2024 ended on a high note for the Laguna Woods Camera Club with the presentation of members’ top photos of the year.
Many of the winners are by now known names, having won top honors in previous years. But in 2024, newcomer Adriana Greisman won big, with her color photo “Spectacular Waterlily” judged best in show.
Greisman moved to Laguna Woods Village and joined the Camera Club only last year.
“I started out as a musician, a flutist and teacher, and was taking just snapshots,” she said in an interview. “After taking classes both online and in person, I started getting serious about photography. I never saw myself as an artist but found that my eye seemed to come naturally. I found a medium that fits.”
“Waterlily” exemplifies Greisman’s post-production skills using Photoshop, but she leaves the printing to the professionals.
“I have the photographs printed on metal and canvas and only use paper for cards,” she said.
Greisman also won honors for her depiction of two young girls lost in the magic of the beach. Titled “Beach Play,” the photo evidences a mastery of light and of capturing just the right moment of apparent serenity in the girls’ expressions.
Her photo of a swimming grebe and her babies, “Grebe Parenthood,” is also evidence of capturing the essence of a scene. That photo earned her high spots in the nature category.
An avid photographer of animals, Greisman honed her observation skills in zoos. In nature, she has learned that chasing animals yields no results.
“Fifteen minutes can change things,” she said. “What it takes is skill, patience and luck.”
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Catching the right moment is also what defines Mike Bray’s prize-winning entries, which tend to span categories that feature dramatic motion.
“I have a passion for things that are moving,” he said. “It’s all about fortuitous timing and getting the right moment.”
Bray’s photo “Thunderbirds Fly-by” won a second prize for its spot-on shot of two jets, one flying regularly and the other upside down, with their tails meeting at precise points. All one can wonder is “What are the odds?”
Another of Bray’s sports photos, “Stylin’ Surfer,” is also an action shot, except that the female surfer adds an element of allure.
“I started photographing when my kids were in youth sports and also when we had Olympic swimmers training in my Mission Viejo neighborhood,” Bray said.
While sports are his main interest, he slightly shifts gears into a form of abstraction with “The Return,” focusing on a shadow cast by a tennis player.
His photo “Wayward Umbrella” is noteworthy because he shot the closeup of a red umbrella’s spines with a cellphone, a tool increasingly common among professional photographers.
“I’m never without my phone,” Bray said.
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Myra Posner had been a photographer for 15 years and, as a non-Village resident, waited two years to get into the Camera Club.
“I’ve always carried a camera and have been mostly drawn to landscapes and flowers,” she said. “But I enter (Camera Club) Critiques all the time with different subjects.”
Posner shoots mostly locally, and so it’s become a challenge to find new places to shoot in the area, she said. For her photo “The Dance,” of jellyfish ballerinas, she ventured out to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
In a different vein, “Sulimon” is a tranquil monochrome portrait of a young basketball player that won her a second prize.
“Photography is a great hobby,” Posner said. “If you can’t get out, you find things to shoot at home or in your yard.”
Post-production techniques like Photoshop and Luminar can be useful, she said.
“Post-processing helps improve the final photograph,” Posner said. “The camera does not see what our eyes see.”
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Ken Furuta again nailed some first and second prizes this year. During surfing tournament season, he heads for Huntington Beach with his long 400 or 600mm lenses.
“Sports and action are the most challenging subjects for me,” he said.
After he has his desired shots, the post-processing work begins, and photos like “Slashing Through the Wedge” look as if he is right there in the water with the surfers.
Furuta also enjoys landscape and travel photography, as exemplified in “Mystic Morning at Mt. Huangshan.”
“Hopefully, every year I get a little better with experience,” he said. “Now I am also doing a lot more panning and slow-shutter speed work and am trying to be more artistic.” For example, “Razzle-Dazzle Berries,” a closeup of a sculpture by Jeff Koons, is a black and white conversion with some artistic modification.
Furuta started taking photos in 1990 and describes himself as largely self-taught. “I do a lot of reading, do research online and learn from my friends,” he said.
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George Harper gravitates toward sports and wildlife. “Sports are easier around here with all the surfing events,” he said, “but wildlife is getting harder to find here than in other parts of the country.”
He photographs landscapes on his trips, but, approaching age 90, he has mobility issues that keep him from traveling a lot.
“I do flowers and macro photography and work at advancing my editing skills,” he said.
One of Harper’s intriguing contributions is “Mother With Child,” a black and white abstracted depiction of a mother holding a baby.
“The photo shows a small statue that is a replica of a larger one. I collected photos of babies and themes of motherhood,” said Harper, a retired OB/GYN. “I started out taking video editing classes through the Emeritus program but got more interested in photography than videography. Next I want to get into portraits.”
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The Camera Club went through a growth spurt in 2024 due to increased outreach, educational and promotional programs, with membership soaring from 270 to 378, according to Camera Club Vice President Jack Salvador.
That success can be largely attributed to the unstinting efforts of volunteers like Mary Madden, winner of the 2024 Lydia Savedoff Award.
The award is given to members who demonstrate excellence in advancing photography for the club membership and all Villagers, said club member Joel Goldstein.
“Mary Madden was recognized for her extraordinary service, teaching and volunteering as well as for her outstanding photography skills,” he said.
Madden says she was “honored and surprised” by the award. “I had no idea I was even in the running for it,” she admits.
Madden joined the Camera Club in 2019 and became active once things opened up after the pandemic.
“The biggest part of my role is to advise on board issues and to provide value to our members and make them better photographers,” she said.
Madden was instrumental in getting a part of the recent “Good Neighbor” project off the ground wherein club members took photos of Village residents with their pets in a studio setting.
As for her own works, travel photography is among her passions. She garnered a fourth prize for her image “Serengeti Leopard.”
“Now that I am retired (from pharmaceutical marketing), I can travel more and also focus my energies on teaching and the Camera Club Photo Lab with its service to the Village.”
