Hey there, Digital Image Group members,

As I indicated at recent meetings of the Digital Image Group and the Sweetwater Camera Club-- and in recent emails, the Digital Image Group has been awarded the opportunity to have rotating permanent displays in two downtown Douglasville buildings, specifically, the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce at 6658 Church Street and the Douglas County Development Authority building at 8512 Bowden Street. YEAHHHHHHHHH!

Opportunity Knocks: For those of you who are not familiar with these buildings, the DC Chamber building on Church Street is a few doors down from City Hall on Church Street on the opposite side of the street, on the hill between Regents Bank and United Community Bank. The Douglas County Development Authority, located in a historic home on Bowden Street, is just across from the Douglas County Sentinel building.

 The Digital Image Group has been a member of the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce since the first day it was founded in April of 2008.

We would appreciate your participation: Please take part in this. If you have made a presentation before the members of the Digital Image Group at any time during the past 2 years, you have first dibs on displaying your work. Others who have participated in our audience are also included in this opportunity.

Permanent places for DIG to display: Many of our photographers/image makers may not realize this, but we have been working for several years to find one or more permanent venues in this area to display our work. What we have been offered by Kali Boatright, President of the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce, and Robert Reynolds, Executive Director of the Development Authority of Douglas County are perennial permanent gallery spaces right in the center of town where a large local business audience will be viewing our work. Each show will last two to three months and will have a theme—specific enough to have a main focus, but general enough to encompass a wide variety of visual subject matter.

Theme: The theme for our first show is “Douglasville and Douglas County – People, Places, Events and Things.”

Events: Your pictures should be of recognizable events that have taken place here, such as the recent Red Nation Pow Wow at Clinton Nature Preserve, Taste for Douglasville Arts, the past 2 Hydrangea festivals, civic celebrations and ceremonies, etc. The events do not have to be recent but should be an appropriate promotion of this area. For example, the goal of this show is to leave a positive impression of this area with the viewer. Please refrain from any images that would cast a negative light—we don’t want to see pictures of residents arrested for bootlegging, but we do want to see pictures that will make us proud to live here.   

Places: Buildings can be any of the historic properties here, common areas in downtown such as O’Neal Plaza, the Sweetwater Creek State Park and headquarters, Boundary Waters Recreational Center, or any other building or place that says “Douglasville / Douglas County.” Images from the past history of this area would qualify as well. We aren’t looking for “abandoned properties” in this show or pictures of your house, but if the property is run-down yet has historical significance it will be appropriate. If the building is fairly new but is a significant building here, it is appropriate. 

People: People depicted should be taking part in a public event or have some relevance to the exhibit theme. A model release is not required if the person or people are depicted in a public situation. Photos of law enforcement officers, firemen, EMT’s, elected officials and other important public servants are also appropriate. Pictures that depict a sense of family enjoying a specific area or activity are appropriate. Think about showing people that are having a good time here!

Things: As far as “things” go, photos of memorabilia are appropriate, as are images of the K-9 Drug Enforcement dogs and their handlers, fire engines, birds at Sweetwater Creek, etc. Animals, plants in a specific landscape, articles manufactured here . . . Don’t show a picture of a bird in the air or a dog in the yard, but do show a bird with the Sweetwater Creek behind it or a dog with recognizable surroundings in this area, and indicate the relevance in your image title. We aren’t looking for dogs attacking criminals here, we are looking for people engaged in our way of life.

Titles: Again, please note: the titles you give your works are very important. They should be specific and explain the image’s relevance to Douglasville or Douglas County if it isn’t already obvious. 

Do your own thing: Show your image making talent. You are welcome to enter black&white and monochrome images as well as color. And let’s be very clear: you may enter photographic illustrations, montages, panoramas, images thoroughly processed through Photoshop or other image editing and painting software. You may use plug-ins, painterly styles, and any creative image-making process you desire so long as you don’t abstract the image so much that it fails to meet the topic guidelines. You may make your images look like pastels, pencil or charcoal drawings, classic commercial advertisements for this area, or any innovative process you can conjure from your magical box of tricks. Give those pixels a brand new lease on life if you want. 

