Our November 28^th meeting brought out 57 members and 1 guest.

• John St. Pierre presented a tutorial on Infrared Photography. Starting off with examples from the internet, John explained that these types of photos can be achieved by putting infrared filters on your existing lenses, using Photoshop or Elements to simulate the effect, or having an old camera converted to shoot infrared only. To have a conversion done, John directed us to the website www.lifepixel.com. He capped off his presentation by showing his own infrared photos which are bound to inspire some of us to try this unique and fascinating area of photography. Thanks John! We really enjoyed your demonstration.

For more information, check out these YouTube videos on
The Easy Guide To Infrared Photography.

How To Fake Infrared In Photoshop

• David Barr’s work was highlighted in What I Shoot, where he showed us his excellent collection of macro and nature photos that featured insects, small animals and birds of every description. Well done David. Your work is first class!

• Scores from our second CCC Photo Competition of this season were announced, with Catherine Dawson (23.5 pts), Bill Henry (23 pts), Margaret DeClerk (23 pts) and Julie Fass (23 pts) receiving top marks in the Novice Division for Things That Are Round, while Keith Blackwell (25 pts), Jim Pollock (25 pts), Linda Pepper (24 pts), Gavin Stuart (23 pts) and John St. Pierre (23 pts) had the highest scores in the Salon, Advanced and Intermediate groups who competed in the My Canada category. You can review the top scoring shots on our Club Photos page.

• Thanks to all of those who brought in a print for the rest of us to admire and discuss. The talent and diversified interests of our Club members never fails to impress. Our next print display will be held next January 23^rd.

• Our next meeting will be held on December 12^th when Mike Blazek and Carson Plant will show us how to Rack The Lens in preparation for our Zoom Burst competition. We will also be having a Buy/Sell event where members can offer their surplus camera gear for sale. If there’s some photo equipment you no longer need, now is the time to let the rest of us know about it.

If a great image relies on Photoshop,
maybe it wasn’t all that great to begin with.

As the temperature drops, it’s a good time to review
How to Take Care of Your Camera in Cold Weather

Our November 14^th meeting was attended by 56 members and 1 guest.

• After welcoming those assembled, President Carson Plant introduced our guest speaker, 11 Star Master Photographer Juraj Dolanski.

Starting off with an audio/visual show called Frozen Art, Juraj showed us how to create fascinating works of art by photographing frost on a pane of glass. He then went on to demonstrate how he uses close-up filters, reversing lenses, bellows and macro lenses to capture his excellent images. His hands-on demonstrations gave us a brief introduction into the world of Macro photography and taught us some new methods to try out during the long, cold winter. The Chatham Camera Club wishes to thank Mr. Dolanski for sharing his time and talent and for making the journey from Hamilton to Chatham. For a review of Juraj’s program, see his Holy Macro Summary.

For more, check out Tony Northrup’s YouTube video on
Macro and Close-up photography

• Our next meeting will be held on November 28^th when two of The Club’s most accomplished photographers will be featured. John St. Pierre will present a tutorial on Infrared Photography and David Barr’s photographs will be highlighted in our What I Shoot segment.

• We 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. C’mon, we know you have a photo you’d just love to show us. Now is your chance.

To consult the rules of composition before making a picture
is a little like consulting the law of gravity before going for a walk.

For better Macro photos, have a look at this article on
Maximizing Depth of Field Without Diffraction

November’s subject for Photo In Focus is Catherine Dawson.

To learn more about Catherine and her photographic journey be sure to see our
Photo In Focus page.

Our October 24^th meeting brought out 62 members and 2 guests.

• President Carson Plant reminded everyone that the proper e-mail address to use when submitting CCC competition photos is gcstuarts@yahoo.ca (There’s an extra “s” at the end of Gavin’s name.)

• Carson announced that the auditor’s report from Dave Noordhoff found that our financial statement, as provided by Treasurer Reagan Smolders, is correct.

• Carson Plant introduced our Guest Speaker, Adam Harpula who presented his tutorial on Posing And Lighting. Adam gave us some tips on how to get our subjects to relax in front of the camera, general posing techniques, as well as off camera lighting, both with flash and continuous lights. Great job, Adam! We all learned something valuable tonight.

For more on posing people, check out this YouTube video.

• Mary Craig was front and center in our What I Shoot segment, which featured her excellent nature, still life, architecture, scenic, floral and people photographs. Thanks Mary! We enjoyed your show.

• The results from our first CCC Photo Competition were revealed, with Julie Faas, (22.5 pts), Jana Smith (two scores of 22 pts), and Bill Henry (22 pts) leading the way in the Novice Division, while Steven Taylor (24 pts), Tere Deslippe (24 pts) and Martha Gillier (24 pts) had the top scores in the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon groups. You can see the top scoring shots of the night on our Club Photos page.

• A nice variety of prints were on hand for all to view and admire. Your participation is much appreciated and we encourage everyone to take part. The next print display will be on November 28^th.

