If you’re looking for a reason to get out and shoot some pictures, have a look at
40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken.

Tuesday September 22^nd

59 members and 11 guests kicked off the Chatham Camera Club’s 81^st year of operation.

• President Vince Gagnier announced that for this year the executive has decided to forego our membership in CAPA, (Canadian Association for Photographic Art) in favour of joining PSA (Photographic Society of America). More information on The Club’s interaction with this organization will come in the following months.

• Keith Blackwell showed The Club a new line of CCC embroidered shirts, hats, hoodies and jackets.

In case you didn’t get one, you can print your own Order Form by following this link and clicking the “Print” icon at the top of the page.

If you have further questions, you can e-mail Keith at keithblackwell@explornet.ca
Special thanks to Keith for co-ordinating this great project.

• Dave Noordhoff explained the contents of the new CCC Members Handbook.
Follow the link to the CCC Member’s Handbook to view or print if you wish.

• Jim Pollock presented “Why Enter CCC Contests?” in which he addressed some member’s reasons for not participating in our monthly photo challenge. Everyone is encouraged to enter, not to see who is the best photographer, but to move out of your comfort zone and into new areas of photography you may not have explored before. This year’s categories are Flowers, Still Life, Cityscape, Open (in colour), Fill The Frame and Open (in black and white). Check the meeting schedule page for details and dates for your division.

• Our Competition Manager, Gavin Stuart, reviewed the final 2014 – 2015 season competition results.

• The Club was treated to Frank Vadovic’s slideshow of member’s photos from this Summer’s Walk-Abouts. As always, great job Frank!

• Our next meeting on October 13^th will feature Toronto area photographer Sean Howard and his tutorial on Photographic Fine Art. Visit his website at www.SeanHoward.ca

• We will also feature our first Print Display of the season where you are encouraged to bring in a print of any size, any subject, to be viewed before the meeting begins and during the break.

There will always be some people who criticize your photos. Ignore those who try to rain on your parade just because they don’t have a parade.

Dirty filters will not only blur photographs, but will also transfer dirt to the lenses you screw them onto. Clean your filters and any cases you store them in whenever you clean the rest of your camera gear.

The executive of The CCC has been busy all Summer, getting ready for our 86^th year as a camera club. Knowledgeable and interesting guest speakers have been booked and new tutorials on equipment and post-processing techniques have been prepared. As well, this year’s competition categories have been designed to challenge and stimulate your imagination. Our first meeting is set for September 22^nd at 7 o’clock at our usual venue, Evangel Community Church, 76 Sandys St. Chatham (come to the back door where the Chatham Camera Club sign is). Guests and new members are always welcome. You may attend two meetings without charge so you can see if we’re a good fit. Seasonal dues are $40 for a single membership and $60 for couples. If you’re interested in becoming a more proficient photographer, whether your interests are nature, landscape, portrait or just family snapshots, you’re bound to come away with a wealth of photographic knowledge. It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you have or what your level of experience is. We’re all here to learn. We look forward to seeing you on the 22^nd.

Approximately 30 members of The Club met at Maple Leaf Cemetery to photograph four models provided by Patricia M. Productions. Instruction was provided by Chad Barry, Keith Blackwell, Vince Gagnier, Dave Noordhoff and Jim Pollock about lens selection, aperture and shutter speed settings, and how to photograph people under various lighting conditions. Thanks to Jayden, Sam, Mikayla and Skyar for providing such excellent posing skills and for being so very pleasant to work with. A good time was had by all.

The following are the competition themes and definitions for the CCC 2015 – 2016 season. The dates are for the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon Council divisions. The Novice division will start on October 27, 2015 with the theme “Open”: Anything you would like in colour, black and white or whatever you want. The novice division will then do the same competitions below but delayed by one month.

NOTE: Remember, photo competitions are meant to challenge our creativity and inspire us to move out of our comfort zone and into places we’ve never ventured. They are in no way a reflection of your ability. If someone else doesn’t see your vision, accept it and continue to learn and grow as a photographer at your own pace.

