Our February 24^th meeting brought out 42 members and 1 guest.

• President Vince Gagnier reminded us of the upcoming photo-ops being offered by other area camera clubs. CCC members were notified of these events by e-mail.

• Club members Chad Barry and Dave Noordhoff were chosen to test and review a pair of photographer’s gloves called Heat 3 Smart Gloves for Outdoor Photography Canada magazine. For those serious shooters who don’t let a little thing like Winter stop them, be sure to read Chad and Dave’s review.

• Dave Noordhoff’s Tech Talk featured a tutorial about
Flash Synchronization and High Speed Flash
You can see a brief summery of Dave’s lesson in this YouTube video

• Our February CCC Competition featured the Novice group’s Wheels shots,
with Reagan Smolders (24), Steven Taylor (23), Debby Venne (22), Jacquline Gruszka (22) Diane Donkers (21), Barb Ferren (21), Mary Craig (21), Bob Miller (21) and Margaret DeKlerk (21) achieving the highest scores.

• The Intermediate / Advanced and Salon shooters showed their People Outdoors photos, with Lori Cooper (24), Larry Kearns (24 & 23), Butch Dompierre (24), Frank Vadovic (23), Melanie Denis (23), Chad Barry (23), Keith Blackwell (23), Carson Plant (23) and Jim Pollock (23) scoring the top marks.

• Our next meeting is on March 10th when Dave Noordhoff will present his Technical Challenge on Image Stabilization. You are also encouraged to bring in a print for display, any size any subject.

Creative photographers don’t wait around for better weather. Bundle up and take full advantage of this time of year.

When changing the flash power, it’s important to remember that you are not actually altering the amount of light a flash emits. The light burst a flash fires is constant. When reducing your flash power, you are actually just changing the duration of time of bursts of light the flash emits. So, increasing your flash’s power means you’re making the flash stay lit just a bit longer.

44 members and 2 guests attended our February 10th meeting.

• Paul Schmoldt and Herman Giethoorn presented the results of our latest CAPA entries in the Altered Reality category. Despite submitting some quality images, The Chatham Camera Club finished a disappointing 19th out of 23 clubs. We’re sure to improve on that result with our Open and Wildlife Nature entries which are due to be sent to Paul at
Viking@mnsi.net by Friday, February 20^th at 8 PM. If you have some good images that fit these categories, now is the time to participate.

• Bill Godfrey was our featured photographer in What I Shoot.

Known to his Camera Club friends as “The Master Of Black And White”, Bill’s excellent presentation proved that he excels in much more than just monochrome images. Combining long lenses and a canvas blind has enabled him to capture some of the best warbler and water fowl shots that we’ve seen in The Club. Bill also puts his superior composition skills to good use to get what are truly inspiring shots of the U.S. and Canadian coast lines. Bill’s beautiful slideshow gave us fresh incentive and heightened our anticipation of Spring so that we may try to emulate his exemplary work. Thanks Bill, for a job well done.

• Dave Noordhoff investigated Noise Characteristics Of Your Camera.

Dave showed us the effects that different ISO settings have on an image. If you would like a copy of Dave’s PDF, simply send him an e-mail at
Max.at.gppa@gmail.com

• Gavin Stuart and Dave Noordhoff reviewed several of the prints that were brought in for display and asked the makers how they went about capturing their images. If you would like to show your friends at The Club some of your favourite pictures, your next opportunity will be on March 10^th. Remember, you are welcome to bring in any size print of any subject.

Always focus on the photographs you will take in the future and forgive yourself past errors.

When photographing a lot of people, someone is almost always bound to be blinking or striking a strange pose. The more people in your photo, the more photos you should make to ensure good results.

Our Featured Photographer for February is Dave Paddick

When it comes to weather and storm photography, Dave Paddick has set the standard for other CCC members to aspire to. Through practice and patience, Dave has developed his techniques using specialized equipment to track storm formations and movements and has achieved stunning results. He and Kathryn Parent can often be found at local events, offering their beautiful pictures for sale. You can see a brief sample of his work on our Photo In Focus page.

51 members braved the chilly temperatures to attend our January 27^th meeting.

• President Vince Gagnier announced that a year-end party is scheduled for May 22^nd at Smitty’s Restaurant in Chatham from noon until 2PM. If you plan on attending, please let Vince know by e-mail at: vgagnier@mnsi.net

• By request, Patricia Kral completed the critique that she started at the December 9^th meeting. Pat pointed out how colour, lighting and Depth Of Field affect where the viewer’s eye goes to in a variety of Club member’s pictures. Our thanks go out to Patricia for a job well done.

• Paul Schmoldt reported on our CAPA entries for Altered Reality and Light, which were judged off-site.
In the Altered Reality category, Carson Plant, Dave Stewart, Reagan Smolders, Paul Schmoldt, Laird VanderEnde and Jim Pollock had their photos selected for submission. For Light, pictures from Butch Dompierre, Mike Blazek, Keith Blackwell, Dave Noordhoff, Carson Plant and Dave Stewart were chosen. Thanks to all who entered.

• Our February CCC Competition was held for the Novice group in the category Nuts.
High marks went out to Reagan Smolders, Mary Craig, Bob Miller, Debbie Venne and Steven Taylor.

