Featured for the month of March is Jean DeBruyn.

To find out more about one of The Club’s longest serving members,
see our Photo In Focus page

Our February 28^th meeting brought out 47 members and 1 guest.

• Dave Noordhoff showed us How To Safely Clean Your Camera’s Sensor.
Dave’s presentation stressed that we should not be overly concerned about cleaning our camera’s sensor unless visible dust is showing up on our pictures. If you feel your sensor needs cleaning and you’re not comfortable with doing it yourself, you can always send it to the manufacturer for professional service. The best way to avoid excess sensor dust is to only change lenses indoors, preferably in a room without carpeting. If you want to do the job yourself, some of the tools that Dave recommends are the Rocket Blower, an Arctic Butterfly or a Eyelead Sensor Gel Stick. If you missed the meeting, you can read a copy of Dave’s Notes

For a brief review on how to safely clean your camera’s sensor, check out this 5 minute YouTube video.

• Dave Stewart was our featured presenter in What I Shoot, where he displayed some of his excellent images. Nice job Dave! We enjoyed your show and the music that went with it.

• The results of our most recent photo competition were revealed with Jana Smith (23 and 22 pts), Wendy McDonald (23 and 22 pts), Jeff McDonald (23 and 21 pts) and Mary Craig (21 and 20 pts) leading the way in the Novice group’s Trees category, while David Barr (24 pts), Linda Pepper (23 pts) and Jim Pollock (23 and 23 pts), scored high marks among the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members. You can see some of the evening’s top scoring shots on our Club Photos page.

• Mike Blazek and Dave Noordhoff discussed some of the prints that were on display with several favorable comments being made. Our next Print Display will be held at our meeting on March 28^th and we encourage everyone to participate. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours :>)

• Our next meeting will be held on March 14^th when our guest speaker will be Wesley Liikane, (Cowboy with a camera), who will offer his tutorials on night photography, landscapes and wildlife. This is one you won’t want to miss.

The word “image” comes from the word “imagination.”
It doesn’t come from “lens sharpness” or “noise levels.”

11 Stages That Every Photographer Goes Through

Our February 14^th meeting brought out 54 members and 2 guests.

• President Carson Plant opened the evening with this thought:
“I read the other day that the quickest way to make money at photography is to sell your camera.”

• Our featured speaker for the evening was long-time Club member Nelson Harrison who presented an extremely comprehensive tutorial on Backing Up Our Images, which detailed some of the threats to our digital images and how to mitigate them. We want to thank Nelson for his time and efforts, and especially for making the ten page hand-out that accompanied his seminar.

• Next up were Jim Pollock and Keith Blackwell who discussed different ways to fire an off-camera flash. The methods included flash triggers like Pocket Wizard and Cactus, wireless flashes by Canon, Yongnuo and Godox, as well as those Canon and Nikon cameras that support optical flash firing.

For a quick review of the optical flash method, check out this step-by-step instruction page on How to Trigger an Off-Camera Flash with the Pop-up Flash

• Carson Plant finished up the meeting by talking about the different lenses he uses to capture his images. He showed us examples of photos and discussed the focal length range of each lens used. Thanks Carson. It’s always interesting to learn some of your methods.

• Our next meeting will be held on February 28^th when:
– Dave Noordhoff will explain How To Safely Clean Your Camera’s Sensor
– Dave Stewart will be featured in What I Shoot
– The results of our most recent Photo Competitions will be announced
– Members will have the opportunity to display some of their favourite prints

Once you have mastered the techniques, flash becomes the most amazing, controllable light: an unlocking of creativity in all photographic situations.

Three Rules For Lighting In Photography

Our featured photographer for February is Garry Black.

To find out more about Garry and his photographic interests, have a look at our
Photo In Focus page.

Our January 24^th meeting brought out 56 members and 2 guests.

• President Carson Plant opened the evening with this thought:
“In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotive. (translation – associated with a particular person, idea or situation)

• In an informative and well-researched tutorial, Vince Gagnier told us How Take Better Pictures In The Snow, where he explained why our cameras under-expose a bright scene and how to correct the situation in-camera and in post processing.
Are you still a bit confused about Exposure Compensation? If so, check out this article on How to take control of your exposure. It’s worth the read.

• Catherine Dawson was the subject of our What I Shoot feature where she showed the rest of The Club her fine collection of nature, landscape, table top and travel photos. Thanks Catherine! We all enjoyed your presentation.

• The results from our latest photo competition were announced, with Ric Aarssen (24), Mary Craig (23), Jana Smith (22, 22), Amy Simpson (22, 22) and Margaret DeClerk (22) getting the highest scores for the Novice group’s Angular shots.

Gavin Stuart (25), Dave Noordhoff (24, 23), Martha Gillier (24), John St. Pierre (23, 22), and Harry Arneill (23) got the top marks among the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon shooters in the Trees category.

You can see some of the top scoring images from the evening’s competitions on our Club Photos page.