For those of you who hold strictly to classic photographic processes: Straight and classic photography are always welcome and appropriate. Do your own thing. Show your command of photography, of capturing a moment in time. Art and craftsmanship go hand in hand. 

Image Selection: Several people have emailed samples that they would like to enter in this show before investing in printing and  framing-- to make sure they are in the ball park . . . this isn’t required if you know that what you want to present will work. Please feel free to send samples to me if you have questions. I can help you select the best / most suitable pictures for this show but I am not here to rule out good pictures that fit the theme or to criticize your work. If you are a beginner, this is as big an opportunity for you as it is for a seasoned professional. Take the risk!

We want as many people to participate as feel inclined to do so. Besides, it is quite possible that someone will want to purchase a copy of your picture if it has the right charisma (or just fits in with your potential patron’s office or home décor and sensibilities).

Exhibits Committee: Six people have volunteered to help organize and hang these shows – and we will respect their teamwork, decisions and collaboration in determining which images are included and where and how they are to be displayed. Stella Spyrou, Diane Yancey, Jerry Frost, Kent Owings, Norma and Richard Nichols will have the “show design authority” to determine which-images-go-where. Together, our “exhibit committee” will coordinate our ideas and decisions with Kali Boatright and her staff and with Robert Reynolds and his staff in creating this visual extravaganza. So how did you get left out of the DIG Exhibits Committee? Well, you didn’t volunteer fast enough. J If you want to work on future DIG projects, let it be known.

Timeframes: We will be hanging the first show over the next two to three weeks in both of the buildings mentioned above. Rather than set a deadline to collect all works before hanging, we will begin hanging pictures as you bring them to us. This does not mean we will hang all pictures brought to us immediately. For example, if you bring 10 images, we will probably hang three of them and wait until everyone has had the opportunity to bring us their work. Then we will hang the overage. 

Size requirements: It is suggested that you bring between one and three framed photos of any size, from 2x3 and 4x6 inch snapshot-sizes up to very large (24x36 or even larger). You may bring more than 3 if you have them and are willing to frame them. If we don’t find room for the extra entries they will be returned to you. However, we have quite a lot of wall space to cover, so the chances are good that most if not all entries appropriate to the theme will be shown.  It is also possible for you to bring 2 of the same image which can be hung in the two separate buildings, since the audiences for each building will be different. 

Delivery of your images: To get your images to us, please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to set up an appointment or call me at 404-210-5985 to arrange dropping them off at my home which is at 6869 Creekwood Drive in Douglasville (just inside Arbor Station subdivision on the Chapel Hill Road side of the city). You may also arrange to meet one of us on the committee at the Chamber building during their business hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F.

Forms: Please open and fill out the Photographer’s Inventory and the Exhibiting Photographer Agreement. Download the forms and fill them out by hand. You will be asked to sign the forms when you deliver your images for exhibition. At that time you will also be required to submit a $5 fee. See below for details. 

Community Outreach: Let me impress upon you again: if you would like to show your work and participate in Douglasville and Douglas County community outreach, this is a good opportunity to do so. There is also the possibility that someone may purchase one or more of your pictures, though this is not the principal focus of these shows. Personally, I think one of the most important reasons for you to participate in this is for the sense of community that it will create and perpetuate, and even more important, for the super-motivation it will give you to create and present great pictures to a wide audience. Up until now, we have presented our work to other image makers. This opens up our audience to the business, local government and professional community, to people who do not make pictures, allowing them to come into contact with those of us who are creative visual artists. Did I mention that one of our missions is to help develop TASTE in the visual arts in this area? If you want people to buy your work, first you have to create an audience and demand, and then you have to educate your collectors as to why your work is not just important, but something that they MUST HAVE ON THEIR OWN WALLS. This is why we are doing this.

