Our Featured Photographer is Mike Moynihan
Mike Moynahan is a retired teacher and an avid hunter and naturalist who puts his experience in the great outdoors to good use when capturing his beautiful nature shots. Mike excels at Birds In Flight, but also has an eye for all types of photography. Always friendly and helpful, it’s a pleasure to have Mike in The Club. You can see a brief sample of his work in our Photo In Focus section.
The Chatham Camera Club’s meeting room was packed with over 60 members and visitors to hear our guest speaker, Dave Stimac give an informative presentation on photographing North American waterfowl. Mr. Stimac showed an impressive series of Nature, Wild Life, Flowers, Landscapes and Macro shots that clearly demonstrated his considerable skill. He also spoke of the importance of blinds, how to attract birds and the special considerations for successful flight photography. He shared tips on the best timing and locations for waterfowl photography close to home, as well as other hotspots worth visiting.
Using his Nikon D300 camera and a 600 mm lens, Mr. Stimac also offered these tips:
For information on upcoming workshops, visit DavidStimac.com
The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Mr. Stimac for taking the time to visit and for sharing his methods and his outstanding results.
President Dave Noordhoff informed the membership that judging for our February 25th entries for CAPA Open and Nature will be judged offsite and not at a Club meeting.
Our latest submissions to CAPA were reviewed with several high marks in the Open category enabling The Chatham Camera Club to finish 11th out of 30 competing clubs. Even better results were attained in the Nature category where we ended up 6th out of 31. Well done everyone!
Next up will be our Christmas Breakfast at the Links Of Kent Golf Club, 120 Indian Creek Rd. West, Chatham. On December 7th at 9AM.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 10th when we will judge Novice entries for Night and Open for Intermediate and Advanced members. Dave Noordhoff and Keith Blackwell will review their Contrast Panels assignment. Dave Summerfield will be featured in our What I Shoot segment. Les McCracken will lead a discussion on the prints brought in for display. The Club’s first half activities will be reviewed.
Making photographs is a way to experience beauty
instead of just looking at it.
At this month’s Workshop Meeting, The Club welcomed 3 new members and 2 guests.
Martha Gillier announced that the OSPCA is in need of volunteer photographers to take part in taking Pet Pictures With Santa on November 30th, December 1st, 7th, 13th and 14th. If you are interested in donating your time and talents for this worthwhile cause, contact Martha at 519-351-6677 or mgillier@gmail.com
Bob Allen reminded The Club of our annual Christmas Breakfast on December 7th at 9AM at the Links Of Kent Golf Club. If you plan to attend, please let Bob know by e-mail at bobcurl@ciaccess.com
Ken Kopko from Maple Art Gallery, along with Mike Blazek and Frank Vadovic, gave a presentation on the important but often overlooked subject of Preparing Images For Display. Among the topics discussed were:
For more information about these subjects and more,
contact Ken at Maple Art Gallery
The Club’s own Prince of Prints, Les McCracken, encouraged the membership to take advantage of the opportunity to bring in a print for display for the rest of The Club to enjoy. Prints of any subject and any size are welcome at our first meeting of each month.
Keith Blackwell and Dave Noordhoff offered Tech Skills Assignment #1 – Exposure and Contrast Panels. Details will be sent to the membership by e-mail, or see the PDF, CCC Exposure and Contrast Panels. We encourage you to take part in this exercise as it is a great learning tool for photographers of all levels of experience.
Andy Stockdill was featured in our What I Shoot segment, where he showed his skill in capturing Altered, Nature, Landscapes, People and Still Life photos. Well done, Andy!
Our next meeting will be held on November 26th when we will feature a presentation
on North American Waterfowl Photography by guest speaker Dave Stimac of Lapeer, Michigan.
Judging will be held for the Novice group for Night photography while the Intermediate and Advanced group will participate in the Open category.
If better pictures are possible, “good enough” isn’t good enough.
Our featured photographer is Paul Schmoldt.
Emigrating from Denmark in 1971, our Immediate Past President is fluent in four languages and is known throughout The CCC for his quick wit and zany sense of humor. As Competition Manager, Paul has taken on the considerable task of organizing the judging of our Club and CAPA photo competition entries. He has also assembled several outstanding slide shows of Camera Club outings and year-end summaries. At the end of his tenure as CCC President, he was named an Honourary Lifetime Member. An accomplished photographer, Paul is always generous with his time and knowledge of photo techniques and software. Our experience in The Chatham Camera Club has been greatly enriched by having Paul as a friend. You can see a few examples of Paul’s work on our Photo In Focus page.
58 members welcomed 3 visitors to our October 22nd meeting.
President Dave Noordhoff gave us an update on the professional photographers that have been invited to address The Club this season and proposed a fee of $2 per member per guest speaker. All were in favour. You can read about the proposed line-up HERE
Dave also went through an entertaining and informative presentation on how to prepare an image for our competitions or print displays. To re-cap, you can read the PDF HERE
Our entries for upcoming CAPA competitions were judged with Richard Armstrong, Bob Allen, Jean DeBruyn, Dave Paddick, Carson Plant and Paul Schmoldt having their photos selected for the Open category. Chad Barry, Martha Gillier, Margaret Manson, Carson Plant, Jim Pollock and Paul Schmoldt got the nod for our Nature submissions.