• Mike Blazek discussed and dissected several of the prints that were brought in for display, with the makers explaining where and how their photos were made. If you’d like to share one of your favourite prints, your next opportunity will be at our February 28^th meeting. As is often the case, the quote of the evening came from Les McCracken, who said about the print he brought in, “It may not be any good, but they always know it’s mine.”

• Carson Plant announced that The William St. Café has agreed to host a gallery of our photos for sale and display. Details are still being sorted out, but in the meantime you can send your ideas for the prints you’d like to offer to Gavin Stuart at gcstuarts@yahoo.ca.

• Club members were treated to two brief slideshows that featured some of our best “Cell Phone” pictures, as well as some of the more interesting photos taken at our Light Painting workshop on December 13^th.

• Our next meeting will be held on February 14^th when:
– Nelson Harrison will teach us How To Back-up Your Photos
– Carson Plant will be featured in What’s In My Camera Bag
– Keith Blackwell and Jim Pollock will give us a demonstration on
Why And How To Use Off-Camera Flash.

“Pictures come from light. Interesting pictures come from interesting light.”

For more Winter shooting tips, check out this article on
Essential Tips for Cold-Weather Photography

Our first meeting of 2017 was attended by 49 members, including 3 new ones.

• President Carson Plant reminded us of Five Key Skills For A Photographer:
1 – Know your software.
2 – Get the basics right.
3 – Be flexible.
4 – Study other’s work.
5 – Practice.

• To help fund her trip to Uganda, Patty Arsenault is offering a 2017 calendar that features beautiful nature photos from Rondeau Park. Patty’s mission will build a house, feed a village, support five schools and bring clothing and medical supplies. If you can help her out, contact Patty at farlikins@gmail.com

• The evening was devoted to learning how some of our more experienced members go about processing their images.

– Paul Schmoldt reminded us of an extremely powerful and free photo editor called FastStone, where he demonstrated how to batch resize, batch rename and create a slideshow. You can get your own copy of this amazing piece of software at www.faststone.org

– Carson Plant showed us a few of the features of Photoshop and a similar yet very capable program for Mac and Windows called Affinity. Available for a one-time price of $69.99, this photo editing software is definitely worth looking into. For more information, check out the Affinity web site and this Affinity For Beginners YouTube video.

– Chad Barry walked us through how he organizes, tags and processes his work in Lightroom. To learn more, see this YouTube video on 10 Things Beginners Want To Know How To Do in Lightroom.

– Dave Noordhoff shared his methods of obtaining the wonderful images he captures in the American Southwest by taking into consideration some of the things that we should all remember when we’re taking photos: Research the location, Pre-visit the location to find the best vantage point, Research the best time to shoot, Consider the best f-stop to capture the sharpest image, Choose the best lens for the job, Will there be any movement in the scene, Know your equipment.

Thanks to all of our presenters for job well done! The pieces of information you shared are valuable learning tools that will help the rest of us advance as photographers, and that is the reason will all come to the Chatham Camera Club.

• Our next meeting will be held on January 24^th when Vince Gagnier will present a workshop on How Take Better Pictures In The Snow. Scores from the latest CCC Photo Competition will be announced, with the Novice group showing their Angular photos and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members displaying their shots in the Trees category. Catherine Dawson will be featured in What I Shoot, and we will all have the opportunity to bring in some of our favourite prints for display and discussion.

You will be remembered by the images you create, not the gear you use.

Are you sometimes overwhelmed by photography terms and mumbo-jumbo?
Check out this page that explains
25 Common Photography Terms All Beginners Need to Know

Our first featured photographer of 2017 is Kellie Watson.

To learn more about her photographic journey, check out our Photo In Focus page.

50 members and 1 guest took part in our Light Painting workshop hosted by Mike Blazek and Carson Plant. Carson started the evening off by explaining how to use the work stations provided, while Mike discussed the proper settings to be used. (ISO 100, f-16, 30 second exposure) The rest of the night was spent helping each other with camera settings and taking photos using the described light painting technique. The meeting was our first “hands-on” session of the season, and by all accounts, was extremely enjoyed by all who participated.

You can see some more photos of our seminar on our Club Photos page.

We want to thank Carson and Mike for setting up this tutorial and for leading us in one of the most fun meetings in recent memory. Also a special thanks to Patricia, Mary and Tere for our break-time snacks.

• Our next meeting will be held on January 10^th when our in-house presenters will be:

– Carson Plant: Photoshop Post Process / Workflow Demo
– Chad Barry: Lightroom Post Process / Workflow Demo
– Dave Noordhoff: What I Considered When I Took These Landscape Images
– Paul Schmoldt – FastStone Demo: Batch resizing of Images and Creating a slideshow

A well-developed photographic style is like a fingerprint – unique to the photographer. Develop your style by using your own judgment and taste, not by consulting others.

What is a Stop? – The Common Currency of Exposure Explained