Our WPW Committee has now finished planning the Summer’s Walk-Abouts.

Check out the dates, times and locations on our Meeting Schedule page.

As The Chatham Camera Club’s 80^th year came to a close, 40 members were on hand for our annual Elections And Awards night.

• The results of our elections were announced with the following outcome:

Executive:
President – Vince Gagnier
Vice-Presidents – Tere Deslippe and Gavin Stuart
Secretary – Barb Ferren
Treasurer – Carson Plant
Executive Assistants – Shannon L’Ecuyer, Reagan Smolder, Chad Barry
Immediate Past President – Dave Noordhoff

Officers:
Margaret Chrysler – Welcoming Manager
Herman Giethoorn – CAPA Co-ordinator
Les McCracken – Print Manager
Kathryn Parent – Facebook Page Co-ordinator
Jim Pollock – Web Co-ordinator
Dennis Skipper – Slide Projector and Film Manager
Competition Manager – Gavin Stuart
Paul Schmoldt – Physical Print Manager

• The winners of this year’s Club Photo Competitions are:

Novice Division:
1^st place: Reagan Smolders
2^nd place: Steven Taylor
3^rd place: Wendy Beasley

Intermediate Division:
1^st place: Chad Barry
2^nd place: Jason Cooper
3^rd place: Butch Dompierre

Advanced Division:
1^st place: Lori Cooper
2^nd place: Tere Deslippe
3^rd place: Melanie Denis

Salon Division:
1^st place: Carson Plant
2^nd place: Mike Blazek
3^rd place: Dave Noordhoff

Honourable Mentions
1 Award – Jean DeBruyn, Diane Donkers, Margaret Manson,
Nicole Maynard, Paul Schmoldt, Dave Stewart,
Andy Stockdill, Larry Taylor, Debbie Venne
Mike Blazek, Lori Cooper

2 Awards – Keith Blackwell, Larry Kearns, Gavin Stuart
Steven Taylor, Butch Dompierre, Chad Barry

3 Awards – Jim Pollock

4 Awards – Carson Plant

5 Awards – Reagan Smolders

Most Improved Photographer
Reagan Smolders

Picture Of The Year
Carson Plant – “Jenny”

• The WPW Committee is currently planning some photo get-togethers for the Summer. If you have an idea for an interesting place to take pictures, let Vince know at vgagnier@mnsi.net

Things that are easy rarely make you successful.

Some thoughts about composition:

1 – There are no rules, just guidelines.
2 – Check the corners of the viewfinder to avoid distractions.
3 – Don’t shoot everything from a standing position.
4 – Try to find lines that lead the eye into the picture.
5 – Use your feet. A few steps to the left or right can radically change images.

Our next to last meeting of the 2014 / 2015 season was attended by 36 members and 2 guests.

• Club President Vince Gagnier reminded us of a get-together at Smitty’s Restaurant on Saturday, May 23, from 12 ’til 2. If you plan on going, kindly let Vince know.

• We were also reminded of a photo-op on May 30th when a gathering of Gray – Dort antique car enthusiasts will meet in front of the Chatham Cultural Center from noon until 2 PM.

• The Club’s planning committee is currently looking for suggestions for this Summer’s Walk-Abouts. If you have an idea for an interesting place the group could go to take pictures, send Vince an e-mail at: vgagnier@mnsi.net So far, we are looking at going to Ojibway Park in Windsor at a date yet to be determined.

• Elections Officer Chris Jorgensen is still seeking nominations for next year’s executive, specifically Secretary and Executive Assistants. If you’d like to run for office or nominate someone, contact Chris at chrisj@mnsi.net

• Carson Plant spoke to us on How To Make Something Out Of Nothing, a tutorial on how to find interesting things to photograph when nothing seems apparent. In his tutorial, Carson taught us to look beyond the obvious, look up, down and behind. Zero in on small details and to shoot things from a different perspective than we usually do. We want to thank Carson for sharing his knowledge and experience and for putting his show together. The next time we’re stuck for something to take pictures of, we’ll ask ourselves, “What would Carson do?”

