ADSO exhibit focuses on photography, digital arts

FORT WALTON BEACH — The 11th annual Photography & Digital Arts Show will be exhibited Aug. 3-27.

It is sponsored by the Arts & Design Society of Fort Walton Beach and will be at the group’s Art Gallery, 17 First St.

The show is open to all photographers. Entries are due 1-4 p.m. July 31 or 9 a.m.-noon Aug. 2.

There are five categories: four subject categories for photographs and one for digital arts (defined as digital manipulation beyond the normal dark room efforts of a photograph of any subject).

The four photo categories are: Nature/Landscape, People, Architecture and Still Life.

There will be cash awards for first, second and third places in each category and for Best of Show. Ribbons will be awarded for Honorable Mention, Artist’s Choice and Viewer’s Choice recognition.

An opening reception will take place 5-7 p.m. Aug. 6, and awards will be presented about 6:15 p.m.

The judge is Stephen Phillips, assistant professor of fine arts at Northwest Florida State College.

Entry fees for the first two works are: high school students $15, ADSO members $25, and non-members $35. Additional works can be entered for $5 each, up to a maximum of six entries total.

Checks should be made payable to the Arts & Design Society and submitted with the entry form. Entry forms can be found at http://www.artsdesignsociety.com/CallToArtists.htm, along with image requirements.

ADSO was created in 1956 to sponsor and promote art in its many forms, including photography. Besides high standards of art work, ADSO provides opportunities for artists to expand their knowledge and expertise.

The ADSO Photography Club offers such an opportunity for that specific medium. The Photography Club meets at ADSO 7-9 p.m. the third Wednesday of every month. Visitors are welcome.

Members run the gamut of skill levels from amateurs to professional photographers. Some members are novices with any camera, some have point-and-shoot cameras, and some have digital cameras with the latest bells and whistles.

The ADSO Photography Club meetings normally start with a speaker on a subject of interest to photographers. Recent subjects have included camera lenses, supplemental lighting, and the effects of matting and framing on a photograph.

The speaker gives the presentation, shares photographic examples and answers questions. Club members then share their work based on the topic of the previous month’s speaker to show what they learned.

The members also share up to six photographs of their choice. They can be something they like, something they have a question about, something they have learned or something they would like critiqued.

Murray Cragin gave a talk one night on telephoto lenses. He had a lens that was so big (and heavy) that it needed a gimbaled U-shaped bracket that hooked onto an industrial strength tripod. With that equipment, the small chin feathers of an osprey blowing in the breeze were visible in his photographs.

Even some photographs taken with a point-and-shoot camera have been recognized with awards. To a large extent, the photographer has to see what is important and would appeal to an audience. The equipment only facilitates what the photographer’s eye has recognized.

Photographers are welcome to enter their work in all of the ADSO shows, but once a year, there is an exclusive show just for photography.

Last year Brandon Pence won the Best in Show and the Artists’ Choice awards with his photograph “Silver Future.”

The judge recognized first, second and third place efforts along with an honorable mention for Digital, Color and Black & White categories. All of last year’s winning photographs can be seen at http://www.artsdesignsociety.com/digital-art-2009.htm.