Our final meeting of the season was attended by 43 members.

• Outgoing Club President Vince Gagnier thanked last year’s executive group for all that they have done for us this past season, including: Vice-Presidents Tere Deslippe and Gavin Stuart, Secretary Barb Ferren, Treasurer Carson Plant, Executive Assistants Shannon L’Ecuyer, Reagan Smolders, and Chad Barry and Immediate Past President Dave Noordhoff. We are also indebted to Welcoming Manager Kathy Gagnier, Print Manager Les McCracken, Facebook Page Co-ordinator Kathryn Parent, Competition Manager Gavin Stuart, Archivist and Alternate Web Co-ordinator Paul Schmoldt and Web Co-ordinator Jim Pollock. Vince also acknowledged the help he received from Chris Jorgensen and Dennis Myers.

• Mike Blazek invited everyone to attend the opening of the Imaginarium exhibition at the Thames Art Gallery on Friday, May 13 at 7 PM to view the contributions made by the Chatham Camera Club. Our pictures will be on display between May 13 and June 10 2016.

• Tere Deslippe, Gavin Stuart and Vince Gagnier presented certificates of achievement for this year’s CCC Photo Competitions.

Honourable Mentions (for scores of 23 or better)
Lorie Cooper – 1
Melanie Denis – 1
Bill Henry – 1
Larry Kearns – 1
Paul Schmoldt – 1
Dave Stewart – 1
Steven Taylor – 1
Kellie Watson – 1
Catherine Dawson – 2
Jean DeBruyn – 2
Debbie Venn – 2
Jana Smith – 4

Novice Division
3rd place plus 1 Honourable Mention – Danielle Gagnier
2nd place plus 1 Honourable Mention – Barb Ferren
1st place plus 1 Honourable Mention – Bob Miller

Intermediate Division
3rd place – tie between Patricia Kral and Angel Webster
2nd place plus 2 Honourable Mentions – Linda Pepper
1st place plus 2 Honourable Mentions – John St. Pierre

Advanced Division
3rd place plus 2 Honourable Mentions – Gavin Stuart
2nd place plus 3 Honourable Mentions – Tere Deslippe
1st place plus 3 Honourable Mentions – Chad Barry

Salon Council
2nd place tie plus 1 Honourable Mention – Carson Plant
2nd place tie plus 3 Honourable Mentions – Mike Blazek
1st place plus 4 Honourable Mentions – Jim Pollock

Most Improved Photographer (according to last year’s vs this year’s scores)
Barb Ferren

Best Photo Of The Year
Chad Barry

Thanks to all who participated in the photo competitions this year. We hope it was a valuable learning experience and one which helped you grow as a photographer.

Pictures of the Awards Presentations are now available on our Club Photos page.

• Club members were treated to slideshows of the top scoring pictures from this past season as well as the best of Twelve Photos A Year Is A Great Crop.

• In recognition of his years of service to The Club, Vince Gagnier presented Dave Noordhoff with an Honorary Lifetime Membership. Congratulations Dave! You earned it. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude for your leadership, your wonderful tutorials and your organizational skills. The Club is a far better group with you in it and we’re very glad you’re here.

Dave Noordhoff

• Club officers for the 2016 – 2017 season were announced as:
– President: Carson Plant
– Vice-Presidents: Tere Deslippe and Gavin Stuart
– Treasurer: Reagan Smolders
– Secretary: Barb Ferren
– Executive Assistants: Shannon L’Ecuyer, Mary Craig and Jim Pollock
– Competition Manager: Gavin Stuart
– Welcoming Manager: Dave Noordhoff
– Facebook Page Co-ordinator: Kathryn Parent
– Web Co-ordinator: Jim Pollock
– Alternate Web Co-ordinator: Dave Noordhoff

Club President Carson Plant

• Club members would like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing President Vince Gagnier for his dedication and hard work. We all sincerely appreciate your efforts. You did a great job!

Vince Gagnier

• The Chatham Camera Club is currently organizing some group outings we call Summer Walk-Abouts. Members will be notified by e-mail or check our Meeting Schedule page for details.

Photography is the easiest medium with which to be merely competent. Almost anybody can be competent. It’s the hardest medium in which to have some sort of personal vision and to have a signature style.

Photographing the same scene in both portrait and landscape formats will increase your chances of finding the best composition.

This month’s featured photographer is Glen Spooner.

Glen is a well traveled shooter who brings a wealth of experience to The Club.
Find out more on our Photo In Focus page.

Our April 26^th meeting was attended by 41 members and 3 guests.

