:00pm

The goal of our Fine Art Photography SIG is to help each other to create fine art from our photography.
The Fine Art SIG is a place where artists support each other and nurture creativity in others.
Unrequested criticism can feed an artist's fear of failure and stifle their creative growth.

ATTENDEES
Robert Barley
Mike Barry
Judy Cannon
Heather Coe
Rich Ernst
Jim Fellion
Jim Limburg
Jack Lipscomb
Paul Marcoux
Ed Ogle
Tom Pallach
Richard Roberts
Jim & Joan Sayre
Steve Shanahan
Harry Strharsky

OUR MAIN DISCUSSION TOPICS WERE "GMIC", "Ice" and "AI"
Rich Ernst presented his "Experiments in Digital Art" and demoed the GMIC plugin.
Mike explained how to create clear ice cubes using "directional water freezing".
Several members showed their ice images.
We had another very good discussion on AI, including the "PhotoAI.com" tool, AI's affect on artists, and the AI Art Generation software Stable Diffusion.

RESOURCES (Where you can find sources of inspiration for giving and receiving constructive critiques)

How to Make Clear Ice Cubes at Home
https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-make-clear-ice-cubes-at-home-for-cocktails-article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZChPEGGM_s
http://liquorlabs.tv/making-clear-ice-at-home-with-tap-water-and-directional-freezing
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQSRCZFH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

How to train your own AI model using PhotoAI.com
Create your own online influencer, or dating profile pictures, or social media program...

Evoto
Professional portrait editing software using AI

Stable Diffusion
https://civitai.com/
https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion
https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui/wiki/Install-and-Run-on-NVidia-GPUs

Constructive Critiques and Personal Projects (optional)
We looked at several members' images... ice, digital art, AI generated art

PICK A TOPIC FOR THE NEXT MEETING
We picked "Monochrome" for our next topic. What do you like about B/W or monochrome photography? Does it add something when you remove the color?

Facebook Group "Photography Tricks Group". Members of this group post lots of photographs using interesting techniques.

AGENDA FOR OUR NEXT FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY SIG MEETING - Tue 3/19/2024 @6:00pm
1. The main topic will be "Monochrome".
2. Constructive Critiques and Other Personal Projects
3. We will pick a topic for the next meeting

Please email Mike, info@fcdcc.com, when you find mistakes, missing information or if you have suggestions for the Fine Art Photography SIG and I will try to address the issues.