A gathering of 60, including 3 guests, braved the chilly weather to attend tonight’s meeting that featured guest speaker, Gary Toth of the Welland Camera Club.

Mr. Toth presented his Introduction to HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography, where he showed his amazing collection of HDR images, both on-screen and in poster size prints. Taking us through his process from capture to processing, Gary explained step by step how to produce these brilliant photos in Photomatix and Capture NX2. The Chatham Camera Club wishes to thank Mr. Toth for sharing his time and knowledge in this unique and fascinating area of image creation. You can see more of his work at ItJustClicks.com.

You can view a Beginner’s Guide To HDR in the YouTube video below.

• Our CAPA entries for the Humorous category were judged, with photographs by Jim Pollock, Dave Stewart, Mike Moynihan, Dave Noordhoff, Frank Vadovic and Butch Dompierre receiving top marks.

If you would like a transcript of tonight’s meeting, you should have taken notes.

With our five week “Winteruption” behind us, it was great to re-connect with old friends and meet some new ones at The CCC’s first meeting of 2014. The Club welcomed 3 visitors and 2 new members to our gathering of 63.

• Keith Blackwell and Dave Noordhoff presented their Tech Skills Assignment #2: Effects of Different Focal Length Lens Settings. You can download the instructions by clicking Review The Lesson and then How To Submit . This project is designed to help us expand our knowledge of photographic techniques and Keith and Dave have given a considerable amount of time and effort in putting it together. We encourage everyone who wants to be a better photographer to participate.

• The Chatham Camera Club’s own “Duke Of Display”, Les McCracken, reviewed and critiqued the many fine prints that our members brought in. As always, the group showed their outstanding ability to capture unique images in a wide variety of scenarios. Keep up the great work gang!

• Dave Paddick was featured in our What I Shoot segment, where he showed his prowess in capturing Nature, Landscape, Action, Portrait and Enhanced images, as well as his stunning Weather photos. Great job, Dave!

• Our entries for CAPA‘s Altered Reality category, which were judged before the meeting, were reviewed by Paul Schmoldt. Creative efforts by Carson Plant, Gavin Stuart, Mike Blazek, Frank Vadovic, Dave Stewart and Keith Blackwell were selected for submission. There were also several other fine entries that were worthy of representing The Club. Congratulations to all who participated.

• Last Autumn, several of our members spent a week in Algonquin Park, capturing nature at its finest. Thanks to the efforts of Frank Vadovic, Club members can see some of the highlights of that outing in the video below.

• As an extra treat, we were able to look back at our season so far in a slideshow assembled by Paul Schmoldt, which included candid shots from some of our meetings. Thanks to Paul and everyone who provided their photos. It was fascinating to see how much younger we all looked last year.

• Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 28^th, when guest speaker Gary Toth will present his introduction to HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography. This is one session you won’t want to miss. To help off-set the cost of bringing in a lecturer of this stature, a donation to the CCC of $2 is kindly requested.

You will be remembered for the images you create, not for the gear you use.

Our first featured photographer of 2014 is Wendy Beasley.

An ordained minister since 1981, Wendy and her husband Bob have served in that capacity across Canada and around the world. Wendy first picked up a camera to keep a photo record of her family, with her favourite subjects being Children and Nature. She also contributes photos for use on the St. Clair Community Church’s website as well as Bible League Canada, who have used her pictures in their promotional material. You can see a small sample of Wendy’s work on our Photo In Focus page.

Our final meeting of 2013 was attended by 61 members and 8 guests. The Club has now grown to 84 paid-up members.

President Dave Noordhoff announced that the CAPA Nature and Open entries for February 25^th will be judged off-site instead of at the meeting. CAPA, the Canadian Association of Photographic Arts, is an organization that promotes the art and science of photography in all its forms throughout Canada. As a member of CAPA, The Chatham Camera Club participates in their Canada-wide photo competitions and we encourage all of our members to submit their work and enjoy the contests as a great learning experience. The next competition category is Altered Reality, to be submitted to Paul Schmoldt at viking@mnsi.net by 8 PM, Friday, January 10^th, 2014. This category allows you to manipulate your own photographs using post-processing software to create surreal images, abstract, impressionistic and experimental effects using montages, collages, composites, or any other techniques. There is no limit to what you can do.

CAPA representative Bill Hall of Woodstock was on hand to present a 5^th place certificate for our submissions to CAPA’s Fall Digital Nature Club Competition. A total of 31 Clubs participated. In presenting the award to Chad Berry, Mr. Hall complimented the images he found on the CCC website and reminded us that we collected just two fewer points in the last contest than The London Camera Club, which has more than twice our membership. You can see the certificate and the entries that enabled us to win it on our Club Photos page.

Keith Blackwell and Dave Noordhoff reviewed their Exposure / Contrast exercise, which demonstrated the differences in under and over exposing a shot in-camera, as well as the effects achieved in adjusting the contrast in post processing. We wish to thank Keith and Dave for putting this excellent learning opportunity together and encourage all Club members to participate in the next lesson, Effects of Different Focal Length Lens Settings, which will be explained at our January 14th meeting. Remember, you only get as much out of this club as you put into it. If you came here to learn, now is your chance.

Our displayed prints were reviewed by The Earl Of Ink, Les McCracken, with several shots receiving high praise. Some of our members mounted their shots on cardboard which was donated by Maple Art Gallery in Chatham. If you would like to have a couple of these sheets, drop in and see Ken at 554 St. Clair St. in Chatham. There will be no charge to CCC members. Different ways of mounting the print to the cardboard are still being discussed, with some members reporting difficulty using Scotch brand re-usable tabs.

Judging was held for our Novice group’s Night shots, which saw Chad Barry given two scores of 24, while John Rehner achieved a 23 and Mike Moynihan received a 22.
The Intermediate / Advanced members competed in an Open category, where Keith Blackwell led the way with a 24 point entry, Carson Plant, Frank Vadovic and Jim Pollock were all awarded two scores of 23, while Kathryn Parent, Dave Paddick and Mike Blazek also scored a 23. You can see the top scoring shots on our Club Photos page.

Dave Summerfield was our featured photographer in What I Shoot, where he showcased his excellent work in a beautifully assembled slideshow. Congratulations Dave on a job well done!

Due to the upcoming holidays, our next meeting will be held on January 14^th, 2014, when we will judge our CAPA Altered Reality shots and display our favourite prints.

Eventually, the initial thrill of using a camera begins to wear off
in exchange for the thrill of creating great images.

The Annual Chatham Camera Club Christmas Breakfast was held at The Links Of Kent Golf Club on December 7th, 2013. We snapped a few pictures of the event that you can see on our Club Photos page.

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:

• Keep the sun and the wind at your back.
• Set metering mode to Matrix (Nikon) or Evaluative (Canon, Pentax, Sony)
• Use Auto ISO and Continuous Auto Focus
• Set a wide aperture for stationary birds
• Get down low for swimming birds
• Set a shutter speed of over 1 / 1000 second for moving birds
• Take a test shot first, check the histogram, then adjust the exposure if needed
• Anticipate bird’s behavior, be ready for take-off
• If possible, use a blind or camouflage.

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.