Discount cards available

by Rex Dolby

On Thursday, March 8, the Wassenberg Camera Club will meet at 7 p.m. in the main gallery of the Wassenberg Art Center, 643 S. Washington St. in Van Wert. The evening’s competition theme will be doors/windows in prints and slides.

At the meeting, acting treasurer Karl Gribler will distribute the club’s Discount Cards for members to sell. The new $5 cards are the same price as in the past. Our discount cards are a great fundraiser for our club and we appreciate the community’s support. Last year’s cards are still good until April 1. The current cards can be used until 4/1/2013 at 20 area businesses. In addition to discounts in painting, you can receive year-round discounts for ice cream, food and beverages! Van Wert businesses account for 13 locations, Delphos and Celina each have two businesses participating, and Ohio City, Lima and Wapakoneta each have one. To purchase a discount card contact any Wassenberg Camera Club member, call 419-238-4545 or call the Wassenberg Art Center at 419-238-6837.

Some tips for taking good pictures of doors and windows are:
Make a mental note of what it is about the door or window that first caught your attention. That becomes the purpose for the photograph. Try to avoid direct sunlight, which can often cast harsh shadows, over part of the subject. Early morning and late afternoon may provide better lighting conditions. Once you have captured the “first impression” photo, view the object from other angles to see if there may be more vantage points from which to shoot the subject. If the whole door or window is the purpose of the picture, possibly waiting to see if someone appears in it will add interest to the picture. If the texture, construction, or hardware on the door, is what caught your eye, then move much closer and use a smaller lens opening to increase the depth of field (the distance from the closest to the farthest from the lens in sharp focus). For texture shots, side lighting is helpful because it casts shadows as well as illuminates the high spots. Hardware such as hinges, knobs and escutcheons (the plate behind the knob) can reveal something about the age of door and bring additional interest to the photo.

You may find that Van Wert has quite a few architecturally significant doors and windows worthy of capturing in a photograph if you go looking for them.

Contact the art center at 419.238.6837, by email: admin@wassenbergartcenter.org or via our website at: wassenbergartcenter.org. The Wassenberg Art Center is located at 643 South Washington Street in Van Wert. Our hours during exhibits are: Tuesday-Sunday from 1