President's Message June 2020
Dear LHSA member,
On Community: In this time of a viral pandemic that persists and social upheaval and calls for change in how we deal with each other, our Society, in its own small way, has moved to bring members closer together even though our ability to meet in person has been thwarted. This spring, when Covid 19 started taking its toll, we were forced to postpone our Spring Shoot, and our annual meeting in October will be via video conference (look for more detail on that next month). Here is what LHSA has been up to and what to expect for the next few months:
We are continuing our webinar series every other Wednesday, kicked off by four superlative Lightroom sessions from Board Member Brad Husick, followed by two sessions on Instagram by our friend from Sociality Squared, Helen Todd. We also held a “Conversation with Leica” on May 15 with Leica’s CEO Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, and Camera Business Head Stefan Daniel. On the upcoming schedule are sessions on Travel Photography, Using an M10-D in the Himalayas, Printing and Color Management, Using Older Leicas, Portrait Lighting, and using Adobe Camera Raw. These webinars have enabled us to reach members all over the world. Attendance has been more than 100 for most and more than 200 for some and members from more than 20 countries have “attended.” We are thankful to those of you have been on-line with us; the Q and A’s at the end of the sessions have been lively and add to the experience of members helping members. The feedback from Leica on the May 15 session was excellent. They thought our members asked many good questions, (some easier to answer than others!).
Many thanks to those of you that contributed to the Sweepstakes for the M10 Monochrom. It raised some needed funds for LHSA and, of course, whoever wins the prize will be getting a very special camera.
On a more somber note, photography contributes to our understanding of why conflict happens and challenges us to reflect on what was captured and how it reflects the world we’re living in. Our society released a statement decrying both racism and violence in all forms that I think is worth reading. There were some victims in our community as well, and you might also want to read member Steven Copulsky’s note about Eli Kurland, who saw his Leica Store SOHO badly damaged in the course of violence a couple of weeks ago.
Your society is made up of more than 2400 people of different nationalities, religions, races, genders, and other traits. We don’t all agree about everything but our differences are far outweighed by our common interests and we hope you will continue to learn from (and teach) your fellow members as our community grows.
Alan Weinschel
LHSA President