Party! Party! Party! Xmas 2008

The Suds crew (or the Cult of Frank Van Riper as it is now becoming known more and more) partied hard at Steve and Tara's last night.

But don't take my word for it - See for yourselves...














Steve and Tara were wonderful hosts and their new place was really beautiful. Of course the great liquor store downstairs selling good quality beer and wine was the icing on the cake!

There were lots of informal photo sessions going on including these ones with a distinctly 'hands on' approach to taking portraits...

































The food was also a big hit and the tater tots became excellent (HTVs) Hotness Transport Vehicles for the vast array of hot sauces that Steve cracked out...some of which were 'quite spicy'. Especially the Dave's 'Temporary Insanity' that Steve tried here...














All in all it was a great night and a great turnout. I think we're all looking forward to doing it again next year!

Happy Hols everyone and a big thumbs up to the crew!















Attendees were Frank, Judy, Paul, Pat, Erica, Mark, Steve, Tara, Holly, Andy, Praveen, Adam, Dave, Matt, Chris, Renata, Graeme, Misha, Josh

Check out the images on flickr also.

New faces, Brangelina and Chadwicks

So, it goes like this. The planned meet up was Chadwicks in Georgetown at 7pm. I expected 3 or 4 people. At 5pm I headed over to Chrome in Georgetown to volunteer for Fotoweek DC and address as well as fill and seal envelopes - more commonly known in Fotoweek volunteer circles as 'stuff and lick'.

Anyway, I turn up at Chrome and sit down next to the owner and Fotoweek DC's main guy - Theo Adamstein in this swanky office with a big glass conference table. Next, before I've stuffed or licked anything, a Sierra Nevada is offered to me while listening to the innermost workings of the organization. Not a bad start. Next, Josh turns up and goes through the same initiation. I think Josh and I had a telepathic moment when we looked over at each other and both projected the words 'All Volunteering should be like this'.

Josh then tells me that he has sent the Suds and Silver invitation out to dcshooters.com and there may be some new people there. cool. next thing it's 7:40pm and with a decidedly bitter and dry tongue - not from the beer I might add - we realise we should get ourselves down to Chadwicks pronto.

Finally Josh, myself and another Fotoweek volunteer, Hilary, finally arrive at Chadwicks assuming that anyone who's made the effort to actually turn up has probably left by now. As we scanned the bar there was a distinct lack of beer drinking photographers (i.e none) and I started to feel like we'd done the Suds name a major disservice.

No new photographers would want to associate with a group that doesn't turn up to their own events, and if they did, they turn up so late that anyone who did make the effort - has left.

Dejected, and with a severe lack of spring in my step, I decide to check upstairs. Low and behold what i saw before me was a huge table filled with the regular crew as well a good number of new photographers all chatting away like they'd been members from day one! It was great to see such camaraderie. Not only that but 15 minutes later 2 of the organizers of FotoWeek DC turn up also!

In the end it turned out to be one of the best turnouts ever and a great meetup for everyone concerned. There was much interest in the W magazine that Erica brought along with the Brad Pitt shots of Angelina and the kids. The Suds crew certainly cast their critical eye over the shots made from old stock Kodak Tech Pan Film.

The list of attendees was as follows: Andy, Praveen, Holly, Matt, Josh, Graeme, Nick, Jay, Stacey, Hilary, Nadia, Isaac, Jason and Erica.

Return of the Van Riper

Friday's Suds and Silver meetup saw the return of Frank Van Riper back from his annual summer pilgrimage to Lubec, Maine. Along with Frank came his brand new book , the 8 years in the making Serenimissa, Venice in Winter.

The book made the rounds and the general consensus was that the design, printing and overall presentation was superb. Well done to Frank and Judy. We all can't wait until the book signing and exhibition at the Italian Embassy in Washington DC.

It was a good turn out also for our first friday Happy Hour get together. Attendees were Frank, Patrick, Graeme, Holly, Paul, Josh, Erica, Chloe and Giovanni.



Here are a few shots of the gang from friday night...

Are you ready to spend some money?

Canon has posted a teaser site that points to a new SLR: http://www.canon.com/moon/en/   The oldest camera in their lineup is the 5D and speculation is rampant that this is its replacement. My wallet is already trying to hide from me...

Deck, Part Deux

The Suds crew celebrated again Thursday night on Josh's roof in Dupont. We scared Dan with Mexican beer - and he scared us back with a giant bottle of tequila. Steve brought some prints of work he's shot in and around DC recently and Patrick delivered some amazing prints of his trip to California.  We also welcomed a few new faces, the cult just keeps on growing! 

Conversation ran the gamut from the sad demise of Polaroid, to the travails of travel writing for a major newspaper to a fierce debate about Windows vs. Unix technical architectures (our nerdiness knows now bounds). 

We had a few toys present as well: Josh brought a big, beautiful polaroid camera complete with with a big-ol-bellows and Steve, in krappy-kamera tradition, brought his lensbaby 3G to give his 5D the smooth, buttery blur in the images below. 

Finally, we planned the next Cult Group Shoot - we'll be attending a "mass baptism by fire hose" to hopefully capture the rapture and wetness of this bizarre and awesome event. Stay tuned for the results...

Decked Out

Tuesday night's Suds opener was a remarkably chilled affair. Andy, Holly, Paul, Graeme, Misha and Dan passed away the evening on Graeme's deck drinking *ALOT* of Andy's excellent home brew as well as Gold Coast's Red Seal and two offerings from the mighty Bells - Oberon and the Two Hearted Ale.

It was of course great to see Dan back from Mexico and he seemed to be very happy not having to drink the standard Mexican offerings...

Roll on Part-Deux on Thursday!

Big Week coming up!

Founding Suds member Dan is back in town.

This means BEER BEER BEER, oh yeah, and some photo chat...usually along the lines of 'how digital can't cut it....blah blah blah' - should be interesting to hear from him now that he is the 'proud' owner of a camera known to some of us, the lowly Nikon D40 .

Current plan is to meet up on Thursday August 21st on Josh's roof deck at 19th and R Streets - note THIS IS NOT THE SCIENTOLOGY BUILDING - if you find yourself in a room with an L Ron Hubbard shrine, meeting people you don't recognise who are overly friendly who want you to take a personality test - calmly scan your surroundings, pull out your camera to startle them and make a bolt for the door - if you suffer any resistance at all, run over to the shrine and sit yourself down firmly with your arms folded - this always upsets them (true story - more about this on thursday!)

We're also planning to meet on Tuesday at Graeme's and then go for beers at a couple of local pubs.