• President Vince Gagnier reminded us of the Year End Lunch slated for May 14th at Smitty’s Restaurant, 307 Grand Ave W. Chatham from noon until 2. If you plan to attend, please let Vince know by e-mail at vgagnier@teksavvy.com

• The Club is still seeking nominations for President and Executive Assistant. If you’d like to see our organization continue in its present form, why not consider stepping into one of the open positions? If you’re interested or would like to nominate someone who is, let Chris Jorgensen know at chrisj@mnsi.net

• We are also in need of someone to complete a year-end audit of our financial books. If you can spare a few minutes of your time, contact Carson Plant at whiterock@sympatico.ca

• A list of local events that may provide some interesting Summer photo opportunities has been added to the bottom of The Club’s Meeting Schedule page. If you can add an event to the list, kindly send it to Jim at jim@jamespollock.com

• Dave Noordhoff presented Travels In The Southwest, a brief look at his photographs from Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Texas and New Mexico. Dave’s collection of desert scenes, sunrises, sunsets, clouds and cactus provided us with some incentive to venture into this beautiful region of the United States. Thanks Dave! We loved your pictures.

• Keith Blackwell and Mike Blazek reviewed the prints that were brought in for display and discussion and made several interesting observations and comments. If you have a picture that you’d like to share with the rest of us, Walmart and Shoppers Drug Mart on St. Clair St do an excellent job at reasonable prices. This is an area that we don’t want to see come to an end and we look forward to more participation next season. Prince may have died, but we hope prints haven’t.

• Our final CCC photo competitions were reviewed with the Novice group competing in Fill The Frame and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members showing their Black And White photos. Top marks for the Novices went to Kellie Watson (24 and 23), Bill Henry (23), Debby Venne (23) and Danielle Gagnier (22). In the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon group, high scores were given to Jim Pollock (25 and 23), Gavin Stuart (23), Mike Blazek (23 and 23), Patricia Kral (23), Chad Barry (23 and 21), Paul Schmoldt (22), Linda Pepper (22) and Larry Kearns (22).

• Wendy Beasley was featured in What I Shoot where she showed us some pictures of her two main interests, Family and Travel. Her working vacations around the world have enabled her to capture beautiful scenic shots in far away lands as well as the local people and their customs. Club members were thoroughly entertained by her memorable photos. Thanks Wendy!

• Those in attendance were also treated to Twelve Photos In A Year Is A Great Crop by Frank Vadovic, where we saw a brief collection of his outstanding bird pictures.

• Our final meeting of the season will be held on May 10^th when our new executive will be introduced and the winners of our photo competitions will be announced. A summery of the year’s best photos will also be shown, making this a meeting you don’t want to miss.

What I like about black and white photographs is that they’re more like reading the book than seeing the movie.

Always challenge yourself with new styles of photography, new equipment, or new subjects. Sometimes, the challenge of something new on the horizon can help a photographer find motivation and see subjects in a fresh way.

Our April 12^th meeting was attended by 48 members and 4 guests.

• President Vince Gagnier reminded us of the Year End Lunch slated for May 14th at Smitty’s Restaurant, 307 Grand Ave W. Chatham from noon until 2. If you plan to attend, please let Vince know by e-mail at vgagnier@teksavvy.com

• The Club is still seeking nominations for officers, including President. If you’d like to see our organization continue in its present form, why not consider stepping into one of the open positions? If you’re interested or would like to nominate someone who is, let Chris Jorgensen know at chrisj@mnsi.net

• Our guest speaker, pro photographer and author William Cornies spoke to us about long exposure photography. His comprehensive tutorial taught many of us how this fascinating method is accomplished and the samples of his own work inspires us to give it a try. We’d like to thank William for making the trip to Chatham and sharing his knowledge with us.

For a review, see this video on using a Neutral Density Filter

Check out William Cornies video called “Slices Of Time Compressed”.

• Our next meeting will be held on April 26^th when the Novices will compete in Fill The Frame and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon groups will show their Black And White entries. Wendy Beasly will be featured in What I Shoot and Frank Vadovic will present Twelve Photos A Year Is A Great Crop. We also encourage everyone to bring in a print of any size, any subject for display and discussion. You know you want to.

Cameras don’t take great pictures any more than typewriters write great novels.

Costly equipment does not necessarily equate to better photographs. Know your existing gear like the back of your hand so you’ll be ready when an interesting photo-op presents itself.

Our featured photographer for April is Jana Smith

Since joining The Club, Jana Smith has continually impressed the membership with her outstanding images. To see why, check out our Photo In Focus page.

Our March 22^nd meeting was attended by 49 members, 2 new members and 1 guest.