Quantity, Quality, Matting and Framing: What we need from you are up to 3 photos that are framed and matted in simple black, grey or white frames (black is preferred) similar to the photos attached to this email. It is also acceptable to have wooden frames (brown) but they need to be simple elegant “gallery quality.” What this means is that we don’t want cheap looking plastic or ornate baroque or frilly frames that look like they were hung in the Louvre or over at the flea market before finding their way to downtown Douglasville.

Please look at the examples to the right. Click to enlarge.  All of these frames were bought at Kohl’s and cost between 3 to 25 dollars. You can also find good simple elegant frames at Michaels and other art stores. If you decide upon wooden frames, please don’t purchase something that simulates crown molding or some complex routing design. We want SIMPLE frame designs so that they blend well with other photographers’ pictures and with the interior design of the buildings.

If you drop by the Cultural Arts Center sometime this week you will see examples of other simple frames. Very thin frames are fine. Frames shouldn’t be much thicker than those shown in the picture to the right and above. Also, mattes can be single or double, but focus on your pictures, not on fancy mattes. A bright red or metallic gold matte will not do your work or the show any good, but a double matte with the inner matte having a thin bright red or gold spacer would be fine.

The frames should have wire hangers similar to the one shown in the  first photo to the right (click to enlarge), attached to the back. We do not have any other method of hanging your images so please do not use sawtooth hangers or a system other than wire hangers. If you purchase the picture wire shown to the right  (click to enlarge), the instructions for attaching it are on the package back. To find a list of suggested framing tools click here. 

We want the displays to be unified in appearance. You might want to make a second and even a third print of those images that you feel might be purchased. A very good reason to make a second image is to display your work at other upcoming events where either the Sweetwater Camera Club or the Digital Image Group will be having booths, at the Taste for Douglasville Arts on May 15th, the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival on June 5th and the Juneteenth Festival on June 19th. There may be other shows during the summer and fall, including September Saturdays at the Douglas County Courthouse.

Also, we want you to be able to take your frames back at the end of each show period, swap out the pictures and return for the next show without having to purchase new frames or cut new mattes. Even if you do need to cut new mattes your frames can be reused to minimize your cost of participation.

5$ Fee: We need to collect a fee of $5 cash per person in order to pay for the hanging system and labels and other associated office-supply-type costs. This is not $5 per image, it is $5 per person. As time passes, we will determine if we need to collect this fee for each show or not. As expenses occur we will be asking for donations.

Selling your pictures: Should you sell any of your work, the ENTIRE AMOUNT you specify that you want for your picture will come to you. Neither the Chamber, the Development Authority or DIG itself will require any percentage of the purchase price. The potential buyer will be given your name and phone number. Any business negotiations and transactions will take place between you and the buyer directly. However, we ask that you not sell your work right off the wall by taking it out of the exhibit before we take the exhibit down unless you can replace it for the duration of the show. This is another good reason for you to make two prints for each one you want to present. For information about pricing your work click here.

Our Next Theme: During the summer we will have our next show. The theme will tentatively be: Summer. This can include nature photography, trees, plants, flowers, animals, insects, vacations and summer images. The point will be to present an uplifting celebration of all things SUMMER. Heat, light, warmth, sunshine.

Final notes: One more thought before I close. If you have read this far, you have already passed the interest and motivation test! Congratulations!! You need to get busy printing and framing your work! Please remember that you should not frame a recently printed piece until it has had a chance to “breathe and dry” for a few days. That is called “out-gassing.” If you frame a print behind glass too soon after it is printed without curing the print, the glass will develop a cloudy internal film that will detract from the quality of the viewer experience. Please read the attached PDF files about Framing Tips. 

Thank you! I personally appreciate each and every one of you who have helped us to make the Digital Image Group such a great success. We are on the move now and after two years, we have people who are addicted to our club model. It is only going to get better!

One last tip . . . If we don’t get enough participation in this on-going great opportunity, Richard and Norma Nichols are going to have one of the finest personal downtown galleries in the nation to show our work. Your job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Now, we’ve done our part, and if you don’t participate, please come to our openings and see our images.

Happy Birthday, Digital Image Group! You are just now 2 years old!!! We aren’t crawling any more, we are walking.

Richard