South Carolina Photography Guild

As a photography-themed blog, the use of digital compression on images is indigenous to how things are done. We take our pictures, we transfer them off the camera onto the computer, edit in our software of choice, then usually we upload to some internet source to share with colleagues, clients, friends, family, and in the case of this blog - the world. We have been strapped in our choices of image compression though as we could only compress images using the common jpg format, tiff, png, and raw files. What’s missing you ask? The answer is the GIF.

The GIF format has been around for quite a while, and was developed by Unisys literally “back in the day”. Since they were the develoeprs of the compression algorithm, and they held a patent on it, they technically could collect royalties for it’s use, as well as pursue litigation for its illegal use. In fact, at one point Unisys threatened to levy fines of up to $5000 for websites that used the LZW-based algorithm.

When the Unisys patent ended in 2004, most thought the battle was over, but as it turns out, IBM still holds an identical patent to it. Well, photographers, graphic artists, imaging experts and designers can now rejoice as that patent will expire on Oct. 1st and the GIF extension will become part of the public domain. Fun stuff, eh? Just in time too, I think I may need a GIF file to make my millions!

As things settle down professionally, more time is now available so I will try to get some shots out here on a regular basis from the forums. Here’s a cool shot from our resident “Macro Expert”, Manoj Menon.

The movie “Born Into Brothels” will be screened at Jack Alterman’s Center for Photography at its regular “Second Monday Night”  in October. This Academy Award winning documentary shows the work of Zana Briski in her Kids-with-Cameras project in the brothel district of Calcutta, India.

This showing will be done in conjunction with the Viewpoint - Kids with Cameras Series now in it’s 3rd year in Charleston.  The SCPG is proud to be a part of this effort to offer unique opportunities to the youth of our communities. 
Additional outreach efforts may also evolve in surrounding communities including North Charleston and the West Side of the Charleston peninsula, with the Gadsden Green
Housing Project and the Charleston Development Academy charter school.

For more details on any of these events, or if you are interested in volunteering to mentoring the photographic development of the youth in and around the Charleston area, contact Ron Rocz at ronrocz@attglobal.net.

The group went up to Huntington Beach for a sunrise shoot recently and another good time was had by all (aren’t they always?)! We also spent some time over in the Atalya Castle, inside the park area, and shots are now showing up in the forums. Stop on over to the forums and see the imagery. Some of the crowd are really producing some very high quality shots, suitable for framing and such. We will be trying to schedule another outing between now and the October Falls trip, so check back to see the location, date and time!

Here is a sampling of what’s being worked up in the forums:
         

The Kids with Cameras event - a.k.a. Viewpoint - went off quite well, with over 15 volunteers and about 23 kids showing up for the event.  Thomas has posted some of his shots from the outing in the forums, so feel free to check those out at your leisure.  They can be found directly by going here. The next get-together is scheduled for Sunday, October 1st with the kids at Jack Alterman’s Center for Photography, where the images taken will be shared in a communal environment.
A bonus get-together is also scheduled for the Second Monay Series, for a showing of the movie “Born into Brothels”, also at Jack Alterman’s Center for Photography.  This is the movie that started it all, documenting the work of Zana Brisky on her work with children in the brothels of Calcutta India.  It is really an amazing film, both engaging and inspiring, and offers many tips for working with kids in learning about photography.    Interested people are welcome to attend this showing, including local volunteers as many of the techniques used are borrowed for the local Viewpoint - Kids with Cameras project.

One of the fundamental concepts of the SCPG is that we can all learn from one another, regardless of skill level. This coming Sunday, we will be learning from the kids of the community. The program is called “Viewpoint - Kids with Cameras” and is hosted by the Center for Photography studios of Jack Alterman. If anyone is interested in joining up contact Ron Rocz at ronrocz@attglobal.net.  Volunteers welcome and bring a spare camera if you have one (preferably one with an “auto” setting. More information on this and SCPG’s participation in the event can be found in the forums.

The forums for scphotogs is a very happening place lately! So happening, the blog has not gotten the attention is should be getting. As a means of correcting that, and also to highlight some of the work that is being shared in the developing community of photogs for the Low Country, here are some shots of recent postings to the forums. Enjoy!

White Ibis - Manoj

Giraffe, Columbia Zoo - Sarah

Grove Plantation - Dave

Golden Glow - Thomas

Although the blog has been relatively quiet for a little over two weeks now, it’s time to get things back up to speed here.  The group has scheduled it’s September “walkabout” for Georgetown area, just about an hour north and east of Charleston.  Carpool and logistical plans are underway to help everyone defray the cost of travel.  It looks like the trip is going to be an all-day event, so come along, pack a lunch, bring a friend, and join the fun!  (Oh yeah…bring a camera too if you have one!).

If our little gathering is too small, a larger gathering is forming, starting on Sept. 24th, and going through October 1st in Germany:  the bi-annual Photokina!!!  This is an event held once every two years and offers vendors serving the photography and imaging community around the globe an opportunity to announce new products, share news of R&D efforts, and offer attendees the opportunity to learn about all the latest developments in the field.  For the tech-savvy, it’s quite an event, and vendors range from the expected (Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, etc.) to logical (Apple, Adobe, IBM, Ilford, etc) and the unexpected (Logitech,  The Phone House Telecom and Texas Instruments).  Check out the entire roster of exhibitors here:  Alphabetic Roster of Photokina Exhibitors, or visit the main site here:  Photokina Website.  It’s quite an extravaganza, and for the price of admission (and the airfare), well worth it.  So…does anyone have $2000 I can borrow?