Wheels was the topic for the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members,
with Melanie Denis, Lori Cooper, Collin Cooper, Jason Cooper and Jim Pollock receiving the top scores.

• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 10^th when Mike Blazek will present How to pose people for formal and informal portraits and Dave Noordhoff investigates Noise characteristics of your camera.

Members are invited to bring in a print for display of any size, any topic.

To develop the creative eye that it takes to create great photos we need to be on the constant lookout for unexpected opportunities.

When working in extremely cold weather, try not to breathe on your viewfinder or your lens. Moisture from your breath will freeze to the cold glass and can be difficult to clean off.

Despite the extreme cold, our first meeting of the calendar year brought out 48 members, 3 guests and 2 new members.

• Kathryn Parent was featured in How to shoot storms and other interesting weather, where she showed us some of her stunning weather shots and what it takes to capture them. Safety was one of Kathryn’s main concerns and she made sure that would-be weather chasers understood the dangers of potentially violent storms. Many of us find this area of photography to be absolutely fascinating and extremely difficult to achieve and we thank Kathryn for sharing some of her knowledge and techniques. Several of those in attendance said they were inspired to give shooting interesting weather a try.

Some of the resources that Kathryn and Dave use to find interesting weather are:
– WunderMap
– Intellicast.com
– AccuWeather.com
– WeatherBug.com

• Vince Gagnier and Dave Noordhoff reviewed some of the prints that were brought in for display. Club members love to see what others have been shooting and if you’d like to participate, your next opportunity will be on Tuesday, February 10^th. Any size, any subject is welcomed. Don’t be shy. We’d love to see some of your work.

The work of other people can be key in helping you to develop your own style, hone your skills and increase your knowledge.

Ten Questions To Ask When Taking A Photo

1. What story am I telling?
2. What is the visual focal point of this shot?
3. What competing focal points are there?
4. What is in the background and foreground?
5. Am I close enough?
6. What is the main source of light?
7. Is my framing straight?
8. What other perspectives could I capture this subject from?
9. How will the eye travel through this image?
10. How would holding the camera in the other format change this shot?

Our featured photographer for January is Barb Ferren.

A regular contributor to The Club’s competitions, Barb’s favourite subjects are her children and grand-children. Along with nature, sports and scenic shots, she has also shown a gift for capturing unique abstracts, several of which are simply outstanding. In her spare time, Barb also fits volleyball into her busy schedule. For a look at some of her contributions, see our Photo In Focus page.

54 members, including 3 new ones, welcomed 2 guests to our final meeting of the 2014 calendar year.

• President Vince Gagnier informed The Club that our Nicole Maynard has had one of her photos used for the cover of Trucking Today magazine. Congratulations Nicole.

• Our CAPA representative, Herman Giethoorn, gave us the results of the most recent “Digital Fine Art” competition, where Jean DeBruyn and Reagan Smolders each scored 24 and Carson Plant was given an Honourable Mention for his 28 point shot. As a group, The CCC placed 8th out of 27 competing clubs. Great job everyone!

“Jenny” by Carson Plant

• Dave Noordhoff’s Tech Talk was aimed at those who are challenged by resizing and renaming images for Club competitions. Step by step instructions were giving for
Photoshop,
Lightroom,
FastStone,
Elements
Canon’s DPP.

• Patricia Kral led a group discussion of our recent “Barns and Silos” entries where she suggested several ways some of the images might have been improved. Thanks to all who participated.

• Keith Blackwell reviewed his Technical Challenge #1 – Design Guides, by showing four excellent examples that were submitted to him. For more on this fascinating subject, check out Digital Photography’s page on Divine Composition.

• Les McCracken and Dave Noorhoff reviewed some of the prints that our members brought in for display. As always there were several beautiful shots that received high praise. If you would like to show The Club one or two of your favourite photos, your next opportunity to do so will be at our January 13^th meeting. We encourage all of our members to bring in a print and show the rest of us what you’ve been shooting.

• We’d like to remind everybody that entries for the next CAPA competitions, “Altered Reality” and “Light”, are to be sent to Paul Schmoldt at viking@mnsi.net no later than Friday, January 2^nd at 8 PM. 1 entry per category per member. All entries should be sized 1400 pixels Horizontal, 1050 pixels Vertical Maximum for ultimate projection impact – jpg format.

People insist on assigning limits to cameras and lenses, but the limits reflect more about the people who want to limit the devices than about the equipment’s capabilities.

Lens caps will transfer dust and debris to the lenses you mount them on. Cleaning your lens caps every time you clean your lenses is a very small chore, but it will help keep your expensive gear functioning at its best.

Our featured photographer this month is Keith Blackwell.

Coming to us from Strathroy, Keith is one of the most innovative and artistically gifted photographers in The Club. For the past two years he has helped put together our Technical Challenges that have covered a variety of topics that have given us all a chance to become more skilled and knowledgeable in the art of photography. Keith’s top quality images have set a standard that we can all aim to achieve. When not behind a camera he also enjoys sailing and ballroom dancing. Have a look at some of Keith’s excellent photos on our Photo In Focus page.