JUDGES 2024

Richard Beebe

We evolve. We're supposed to. Every moment past or present becomes something for the next as an opportunity to move ever onward. We learn and gain from all our yesterday’s memories and experiences, be they for worse or better. Maybe “detours” find and impact our pathway, but we never know if that was our direction to go all along. It happens to be where and how we went to go from the “there and then” to “here and now.”
Some things rework themselves within my expressive mindset and creative outlook, things once found that I can't completely shake free from, even decades later, like finding a good strong thread to weave through my life, tying the parts together like old friends or faded but not gone ideas - the good ones - that we revisit again in an ongoing relationship. My rapport with the camera is one of those, now closing in on “50 years a photographer”...and my “onward” evolution is ever moving. I stubbornly believe I am a "work in progress." I have yet to reach a desire to grow silent and dormant, to sit down and shut up, and merely rest on where I've already been, what I've already tried to convey as an artist and just stop there. 

My "motivation" towards this visual (and written) artistry continues to change and morph into directions I could not have been aware of even a few years ago, things I couldn't have even imagined or dreamed of not so many years ago – 2, 5, 20, or 50. We evolve; we're supposed to...and I am. I appreciate a stronger sense of "expressive visual storytelling" now more than I could have known in times past. I guess I feel more of a sense of “artistic legacy” now than I did on the other, the earlier side, of this creative journey.

My decades-long background with a camera in-hand includes portraits, weddings, and events numbering in the several hundred. This produced a sense of "spontaneous improvisation" that persists strongly, with the ability to adapt to other styles and subject matter, often “in the (situational) moment.” Nature subjects, from the large to the very small, attract my eye. Along with my preferred “Metal Prints” presentations, I am adding more personal expressions of prints on wood.

My imagery has been exhibited in several area juried shows, in Elk Grove, Lodi, and for several years in Tracy’s annual “Expressions!” And I continue to expand in this direction.
Ample time has been logged in conveying this art and craft to students starting with classes, workshops, photo-walks, etc., in San Francisco's East Bay Area throughout the 1980s and ‘90s and in the middle Central Valley, where I currently teach on many a Thursday evening at California's Grand Theatre Center for the Arts in Tracy, running on 14+ years. I look forward to growing this as well.
 
 
2099-914-6749 (call or text) 
Rbphoto54@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063637898817
https://richarddbeebephoto.com (under construction)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RichardDBeebePhoto
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Jan Lightfoot

Although never formally trained, Jan has always been involved with photography in one form or another. Transitioning from her own darkroom in high school, she joined the Idaho Statesman newspaper photography staff, and also worked in custom color printing labs both in Idaho and California. Later on she became a Certified Photographic Counselor through PMA and manager of Wentling’s Camera in Walnut Creek, CA while raising her two daughters. During this time, she also taught photography classes and conducted photo field trips.
 
In 2012, Jan had her first solo gallery showing at Viewpoint Photographic Gallery in Sacramento, CA and continues to show her work in various galleries and venues in Northern California. She has presented a variety of photographic programs to local clubs in the Northern California area and has received numerous awards through competitions and juried shows. Jan also leads annual nature and landscape workshops in Northern California and Oregon. Jan is a member of the Sierra Camera Club of Sacramento and Chairman of the North American International Exhibition. 
She currently judges for local and international competitions. 
 
Jan’s own images tend to reflect a long association with classic and traditional compositions, having adopted a ‘less is more’ vision. She works to incorporate this philosophy into practically everything she photographs. Searching for the essence of the subject, or that ephemeral quality that is not always obvious, is what she strives to capture; and in doing so, to create a connection with the viewer that touches the imagination.
 
Contact information and examples of Jan’s photographic portfolios can be seen at www.janlightfoot.com

DEAN TAYLOR

Dean describes himself as a passionate serious photographer who enjoys all types of photography, and loves the creativity involved in “playing” with digital images in various photo-editing programs. 

He purchased his first 35mm film camera in the late 1970’s, and joined various camera clubs in the early 1980’s. Over the last forty-five years his passion for photography has led him on numerous photographic adventures including a wonderful month traveling around Italy and three different month-long adventure trips to India. He has traveled extensively photographing throughout the United States, but states that his favorite photo-destination within the United States has centered mainly around the red-rock country of southern Utah and northern Arizona. 

The majority of his photographic knowledge has come from participating in numerous workshops and seminars, and attending local camera club meetings, listening to and learning from guest judge’s critiques of his own and other’s images. He feels that whatever insight and photographic artistry he has accrued is a direct result of those sharing experiences. 
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His experience as a photography judge includes judging for numerous camera clubs, camera club councils, county fairs, local photography shows, fine-arts organization’s gallery shows, and various Photographic Society of America sponsored international salons.