• Jim Pollock gave The Club his thoughts on How To Avoid And Eliminate Distractions. By taking the time to notice distracting elements in our photographs, we can avoid objects that compete with the main subject for attention. When distractions do show up in our shots, we can use a post processing program to clone, crop or desaturate those little annoyances to greatly improve our final image.

• Vince and Carson reviewed about a dozen of the prints that our members brought in for display and gave several favourable comments. We hope that our members have enjoyed this segment and we encourage everyone to participate next season.

• Keith Blackwell presented a slideshow of photos that he took from a recent trip to Guatemala with a YMCA Youth Group. Although he was forced to shoot photos under severe time constraints and difficult circumstances, Keith still managed to return with a vast collection of fascinating images of the scenery, the people and life in general in this impoverished Central American country. The Club wishes to thank Keith for sharing his experiences.

• Our final meeting of the season will take place on May 26^th, when we will host our annual Elections and Awards night. We want to urge all members to attend this important meeting which will help determine the direction of The Club next season. Remember, this is your club. It can’t function without your participation.

If at first you don’t see, look and look again.

Anticipating where the light is going to be can catapult your images to another level.

Our final Featured Photographer of the season is Janet Fraser.

Janet first took up photography to advance her interest in painting. Now in her seventh year with The Club, she has developed an interest in photographing landscapes, nature and people. She is retired after owning the electronics store APW for 31 years and keeps busy in both the Muskoka and Sydenham Field Naturalists clubs as well as the Chatham-Kent Amateur Radio Club. Have a look at a few on Janet’s favourite pictures on our Photo In Focus page.

52 members attended our April 28^th meeting.

• Club President Vince Gagnier reminded The Club of a photo-op on May 30^th when a gathering of Gray – Dort antique car enthusiasts will meet in front of the Chatham Cultural Center from noon until 2 PM.

• The Club is looking for a volunteer to audit our books. If you can help, please contact Vince at vgagnier@mnsi.net. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Treasurer Carson Plant for all of his hard work and dedication this year. His efforts are much appreciated.

• Elections Officer Chris Jorgensen is seeking nominations for next year’s executive, specifically Secretary and Executive Assistants. If you’d like to run for office or nominate someone, contact Chris at chrisj@mnsi.net

• Mike Blazek presented his much anticipated tutorial on
How to pose people for formal and informal portraits.

Using knowledge accumulated from his many years as a portrait photographer, Mike used two models to show Club members how to make our subjects look their very best in a variety of situations. Using a 6^ft umbrella, a 3^ft umbrella and a white paper backdrop, Mike showed us how to position people in slimming poses and where to place hands and arms so they stay in proportion. He also gave us the camera settings he uses for his studio work as f/11, 160/second, ISO 200, with a suggested lens of 40mm to 50mm for full length poses and 105mm to 135mm for head and shoulder shots. We want to thank Mike and his assistants, Sonya and Eric, for a presentation that we can all put to practical use with our own friends and families.

A brief recap of some group shot poses can be seen in these YouTube videos.

For more information, check out this web page on
12 Common Photography Posing Mistakes and How to Fix Them

• The final entries for this season’s CCC photo competitions were judged, with the Novice group showing their Urban Decay shots and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members displaying their Open category photos. The scores will be revealed at our Elections And Awards Night on May 26^th.

• Club members were treated to Carson Plant’s slideshow of the pictures he took in Newfoundland last Summer. The beautiful lighthouses, coastlines, boats and scenery made many of us wish we could take similar vacation to The Rock very soon. We all enjoyed the show very much, or as they say in Newfoundland: She was some pretty. We were havin’ a time, eh, b’y?

When people ask what is the best equipment to use, tell them “Your eyes.”

As a photographer, you must learn to embrace light in all its forms, not just when it is gloriously epic.

52 members and 6 guests attended our April 14^th meeting.

• President Vince Gagnier congratulated Club member Herman Giethoorn for his successful Ontario Nature photography show in Sarnia.

• We were reminded of the upcoming CCC Brunch on Saturday, May 23^rd from 12 until 2 at Smitty’s Restaurant in Chatham. If you plan on going, kindly let Vince know.

