After polling our membership regarding their willingness to attend live meetings this Fall, the CCC executive committee has decided to return to ZOOM meetings for the rest of the calendar year. We will revisit this decision in December and plan the rest of our season accordingly. We know that on-line meetings are not ideal, but until the majority of our members consider it safe to meet in person, ZOOM meetings are our best option.

Our July Walk-About will be on your own schedule. We are suggesting a trip to Greenhill Gardens on Wilksport Line, St. Clair Twp.

• For our final meeting of the 2020/2021 season, President Jim Pollock thanked our existing executive committee members for all of the hard work that they have done over the past year to keep the Chatham Camera Club alive during the pandemic:

– Facebook Page Coordinators – Kathryn Anderson Parent and Martha Gillier
– Photo Challenge Managers – Jana Smith and Helen Heath
– Secretary – Barb Ferren
– Executive Assistants – Wendy McDonald and Mary Craig
– Vice President – Ric Aarssen
– Past President – Carson Plant
And a very special thank you to our Treasurer and Zoom meeting host, Julie Faas. It is no exaggeration that this season would have been lost if not for Julie’s knowledge of ZOOM meetings and her willingness to share her account with the Camera Club.
In recognition of her outstanding efforts, The Club presented this Certificate Of Appreciation.

• Jana Smith reviewed the scores for the final Photo Challenge.

High scores in the Novice Division for “Ice / Frozen Nature” went to Cindy Taleski (23.5 pts), Stacy Arnold (22.5 pts), Penny Rintoul (21 pts)

Top marks in the Intermediate/Advanced/Salon Division went to Keith Blackwell (25.5 pts), Linda Pepper (24.5 x 2), Mike Blazek (24 pts x 2), Dave Noordhoff (24 pts), Martha Gillier (24 pts), Jim Pollock (24 pts) All of the top scoring shots in both categories can be seen on our Club Photos page.

The final standings for the 2020/2021 Photo Challenge are:
Novice Divison
1st – Kim Charron
2nd – Cindy Taleski
3rd – Gord Myers

Intermediate Division
1st . Butch Dompierre
2nd – Jeff McDonald
3rd – Jana Smith

Advanced Division
1st – Julie Faas
2nd – Martha Gillier
3rd – Mary Craig

Salon Division
1st – Keith Blackwell
2nd – Linda Pepper
3rd – Jim Pollock

Photo Of The Year was presented to Keith Blackwell for his excellent photo:

• Jim Pollock announced the new executive for the 2021/2022 season:

– President – Cindy Talesky
– Vice President – Pat Beaton
– Treasurer – Julie Faas
– Secretary – Barb Ferren
– Photo Challenge Manager – Tere Deslippe
– Executive Assistants – Wendy McDonald, Jeff McDonald, Mary Craig, Linda Pepper
– Welcoming Manager – Catherine Dawson
– Facbook Coordinators – Kathryn Parent and Martha Gillier

This is what I like about photographs. They’re proof that just once, even for just a heartbeat, everything was perfect.

How To Get Consistently Magnificent Photos In Manual Mode

• Club members watched a video tutorial by Jared Platt about why and how to set up Custom Settings on our cameras. Jim Pollock followed up by showing us some real-life examples of how using these settings can save time and keep us from missing important shots by setting up Custom Settings in advance of a photo shoot.

• Another short video clip was shown that talked about how much post processing can take place before a photograph becomes digital art. A brief discussion among our members took place after the tutorial, with most agreeing that some degree of photo manipulation is all right.

• Jana Smith was featured in our final What I Shoot segment of the season.

Her excellent collection of photos from the Czech Republic was enjoyed by all of those in attendance and we thank Jana for sharing them.

• Any members who would like to be featured in What I Shoot or Travelogue next season, kindly contact Linda Pepper at lpepp@sympatico.ca

• Entries from our last CCC Photo Challenge of the season were reviewed. The scores were held back until our next meeting.

• Our final meeting of the season will be held on May 11^th at 7 PM when we will announce the First, Second and Third place finishers in this year’s Photo Challenge

• We will also announce the names of next year’s executive, including our new President and Vice-President.

Someone handed me a photo and said, “Here’s a picture of me when I was younger.” I replied, “Every picture of you is when you were younger.”

• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Wayne Simpson.

Wayne spoke to us about Portraits Of Resilience
The first half of his presentation included a variety of dramatic portraits accompanied by the subjects’ life stories. Some of them were heart warming, while others were quite disturbing. By revealing the tough times that these people went through, Wayne demonstrated that getting to know your subject is the key to capturing a striking portrait. During the second half of the show, he showed us how he uses flash to augment ambient light. We were encouraged to think outside the box to “Find the hook”, the thing that keeps people looking at a photo.

The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Wayne for his excellent presentation. Those of us who like to shoot portraits, learned a lot.

Our next meeting will be held on April 27^th
• Jana Smith will be featured in What I Shoot.
• Jim Pollock will talk about how to set up Custom Shooting Modes on your camera.
• We will review the results from our April Photo Challenge.
The Novice category is “Ice/Frozen Nature” and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon category is “Open”.
Entries art to be submitted to ccc.picsubmissions@gmail.com by April 18th

The two most engaging powers of a photograph are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.

Three Bad Habits You Need To Break To Improve Your Photographs.

We have received word that our long time friend and lifetime Chatham Camera Club member Jean McCracken passed away on April 13^th.

Jean was a much loved and respected lady who brought a smile to all who knew her. She could often be found accompanying her husband Les on his photographic outings. Jean will always be remembered for her kindness and good nature, and will be missed by many of us who had the privilege of calling her a friend.

• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Mike O’Conner.

Mike’s presentation was called the Bucket list Adventurer, where he explained how a photographer’s personal style impacts not only the photographs taken, but also the very nature of the adventure travel experience itself. He showed the Club his impressive collection of international travel photos and explained how he interacted with the local people before he photographed them.

The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Mike for his excellent presentation. At Mike’s request, a donation will be made to the The Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research in lieu of a speaker’s fee. As an added bonus, Mike donated a ThinkTank camera bag as a “door prize”, which was won by long-time member Jean DeBruyn.

• Kim Charron’s work was highlighted in our monthly feature, What I Shoot. Kim’s slideshow contained impressive landscape, scenic, birds, animals and people from Africa, Iceland and the Caribbean. She received several comments of high praise for her excellent photos. Thanks Kim!

• We reviewed the results from our March Photo Challenge. Top scores in the Novice Division for “Sunrays” went to Kim Charron – 23 pts, Penny Rintoul – 23.5 pts, Cindy Taleski – 23.5 pts. High Marks in the Intermediate/Advanced/Salon Division for “Frozen Nature/Ice” were achieved by Mike Blazek – 23 pts, Butch Dompierre – 23.5 pts, Jeff McDonald – 23.5 pts, Linda Pepper – 23.5 pts, Mary Craig 23.5 pts.
You can view these excellent photos on our Club Photos page.

• Our next meeting will be held on April 13^th, when our guest speaker will be Wayne Simpson, who will give a presentation called Portraits Of Resilience (Portraiture And The Stories Behind Them).

A camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.

• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Dave Chapman,

Dave spoke to us about photographing storms. During his video presentation he showed us different types of clouds, lightning and weather events as well as how they form. Dave also shared some of his encounters and spoke of the dangers involved in storm chasing. If you’d like to try this unique and exciting type of photography, he suggested using windy.com as a resource. For more about Dave and his storm, nature and bird photography, check out his website at www.DavidTChapman.com

The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Dave for his fascinating presentation. We can hardly wait for storm season to start around here.

• Mike Blazek’s exhibition is opening at Thames Art Gallery this Friday from 11 to 4. You must pre-book your visit on the Thames Art Gallery webpage.

• Several new items have been added to our Buy/Sell page, so be sure to check that out.

• We are still seeking nominations for next season’s President and Vice-President. If you or someone you know might be willing to take this on, by all means let Jim know at JimAndJillPollock@hotmail.com Rest assured that you will receive plenty of help from the outgoing officers if you choose to step up. This club runs on volunteers. Without them, there is no club.

• Our next meeting will be held in two weeks on March 23^rd when Calgary based photographer Mike O’Conner. will give a presentation called the Bucket list Adventurer.

The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.