Digital Imaging SIG

Reese and I just attended our first Digital Imaging SIG meeting by The Silicon Valley User Group Alliance (SVUGA), AKA the Silicon Valley Computer Society. I was truly impressed by all the interesting discussions on computer hardware/software. For someone that has built PCs from scratch for close to two decades (someone like me), it was great to geek out and listen to the topics on computer components and things of that nature.

However, we weren't there to compare our latest PC mods. We were the guest speakers at this month's meeting and talked about ShutterBudd.com and The Show. Our hosts Maury G. and George H. gave us a great introduction and many people raised their hands to ask questions and offer suggestions. We really appreciate everyone listening to us! Thanks also go to Richard E. for asking us about how to add additional film cameras to our database. That sure made Reese happy.

For more info on SVUGA, check out their web site at www.svuga.org

The Silicon Valley User Group Alliance is the joint website of the Stanford Palo Alto User Group (SPAUG) and the Silicon Valley Computer Society (SVCS). Each of these groups is a non-profit educational organization which exists to promote the use and understanding of personal computers, digital photography and website design through meetings, classes, demonstrations and publications and to provide a forum for fellowship, recreation and an exchange of ideas among its members.

The Alliance was formed to provide a richer experience to our members, combining the the excellent monthly general meetings sponsored by SPAUG with the diverse Special Interest groups sponsored by SVCS. While each organization retains its individual identity, members of both groups can now share in the variety of learning experiences and fellowship.

January show open!

The December submissions are in and we've done our part to select the very best of all them. It was hard to pick just 24 to show in December, but we did it, and hopefully everything will run smoothly.

Probably the best part of my job is notifying people that their photos were chosen and seeing how excited they are in their email replies to me. That makes me feel pretty great, and it's been really nice to spread the happy cheer to these great photographers.

Speaking of being excited... the January theme is open. For this month, I've selected "Good Food, Good Friends" and I really can't wait to see how this turns out! I'm excited to see how people interpret it and see their points of view on this topic. I'm including a couple photos of my own below just to have something pretty (we ARE a photo site, and we all like looking at photos).

December show submissions coming to a close

We are all anxiously awaiting the end of submissions for our December show. We've been looking through all the submissions and it looks pretty darned cool to see the different ways people are interpreting the theme of "Everyday" and showing us different parts of their lives.

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited to make the final selections this weekend and notify folks to please send us their prints so I can see and touch them in person. There really is something nice about seeing a print in person as opposed to seeing it on a screen. A physical print is much easier for me to digest and understand than it is on a screen, where the colours may be different from what the artist intended; after all, not all of us have finely calibrated monitors.

Speaking of the highly-anticipated deadline, it's this Friday, so if you were planning to submit, get off your butt and get submitting!!

We'll be releasing a brand new theme for January's show very soon, so keep an eye out!

Eggleston at the Whitney

Guess what, guys... the Whitney Museum in fabulous New York City is hosting a giant Eggleston retrospective. It opens on November 7th and will run until January 25, 2009.

So exactly why should we care about Eggleston? He's one of the great photographers who changed the way people define a picture, and he did it all using colour, which is NOT what self-respecting photographers used back then.

If you happen to be in the area, check out the exhibit, but if not, there are tons of places online where you can read more about William Eggleston and the way he revolutionised the world of photography.

"Girl in Grass" by William Eggleston

Over and out - Reese

What's happenin'

Hi everyone, I'm Reese and I work at ShutterBudd! This is my very first blog post, so excuse me if I sound like a putz with the self-introduction.

It's been really exciting working with the team lately! We've completed our very first photo show in Mountain View and the beautiful images are hanging up in the two venues right now. It was a lot of work, including installing hanging hardware, buying frames and mats, and hanging all the photos in the frames. Along the way, we did get to eat a lot of pizza and see a lot of gorgeous prints, so it was really worthwhile. Besides that, we held a reception and lots of people had fun! Check it out...


Ha... that's me and Jeff in the bottom photo. (Thanks ghamma for the photos!)

We're currently taking submissions for the next show. The theme is "Everyday" and don't forget that it doesn't have to necessarily capture your everyday.