Thursday, February 26, 2009

New President

Dear Fellow Members

First and foremost I would like to reach out and extend a heart-felt thank you to all the people who served the New Jersey Press Photographers Association for the last two years. Tony Kurdzuk did a great job as president during a time when newspapers and print media were beginning to spiral downward; Vice President Kevin Wexlar, Secretary/ Treasurer Reena Rose Sibayan, Clip Contest Chair Tyson Trish, POY Chair Jennifer Brown and Webmaster Cie Stroud all worked diligently holding the NJPPA together during a difficult time. Thank you very much for your service.

I am happy to announce the following officers for the upcoming term – Vice President Colin Archer; Reena Rose Sibayan has recommitted her time to be the Secretary/Treasurer again; Clip Contest Chair is now Andrew Miller of Courier News; POY Chair is once again Ed Murray with Co-Chair Jennifer Brown; and Cie Stroud will continue the upkeep of the website.

A couple of house keeping issues – Picture’s of the Year Contest Deadline is March 12, 2009 at 8 PM. Contest rules and submission information is available on the NJPPA.org website along with a membership renewal application. Yes, you must be a member to enter the contest. Please make sure to get your images to Ed Murray before the deadline.

Save the Date – May 17th, 2009 – our Annual NJPPA Dinner and Awards Program - 5 to 10 PM at Moonstruck in Asbury Park – Great food, great people, and good times. Please come out, bring a date, and support your fellow photojournalists.

The state of the newspaper industry is in flux right now. I’m not sure where we are going to be two years from now, but it looks like we are all going there together in one form or another. One of my goals as the NJPPA president is to provide resources to try to help photographers find their way through this mess – We have many members who have taken buyouts and who now find themselves freelancing again. I would like to bring speakers in once a quarter that will talk about how they market themselves and how they are making money while working as freelance photographers. Along with marketing ourselves – we need to better ourselves – so I would like to hold knowledge enhancement seminars to fill the gaps that may need filling – whether it’s technique, lighting or workflow – somebody may have a better solution.

Another one of our goals is for Colin Archer to form a committee to research the best way to do our jobs at crime and fire scenes. Tony Kurdzuk made some advances in this area with the NJ State Police; however, this continues to be an ongoing issue. We need to work hand in hand with the New Jersey Press Association to figure out how to best reach out to state and local municipalities and educate them on how to identify the professional press photographers, and to allow us to do our jobs.

Last, but not least, I’m looking for input - input on ways to improve the NJPPA, input on ways to better serve the members. I’m looking for ideas on how to tackle the new problems of being photojournalists. This is an open forum and I need your help. If you are like me, I love what I do, I love being behind the camera and I love being a photojournalist – but I hate what is happening to the industry. Let’s try to find a solution together.

Thank you again and I look forward to seeing you out on the street.

Tim Larsen
President, NJPPA

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Change In Leadership

To all our members,

Though my term as President is now over I am happy to announce I am
being succeeded by Tim Larsen as President and Colin Archer as Vice
President. Our Secretary/Treasurer remains Reena Rose Sibayan, who
has graciously accepted the office for another term (thank you Reena!).

For those of you who know Tim, you know he's a respected photographer
as well as great guy. For those who may not know him yet, I can
assure you the organization is in very good hands. This goes for
Colin as well.

I had dinner with both Tim and Colin tonight to officially hand over
the reigns and talk about the future of the NJPPA. Both are very
optimistic about what is to come as well as having some great ideas.
I hope everyone will welcome and congratulate our new officers.

I have gotten several questions over the last few weeks regarding the
POY contest. Some minor changes are being made to the rules and it is
coming together thanks to the work of Ed Murray and Jen Brown. Notice
of deadline will be sent out in the near future.

It has been a pleasure to serve as NJPPA President and I will continue
to be active in our organization for years to come.

Thank You,
Tony Kurdzuk