Fort Collins Digital Camera Club

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
Mike Barry
Robert Barley
Judy Cannon
Heather Coe
Rich Ernst
Jim Fellion
Jim Limburg
Jack Lipscomb
Paul Marcoux
Kristi Norman
Ed Ogle
Ken Sandberg
Jim & Joan Sayre
George Theordore
Albert Wang

OUR MAIN DISCUSSION TOPICS WAS "Monochromatic photography"
We discussed what people liked about Black and White images, and the process that we use to create them.
What do you prefer?
Black and White, or Sepia, or some other monochromatic color scheme
How do you create your monochrome images?
- shoot in B/W
- shoot in color and desaturate in post
- shoot in color and use B/W adjustment layer
- Rich Ernst presented Blake Rudis' technique for B/W photography
What do you like about monochromatic images?
- find color distracting, and monochrome is simpler and more intense
- fix a color image that is not special
- B/W style is more nostalgic, romantic, vintage, antique, historic, traditional, classic, sentimental

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

What is Monochrome Photography?
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/photography-101-what-is-monochrome-photography

How to Shoot Monochrome Photography with Color
https://expertphotography.com/monochromatic-color/

How to Use Monochrome Color in Photography
https://digital-photography-school.com/use-monochrome-color-photography/

Black and White Photography: A Beginner's Guide
https://digital-photography-school.com/beginners-guide-black-white-photography/

Blake Rudis' videos:
https://f64academy.com/much-better-black-white-photos/ - FREE
https://f64elite.com/product/black-white-the-bottom-line/ - $29

NIK Silver Effects Pro
https://nikcollection.dxo.com/nik-silver-efex/
NIK Collection #6 $149

Luminar Neo
https://skylum.com/luminar
$11.95/month or $119/24 months

Flat Lay Photography: The Ultimate Guide (+ 8 Tips)
https://digital-photography-school.com/flat-lay-photography/

Flat Lay Photography
https://www.theschoolofphotography.com/tutorials/flat-lay-photography

An Overhead View of Flat Lay Photography
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/flat-lay-photography.html

Constructive Critiques and Personal Projects (optional)
We looked at Black and White images created by our members

PICK A TOPIC FOR THE NEXT MEETING
We chose "Flat Lay Photography" for our next topic, so let's create some "Flat Lay" images for the next meeting

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 4/16/2024 @6:00pm
1. The main topic will be "Flat Lay Photography".
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.