Photo Team helps donate late chair's camera

Jack Williams and Darlene Shields
Jack Williams and Darlene Shields

When Darlene Shields died suddenly last October, she left behind a saddened family and friends at National Press Club, where she served as chair of the Photography Committee, as it was known at the time.

Shields also left a professional camera set that her husband Jack Williams offered to the Club to help train emerging photographers, particularly from disadvantaged communities. Since the Club doesn't offer general training in photography, the Photography Team helped Williams and the Shields family find a suitable home for the camera.

The equipment includes an almost-new Canon EOS 70D, a digital single lens reflex or DSLR camera body and lens used by professional photographers, with associated hardware and literature. Last month, Photo Team member and family friend Ken Dalecki delivered the camera set to the Club.

The Photo Team discovered Northern Virginia Community College offers an associates degree in photography and media at two of its seven campuses. Also, nearly two-thirds (64%) of NVCC's 52,000 students are from minority populations, with less than one-third (30%) attending class full-time. Moreover, Shields and Williams made their home in Falls Church, Virginia, and she completed a travel and tourism certificate at NVCC. Thus, NVCC seemed a good fit for the family's donation.

Photo Team Co-chair Alan Kotok delivered the camera set on June 17 to NVCC's Alexandria campus, where it will be used by students who cannot provide their own digital camera.

Last year's member photo exhibit catalog offers a sample of Shields's photography.