Photography

Taking a picture is not nearly as complicated as it used to be. A digital sensor captures an image, which is saved as a digital file and then printed out with little fanfare. The digital revolution has brought complete control over photography to consumers, but has also dehumanized the actual process of making a picture. Ron Dietel, a local old-fashioned photography enthusiast, is resisting this trend in the most extreme way possible. His day job is at UCLA, in the Education Research department, but in his free time, Dietel takes photographs using old-fashioned cameras, and develops the film himself to create his own prints.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE ? A local resident preserves area gems like Cherry Canyon and Descanso Gardens with the fading art of film photography and often in the form of black and white. A reception to view Ron Dietel's exhibit of hisphotographs ? hanging at the La Cañada Flintridge Library now until the end of the month ? will be held from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Sept. 23. Proceeds from the sale of photos from Dietel's visual chronicle of primarily Southern California landscapes ?

Students get in the picture when it comes to photography at Hoover High School.Ruslana Nosireva dipped her photograph in chemical developer and the image of a tree and lamppost emerged. Working in the darkroom is Ruslana's favorite part of the beginning photography class she is taking at Hoover High School. "It's my passion," the 17-year-old said of photography. "I love doing it. I try a lot of things." Students study the political and social history of photography and the arts, and learn about the aesthetic and technical aspect of the art form.

The digital perspective of three local students garnered them top awards in the recent California Streaming Digital Photography Contest sponsored by the California County Educational Technology Consortium along with K-12 High Speed Network. The theme for the first annual competition was Natural Landforms. The photographs of Shawn Hansen, a 12th-grader at Crescenta Valley High; Nitesh Anandan, a 12th-grader at Clark Magnet High; and Trevor Bruce Fonda, a 6th-grader at Valley View Elementary were chosen from among 63 entries statewide.

Middle school students at Rosemont received awards for their artistic creations entered in this year?s PTA Reflections contest. All entrants were recognized for their efforts and winners were announced at the school at an assembly on Wednesday, Nov. 14. Each artist?s submission was an interpretation of this year?s theme ?I Can Make A Difference.? Lisa Dupuy who coordinated entries and judges for each category chaired the contest. ?Any program that encourages creativity is important because creativity teaches problem solving and make kids well rounded,?

Alecia Foster HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL -- Jordan Watrous was disappointed after being passed over for a photography position on his school's newspaper. "I've been interested in photography for a long time," the Hoover High School 11th-grader said. He was given a writing position instead. His luck changed halfway through the school year, when the entire photo staff of the Tornado Times quit, giving the Hoover journalism student his big break. That chance earned him an award.

These are some of the smiles and tears of the year captured by the News-Press and Leader photography department. The 2004 photo staff of Scott Roby, Dan Watson, Roger Wilson and Tammy Abbott have tried to capture the face of our city as it laughed and cried throughout the past year. Our job is to be your eyes at the scene. One of our primary goals is to inform and entertain and to always tell the truth with our photography. We hope you have enjoyed the moments we have captured for you. The year has brought triumph as well as tragedy, joy as much as sadness.

Good Samaritan Hospital Physician's Photography Exhibit Feb. 23 through April 14.Clinically Beaux Art: Optical Effects, curated by Andrew Shire Gallery, a group exhibition of photography by Good Samaritan Hospital physicians whose body of work is communicated through both digital and traditional lenses, will open Thurs., Feb. 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. with a special grand opening reception in the main lobby of the hospital. The exhibit will then be open daily to the general public through April 14. The exhibit will be held in the main lobby from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. for the public to view.

Local teacher is BRAVO nominee Valley View Elementary teacher Lisa Jenks has been announced as a nominee for the 2008 Music Center BRAVO award. The center established the award in 1983 to recognize teachers and schools for creativity, innovation and excellence in arts education. The winning teacher receives $4,000 along with other prizes like books and tickets to musical performances.   Winning Red Ribbon essays At Rosemont Middle School, 93 students submitted essays for the this year’s Red Ribbon Week.

A black Lincoln Navigator hurtled into a flower shop in the 200 block of North Verdugo Road early Wednesday evening. The owner of the shop was toward the back of the store when the sport-utility vehicle crashed diagonally into GG Flowers. The male driver of the SUV was not injured, said Sgt. Rodney Brooks of the Glendale Police Department. Whether he would be arrested or cited is pending the traffic bureau's investigation, he said. A photography shop and hair salon adjoining the flower shop also suffered structural damage.