• Paul Schmoldt announced the results of the most recent CAPA competitions:
– For the OPEN competition, the CCC finished 12^th out of 24 clubs.
– In the NATURE competition we placed 18^th out of 22 clubs.
– The LIGHT competition saw The Chatham Camera Club finish 15^th out of 24 clubs.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

• In what has become a nearly annual event, professional photographer Don Martel visited The Club and presented his program on Visual Design. Don gave us advice on what to think about before you push the shutter button. He went on to discuss the benefits of different metering modes and the types of light we may encounter during any time of day. In conclusion, we were treated to some of his photographs from a recent trip to Africa. For those who would like to learn more, you are invited to attend Don’s workshop in London on May 9^th. For more details, visit www.DonMartel.com.

The Chatham Camera Club wishes to thank Don and Evelyn Symons for their visit and we look forward to seeing them again in the near future.

• There were several excellent prints set up for viewing along the meeting room walls. We encourage all of our members to show the rest of The Club what you’ve been shooting by bringing in a print, any size, any theme, for display and discussion. Your last chance to do so during the 2014 – 2015 season will be on May 12^th. Don’t be shy. Show us what ya got.

• Our next meeting is April 28^th when Mike Blazek presents: How To Pose People For Formal And Informal Portraits and Dave Noordhoff will discuss the results of his Tech Challenge #3: Image Stabilization. In our final competition of the season, the Novice members will show their Urban Decay pictures while the Intermediate, Senior and Salon shooters will compete in the Open category.

Behind every successful photograph lies a string of failures.

Retaining control of the exposure by way of controlling ISO, aperture and shutter speed is what separates a snapshot from a photograph.

Our featured photographer for April is Dave Stewart.

Since taking up photography in the Spring of 2013, Dave’s natural artistic skills and his vivid imagination have enabled him to capture images from unique and interesting perspectives. The back yard of his rural home is filled with beautiful gardens that provide many opportunities for Nature and Wildlife photos. A businessman and painter by trade, Dave and his wife Joyce own and operate The Healthy Habit, which offers nutritional supplements and natural products. Have a peek at some of Dave’s outstanding work on our Photo In Focus page.

48 members and 4 guests attended our March 24th meeting.

• President Vince Gagnier informed us that our own Herman Geithoorn will be presenting a show called Ontario Nature Photography at the Sarnia Library Theatre on Tuesday, April 7 at 7 PM. Everyone is welcome to attend.

• In a return visit to The CCC, our guest speaker, Stan Buell showed The Club his captivating pictures of Galapagos and Africa in a thoroughly entertaining slideshow. His amazing underwater shots of fish, plant life, turtles and birds were interspersed with video clips of encounters with different varieties of sharks. Stan’s African pictures featured images of fascinating and often dangerous wild life along with native people and beautiful sunsets. Following the program, Vince Gagnier presented Stan with a pair of CCC coffee mugs along with our sincere thanks for an outstanding presentation.

•  In this month’s CCC Competition, Intermediate / Advanced and Salon members showed their shots of Urban Decay.
Mike Blazek, Tere Deslippe, John St. Pierre, Jean DeBruyn and Carson Plant obtained the top scores.

The Novices showed their fine efforts to capture People Outdoors.
High marks were awarded to Margaret DeKlerk, Regan Smoulders, Steven Taylor, Wendy Beasley, Jana Smith, Glen Spooner and Bob Miller.

• The evening’s final segment featured Frank Vadovic’s slideshow from last Fall’s annual trip to Algonquin Park. Contributing to the pictures were Chad Barry, Carson Plant, Mike Blazek, Vince Gagnier, Clarke Warner, Keith Blackwell, Dennis Warwick.

• Our next meeting is April 14 when professional photographer and long-time friend of The Club, Don Martel will be our guest speaker.  Members are encouraged to bring in a print of any subject, any size, for display, however, because of time constraints, these photos will not be discussed, critiqued or otherwise dissected.

• Just a reminder that there is a good selection of used cameras, lenses and accessories for sale on our Buy / Sell page.

Learning how to take photos is easy. Learning how to take great photos is considerably more difficult.

Waiting is a much under-rated photographic skill. Be patient, watch what happens and be ready when it does.