Our final subject for Photo In Focus for this season is Margaret DeClerk.

To learn more about last season’s Most Improved Photographer,
see our Photo In Focus page.

50 members and 2 guests attended our April 24^th meeting.

• President Carson Plant reminded us of a couple of photo-ops coming up:
~ Carvapalooza in Highgate from April 25^th to April 29^th.
~ RM Auto Restoration Cars and Coffee on May 5^th.

• Club member David Barr shared his experience in shooting Commercial Photography. After a brief explanation of how he got started as a commercial photographer, David showed us a series of photos he took over the course of his career. Mainly working for agricultural interests, David’s excellent work was published in dozens of farm related magazines and periodicals. Sprinkled with humour from real life incidents, his show was both interesting and entertaining. Thanks David! We all enjoyed your presentation.

• Keith Blackwell showed us some of his wonderful travel photos from his recent trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Uruguay. His series of pictures featured the citizens and scenes of everyday life in these far away countries. It looked like a fun trip, Keith! We loved seeing your shots and look forward to seeing more.

• Entrees from our final Photo Competition of the season were reviewed. with the Novice group’s Rusty images and the Intermediate, Advanced and Salon member’s Open: Black and White shots. You can see the top scoring shots on our Club Photos page.

• Our final print display for this year brought out more examples of our member’s talent for composition, lighting and creativity. Thanks to all who took the time to share their favourite prints this year. We encourage everyone to keep the print display in mind when you are shooting over the summer.

• Our final meeting of the season will be held on May 8^th when photo competition awards will be handed out for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place in each division. Also awarded will be Most Improved Photographer and Picture Of The Year. The new executive for the 2018-2019 season will be announced.

It can be a trap of the photographer to think that his or her best pictures were the ones that were hardest to get.

If you would like to try some “Steven Slack style” photo art like these,

check out
The Beginners Guide to Creating and Applying Texture Overlays Using Photoshop.

Some other programs that can be useful for Photo Art include
ToonIt
Nik Collection
On1 Effects
Topaz

• 56 members attended our April 10^th meeting.

• President Carson Plant reminded us that we still need a Vice-President, a Treasurer and an Executive Assistant to help run The Club next season. If you can spare a little of your time and talent, please let Carson know at: plant1238@gmail.com

• Our guest speaker for the evening was Award Winning Photographer and Visual Effects Supervisor, Bret Culp.

Bret gave us a truly inspirational lesson on How To Find Your Photographic Style by taking us through his own photographic evolution from his earliest film days to his acceptance of the digital system. Two slide shows were followed by a challenge to each of us to write our own Artist’s Statement, which is an introduction to our work, not to you, not your photography and not about the process of making the work. It is a daunting task indeed. Bret also revealed some of his secrets for shooting Black And White photos, a skill at which he excels. The Chatham Camera Club would like to thank Bret for making the trip to Chatham from Toronto and for providing us with another fascinating direction to explore.

Bret Culp’s book, “The Beauty Of Impermanence” is available at Amazon.com

(click the photo for more info)

• Our next meeting will be held on April 24^th when Club member David Barr will give us an insight into Shooting Commercial Photography. Keith Blackwell will also be on hand to show us another of his excellent travelogues. Photos from our final CCC competition will be shown and we will have our final print display of the season.

In order to assist the WPW committee plan programs for the next two years we are asking you to complete, print and bring this survey to the April 24 meeting. Your participation is appreciated.

There will be obstacles.
There will be doubters.
There will be mistakes.
But with hard work, there are no limits.

Here is Karen Quist’s take on
How To Find Your Personal Photographic Style

One of Tere’s photos has been awarded First Place in the Sparks Photo Festival
Reflections category.

Nice job Tere! We’re all very proud of you.

Cheryl Prince, a former Chatham Camera Club member and wife of our long-time friend Andy Stockdill, passed away on April 3^rd 2018. Our sincerest condolences to her family and friends.

April’s featured photographer is Bill Henry.

To learn more about Bill and his photographic interests, take a look at our
Photo In Focus page.

46 members and 4 guests turned out for our March 27^th meeting.

• President Carson Plant told the membership about a recent photo shoot he attended at Milestone Studios in Windsor. Their hourly rental rate is $35 per hour. If anyone would be interested in attending our own gathering there, let Carson know.

• Carson introduced our guest speaker, Stephen Slack, co-founder of the Forest City Photographers Guild and owner of Art In Motion Digital Imagery.

Stephen gave a presentation called Creating Digital Art, which he began by introducing us to a slogan he uses to produce his work: “If you don’t have the visual concept, the tools do not work.” In other words, it’s not the software that makes the image, it’s the artist. Stephen showed us three slideshows of his amazing digital art where he stylized photos of famous people, vintage autos and modified scenery using various Photoshop plug-ins and his own imagination. We would like to thank Stephen and his assistant Dave Wellington for making the trip to Chatham and for giving us all a new direction to take our own photography.

• Scores were announced from this month’s CCC Photo Competition, with the Novices competing in a category called Rack The Lens. High marks went to Bill Henry (24 pts and 23.5 pts), Jana Smith (23.5 pts) and Wendy McDonald and Margaret DeClerk (both with 22 pts). The Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members were judged on their Rusty pictures where Tere Deslippe (24 pts and 23.5 pts), Keith Blackwell (24 pts) and Paul Schmoldt (23.5 pts and 23.5 pts), obtained the highest scores. Jim Pollock (23.5 pts) Jean DeBruyn (23 pts) and David Barr (23 pts) also did well. You can see the top scoring shots of the night on our Club Photos page.

• The membership responded to our President’s request to bring in some of their best prints as several excellent photos were on display. Our final print display of the season will be held April 24^th and we’d love to see a couple of yours. Any size and subject is welcome.

• Our next meeting will be held on April 10^th when our guest speaker will be pro photographer Bret Culp who will be on hand to discuss How To Find Your Photographic Style. Bret will also reveal some of his secrets for shooting Black And White photography. This is one meeting you don’t want to miss. As always, visitors are more than welcome to attend free of charge.

Beginners worry about cost.
Amateurs worry about equipment.
Professionals worry about light.

What’s all the fuss about Back Button Focus
What is it and why should you try it?

• 29 members and 2 guests attended our meeting.

• Dave Noordhoff presented Using The Exposure Triangle To Shoot In Manual Mode.

The group was shown a series of examples where we would decide what the main consideration would be before taking a photo, ISO, shutter speed or aperture. Using 100 ISO to insure minimum digital noise, we looked at photo examples where a large or shallow depth of field would be the most desirable, as well as some scenes where we would choose a fast shutter speed to capture motion or a slow shutter speed to attain desired blur. Club members wish to thank Dave for his excellent presentation. Many of us, new and not so new, learned more about the exposure triangle.
You can review or download Dave’s tutorial on The Exposure Triangle here.

For a review, take a look at this YouTube video on Shooting In Manual Mode.

Our next meeting will be held on March 27 when professional photographer Steven Slack will present Creating Digital Art. We will also review the results from our latest CCC photo competition: Give Me Space for the Novice group, and Rusty for Intermediate, Advanced and Salon members. We would like to invite all of our members to bring in a print of any size, any subject, to be viewed before the meeting begins and during the break.

To create interesting light, you have to create interesting shadows.
So, look at the light and think about the shadows.

What are all those icons on top of your camera?
Learn all about them in
Finding Your Way Around The Mode Dial