Photo Essay 2009

Save the (tentative) date: March 22, 2009 (Sunday afternoon). Leisure World of Maryland will host the NBCC Photo Essay 2009 program in Clubhouse #2 Auditorium. We will also celebrate NBCC's 44rd anniversary. Note this is a private, invitational event open only to members of North Bethesda Camera Club, Rossmoor Camera Club, their guests, and residents of Leisure World of Maryland.

Photo Essay 2009 Participants - Please Read:

NBCC Photo Essay Preparation - Dates, submission checklist, file requirements, ProShow guidance, general advice

How to Create Photo Essays - Artistic guidance for creating photo essays

Photo Essay 2008

On Sunday, March 18th, 2008, NBCC celebrated its 43rd anniversary and presented its 24th photo essay program. This year’s photo essay program at Leisure World was arguably the best photo essay show presented by NBCC. The show attracted more than 280 attendees, nearly a full house. Despite the large crowd, the auditorium at Leisure World provided very comfortable seating, viewing and acoustics. We are grateful to the Rossmoor Camera Club, and its President, Dave Young, for hosting the event.

While most of the attendees were from NBCC and the Rossmoor Camera Club, there were also a large number of guests from other camera clubs and from Leisure World. The show included twenty essays created by club members, plus introductions prepared by Tom Field and Frank Herzog.

In addition, during the intermission, the essay from last year’s awards dinner was shown. This essay included all the winners from the club’s electronic projection competitions in 2006-7. Many of the essays were prepared by first-time essayists. And they were outstanding. Those submitting essays for the second or third time showed noticeable improvements in artistic and technical aspects. We are all continuing to learn how to use this format for sharing. One essayist, Dave Davidson, has posted his essay on the photodex.com website. Others may follow.

Thanks to all who prepared essays and attended the event. And special thanks to those workers behind the scenes who made the program possible, including the Production Team: Tom Field and Frank Herzog; the Creative Advisors: Gordie Corbin, Judy Switt and Nikhil Bahl; the Hospitality Team: Gene Haddon, John Barnes, Bev Gordon, Jean Hanson and Marilyn Jacox; and the RCC-NBCC Liason: Bob Dargel.

Below is the list of this year’s essays:

  • The Maryland Renaissance Festival, by David and Wicca Davidson
  • White Water Paddling: Great Falls and Mather Gorge, by Roy Sewall
  • Views of Argentina: Sights, Ceremony & Symbols, by Les Trachtman
  • Robyn’s Garden, by Melissa Clark
  • Birds by the Water, by Nikhil Bahl
  • Arizona’s Colors, by Bill Richards
  • Kremlin: Inside and Out, by Mark Segal
  • Wyoming Winter, by Gigi Halloran
  • On Stage 2, by Alex Guo
  • New York: The Way I See It, by Tatiana Watson
  • Signs of Our Times (Get the Message?), by Janet Myder Hammack
  • Faces Along China’s Silk Road, by Don Martell
  • Hybrids and Surreal, by Shereen Kopp
  • Colorado Plateau, by John Burgess
  • A Tale of Two Cities: Paris and Buenos Aires, by José Cartas
  • Leaf Impressions, by Carl Root
  • Golden Week: Spring Break in Japan, by Jean Hanson
  • Fantasy Flight, by Jim Hawkins
  • This Ole House, by Gordie Corbin and Judy Switt
  • Canadian Rockies, by Tom Field

Photo Essay 2007

On Sunday, March 18th, NBCC celebrated its 42nd anniversary, and presented its 23rd photo essay show. This time, like the previous year, the show was all electronic. But this year, the show was presented in the large and comfortable Leisure World auditorium, was hosted by the Rossmoor Camera Club (the resident camera club at LW), and attracted an estimated 250 attendees. While most were from NBCC and RCC, along with their guests, there were also attendees from many other local camera clubs.

Twenty two photo essays were presented. Each show began with a short introduction about the maker, and the essay topic. These introductions included several photos OF the maker, along with narrations that were pre-recorded by our own Frank Herzog. Frank's narrations added life and vitality to the introductions.

During the latter part of the intermission, the photo essay from NBCC's 2006 annual dinner was shown. This essay consisted of the images that were winners in the electronic competitions during the 2005-2006 year.

Topics presented at Photo Essay 2007 included: the old town of Prague, the wonders of Yellowstone National Park, photo editing -- before and after, Norway's Waters, colorful and chaotic India, the "waltz of the flowers", ancient Cappadocia in Turkey, Bastille Day at Dominick's in DC, the photojournalistic "decisive moment" in black and white, the West Virginia wilderness, Smokey Mountain National Park, whimsical essays on vegetable sculpture and Disneyworld in August, wild Michigan, Abstract and Surreal images, Tuscany, variations on a theme of blue, images from the air, images from under the Caribbean, and the western deserts of Xinjiang in China.

Audience members commented how professional the whole show was, and how diverse the individual essays were. Many thanks to all who participated, and to the team that put the production together.

Updated 2008-10-17   Copyright © 1965 - 2008 North Bethesda Camera Club.