• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Steve Mallia of OntarioTelescope.com who presented An Introduction To Astrophotography. Steve gave us three main reasons to try astrophotography: It’s fun. You get to see more detail than the naked eye. You get some amount of bragging rights. He also told us what you don’t need to experience this type of photography: a big, powerful telescope. Steve went on to explain how a tracking system works and cautioned us that if we were to try astrophotography, we should not get caught up in all of the extra equipment that is available. That’s good advice no matter what type of photography you try. He ended his presentation by showing us some of his impressive photos of outer space. As an added bonus, Steve kindly donated a door prize of a cell phone holder especially designed for use in astrophotography, won by Debby Venne. The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Steve for his wonderful presentation and we look forward to trying his methods and techniques as soon as we can.

• Jeff McDonald was featured in What I Shoot, where he showed us some of his more recent work. Jeff’s collection of wildlife, birds, nature, travel and scenic photos received high praise in our Zoom comments section. Thanks Jeff! That was a very entertaining display. In case you missed it or would like to watch it again, you can see Jeff’s YouTube video below.

• Our next Zoom meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 23^rd at 7 PM when our guest speaker will be Ted Kloski from Henry’s Photo in Windsor, who will speak about How To Use Flash.

• We will review the results of our November Photo Challenge and take a look at the digital prints that our members have sent in.

A “Natural Light Photographer” can be defined as someone who lets the light control them instead of them controlling the light.

Basic Tips For Super Easy Flash Portraits, Indoors And Out

• Club members watched a video by Chris Niccols from TheCameraStore.com in Calgary that showed us The Best And Worst Ways To Carry Your Camera Gear. If you missed it, you can check it out below.

• Since we are not currently meeting in person, our Print Display was done via ZOOM with Dave and Keith leading a discussion on each one. Thanks to all who participated.

• Entries from our first CCC Photo Competition of the season were reviewed with the Novice Division showing their Open, Colour photos and the Intermediate, Senior and Salon groups displaying their Reflections shots. The top scoring shots in the Salon division were submitted by Jim Pollock – 22.5, Tere Deslippe – 22pts x 2, Linda Pepper – 22 pts, Carson Plant – 22 pts. High marks in the Intermediate and Advanced group were attained by Wendy McDonald – 23.5 pts, Jeff McDonald – 23. 5 pts, Gavin Stuart – 22 pts. The Novices were led by Pat Beaton – 23 pts, Penny Rintoul – 22 pts, and Gord Myers – 22 pts. Several other entries were deserving of high praise as well. Congratulations to all who entered. You can see the top scoring shots on our Club Photos page.

• Penny Rintoul was featured in What I Shoot, where she showed us her impressive collection of photos from her trip to Greece. Thanks Penny, we loved your show!

• Our next meeting will be held via ZOOM on November 9^th and will feature Steve Mallia of OntarioTelescope.com who will introduce us to Astrophotography.

The equipment you’ll leave at home will be the equipment you’ll need the most!

Here are the Best Free Alternatives to Photoshop and Lightroom.

• We joined a Zoom meeting with award-winning photographer Lisa Langell for a presentation called An Artistic Photographer Lies in ALL of Us.

Lisa pointed out that creativity can be learned, and that we can get past boring, repetitive photos and strive for something more creative using skills we already have. She also showed us how light and contrast can be used to draw the viewer’s eye where we want them to look.
The Chatham Camera Club wishes to thank Lisa for allowing us to join her pre-scheduled zoom meeting, and for sharing her remarkable talent with us.

• We remind everyone that this season’s dues are to be paid no later than Sunday, October 24^th.

• Reviving a feature that we haven’t been able to do for the past three years due to time constraints, we are reintroducing Photo In Focus. This month’s featured photographer is our new president, Cindy Taleski.

• Our next Zoom meeting will be held on October 26^th at 7 PM.

• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced Past President Jim Pollock who acquainted The Club with our new President, Cindy Taleski. Cindy reminded us of our current Club Executives, Pat Beaton – Vice President, Julie Faas – Treasurer, Barb Ferren – Secretary, Tere Deslippe – Photo Challenge Manager, Wendy McDonald – Executive Assistant, Jeff McDonald – Executive Assistant, Linda Pepper – Executive Assistant, and Mary Craig – Executive Assistant.

• As The Chatham Camera Club enters its 86^th year of operation, here is a photo of the group’s picnic at Rondeau Park in the early 1950s.

• A certificate of appreciation for his three years as Club President was presented to Jim Pollock, who thanked the Executive for that honour.

• Julie Faas presented a clear and concise report on The Club’s finances. All is well.

• Tere Deslippe outlined the new photo challenge guidelines as well as showing some software programs that can be used to get the most out of our photos. She also explained how to size our entries to the required dimensions using Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom and Faststone. An overview of these guidelines is available on our About Us page, near the bottom. The Club wishes to thank Tere for her hard work in establishing these instructions.

• We remind everyone that this season’s dues are to be paid no later than Sunday, October 24^th. For instructions on payment methods, kindly e-mail Julie Faas at julie.faas@teksavvy.com

• Although we weren’t able to meet in person as often as we would have liked over the summer, some photos from our Walk-Abouts were presented in a slide show assembled by Linda Pepper.

• Our next Zoom meeting will be held on October 12^th at 7 PM when our guest speaker will be London’s James Cowie from PhotoTrekkers.com, who will speak to us about travel photography.

How many photographers does it take to change a lightbulb? One hundred… One to actually change the bulb and ninety-nine to tell him how he could have done it better.

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.”