On Parade celebrates Creative Exposure Baltimore (CEB) five years anniversary.  Photo: Kazad/Artcentron

PHOTOGRAPHY

Creative Exposure Baltimore (CEB) strides into the future after five years of successfully promoting photography in Baltimore.

BY KAZAD

BALTIMORE— When Creative Exposure Baltimore (CEB) was created five years ago, little did the organizers know that the Meetup group will soon become one of the foremost groups to foster the photography career of young photographers in Baltimore. Since inception, the group has been providing some form of free online photography lessons for all those interested in photography. From armatures to professionals, CEB has been attracting photographers who continue to inspire one another. Membership requirement for the group is easy to fulfill. All that is needed to become a member of CEB is a passion for photography. The organizers of CEB better articulate the mission of the group:   “From novice to pro, there is something for you. If your passion is photography, join us to be inspired, learn, explore, share and network.”

Creative Exposure Baltimore is managed by a group of seasoned professional photographers dedicated to inspiring other photographers. Known as the CEB Steering Group, the members include Marc Siegel, Marcus Moore, Bonnie Schupp, Brycia, Art Silverglate, Kevin, and Rolando. The CEB Steering Group has devotedly nurtured the group in the last five years, focusing on different areas of photography that have been very beneficial to its members. Areas of interest include photography, digital photography, landscape photography, location photography, street photography, model photography, Photoshop, professional networking, and photography workshop.

Photography Workshop at CEB

Photography workshop is one of the key elements that have put CEB at the forefront of the photography business in Baltimore. Beyond the free online photography lessons, CEB has also been organizing photography workshops to educate photographers about photography techniques and how to take better photos. One of the workshops was held several weeks ago as part of the celebration of the CEB’s 5^th anniversary. The photography workshop held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry brought together amateur and professional photographers, who shared ideas about how to relate to models, shoot great portrait photographs, and also explore photography equipment for maximum effect. Armed with cameras, flash and reflectors, young and old photographers shoot portraits of models provided by the group.

In fulfillment of the group’s commitment to the education of photographers, Creative Exposure Baltimore in June invited photographers to shoot Sunflowers at Mckee-Beshers WMA. For many of the young amateur photographers that attended, it was a rewarding experience to be able to learn new photography tips from professional photographers who freely shared photography techniques that would have cost hundreds of dollars to learn. The Sunflowers shooting workshop was followed by Astrophotography, an informative photography workshop anchored by Wes Bunton, a Maryland based amateur landscape photographer, who taught attendees how to take amazing photos of the stars.

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In the last five years, Creative Exposure Baltimore has not only focused on new developments in photography, it has also continued to educate its members about new developments in photography techniques and equipment. On June 21, 2014, the group organized a photography workshop that allowed members to learn and share ideas about the best ways to take photographs with cell phones and Tablets. TaggedCell Phones and Tablet/iPad Camera Shoot, the venue was the Larew Gardens, one of the most outstanding topiary garden in America. The evidence of the success of that event is the growing number of photographs taken with phones and tablets that continue to be posted on the group’s website.The group has also organized workshops on street photography. The last one featured Patrick Joust, a professional street photographer, who taught street photography and professionalism.

In addition to the photography workshops, the CEB has also organized photography competitions that were judged by seasoned photographers drawn from within and outside the group. The open competitions allow members to submit images to be evaluated by their peers. What is perhaps most instructive about the photo contests is the opportunity for photographers to critique each other’s works.

Five Years Later: Creative Exposure Baltimore (CEB) Looks to the Future

Five years down the line, Creative Exposure Baltimore has made a great impact on the photographer community in Baltimore. That is why Artcentron celebrates CEB. Beyond organizing photography workshops and events that have helped advance the career of photographers in Baltimore, the group has also engendered an environment for networking amongst armatures and professional photographers. Of course, the group could not have achieved such success without the help of others. The Baltimore Museum of Industry has been a great supporter of this group. Located at the Baltimore Inner Harbor area, the museum has served as the main venue for many of the photography workshops organized by the CEB. As the group takes another stride into the future, there is no doubt that Baltimore amateurs and professional photographers have a lot to look forward to.

Photography Quotes

11 Photography Quotes to Inspire Baltimore Photographers

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
― Ansel Adams

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
― Ansel Adams

“All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.”
― Susan Sontag

“To the complaint, ‘There are no people in these photographs,’ I respond, There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.”
― Ansel Adams

“For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.”
― Henri Cartier-Bresson

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
― Henri Cartier-Bresson

“A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth. ”

― Richard Avedon

Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.

— Ansel Adams

Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment.

— Ansel Adams

Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.

— Ansel Adams

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