• Club member Keith Blackwell spoke to The Club about On-Camera Flash.

Keith explained that one of the reasons that we use flash is to separate the subject from the background and therefore we are actually dealing with two exposures. He went on to say that the basic properties of light are quality, quantity and direction. From there Keith spoke about basic flash operations and how to adjust our individual units.

Keith left us with this flash exercise to try on our own:

Set both your camera and flash unit to manual mode (don’t use ETTL on your flash).
Set your camera to ISO 100 or 200, Aperture f/8 and 1/100 Shutter Speed.
Set your flash to 1/1 (full strength) output power if it’s not already.
Choose a subject where the background is far away (don’t stand a subject right against a wall or tree).
Stand roughly five meters from your subject and take a test shot. Preview the image on your back LCD screen and take note of the light falling on your subject versus your background.
The result isn’t important for now. This experiment is purely for learning purposes.

Now adjust your Aperture from f/8 to f/16 and take another test shot. Notice this time the flash hitting your subject is darker. Next, adjust the Aperture from f/16 to f/4.6. This time notice the light hitting your subject is brighter.
Re-adjust the Aperture back to f/8.
By now you should understand that adjusting your Aperture will effect the flash output hitting your main subject.
Next you’ll learn how to darken or lighten your background (ambient light). Select a slower Shutter Speed, for example 1/20 second. Take a test shot. Notice how the background in the resulting image is now much brighter?
Now select a faster Shutter Speed of 1/200 sec or 1/250 (the maximum sync speed for your flash model). Notice how your background is now darker?

For another look at basic flash use, check out this YouTube video.
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• Our next meeting will be a live get-together on October 24^th at 7 PM when Chris Jorgensen will give a presentation on how to create a panorama.
– We will also review the results of our October Photo Challenge.
– Members are encouraged to take part in our montly Print Display by bringing in a print of any size, any subject for display and discussion.

“The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer.” – Gordon Parks

25 Common Photography Abbreviations Explained

Due to vacations and illnesses, our first meeting of the 2024 – 2025 season was sparsely attended by just nineteen members and three visitors.

Those in attendance viewed Jeff McDonald’s presentation about this season’s Photo Challenges, in which he explained the requirements for each of the six categories. During the break we viewed our monthly Print Display as well as items brought in for sale. Julie Faas then gave us a presentation on a new feature for this year, where members will be asked to edit three photos so we can see how different photographers post process images. Keith Blackwell led a discussion on the prints that were brought in. Before the meeting ended, a number of suggestions were discussed.

Our next meeting will be held at Evangel Church on Thursday, October 10^th when Keith will present a tutorial on flash photography.

“The hardest thing in photography is to create a simple image.” – Anne Geddes

The dates for our 2024 / 2025 season have been added to our Meeting Schedule page. New members may attend two meetings for free to see if we’re a good fit. We encourage everyone to check us out!

• For our final meeting of the season, our members held roundtable discussions on Photo Challenges they’d like to see in the future, possible Walk-About events, Workshop Ideas, and bringing back a digital print display.

• Tere Deslippe played her slideshow that revealed the results of the April Photo Challenge, this season’s Photo Challenge results, and a review of all of the excellent entries for the year.

• Winners of the Photo Challenge by division are:

Novice
– 1st Place with four Honorable Mentions – Dave Richards
– 2nd Place with one Honorable Mention – Christina Thomas
Honorable Mentions – Glen Douglas (1), Marielaine Douglas (2), Jenna Richardson (1)

Intermediate
– 1st Place with three Honorable Mentions – Wendy McDonald
– 2nd Place – Kim Charron
– 3rd Place with one Honorable Mention – Janice Mayuk
Honorable Mentions – Stacy Arnold (4), Rochella Mulhern (1), Dave Summerfield (1)

Advanced
– 1st Place with two Honorable Mentions – Jeff McDonald
– 2nd Place with two Honorable Mentions – Cindy Taleski
– 3rd Place (tie) – with one Honorable Mention – Penny Rintoul
– 3rd Place (tie) – Martha Gilliar
Honorable Mentions – David Bar (1), Barb Ferren (1)

Salon
– 1st Place with two Honorable Mentions – Tere Deslippe
– 2nd Place with two Honorable Mentions – Linda Pepper
– 3rd Place with two Honorable Mentions – Jim Pollock

Best Photo Of The Year
Dave Richards

Thanks to all who participated in the photo competitions this year. We hope it was a valuable learning experience and one which helped you grow as a photographer.

You can watch Tere’s Photo Challenge Awards Slideshow Below

Pictures of the Awards Presentations are available on our Club Photos page.

This evening’s meeting was a Workshop where club members took part in a light painting exorcise. Special thanks goes out to Mary, Tere, Barb, Wendy and Jeff for bringing in a wide variety of interesting subjects to photograph. Your collection was awesome! You can see some examples of what we shot on our Club Photos page.

Recently, The Chatham Camera Club took photos of the congregation of Evangel Church. Thanks to Dave, Carson, Tere, Mary, Jim, Jeff, Wendy, Bob and Paul for their efforts to complete this project.

Our final meeting of the season, to be held on May 16th at Evangel Church, will be the annual awards night and election of new executives. Please try to attend this meeting. The future of the Chatham Camera Club depends on you.

“You are responsible for every part of your image,
even the parts you’re not interested in.” – Jay Maisel

Club Treasurer Julie Fass introduced our guest speaker, Chris Ogonek, who spoke to us about Night Photography.

Chris covered cameras, lens and tripod choices, as well as choosing good locations, checking the weather forecast and camera settings. He also gave us some tips on an upcoming CCC Workshop topic, “Light Painting”.
The Chatham Camera Club thanks Chris for his well organized and fascinating presentation.. We all learned a lot from it!

• Our next meeting will be a live meeting at Evangel Community Church, 76 Sandys St. Chatham on Thursday, April 25^th at 7PM when we will host a Light Painting workshop.

“Photography itself is not really real. I use all the tools available.” – Annie Leibovitz

• Our long-time friend, Don Martel spoke to The Club about Extreme Light, Extreme Exposures.

Don showed us some of his photos that he was forced to use extra care in capturing because of extreme bright and dark areas within the scene. Using Center Weighted or Spot metering, he explained how he underexposes a photo in order to attain the desired results. His presentation also included some examples of multiple exposures, zoom burst and twisting the camera to make wonderful abstract photos. The Chatham Camera Club thanks Don for his fascinating show and we look forward to seeing him again soon.

• Club member Dave Richards was featured in What I Shoot, where he showed us excellent collection of travel photos from Europe and the Far East. Thanks Dave! Your slideshow was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

• The results of our March Photo Challenge were reviewed in a slideshow by Tere Deslippe. You can see the top scoring shots on our Club Photos Page.

• Our next meeting will be a ZOOM meeting on April 9^th at 7PM. Our guest speaker will be a spokesman from Nikon Canada.

“If you’re worried about what your camera settings are, then you’re likely going about it all wrong.” – Jared Lloyd

Don’t Confuse the Crop Tool with Image Size When Editing a Photo

• Club Treasurer Julie Fass introduced our guest speaker, Kas Stone, who spoke to us about Reality vs Artistry vs Deception.

Kas showed us the differences between these three types of images and how she went about creating some of her own.

The Chatham Camera Club thanks Kas for her excellent presentation. We thoroughly enjoyed it!

• Our next meeting will be a live meeting at Evangel Community Church, 76 Sandys St. Chatham on Thursday, March 21^st at 7PM
Our guest speaker will be pro photographer Don Martel who will present Extreme Light, Extreme Exposures..

“The most important lens you have is your legs.” – Ernest Haas