• Several new items have been added to our Buy/Sell page. Check out some of the bargains offered on good, used equipment available from your fellow Club members.

• Our next meeting will be held on November 14^th when our Guest Speaker will be Master Photographer Juraj Dolanjski who will give us an insight into Macro Photography.

The size of the watermark-signature on a picture is usually
inversely proportional to the talent of the photographer.

Check out this article on
How To Pose People For Group Portraits

Our October 10^th meeting brought out 54 members and 2 guests.

• After his opening remarks, President Carson Plant introduced our Guest Speaker, award winning competitive photographer Norm Ullock who gave a presentation called Composition from Shot to Art. Norm pointed out that as a photographer you are at the mercy of the real world and you must develop skills to solve the visual puzzle presented to you when shooting by aligning visual elements in a pleasing way. In his slide show, Norm showed us tools to develop our skills to take control of creating good compositions. The members of the Chatham Camera Club wish to thank Norm and his wife Helene for making the trip from Oshawa to Chatham. We thoroughly enjoyed your presentation.

During his talk, Norm referred to book by world class photographer
Ian Plant called, Visual Flow: Mastering The Art Of Composition.
For a YouTube version of Ian’s guide, check out this video.

• Kellie Watson shared her vacation memories from Colorado and a cruise up the Rhone River in France. Thanks Kellie. You did a great job.

• Carson Plant showed us the photos he took at this year’s London Air Show that featured shots of WW II vintage aircraft, modern jet fighters and of course The Snowbirds. As always, he nailed them all.

• Competition Manager Gavin Stuart reminded us that the deadline for submitting photos for our first competition of the year is midnight, Sunday, October 15^th. E-mail your pictures to gcstuarts@yahoo.ca

• Our next meeting will be held on October 24^th when Guest Speaker Adam Harpula will present his tutorial on Posing And Lighting. We also invite everyone to bring in one of your favorite prints for display and discussion. Don’t be shy. We’d love to see your work.

You rarely see successful photographers complaining about what others are doing.
Instead, they are forging their own paths.

Whether we want to admit them or not, here are
Five Uncomfortable Truths About Photography

Our featured photographer for October is Jeff McDonald.

For an introduction to Jeff and some of his fine work, have a look at our Photo In Focus page.

Our first meeting of the 2017 – 2018 season brought out 50 members and 3 guests.

• President Carson Plant determined that the auditor’s report of the Club’s finances will be available in October.

• Vice-President Tere Deslippe introduced the Club executive:
– Carson Plant – President
– Gavin Stuart – Vice-President and Competition Manager
– Tere Deslippe – Vice-President
– Reagan Smolders – Treasurer
– Barb Ferran – Secretary
– Catherine Dawson – Welcoming Manager

• Jim Pollock gave a presentation that reminded the membership that the Club’s monthly photo competitions had something in common with the TV show Who’s Line Is It Anyway?. We learn by taking on new assignments and “The points don’t matter.”

• Competition Manager Gavin Stuart reminded us how to submit our competition photos to him. The schedule can be found on our Meeting Schedule page and the instructions for sizing our pics can be found on the Instructions for Submitting Photos for Competitions page that is linked from our Home Page.

• Tere Deslippe told those in attendance that once again this year the Chatham Camera Club is sponsoring two photo magazines that are available at the Chatham Public Library, Digital Photo Pro and Outdoor Photographer. To read either of these publications on-line you can apply for a virtual library card at the Chatham-Kent Public Library web site.

• Tere also presented an excellent slide show of photos taken from The Club’s summer walk-abouts that featured member’s images from gatherings at R&M’s Cars And Coffee, model shoots at LeClairs Grey Stone Cottage and Maple Leaf Cemetery in Chatham. Thanks for the memories Tere!

• Carson reviewed the lineup of guest speakers that are slated to appear this season, noting that we have some excellent pro photographers scheduled to speak on a variety of interesting topics.

• Kellie Watson shared her vacation memories from Colorado and a cruise up the Rhone River in France. Some technical difficulties hindered the slide show and therefore we will try it again when the bugs are ironed out.

• Carson reviewed some of the twenty prints that were brought in for display. Many thanks to those who participated. We’re looking forward to the next opportunity on October 24th.

Don’t turn to luck to get the photographs you want, or to explain the amazing photographs you see around you. Great photography happens when a photographer is prepared, patient, inspired, and hard-working.

To improve your composition skills, have a look at this
Introduction To The Rule Of Thirds

We are gearing up for our new season and would like to invite all of those who are interested in photography to check us out. This year we will continue to learn from pro photographers, guest speakers, experienced Club members, workshops and photo assignments. Membership is $40 for the year, but you may attend two meetings free of charge to see if we’re a good fit. We meet at Evangel Community Church, 76 Sandys St. Chatham (back door), at 7:00pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. All 90 of last year’s members would love to meet you! See the Meeting Schedule page for more info.