• President Vince Gagnier reminded us of the Year End Lunch slated for May 14th at Smitty’s Restaurant, 307 Grand Ave W. Chatham from noon until 2. If you plan to attend, please let Vince know by e-mail at vgagnier@teksavvy.com

• Elections Officer Chris Jorgensen spoke to the group about the upcoming elections which will be held at our May 10^th meeting. Chris asked those assembled what they got out of The Camera Club and received several enthusiastic responses that included “Learning new techniques”, “It brought me out of my photographic shell” and “The fellowship of other members.” Chris then pointed out that none of these things would be possible without the hard work and dedication of The Club’s executive. If we are to continue to function, we need people to step into the vacant positions of President, Treasurer, Executive Assistant, Welcoming Manager, Print Manager, and Alternate Web Co-ordinator. If you would like to run for office or nominate someone else, let Chris know by e-mail at chrisj@mnsi.net.

Remember: This is your club. It cannot function without everyone’s participation. We urge you to take on whatever you can.

• Dave Noordhoff continued his excellent series photo tutorials by introducing many of us to “Back Button Focusing”, a technique where you can assign the focus function from the shutter button to another of your choice. For a review of Dave’s lesson, check out this page on Back Button Focusing.

• In March’s CCC photo competition the Novice group entered their Open: Colour shots, with Mary Craig, Glen Spooner, Bill Henry and Danielle Gagnier receiving scores of 22. Debbie Venn and Bob Miller each scored a 23 and Jana Smith continued to impress with marks of 24 and 25. The skill set of this group has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few months. Well done everyone. Your pictures looked great!

• The Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members showed their submissions for the Fill The Frame category. Chad Barry lead the way with two scores of 24, Linda Pepper and Jean Debruyn both received a 23 and Keith Blackwell and Gavin Stuart attained a 22.

• Herman Geithoorn was featured in our What I Shoot segment where he showed us his excellent collection of Flower, Insect and Bird photos. It takes a great deal of skill to master this type of photography and Herman has done just that. The whole gang appreciated your show, Herman. Thanks a lot!

• Kathryn Parent was our guest presenter for Twelve Photos In A Year Is A Great Crop, where she treated us to her incredible weather photos along with some Nature and Scenic shots. As always, great job Kathryn! We always look forward to seeing your work.

• Several interesting prints were on display before the meeting and during the break. Thanks to all of those who took part.

• Our next meeting will be held on April 12^th when our guest speaker will be pro photographer and author William Cornies who will share some of his stunning photographs and techniques with us. This is a meeting you don’t want to miss.

Don’t practice until you get it right.
Practice until you can’t get it wrong.

It doesn’t matter if a place or subject has been photographed by nearly everyone you know. If you haven’t shot it, shoot it anyway and learn from the process.

Our March 8^th meeting was attended by 53 members and 7 guests.

• President Vince Gagnier reminded us of the upcoming elections which will be held at our May 10^th meeting. If you would like to run for office or nominate someone else, let Elections Officer Chris Jorgensen know by e-mail at chrisj@mnsi.net

• This evening’s guest speaker, Ethan Meleg, gave a presentation he calls “The Crazed Photographer”, in which he emphasized three key components needed to create exceptional images: Knowledge, Patience and Persistence. As a professional outdoor photographer, Ethan has crawled through mud, kayaked deep into swamps, endured -30 degree temperatures and hiked for miles in total darkness (often with 40 pounds of camera gear on his back) to capture his spectacular photos of nature at its best. Illustrated by his favourite photos and stories, this light-hearted and humorous presentation entertained and inspired all of those in attendance. The members and guests of The Chatham Camera Club wish to thank Ethan for his outstanding show as we eagerly await a return visit in the near future.

• Our next meeting will be held on March 22^nd when our Novice members will show their entries in the Open: Colour category while the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon groups will compete with shots that Fill The Frame.

• Details of our main presentation are still being finalized.

• Herman Geithoorn will be front and centre in What I Shoot, while Kathryn Parent will be featured in Twelve Photos In A Year Is A Great Crop.

• We want to invite everyone to bring in a print, or two, or three for display and discussion. This is a chance to show some of your work in a non-competitive environment, so why not participate? We’d all love to see some of your favourite shots in print form. Any size, any subject is more than welcome. Don’t think that your shots aren’t “good enough.” Of course they are. You’re among friends here.

The more gear you carry around with you
the less you will enjoy photography.

Carry a cheap, compact rain sleeve in your camera bag. If the weather is dusty or wet, the sleeve can make the difference between taking great photos and putting your camera away.

Our featured photographer for March is Steven Taylor.

Learn more about one of the most talented photographers in The Chatham Camera Club on our Photo In Focus page.