- Last Updated: 13 January 2022 13 January 2022
2021 Photo Review Recap
Annual Photo Review (2021 Images)
Judge: Christopher Broughton
Once again, Christopher Broughton reviewed the best images from the previous year of photo challenges. In 2021, 226 images received scores of 8 or 9 during our monthly challenges. Of that group, he selected 21 images from the Assigned themes category and 19 images from the Open category. Chris stated that he had a tough time selecting images for this review since there were so many great images to choose from. He felt that all 226 images, having already been culled by our monthly guest judges, were "the best of the best." He explained how he tagged and labeled all the images that he would like to talk about, and then he selected images that were not similar to each other, stating that "if there's two images that are similar, one is stronger than the other." The images were not ranked or ordered in any fashion, and Christopher described the compelling features of each image as we went through the set of 40 images.
For those of you who did not attend the meeting and want to view the video, please select the following link:
All past photo competition galleries can be found at our Competition Winning Images page.
- Last Updated: 18 January 2022 18 January 2022
TOPG Webinar Series - Online via Zoom
Still Life Photography
Wednesday, February 2, 7:30 PM
Host: Terry Miranda
Webinar Link:
Downloads: No downloads have been provided at this time.
Details: Producing compelling Still Life Photos seems to be so daunting, especially when you have no idea how to make them. All you have to do it think of the right still life composition, take the photo, then go into Photoshop where you do some processing, add textures and tints, and then you have it. Simple! While it does seem complicated, Terry Miranda will help you understand how simple it can be one you get some of the basics down. Terry will show us her studio setup, prepare a few compositions for photography, and then she will demonstrate how she goes from photo to still life art inside Photoshop. The demonstration requires some rudimentary understanding of Photoshop Layers and blending modes. Even if you are not a Photoshop whiz, you will still find this overview of Still Life Photography very useful and interesting.
For information about using Zoom for our webinars, read our Zoom Videoconferencing Guide.
- Last Updated: 13 January 2022 13 January 2022
February Photo Challenge
Monday, February 7 at 7:30 PM
Standard Photo Challenge Rules (Assigned and Open classes)
Assigned Topic: Animals
Judge: Paul and Nancy Speaker (bios for Paul Speaker and Nancy Speaker)
Website at https://www.spkrphot.com/
Instagram at unknown
Facebook at unknown
For February, our topic is "Animals." Whether they are at home, at the zoo, or in the wild, we want to see all types of animals – that is all types of animals except humans.
- Competition Rules: Thousand Oaks Photo Group Photo Challenge Guidelines for 2021 (They remain unchanged from 2022.)
- Entry Closing Date: Submit your images by February 2, no later than 10 PM.
Critique and Judging will take place on February 7 via Zoom at 7:30 PM. See our calendar for details.
- Last Updated: 13 January 2022 13 January 2022
2022 Photo Challenges Revealed!
We have a new set of photo challenges for 2022, thanks to the efforts of Hutch Hutchison. He developed 10 challenge topics to test our skills and imagination. Five are thematic challenges and five that are more conceptual in nature. There are fun topics like Song Title, Broken and End of the Road and other topics will make you think. We even have an abstract photo theme coming up in October. There is so much fun to look forward to. See next year's challenges today!
The mystery is no longer a mystery. You have now been told, and now you must prepare for the future... future photo challenges that is.
- Last Updated: 04 November 2021 04 November 2021
TOPG Webinar Series
S4C Photo Competition Orientation
Host: Hutch Hutchison
Video Content:
Downloads: No downloads have been provided at this time.
Details: Hutch Hutchison leads a discussion about the Southern California Council of Camera Clubs (S4C), you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about how to enter S4C monthly competitions. Hutch is supported in this webinar by Steve Friedman, S4C Vice President, Mike Reyburn TOPG S4C Representative, and Terry Miranda, TOPG S4C Interclub Coordinator. Participation in S4C Competitions is a free benefit available to all TOPG members.
For more information about S4C monthly competitions see the S4C Competition information pages.
Originally presented on November 3, 2021