Their Pictures Are Worth a Thousand Words
The beauty of photography often lies in the opportunity to sit and stare at a picture. But Larry Vogel and Larry Wiese, professional fine art landscape photographers, have put a new twist on that theory.
They believe that it can be just as much fun to sit and talk about the pictures.
And from that theory came the idea for Photographers’ Exchange, what they hope to be a monthly meeting of photographers who want to share their images and ideas.
The charter meeting will be next Friday night in Santa Ana.
Vogel and Wiese came up with this idea after holding a series of photography workshops.
“At the end of each workshop, the students told us they got so much out of sharing their prints and listening to people talk about their work,” Vogel said. “They wanted to know when they could do this again.”
Vogel, who works in Westminster, says that most people don’t get much of a chance to talk about what they are doing and how they are doing it.
“Once I started talking to people, everyone said they would love to have a place to meet regularly to show work,” Vogel said. “A lot of people are working on new projects and want to share it with people. If they’re not taking classes or getting together with people on a regular basis, there really isn’t any place to go to do it.”
Vogel says critiquing photographs can be compared to walking a tightrope.
“Sometimes critique is a harsh word to use because it’s coming from the idea that you’re criticizing,” he said. “It’s actually just being able to verbalize what you like and don’t like.”
The event is open to anyone interested in photography, even those who don’t have photographs to be reviewed.
Some people lack the technique to express their ideas, while others have the technique but can’t come up with ideas, Vogel says. A successful exchange needs a mix of both people.
“Part of this meeting is for me to be around creative people, no matter where they are at either the beginning or advanced stage,” Vogel said. “I want the people to know it’s not just going to be about landscape photography or black-and-white photography. It’s about photography, period.”
Photographers’ Exchange will meet at 7 p.m. at Oriental Photographic Distributing Co., 3701 West Moore Ave., Santa Ana. Admission is free. For more information, contact Larry Vogel at (714) 891-6956.
Class. Cal’s Camera is offering a basic photography class March 31 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The class will be taught by Woody Blackburn and will cover various topics including exposure, film, flash, lenses and composition. The cost is $50. Cal’s Camera is at 1770 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa. For more information call (714) 646-9383, Ext. 224
Exhibit. Newport Beach photographer Elizabeth Jennings will be displaying her color photographs at the Cypress College Photo Gallery. The gallery is in the Technical Education building I, at Cypress College, 9200 Valley View St., Cypress. Admission is free. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to noon. For more information, call (714) 826-2220, Ext. 244.
Lecture. The Professional Photographers Assn. of Orange County will sponsor a lecture at 7 p.m. April 19 by photographer Carlos Lozano. The topic will be “Profits in Family Portraiture.” The meeting will be held at the Sequoia Club, at 7530 Orangethorpe Ave., Buena Park. For more information, contact Ken Nicholson at (714) 650-1111.
The Photography Column, which runs every other week in Orange County Life, is intended to help the serious amateur and weekend shooter. Questions and ideas are encouraged. Write to: Robert Lachman, Photography Department, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626.