• October 27, 2015 – Flowers (not artificial): The main character of this competition must be a flower or flowers. No artificial flowers such as silk, plastic etc. They may be in a vase, a field, a garden or whatever. Dried flowers will be allowed as long as they are real and were alive at some point in their existence.

• November 24, 2015 – Still Life / “Table Top”: Generally a still life would contain a small grouping of inanimate objects arranged in a pleasing composition. The platform for this topic does not have to be a table top but should not exceed the size of a table top (not the Tabletop Mesa or the periodic table). The main character/s cannot be flowers since we did them last competition.

• January 26, 2016 – Cityscape: A cityscape is like a landscape where a city or section of a city is the focal point.

• February 23, 2016 – Open Colour: Anything goes but it must be in colour (no black and white or sepia).

• March 22, 2016 – Fill The Frame: This picture can be of anything that you would like but it must fill a large percentage of the frame (75 -80% minimum). This can be a close up or macro shot or just a very large subject that fills the frame. Colour or black and white etc. are acceptable.

• April 26, 2016 – Open Black And White: Anything goes but it must be black and white and shades of grey (no colours or sepia tones).

Our Buy / Sell page gets results! We’ve helped sell a lot of cameras and lenses and there are still lots to chose from. Check it out today!

Our WPW Committee has now finished planning the Summer’s Walk-Abouts.

Check out the dates, times and locations on our Meeting Schedule page.

As The Chatham Camera Club’s 80^th year came to a close, 40 members were on hand for our annual Elections And Awards night.

• The results of our elections were announced with the following outcome:

Executive:
President – Vince Gagnier
Vice-Presidents – Tere Deslippe and Gavin Stuart
Secretary – Barb Ferren
Treasurer – Carson Plant
Executive Assistants – Shannon L’Ecuyer, Reagan Smolder, Chad Barry
Immediate Past President – Dave Noordhoff

Officers:
Margaret Chrysler – Welcoming Manager
Herman Giethoorn – CAPA Co-ordinator
Les McCracken – Print Manager
Kathryn Parent – Facebook Page Co-ordinator
Jim Pollock – Web Co-ordinator
Dennis Skipper – Slide Projector and Film Manager
Competition Manager – Gavin Stuart
Paul Schmoldt – Physical Print Manager

• The winners of this year’s Club Photo Competitions are:

Novice Division:
1^st place: Reagan Smolders
2^nd place: Steven Taylor
3^rd place: Wendy Beasley

Intermediate Division:
1^st place: Chad Barry
2^nd place: Jason Cooper
3^rd place: Butch Dompierre

Advanced Division:
1^st place: Lori Cooper
2^nd place: Tere Deslippe
3^rd place: Melanie Denis

Salon Division:
1^st place: Carson Plant
2^nd place: Mike Blazek
3^rd place: Dave Noordhoff

Honourable Mentions
1 Award – Jean DeBruyn, Diane Donkers, Margaret Manson,
Nicole Maynard, Paul Schmoldt, Dave Stewart,
Andy Stockdill, Larry Taylor, Debbie Venne
Mike Blazek, Lori Cooper

2 Awards – Keith Blackwell, Larry Kearns, Gavin Stuart
Steven Taylor, Butch Dompierre, Chad Barry

3 Awards – Jim Pollock

4 Awards – Carson Plant

5 Awards – Reagan Smolders

Most Improved Photographer
Reagan Smolders

Picture Of The Year
Carson Plant – “Jenny”

• The WPW Committee is currently planning some photo get-togethers for the Summer. If you have an idea for an interesting place to take pictures, let Vince know at vgagnier@mnsi.net

Things that are easy rarely make you successful.

Some thoughts about composition:

1 – There are no rules, just guidelines.
2 – Check the corners of the viewfinder to avoid distractions.
3 – Don’t shoot everything from a standing position.
4 – Try to find lines that lead the eye into the picture.
5 – Use your feet. A few steps to the left or right can radically change images.