Regardless of size, a good art show can transport an audience outside of its everyday reality and into another space of consciousness, however briefly. If a small-scale exhibition does this, the possibility of a meaningful emotional connection between a viewer and the artist increases exponentially. Intimacy has tremendous potential for transformative experience in a way that a blockbuster show (where people shuffle through like so much cattle) seldom does. That's what is happening at the moment in the Norton Simon's new "Face It: The Photographic Portrait.

Filming projects and photo shoots that took place at four Glendale schools last year brought in more than $10,600 for Glendale Unified and the district could receive thousands more this year for production work. Glendale school officials recently extended the district's contract with FilmL.A. Inc., a nonprofit organization that works with movie, television and commercial production companies to coordinate with property owners and secure filming locations and permits. For the past few years, Glendale Unified has worked with the organization to line up schools that serve as backdrops for television shows , movies and photo shoots, providing the schools with welcome funds.

Back in 1977, Dennis Reed read something that intrigued him: There once had been a vibrant society of Japanese American photographers, including first-rate modernists, but with the advent of World War II and U.S. internment camps, all of their work had been lost. “Nothing survived,” the photography educator and historian remembers reading in that article. He wondered about that. Reed spent the next few years researching the subject. He found that not only was there evidence of the work in books and surviving prints, but the work was exceptional.

Gaspar (G.J.) Liotta Gaspar (G.J.) Liotta of Glendale, California passed away peacefully on June 2nd with his family by his side. He was born on October 22, 1920, in Santa Monica, California, to Antonio and Provendza (Liotta) Liotta. G.J. and his younger brother, Victor, were raised in Venice. After graduating from Venice High School as the Senior Class President and Valedictorian in the Winter Class of 1939, he attended Cal State Berkeley and U.C.L.A., earning a Bachelors Degree in Biological Sciences in 1944.

Ken Goldman was only 13 the first time he picked up a 2-by-4 rasp, a very coarse type of wood, and filed it until it resembled an airplane. “I’ve been hooked since then,” said the 61-year-old La Crescenta resident, who is showing his wood sculptures and photography this month at Whites Art Framing & Restoration in Montrose. All of his sculptures are unique, and every single one tells a different story, store owner Miguel Perez said. “It’s best for people to come and see them and enjoy,” he said.

Recently I visited Rick Caruso’s newly opened Americana at Brand. I am a graduate student from San Francisco conducting research for my MFA thesis on thematic design; as such, the stunning architecture of Americana was a must-see. After being on the premises for a couple of minutes, I began snapping a few pictures for my research, and was immediately accosted by an albeit friendly security guard who informed me that all student, commercial, industry and entertainment photography must be pre-approved.

Shoppers in the market for one-of-a-kind, handmade artwork, and families looking for daytime entertainment could satisfy both desires at the Burbank Fine Arts Festival next weekend. The two-day, open-air marketplace on June 21 and 22 will feature more than 100 artists showing their works, which will range from sculpture, photography and oil paintings to handicrafts like jewelry and accessories along San Fernando Boulevard from Magnolia Boulevard to Olive Avenue in Downtown Burbank.

Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra officials are hoping to create a harmonious blend of the visual and performing arts at the free classical music concert on Saturday. Local high school students will display photographic illustrations they’ve created, and all ages can try out musical instruments before the concert in the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. John Burroughs High School’s advanced photography class has created the illustrations of composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” said Lynda Willner, of Glendale, who is president of the philharmonic’s board of directors.

The digital perspective of three local students garnered them top awards in the recent California Streaming Digital Photography Contest sponsored by the California County Educational Technology Consortium along with K-12 High Speed Network. The theme for the first annual competition was Natural Landforms. The photographs of Shawn Hansen, a 12th-grader at Crescenta Valley High; Nitesh Anandan, a 12th-grader at Clark Magnet High; and Trevor Bruce Fonda, a 6th-grader at Valley View Elementary were chosen from among 63 entries statewide.

Taking a picture is not nearly as complicated as it used to be. A digital sensor captures an image, which is saved as a digital file and then printed out with little fanfare. The digital revolution has brought complete control over photography to consumers, but has also dehumanized the actual process of making a picture. Ron Dietel, a local old-fashioned photography enthusiast, is resisting this trend in the most extreme way possible. His day job is at UCLA, in the Education Research department, but in his free time, Dietel takes photographs using old-fashioned cameras, and develops the film himself to create his own prints.