Our Novice Division entered their Black and White / Monochrome photos in our Club Competition with Anne Goslin, Barb Ferren, Chad Barry, Helen Heath, Mike Moynihan (2) and Nicole Maynard getting top marks.
In the Night competition, Andy Stockdill, Angel Rublik, Butch DomPierre, Dave Paddick (2), Gavin Stuart and Kathryn Parent led the Intermediate Division. The top scores in the Advanced group went to Carson Plant (2), Richard Armstrong (2) Frank Vadovic, Jim Pollock and Lorie Cooper.
You can see the Top Scoring shots of the night on our Club Photos section.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 12th.
Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.
Just a reminder about our annual Christmas Breakfast, to be held on December 7th, 2013 at the Links Of Kent Golf Club, 120 Indian Creek Rd. West, Chatham. If you plan to attend, kindly send an e-mail to Bob Allen at ikurl2two@gmail.com
Welcoming Manager Margaret Chrysler introduced 8 visitors to a gathering of 62 members at our first Workshop meeting of the season.
Vice-President Vince Gagnier reminded the Club that the Sarnia Photographic Club is hosting an event featuring nature photographer Chris Harris on Saturday, November 9th at the Sarnia Library from 9 to 5. The cost to attend is $50.
Executive Assistant Chris Jorgensen told us about a Nature Photography Day at the Circle R Ranch, 3017 Carriage Rd, Delaware on October 19th from 9AM to 2:30 PM. The cost is $12 each or $30 for a family of four.
Frank Vadovic introduced our guest speaker, Ted Kloske of Henry’s Photo in Windsor. Ted began by showing us What’s New in the world of photography by introducing some exciting new products, including:
• Super Wi Fi, which will allow cameras to connect with smart phones and home computers.
• GoPro Hero 3, a waterproof high-definition sports & helmet camera.
• Samsung Smart Camera, which features built-in Wi Fi.
• Mirrorless Cameras
• Micro Four Thirds cameras
Ted also presented a wonderful Nature and Macro Photography slide show which was highlighted by the many excellent shots he was able to obtain using a variety of Macro lenses, extension tubes and bellows. The Chatham Camera Club wishes to thank Ted for his fascinating and informative presentation and we look forward to seeing him again soon.
Print Manager Les McCracken reviewed the prints set up for display and handed out many deserving compliments. Members are invited to bring in a print of any size and subject to the November 12th meeting and show the rest of the Club some of your favourite photos.
Reagan Smolders was featured in our What I Shoot segment, where she showed an eclectic collection of Portrait, Landscape, Scenic and Macro shots in a well organized slideshow. Well done Reagan!
Paul Schmoldt gave a presentation aimed at both Photo competition judges and participants. Here are some things to look for:
1. The Picture must fit the category
• if “so-so” or if “right on”, then the score must reflect it.
2. Wow factor
• look for good composition, cropping, leading lines, shapes, perspective and effective empty space
• Colour (or if B/W toning-grey scale)
• Distracting elements (light or dark spots), pleasing background, horizon straight if intended
• Is the image creative or a just a “record shot”
3. Centre of Interest / Focal point
• Is the photo telling a story!
4. Technical Aspect
• Proper exposure
• Pleasing contrast
• Good Lighting
• Sharp focus with blur intend / depth of field
(hint: animals and people – Focus on the eyes)
• Post processing that enhances the image
As a judge, don’t get influenced by:
• Unusualness of subject – if it is something not normally / often seen like “place on earth”, buildings or animals
• How long it took or how difficult it was to make or acquire shot
As a judge, TAKE YOUR TIME TO PROPERLY ASSESS THE IMAGE
ADDENDUM
Sizing 1400 x 1050 max. but recommended for full impact.
Email – as a jpg file to Paul at viking@mnsi.net no later than the Friday night before the competition date.
Naming must be correct. It has to be the actual jpg picture file that is named
For example: MaryB-Food1-2014-1-28.jpg for CCC competitions (second image to be named “Food2”) or
MaryB-CAPA-N-Hummingbird-2014-1-28.jpg for CAPA competitions (CAPA-O for Open theme).
Complete competition instructions further down on this page (posted September 15. 2013)
CCC members are encouraged to submit photos for our October 22nd meeting. These competitions are designed to help expand our photographic experience by shooting things you may not have thought about previously.
• CAPA Judging: Open – 1 entry per per member
• CAPA Judging: Nature – 1 entry per member
• CCC Judging for Novice members: Open – B/W or Monochrome
• CCC Judging for Intermediate and Advanced members: Night
Seeing and composing beauty is what separates
a snapshot from a photograph.
Our Featured Photographer is Pat Beaton.
Pat was instrumental in setting up our 2012 Walk-About at Maple Leaf Cemetery. Her ability to find interesting subjects and her keen eye for composition and colour have enabled her to improve greatly as a photographer since joining The Club, as can be seen on our Photo In Focus page.