Arlington photo club snaps kudos at local art festivals
A photo of the original Superdawg in Chicago works every time.
The vintage looking black-and-white shot serves to draw patrons to check out more photos taken by Bill Kruser and Cindy Kuffel of Arlington Heights, and almost always sparks a conversation about their favorite memories of the iconic hot dog stand.
That was the case last weekend, as the two co-presidents of the Arlington Camera Club took their work on the road. This time, they staffed a booth at the Prairie Center Arts Fest in Schaumburg, where their note cards of the Superdawg sold out the first day.
"After Superdawg, anything having to do with the Cubs does really well," Kuffel says.
In fact, their top sellers at the show were photos of Wrigley Field, as well as some from their new series, featuring area barns, framed in original barn wood.
The local photographers are just the latest shooters to emerge from the Arlington Camera Club, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Kruser and Kuffel now preside over an active club that draws 60 members twice a month to their meetings, held at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. Only two meetings remain this year.
This year alone, members have displayed their shots in displays at the libraries in Wheeling, Prospect Heights and Rolling Meadows. And starting next month, they will go back out on the road, shooting everything from the Arlington Heights Garden Club Walk, Frontier Days and Irish Fest, to a NASCAR race, Brookfield Zoo, and the Renaissance Faire in Bristol, Wis.
As a special offering this summer, club officers will be offering a "Digital 101" class, as a mentoring program aimed at local photographers in the community.
"The goal is to help people who are new to photography gain an understanding of aperture, shutter speed, composition," Kruser says. "We will teach them how to combine those elements together, to get high-quality images and not just the lucky shot."
Even veteran photographers who have been taking photos for years, stand to learn more about framing their shots from the class, they add.
The free, six-week course begins at 7:30 p.m. on June 9, at the Taylor Rental Plus Party store, located at 2153 N. Rand Road, in Palatine.
For more information on the club, visit www.arlingtoncamera.org.