I have done a lot of photography for Impact100 Sonoma. On June 11, 2010, the organization  awarded its first $100,000 grant at its June 10 inaugural annual meeting to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley (BGCSV). Over 100 founding members, sponsors, presenters from the five grant finalist organizations, and  representatives of the press attended the meeting and celebratory reception at the Sonoma Golf Club.

 

With the $100,000 grant, BGCSV Executive Director Dave Pier explained to the meeting participants that the organization will now be able to dedicate a Teen Programs Director and two Program Assistants to serve more than 250 Sonoma teens with consistent educational support, resulting in an increase in the rates of high school graduation and successful college matriculation.  This program will be accomplished in partnership with Sonoma Valley Education Foundation/Teacher Support Network, the Sonoma Valley Film Society and Sonoma Valley Unified School District. The resulting College Bound after-school program will include individual case management,  daily tutoring,  subject-specific weekly tutorials, college campus exposure, and workshops that include introduction to college forums, understanding high school class requisites for applying to a 4-year college, writer’s workshops, college applications, scholarship applications, and providing SAT/ACT preparation courses.

 

Since 110 women joined as Founding Members during Impact100 Sonoma’s first year, with each woman donating $1,000 to go directly toward grant funding, the organization had a total of $110,000 to distribute to Sonoma Valley nonprofit organizations.

 

I photographed the Plein Air Gala at Cline Winery on Friday,  May 21st. Every year the Plein Air festivities, including a Gala and a Saturday morning exhibit of all the artists' paintings in the Plaza, raise money for the art activities and education for children in the Sonoma schools and in the community. Louann Carlomagno, Superindent of the Sonoma schools, spoke of the importance the art programs have in developing students' critical thinking abilities.

To see photos, go to www. pictage.com/831267.

In case you are wondering what plein air means, I have a definition for you from www.about.com:

"Plein air is painting done outside rather than in a studio. The term comes from the French en plein air, meaning 'in the open air'. The Impressionists were particularly interested in the influence of changing light outdoors on color".

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of photographing Steve Barbose who is mayor of Sonoma. He needed an official portrait that would be placed in city hall with all of the rest of the former leaders of this town. Steve is known by several of his council members as the rock, a steady voice in economic tumultuous times. Others commend him for his ability to visualize the long-term consequences of legislation made on a local basis. He is a great guy and it was an honor to work with him.

Over the last decade, most wedding photographers have shot in a photojournalistic style. Brides rejected staid, formal poses. Wanting energy and great dynamics in their wedding pictures, they requested that their weddings be recorded as they naturally evolved. This free-form approach of photography produced candid shots that told the story of the day. The problem was that the brides did not like the way they looked in those shots.  Thus the emergence of the latest trend for wedding photographers: to shoot in a way that fuses both the posed and the photojournalistic style.

That is the reason I spent almost a week in the Washington, DC area in the past month studying under Clay Blackmore,  one of the top national photographers. He is known for his superb ability to pose people in a way that brings out the best features of his subjects. I witnessed how he could shift the subject's body to give the illusion of that subject being twenty pounds lighter.

Next week I have to the privilege to participate in a four-day workshop lead by one of the top, national photographers, Clay Blackmore.  "Clay is consistently hired by corporate entities as diverse as the PGA and USGA and is a popular request for political inaugural balls. His most recent project is the successful release of Extraordinary Women: Fantacies Revealed. In this groundbreaking work, Clay photographically chronicles the dreams of 58 elite women, capturing intimate and energetic portraits of Madeleine Albright, Dena Merrrill, Joan Rivers, Cokie Roberts, and Dominique Dawes among others." Check out: www. clayblackmore.com.

Last week in the New York Times, I noticed the obiturary of Peter Gowland, "a Photographer Whose Women Graced 1,000 Walls". This was of particular interest to me as I am in the midst of a special project photographing women of substance who are over 50 years old. These brave women have allowed me to first  photograph them without any makeup. Then, when they were dressed up for the camera in their favorite attire, I tried to capture the essence that defines who they are.  I figured Mr. Gowland may have special tips for me.

I noticed that Mr. Gowland was deemed "America's No. 1 Pin-up Photographer". The Los Angeles Times claimed that "he had taken the cheesiness out of cheesecake". I was amused to find out that Mr. Gowland had written a book in 1953 called "How to Photograph Women." This was a book I had to buy!

As I flipped through this book when it arrived last week, I noticed that he had a warning for all male photographers. "Don't get personal: never use your photography as a means of making dates or getting a girl out in the woods."

Boy, have we come a long way since the fifties. More on Mr. Gowland's book later, as I find further advice from Gowland that is too funny to ignore.