• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Wayne Simpson.

Wayne spoke to us about Portraits Of Resilience
The first half of his presentation included a variety of dramatic portraits accompanied by the subjects’ life stories. Some of them were heart warming, while others were quite disturbing. By revealing the tough times that these people went through, Wayne demonstrated that getting to know your subject is the key to capturing a striking portrait. During the second half of the show, he showed us how he uses flash to augment ambient light. We were encouraged to think outside the box to “Find the hook”, the thing that keeps people looking at a photo.

The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Wayne for his excellent presentation. Those of us who like to shoot portraits, learned a lot.

Our next meeting will be held on April 27^th
• Jana Smith will be featured in What I Shoot.
• Jim Pollock will talk about how to set up Custom Shooting Modes on your camera.
• We will review the results from our April Photo Challenge.
The Novice category is “Ice/Frozen Nature” and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon category is “Open”.
Entries art to be submitted to ccc.picsubmissions@gmail.com by April 18th

The two most engaging powers of a photograph are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.

Three Bad Habits You Need To Break To Improve Your Photographs.

We have received word that our long time friend and lifetime Chatham Camera Club member Jean McCracken passed away on April 13^th.

Jean was a much loved and respected lady who brought a smile to all who knew her. She could often be found accompanying her husband Les on his photographic outings. Jean will always be remembered for her kindness and good nature, and will be missed by many of us who had the privilege of calling her a friend.

• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Mike O’Conner.

Mike’s presentation was called the Bucket list Adventurer, where he explained how a photographer’s personal style impacts not only the photographs taken, but also the very nature of the adventure travel experience itself. He showed the Club his impressive collection of international travel photos and explained how he interacted with the local people before he photographed them.

The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Mike for his excellent presentation. At Mike’s request, a donation will be made to the The Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research in lieu of a speaker’s fee. As an added bonus, Mike donated a ThinkTank camera bag as a “door prize”, which was won by long-time member Jean DeBruyn.

• Kim Charron’s work was highlighted in our monthly feature, What I Shoot. Kim’s slideshow contained impressive landscape, scenic, birds, animals and people from Africa, Iceland and the Caribbean. She received several comments of high praise for her excellent photos. Thanks Kim!

• We reviewed the results from our March Photo Challenge. Top scores in the Novice Division for “Sunrays” went to Kim Charron – 23 pts, Penny Rintoul – 23.5 pts, Cindy Taleski – 23.5 pts. High Marks in the Intermediate/Advanced/Salon Division for “Frozen Nature/Ice” were achieved by Mike Blazek – 23 pts, Butch Dompierre – 23.5 pts, Jeff McDonald – 23.5 pts, Linda Pepper – 23.5 pts, Mary Craig 23.5 pts.
You can view these excellent photos on our Club Photos page.

• Our next meeting will be held on April 13^th, when our guest speaker will be Wayne Simpson, who will give a presentation called Portraits Of Resilience (Portraiture And The Stories Behind Them).

A camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.

• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Dave Chapman,

Dave spoke to us about photographing storms. During his video presentation he showed us different types of clouds, lightning and weather events as well as how they form. Dave also shared some of his encounters and spoke of the dangers involved in storm chasing. If you’d like to try this unique and exciting type of photography, he suggested using windy.com as a resource. For more about Dave and his storm, nature and bird photography, check out his website at www.DavidTChapman.com

The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Dave for his fascinating presentation. We can hardly wait for storm season to start around here.

• Mike Blazek’s exhibition is opening at Thames Art Gallery this Friday from 11 to 4. You must pre-book your visit on the Thames Art Gallery webpage.

• Several new items have been added to our Buy/Sell page, so be sure to check that out.

• We are still seeking nominations for next season’s President and Vice-President. If you or someone you know might be willing to take this on, by all means let Jim know at JimAndJillPollock@hotmail.com Rest assured that you will receive plenty of help from the outgoing officers if you choose to step up. This club runs on volunteers. Without them, there is no club.

• Our next meeting will be held in two weeks on March 23^rd when Calgary based photographer Mike O’Conner. will give a presentation called the Bucket list Adventurer.

The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.

