Hazel Meredith is an award-winning photographer and a sought-after teacher, speaker, and competition judge. She began teaching in 2007, and now does seminars at camera clubs and conferences across the U.S. – both in-person and virtual. She offers her own workshops and webinars, and has done webinars for several software companies. She has written two eBooks on working with textures, and released two creative courses. She and her husband, Dave, produce the “Virtual Creative Photography Conference” with attendees from around the world. Hazel loves the creative aspect of photography and post- processing, especially the use of textures and software to create unique images. She is actively involved with the photographic community, and has held leadership roles and received honorary distinctions from several organizations. In the Fall of 2020 she was the recipient of the Ashbrook Award for Digital Imaging Instruction from the Photographic Society of America.  

In 2017 a friend, a photographer, encouraged me to explore photography by taking an introduction course. I subsequently joined a photo club in my area and slowly started to gain more knowledge and confidence. I basically shot anything and everything. The most challenging hurdle was identifying what I liked.  From that point, I started to develop a style.  Photography turned into a keen passion. I discovered that the intense development of my sense of observation, actually made it possible for my camera lens to transform the seemingly mundane, into outstanding images of great beauty.   Two year ago, I found my niche in Black & White photography.   My style is motivated by a desire to find and show the soul of what I perceived in the images I capture. The creative venue of black and white most successfully achieves the results I seek.    Through the medium of abstract creation, I attempt to achieve images that are strikingly real, intriguing, and timeless. I attempt to endow them with all the necessary components that will take viewers on a personal journey of self-discovery and stimulating reflections when we pause and observe.

Bio: Graphic designer and avid photographer, member of MCC for the last 5 years.  As a graphic designer working at the World Bank in Washington DC, visual communication, design concepts, page layout and photography, has always been an important part of my work and interest. Going back and forth between different art form — watercolour, ink, mix media and photography. I love exploring shapes, colours, textures, getting out of my comfort zone. Now retired, travelling allows me to expand my horizons. Its fascinating! Antartica: Tonight I would like to take you with me, to a stunning destination: Antarctica, the trip of a life time.  Antarctica, with its incredible icy landscapes, with infinite shades of white and blue, inhabited with marine fauna of an exceptional beauty, huge glaciers and icebergs drifting away in the southern ocean. Of course, penguins - royal, gentoo, chinstrap and adélie, astonishing birds who share their heavenly beaches with sea lions and crabeater seals, in a magnificent decor bathes with polar light, with whales swimming in the background.  Lets set sail to South Georgia and Antarctica.

Photography is a passion, and every image should convey emotion—whether the subject is animals, nature, people, or landscapes. Expressions may be subtle or powerful, but a skilled photographer must master both vision and equipment to capture feeling as a scene unfolds. George has been honing his craft for more than seventy years. Since joining the MCC fifteen years ago, he has embraced a journey of friendship, learning, and travel, visiting exotic destinations to express emotion through every photograph he creates. His most recent journey took him to Greenland, where he photographed crimson sails beneath a sky that never truly darkens—where night becomes a continuous blend of golden, blue, and amber light. This presentation explores the emotions and moods of nature as the sun nearly sets, revealing the majestic beauty of towering icebergs.

Jackie has been photographing the natural world, with an emphasis on flowers and birds since high school. Jackie's work has received international acclaim for her images and has been published in numerous online and print magazines. Jackie's true passion is to encourage people to live their legacy, which she does primarily through her Facebook group, Phlorography - Artistic Floral Photography, with passionate floral photographers from around the world. She is committed to supporting other photographers and using photography as a medium to build relationships and enrich each other’s lives. Jackie leads photography tours to gardens in North America and to birding hotspots in Central and South America and also hosts an online academy with classes taught by world renowned photographers.

Tony Sweet is a widely published photographer, workshop leader (Visual Artistry Workshop Series), author, and sought after speaker. His work has been featured in every media worldwide. He is the author of the 6 book Fine Art Nature Photography series (Stackpole), and has co-produced an instructional DVD series (Masterphoto). Tony is a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens.