March 26th 2019

44 members and 1 guest attended our March 26th meeting.

• Club members were reminded that the current executive will be entering their second and final terms in office next September. Anyone interested in stepping into one of these roles should consider speaking up now so that they can be mentored for a full season before taking over. Remember: This is your club. It can’t function without everyone helping out.

• Wendy McDonald was our featured photographer in What I Shoot. Those in attendance were entertained by Wendy’s excellent work that included nature, birds, landscape, insects and architecture. Thanks, Wendy. We loved your show!

• Entries from our February CCC Photo Challenge were reviewed with Rochella Mulhern (22.5 pts), Jeff McDonald (22 pts), and Kim Charron ( 21.5 pts), getting top marks for the Novice Division’s In The Rain category. High scores in the Intermediate, Senior and Salon groups for their Framed By Nature shots went to Keith Blackwell (24 pts), Mary Craig (24 pts), and Linda Pepper (23.5 pts).

The results from the March Photo Challenge showed Rochella Mulhern (23 pts), Laura Jasper (22.5 pts) and Julie Fass (22 pts) leading the way in the Novice group’s Framed By Nature category. Keith Blackwell (23.5 pts), Jim Pollock (22.5 pts) and Mary Craig (22 pts) achieved the most points in the Intermediate, Advance and Salon members.
Thanks to everyone who entered. Your imagination is inspiring.

• Several of us brought in prints for display and discussion. Our final print display of the season will be on April 23rd and we would love to see one of your favourite prints, any size, any subject.

• Dave Noordhoff presented another one of his excellent tutorials, this time about Focus Points. What they are and how to use them. Dave explained the difference in Auto Focus Points and how to access them in several different Canon and Nikon models. Thank you, Dave. Well done as always.

• Our next meeting will be held on April 9th and will feature conservation photojournalist Neil Ever Osborne. We’ve been looking foreward to this presentation all season, as it’s bound to be both educational and motivational.

• Reminder: Photo Challenge pics for April 23rd are to be submitted by midnight, Sunday, April 14. The Novice challenge is Interesting Furniture and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon groups will compete in the Open category.

ImJustSaying2

Canon has produced the EOS line of cameras for many years. EOS is not an acronym. “Eos” is the mythical Greek goddess of dawn who rises into the sky each morning to light up the world.

How to Understand Reflected Versus Incident Light.

March 12 2019

46 members attended our March 12th meeting.

• Images from our February CCC Photo Challenge were reviewed, but unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the final scores were not available.

• Our guest speaker this evening was former CCC member and long-time friend,
Chad Barry who presented The Telephoto Landscape – A Different Perspective.

Chad showed us how framing a shot with a telephoto lens can dramatically change the perspective of the photo. In his summary, he left us with these four important tips:
* Keep it simple
* Shoot vertical and horizontal
* Look for slopes, contrast and texture
* Try focal lengths outside of your favourite

For more, check out Chad’s Five Tips To Start Taking Better Photos.

• Our next meeting will feature our own Dave Noordhoff, who will speak to us about how to get the most out of our camera’s focus points.

• Wendy McDonald will be featured in What I Shoot.

• We will have our monthly Print Display Review, and invite everyone to bring in a print of any size, any subject for display and discussion.

• The results of our March Photo Challenge will be revealed, with the Novice group showing their Framed By Nature photos and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members showing their Interesting Furniture shots.

• Reminder: Photo Challenge pics for March 26th are to be submitted by midnight, Sunday March 17th

ImJustSaying2

Forget about camera specs, for they are mostly unimportant. The only three things you need to consider when taking a photograph is subject, light and composition.

For more on how telephoto lenses affect perspective, have a look at
Why you Need a Telephoto Zoom Lens for Landscape Photography.

Bonus Tip!
There are two rules for success:
1 – Never reveal everything you know.
2 –

February 12 2019

 

 

30 members attended our February 12th meeting.

• Barb Ferren was the featured photographer in our monthly demonstration of What I Shoot, which showcased some of her best work. Thanks, Barb! Your show was excellent!

• Paul Schmoldt presented a tutorial on How To Use Exposure Bracketing. After the instructions, those who brought their camera to the meeting had a chance to try out bracketing with the assistance of some of the senior members acting as mentors. For review, take a look at this website by Photomatix that shows how to set up AEB on your brand of camera.

• Dave Noordhoff spoke to us about Exposure Compensation, after which we broke up into groups to try our hand at keeping black subjects dark and white subjects bright. Several of our newer members expressed how much they enjoyed both presentations.

• Another fine assortment of prints was brought in for viewing by our members. Because of scheduling conflicts, your next opportunity to participate in the Print Display will be March 26th. Remember, any size photo, any subject, is more than welcome.

• Our next meeting will be held on February 26th and will feature OPP Forensic Officer, Mark Lancaster, who will present Part Two of what his job entails and how he goes about accomplishing his photographic duties. Mark’s first visit proved to be fascinating and we can hardly wait to see what he has in store for us this time.

ImJustSaying2

Don’t think that you will ever reach a day when you can say, “Ah, now I’m perfect. All my photographs will be flawless from here on out.” That day will never come.

For another take on How To Use Exposure Compensation, take a look at this YouTube video.

 

 

January 22 2019

44 members braved the inclement weather to attended our January 22nd meeting.

• In an effort to update The Club’s e-mail address list, CCC Photo Challenge manager Jana Smith addressed the membership to find out who received her latest message. If you are not on our e-mail list and want to be, kindly let Jana know at ccc.picsubmissions@gmail.com

• Club member Nelson Harrison presented a tutorial called Demystifying The Histogram in which he explained how to access and evaluate your camera’s histogram. Well done Nelson. We always enjoy your presentations. For a review, have a look at this article about How To Read And Use Histograms.

• Clarke Warner was featured in our What I Shoot segment and showed us an impressive collection of photos that he has taken using his many years of experience and accumulated knowledge. Thanks Clarke! We loved your show.

Clarke Warner

• A good selection of prints was on display, including two beautiful canvas wraps produced by Keith Blackwell, as well as several other fine images. Due to a scheduling conflict with a guest speaker, the next print display will be at our February 12th meeting.

• Photographs from our January CCC Photo Challenge were reviewed with Wendy McDonald (23.5 pts), Jeff McDonald (23 pts), and Debby Venne (22 pts), receiving the highest number of points in the Novice Division’s Harvest category. Top scores in the Intermediate, Senior and Salon groups In The Rain images went to Tere Deslippe ( 24.5 pts), Butch Dompierre ( 24.5 pts), and Keith Blackwell (two scores of 23.5 pts). A great effort was put forth by everyone who entered and we appreciate your participation.

• Our next meeting on February 12th will include How To Use Exposure Bracketing by Paul Schmoldt, What I Shoot by Barb Ferren and Exposure Compensation by Dave Noordhoff. After Dave’s demonstration we will break up into groups and try our hand at keeping black subjects dark and white subjects bright, so BRING YOUR CAMERA to this meeting if you want to follow along.

ImJustSaying2

“I’m not a technical photographer. (People ask me) ‘What camera are you using?’ If that’s what you’re thinking about, you’re not taking pictures.” – Annie Leibovitz

For a review of How To Read A Histogram, check out this YouTube video.

January 8 2019

• 47 members attended our January 8th meeting.

• Our first get-together of 2019 featured our initial Bring Your Camera To The Meeting event. Several stations were set up for our members and guests to try their skills at macro and up-close photography. Water drops, oil-in-water, bubbles on waxed glass and other stationary objects were set up around our meeting room for novices, advanced shooters and everyone in-between to take turns photographing them. Special thanks to Tere and Mary, along with Carson, Ric and Jim, for their time and efforts in making this evening a success. Pictures of some of the evening’s activities can be found on our Club Photos page.

• Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 22th, 2019 when Nelson Harrison will present Demystifying The Histogram. Don’t be shy. Bring your camera to this meeting if you want to learn about histograms.

• Clark Warner will be featured in What I Shoot.

• Our CCC Photo Challenge will have the Novice group showing their Harvest pictures while the Intermediate, Senior and Salon members will have their In The Rain photos reviewed.

ImJustSaying2

All the technique in the world doesn’t compensate for the inability to notice.

QuickTip

If you enjoyed this evening, check out these pages on
How to Create Colorful Artistic Images Using Oil and Water as well as
Water Drop Photography Guide and
How To Photograph Rainbow Water Droplets on a CD

To try these techniques at home, you can download some free
Colorful Backdrops For Water Drops and Oil And Water Shots

December 11 2018

• 52 members and 4 guests attended our December 11th meeting.

• The evening featured our annual Buy/Sell Night, where members offered their surplus photo equipment for sale. Several quality items changed hands and more are available on our Buy & Sell page.

• Herman Giethoorn shared his expertise on How To Photograph Christmas Lights, where he offered some excellent pointers on how to capture the holiday season’s decorations. Thanks Herman. Your efforts are much appreciated.

• We viewed a video in which Phil Steele talked about the importance of Using a lens hood to prevent lens flare and increase contrast in our photos. If you don’t have a hood for your lenses, Amazon.ca is a good place to get one.

• Keith Blackwell and Mike Blazek shared how they went about capturing their beautiful Abstract Nature photos in Algonquin Park last Fall. Their Nikon D850 cameras allow them to blend multiple exposures and moving the lens while taking the shot generates interesting abstracts. The results look like these:


Nice job, gentlemen! We all enjoyed your lesson.

• Two more quick videos rounded out our night. The first was called Remember The EGG, where Joe Edelman demonstrated the effect that moving your light source has on how a shadow falls in our photographs.
In preparation for photographing friends and relatives over the holiday season, we watched a tutorial in which Mark Wallace showed us how to Avoid Flash Reflections in Eyeglasses. Remember, if you can’t move your light source like Mark did, you could have your subject turn their head or tilt their glasses slightly to increase the angle of reflection.

• Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 when we will have our first Bring Your Camera To The Meeting event. We’ll have several stations set up for members to practice macro and close-up photography, including water drops, flowers, and other interesting objects. If you have a tripod, a flash, and a cable release, we invite you to bring them, however, you do not need any of these or a macro lens for this exercise. This is a great opportunity to gain some hands-on experience for novice and advanced shooters alike.

• Our Christmas breakfast will be held at The Satellite Restaurant, 145 King St. West in Chatham at 9 A.M. You are more than welcome to bring a guest. Come on out and visit with your Camera Club friends and hopefully meet some new ones.

• Remember: Our monthly Photo Challenge pics need to be submitted by midnight, Sunday, January 13th. The Novice group are presenting Harvest photos and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members will be showing their In The Rain pictures.

ImJustSaying2

Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.

QuickTip

Tips for Rain Photography

November 27 2018

 

 

53 members and 1 guest attended our November 27th meeting.

• Congratulations to Dave Paddock, whose photo titled “Right and Wrong is Black and White” was chosen as one of the 62 juried art pieces on display at the Thames Art Gallery from now to January 13th, 2019.

• Club members Carson Plant, Keith Blackwell and Jim Pollock showed us how they went about producing some of their more talked about images by explaining the various post-processing steps they took.

• Kathy Burke was the featured photographer in our What I Shoot segment, where she showed us her assortment of nature and scenic images. Thanks, Kathy! You did a great job!

• The entire club participated in an open discussion called Good Crop / Bad Crop, where we looked at a series of photos and commented on whether or not we liked the way they were framed or cropped. Hopefully, we learned something about how the final crop can make or break our images.

• Entries from our November CCC Photo Challenge were reviewed with Jeff McDonald (23 pts), Wolt Podzorski (22 pts), and Debby Venn (20 pts), attaining the highest scores the Novice Division’s Streetscapes category. Top marks in the Intermediate, Senior and Salon groups went to Dave Noordhoff ( 24 pts), Jim Pollock (24 pts), and Martha Gillier ( 22.5 pts). Once again we saw many excellent photographs that were put forth. Keep up the good work everyone!

• Keith and Mike reviewed several of the great prints that were brought in and handed out many well-deserved compliments. Our next print display will be held on January 22nd and we would love to see even more members participate. Any subject, any size print is welcome.

• Our next meeting on December 11th will feature our annual Buy/Sell night. Members are encouraged to bring in any surplus camera equipment to sell, trade or give. Tables will be set up for you to display your wares.

• Just in time for the holidays, Herman Giethoorn will show us how to photograph Christmas lights

• Keith Blackwell and Mike Blazek will share how they went about capturing their beautiful Abstract Nature photos in Algonquin Park last Fall.

ImJustSaying2

Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.

Beginners and seasoned photographers can all learn something by reading about
12 Common Newbie Photography Mistakes to Avoid

 

 

November 13 2018

 

• 65 members, including 6 new ones and and 2 guests attended our meeting.

• President Jim Pollock introduced our guest speaker, Antony Chodas from Camera Canada in London, who spoke to us about mirrorless cameras, drones, instant-print cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, hybrid cameras, Go-Pro cameras, as well as his own personal gear. The Chatham Camera Club wishes to thank Antony for making the journey from London and for his entertaining and informative tutorials. We look forward to his next visit.

• Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 27th when Carson, Keith and Jim will explain how they went about creating some of their more unique photos.
– Kathy Burke will be featured in What I Shoot.
– We will review our November Photo Competition for Novices, (Streetscapes)
and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon groups (Harvest).
Note: Competition photos are to be submitted to Helen and Jana at ccc.picsubmissions@gmail.com by Midnight, Sunday, November 18th

– We want to encourage everyone to participate in our monthly Print Display by bringing in a print of any size, any subject.

– Congratulations to CCC member Catherine Parent for being named “Weather Photographer Of The Year 2018” for her phenomenal shot, “Elle”.

ImJustSaying2

You’re not going to figure out what you want to photograph by shooting what everyone else does.

QuickTip

25 Technical Photography Terms Every Beginner Must Know