• Club President Jim Pollock reminded us that, as our season draws to a close, we will need new people to step into some executive positions for next year. We will have openings for President and Vice-President, and members for the Meeting Schedule Committee. If you would be willing to volunteer for one of these, kindly let Jim know at JimAndJillPollock@hotmail.com

• Club member Keith Blackwell instructed us on how to do Multiple Exposures.

Keith showed us some wonderful examples of images that he has created using the multiple exposure method. He went on to explain the settings he uses for his Nikon camera.

Here are a couple of examples of what shooting multiple exposures can do.

Nikon

Canon

• Jim Pollock was featured in our What I Shoot segment, where he showed us his collection of Nature, People, Scenic and Travel photos.

• Entries from our February Photo Competition were reviewed. Congratulations to all who entered, as we saw many excellent images. The top scoring shots can be found on our Club Photos page.

• Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on March 9^th, when Guest Speaker Dave Chapman will present Storm Chaser.

If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.

• Meeting host Julie Faas introduced our guest speaker, Chad Barry, who presented A Look At Post Processing.

Chad explained that post processing is the technique of selecting and developing our images, and involves editing, enhancing and retouching. He went on to demonstrate how to cull a set of images in Lightroom, rating and sorting them for later action. Next comes enhancing the photos. For this task, a variety of photo editing software is available, some free, some inexpensive, while the most powerful are paid for. For the retouching phase, Chad went through his processing procedure in Adobe Lightroom where he showed us how he edits his work. This includes bringing out dark shadows, toning down bright spots, sharpening and a host of other repairs. Finally, he showed us a fascinating technique for replacing a grey background in a studio environment.
The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Chad for his informative presentation.

Our next meeting will be on February 23^rd when Keith Blackwell will show us how to take multiple exposures. Jim Pollock will be featured in What I Shoot and we will review our February Photo Challenge. The Novice category is “Silhouettes” and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon group will show us their “Sunrays” photos.
Instructions on how to enter the photo challenges can be found HERE.

What type of camera one uses is irrelevant; it is how you use that matters.

33 Photography Terms You Must Know – Lingo Explained!

Our presenter this evening was Club member Mike Blazek, who spoke to us about “Capturing The Light”. Mike went over some of the history of image making, dating back to cave drawings, then canvas paintings, to early advances in photography. The one constant was how the direction of light was the key to interesting images. The Club thanks Mike for his fascinating presentation. We all learned a lot.

Dave Noordhoff was our featured presenter in our monthly feature What I Shoot. Dave concentrated on a trip he took to New Mexico where he captured images of rock formations, caves, mountains, abandoned places, churches, a hot air balloon festival and locally grown food. Dave’s photos gave us a clear indication of what great photo-ops await us in the American South-West. Let’s hope we get the chance to go there soon.

Jana Smith reviewed the submissions to January’s Photo Challenge. High scores went to Keith Blackwell (25 pts and 23.5 pts), Linda Pepper (25 pts) and Kellie Watson (23.5). You can see these excellent photos on our Club Photos page.

We remind everyone that several new items have been added to The Club’s Buy/Sell page.

Our next ZOOM meeting will be held in two weeks, on February 9th at 7PM. Former Chatham Camera Club member turned pro photographer, Chad Barry will present “A Look At Post-Processing.”

The camera is sometimes an excuse to be someplace you otherwise don’t belong.

We regret to announce the passing of one of the Chatham Camera Club’s most senior members, Les McCracken.

Les was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1926 and served as a motorcycle dispatch rider during the Second World War. In 1957, he and his wife Jean and their three children emigrated to Canada where he went to work for Union Gas in Chatham. Les retired from the company in 1991 after thirty-four years.

He was a member of our organization as far back as the late 1950s and became one of the most respected and well-liked people in the group, eventually being named as a Lifetime Member. Always eager to help others along in their photographic journey, we could always count on Les to share his vast wealth of knowledge.

Les will be greatly missed by many of our senior members for his friendly, out-going personality, his quick wit, and his willingness to help The Club. He took great delight in offering up little pearls of wisdom in his charming, Irish brogue. For those who didn’t have the pleasure of knowing him, you missed a real treasure.

Some examples of Les’ fine work can be seen on our Photo In Focus page.