• 56 members attended our April 10^th meeting.

• President Carson Plant reminded us that we still need a Vice-President, a Treasurer and an Executive Assistant to help run The Club next season. If you can spare a little of your time and talent, please let Carson know at: plant1238@gmail.com

• Our guest speaker for the evening was Award Winning Photographer and Visual Effects Supervisor, Bret Culp.

Bret gave us a truly inspirational lesson on How To Find Your Photographic Style by taking us through his own photographic evolution from his earliest film days to his acceptance of the digital system. Two slide shows were followed by a challenge to each of us to write our own Artist’s Statement, which is an introduction to our work, not to you, not your photography and not about the process of making the work. It is a daunting task indeed. Bret also revealed some of his secrets for shooting Black And White photos, a skill at which he excels. The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Bret for making the trip to Chatham from Toronto and for providing us with another fascinating direction to explore.

Bret Culp’s book, “The Beauty Of Impermanence” is available at Amazon.com

(click the photo for more info)

• Our next meeting will be held on April 24^th when Club member David Barr will give us an insight into Shooting Commercial Photography. Keith Blackwell will also be on hand to show us another of his excellent travelogues. Photos from our final CCC competition will be shown and we will have our final print display of the season.

In order to assist the WPW committee plan programs for the next two years we are asking you to complete, print and bring this survey to the April 24 meeting. Your participation is appreciated.

There will be obstacles.
There will be doubters.
There will be mistakes.
But with hard work, there are no limits.

Here is Karen Quist’s take on
How To Find Your Personal Photographic Style

One of Tere’s photos has been awarded First Place in the Sparks Photo Festival
Reflections category.

Nice job Tere! We’re all very proud of you.

Cheryl Prince, a former Chatham Camera Club member and wife of our long-time friend Andy Stockdill, passed away on April 3^rd 2018. Our sincerest condolences to her family and friends.

April’s featured photographer is Bill Henry.

To learn more about Bill and his photographic interests, take a look at our
Photo In Focus page.

46 members and 4 guests turned out for our March 27^th meeting.

• President Carson Plant told the membership about a recent photo shoot he attended at Milestone Studios in Windsor. Their hourly rental rate is $35 per hour. If anyone would be interested in attending our own gathering there, let Carson know.

• Carson introduced our guest speaker, Stephen Slack, co-founder of the Forest City Photographers Guild and owner of Art In Motion Digital Imagery.

Stephen gave a presentation called Creating Digital Art, which he began by introducing us to a slogan he uses to produce his work: “If you don’t have the visual concept, the tools do not work.” In other words, it’s not the software that makes the image, it’s the artist. Stephen showed us three slideshows of his amazing digital art where he stylized photos of famous people, vintage autos and modified scenery using various Photoshop plug-ins and his own imagination. We would like to thank Stephen and his assistant Dave Wellington for making the trip to Chatham and for giving us all a new direction to take our own photography.

• Scores were announced from this month’s CCC Photo Competition, with the Novices competing in a category called Rack The Lens. High marks went to Bill Henry (24 pts and 23.5 pts), Jana Smith (23.5 pts) and Wendy McDonald and Margaret DeClerk (both with 22 pts). The Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members were judged on their Rusty pictures where Tere Deslippe (24 pts and 23.5 pts), Keith Blackwell (24 pts) and Paul Schmoldt (23.5 pts and 23.5 pts), obtained the highest scores. Jim Pollock (23.5 pts) Jean DeBruyn (23 pts) and David Barr (23 pts) also did well. You can see the top scoring shots of the night on our Club Photos page.

• The membership responded to our President’s request to bring in some of their best prints as several excellent photos were on display. Our final print display of the season will be held April 24^th and we’d love to see a couple of yours. Any size and subject is welcome.

• Our next meeting will be held on April 10^th when our guest speaker will be pro photographer Bret Culp who will be on hand to discuss How To Find Your Photographic Style. Bret will also reveal some of his secrets for shooting Black And White photography. This is one meeting you don’t want to miss. As always, visitors are more than welcome to attend free of charge.

Beginners worry about cost.
Amateurs worry about equipment.
Professionals worry about light.

What’s all the fuss about Back Button Focus
What is it and why should you try it?

• 29 members and 2 guests attended our meeting.

• Dave Noordhoff presented Using The Exposure Triangle To Shoot In Manual Mode.

The group was shown a series of examples where we would decide what the main consideration would be before taking a photo, ISO, shutter speed or aperture. Using 100 ISO to insure minimum digital noise, we looked at photo examples where a large or shallow depth of field would be the most desirable, as well as some scenes where we would choose a fast shutter speed to capture motion or a slow shutter speed to attain desired blur. Club members wish to thank Dave for his excellent presentation. Many of us, new and not so new, learned more about the exposure triangle.
You can review or download Dave’s tutorial on The Exposure Triangle here.

For a review, take a look at this YouTube video on Shooting In Manual Mode.

Our next meeting will be held on March 27 when professional photographer Steven Slack will present Creating Digital Art. We will also review the results from our latest CCC photo competition: Give Me Space for the Novice group, and Rusty for Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members. We would like to invite all of our members to bring in a print of any size, any subject, to be viewed before the meeting begins and during the break.

To create interesting light, you have to create interesting shadows.
So, look at the light and think about the shadows.

What are all those icons on top of your camera?
Learn all about them in
Finding Your Way Around The Mode Dial

This month’s subject for Photo In Focus is Laura Jasper

To find out more about Laura and her photography, see our Photo In Focus page.

Back after another unplanned interruption, 40 members, including 3 new ones, and 1 guest attended our February 27^th meeting. Our room access problems appear to have been solved.

• Vince Gagnier introduced long-time member Nelson Harrison who presented an excellent tutorial on How To Photograph Butterflies.

The key points from Nelson’s presentation were provided to those in attendance in the form of a hand-out. The Club wishes to thank Nelson for his time and efforts and we look forward to more in the near future.

• Pat Beaton was featured in our What I Shoot segment where she showed us some of her favourite photographs. Her collection of landscape, nature, scenic, architecture, flowers and people photos revealed just how accomplished Pat has become in just a few short years. Congratulations Pat! We loved your show.

• Scores from our latest CCC Photo Competition were announced, with the Novice group showing their Rack The Lens creations. The top scoring shots were entered by Wendy McDonald (23.5 pts), Jeff McDonald (22.5 pts) and Bill Henry (22 pts). The Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members competed in a category called Give Me Space where Paul Schmoldt (24 pts), Jim Pollock (24 pts), and John St. Pierre (23.5 pts) were given the top marks. Tere Deslippe (23 pts) Carson Plant (22.5 pts) and Gavin Stewart (22.5 pts) also scored well. You can see these photos on our Club Photos page.

• With only nine prints brought in, our discussion about them was brief, but favorable. Our next print display will be held next March 27^th. Remember, prints can be of any size and subject and we’d love to see one or two of yours. As our most senior member, Les McCracken is so fond of saying, “It’s not a picture until it’s printed.”

• Our next meeting will be held on March 13^th when Dave Noordhoff will present Understanding The Exposure Triangle. Mostly aimed at newer shooters, this tutorial will also be of interest to the more experienced photographers as well.

Ansel Adams may have said it best,
“The whole key lies in first visualizing the image you want,
rather than just snapping away.”

If you need to focus closer to your subject, try Extension Tubes