By Geok Hwa Ventrice

“May I ask why you are alone?  Where is your friend?”  Asked a mom-and-pop, noodle soup store owner in Tokyo concerned about my safety in the largest city by population in the world.  I was also urged to drink the complimentary buckwheat tea in order to keep the biting Siberian winds at bay.  In Kyoto, by showing a conscientious mom-and-pop, souvenir store owner the measurement of my husband, I reassured him that the extra-large t-shirt I was getting ready to pay was the right size.  Six months ago, I stopped by Japan en route to Singapore. I was excited about the stopover because I hadn’t seen my friends and relatives for more than a decade.

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            By Vicky Ogle

When I was younger, very much younger, I had a difficult time with  reading and hearing.  I often had to stare endlessly at the picture associated with what someone was reading to me or if I was trying to read on my own.  I took in the details of the photo and plugged it in with what I heard.  I often made up my own version of the story.  Over time my reading abilities improved but I still relied on the detail of the pictures to help me comprehend the essence of the story.

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              By Don Hinds

Photoshop is the ubiquitous image editing software program that allows me to make creative images only imagined in my daydreams or nightmares.  I have been asked, what is my favorite feature in Photoshop?  It is definitely LAYERS and LAYER MASK.  I could not make my fine art images without them.  Photoshop was released in 1989.  It wasn’t until 1994 that LAYERS was introduced.  LAYERS allow me to play and experiment.  I can get consumed in my work and ideas; before I realize it, many hours have passed.

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By Rebecca Perron

Five years ago I did not know one thing about photography. I received my first DSLR camera a Christmas gift which I did not even know how to turn on let alone using it. A co-worker introduced me to the Cookeville Camera Club. I began going to the monthly on a regular basis. This started me on my journey into the creative world of photography.

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   By Tom Morack

There is so much to see and do in Nashville. The stores, bars, museums, restaurants, Broadway. These are all great places to visit, but they can be expensive. Is there anything you can do in Nashville that doesn’t cost much, or is even free? Yes there is.

Equipped with just a camera or cell phone, and a few bucks of gas, you can have a blast hunting down and photographing the many wall murals all around the city. They seem to be around every corner in Nashville. Many local artists have spent weeks, even months creating these masterpieces. The art work of these murals is beautifully colorful and amazing. Simply Google “wall murals in Nashville”, to see just where and how many there are. Print out these maps, and start driving around the city. Don’t rely on just one map to find out where they are, because no one map shows them all.

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By Bettye Sue Austin

Photography makes me want to travel.  I want to see beautiful places and photograph them all.  I am always looking for that perfect shot because it makes me appreciate the wondrous world that I live in.

In June of 2018, I went on a 10-day, sea-and-land tour of Alaska with my sister and two friends. As of 2017, Alaska is 663,268 square miles in size with a population of 739,795. It was purchased from the Russian Empire in 1867. You MUST bring a camera with you to Alaska because there is an abundance of flora and fauna for you to photograph besides its beautiful landscapes.

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