IN Focus. Why Join A Camera Club. Inside This Issue. Upcoming Schedule

Transcription

1 IN Focus Des Plaines Camera Club Des Plaines, IL September 2012 Inside This Issue Why Join a Camera Club From the Editor Club Assignment Fall Fest Parade Recognition Community Service Club Members Receive Worldwide Recognition Upcoming Schedule September 2012 Monday, Sept. 10: 7 PM 1990 White Street, Des Plaines First Meeting for the new season; Please bring your completed membership application and payment of club dues. We accept cash or check only. Mounting boards for the upcoming competitions will be available for sale. A slideshow of members summer break images will be shown if time permits. Saturday - Sunday Sept 15th, 16th: Noon Lake Park, Des Plaines Fall Festival; Club members to photograph staged portraits. Monday Sept 24, 7 PM : Club Competition. Prints, DPI entries. Club members at Old World Wisconsin - image by Nancy Strahinic Why Join A Camera Club Years ago when I first joined the Des Plaines Camera Club, I wanted to learn to be a better photographer. Back in those days the club was small with a high emphasis on submitting photos for competition. As a new member you had to talk to someone else before they talked to you. It was about three meetings before I learned how to mount a print for competition and that was a word of mouth explanation. I like to think we've come a long way from those days. With programs that interest the new photographer as well as the seasoned photographer, much can be learned. Continued on next page IN Focus Newsletter Page 1-6

2 DES PLAINES CAMERA CLUB President..Tom Mulick Vice President.Dave Waycie Treasurer.Irene Szilagyi Publicity Jane Ballengee Recording Secretary Kay Michaely Program Director Tom Mulick IN Focus Editor Sue Lindell Contributors.Bill Bishoff, Bob Erickson CONTACT EDITOR: From the Editor Being the editor of our DPCC newsletter InFocus has been a great learning experience and has certainly enhanced my enjoyment of being in a camera club. Writing articles about and for you as well as helping introduce specific members to the club is interesting and enlightening. Attending meetings and club events with the goal of keeping you informed has allowed me to focus my attention and get even more out of the opportunities presented. Change is inevitable, however, and I am finding I no longer have the freedom I did when I started my editor post 3 years ago. My work schedule changed and the subsequent domino effect has also had an impact on my personal time for normal day to day household business and leisure time. Club members at a pizza party Not only do we learn from programs and presentations, but from "doing". Bring Your Camera Nights are a big hit and the occasional field trip are other opportunities to learn from others. If you have a question regarding a specific camera, no doubt there is someone in the club that can help you. With new cameras, camera phones and new photographic programs there is always something to learn. Your interests may not be in all of the areas of photography, but limited to just a certain type of photography, like landscape or portrait. My experience has been that when someone gains proficiency in one area they want to learn something else. We are a club that shares what we know and our involvement in the community pays off time and again for us as a club. Our close association with the Des Plaines Park District is, I think a model of community cooperation. For me the Des Plaines Camera Club has helped me become a better photographer. One of my goals when I joined was to be able to take pictures well enough to want to hang them in my house. Well, I like my work so well that not only do I want to hang my pictures in my house, but friends and relatives also have my pictures in their homes. Continued on next page continued on next page IN Focus Newsletter Page 2-6

3 From the Editor continued: Finding the time to produce the newsletter is becoming increasingly difficult and I can no longer fulfill the job as I see fit. Bill Bishoff and Bob Erickson have generously given their time to help generate the newsletters, and I hope will continue to add their talents. I am asking you to please help keep the newsletter alive. I can no longer continue to run InFocus, someone needs to come in and provide our club with this valuable connection to and for our members. You will have the support of myself as well as our club president and vice president. I am not leaving the club by any means, I am just turning over the reins of our newsletter to a fresh energy and new enthusiasm for our club and all it offers. I do hope to continue to write occasional articles. If you are interested in the position of editor, please contact me at sp21561@earthlink.net. I'm only one person with my own experiences to draw from. But, I've heard from many club members who have said how much they have learned from being a member of the Des Plaines Camera Club. To learn more it helps to be involved in the club. It is a club - a group of individuals with like interests. When our meetings startup in September, consider taking on a small job to help the club flourish and prosper. Tom Mulick, President Des Plaines Camera Club Elements Class image by Tom Mulick Thank you for all the kind words over the time I have been your editor. Sue Lindell, InFocus Newsletter Des Plaines Camera Club IN Focus Newsletter Page 3-6

4 Club Assignment The first club assignment presented for the season will showcase images taken by members over the summer break from club meetings. Participating members submitted up to ten images taken from May thru September If time permits, the participants will be allowed to speak about their pictures if they like. Club assignments are a great way to have specific goals to practice, with the added incentive of being shown publically. Assignments are usually displayed during club meetings, and the images can then be posted in the DPCC gallery of SmugMug. Images taken for assignments may also be entered in competition, if desired. The topics for assignments are randomly chosen and announced prior to the next meeting. Image by Bill Bishoff Fall Fest image by Sue Lindell Fall Festival The Des Plaines Camera Club will again be participating in the fourth annual Fall Festival in Des Plaines. The festival starts Friday and DPCC club members are asked to be there on Saturday, September 15th and Sunday, September 16th. In the past, members had been asked to take photos of people within a staged setting that were then printed on site. This booth was popular in previous years and ideally has 3 photographers per shift. Our commitment was during the afternoon and early evening of both days. Tom Mulick will provide more details and scheduling as they become available. A sign up sheet is available online, or contact Tom or Dave Waycie directly to volunteer. This event has been fun for club members and provides an excellent opportunity to practice taking quick portraits. Inexperienced photographers are welcome and will find this experience useful to become more comfortable using their cameras, and practicing framing and composition techniques. Even if you are a bit unsure of camera settings we encourage you to participate - using Auto settings should produce perfectly acceptable results at this photo op. IN Focus Newsletter Page 4-6

5 DPCC Recognized at Des Plaines Parade The Des Plaines Camera Club was recognized this year at the Des Plaines Fourth of July Parade. The theme of the parade was" Des Plaines Has Talent" and had a large attendance of parade entries as well as spectators despite the record breaking heat. The DPCC was awarded the prize ribbon for the Adult Service Category. Pool portraits - image by Sue Lindell Community Service Image by Tom Mulick Members of the Des Plaines Camera Club were on hand for the Chippewa Pool closing party. As part of our commitment to community service, the DPCC helps provide pictures for various functions in Des Plaines, often for the park district. It is our member's cooperation and participation with the park district that provides our meeting room throughout the year. Vice President Dave Waycie and club member Sue Lindell took portraits of party goers which were printed on site and then set in a special frame commemorating the closing of the pool. Dave and Sue also practiced their photo journalism/street photography skills by taking candid shots of the fun. The Chippewa Pool opened in 1967, and will now be renovated and updated. Several generations of Des Plaines residents have enjoyed the pool and in spite of the overcast skies and unseasonably chilly temperatures the party had full attendance and everyone there asked to have portraits made of themselves with family and friends. Club Members, CACCA Receive Worldwide Recognition IN Focus Newsletter Page 5-6

6 Images created by three members of the Des Plaines Camera Club were awarded honorary mentions from the Photographic Society of America (PSA) during their annual Councils Challenge. Joe Rackoczy, Jean Ballengee and Sue Lindell were awarded honorary mentions for their images which were among those submitted by The Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association (CACCA). CACCA itself was also awarded the top honor of all the councils. The PSA tells us, "A camera club Council is a number of camera clubs, usually located in a geographic area, which join together to participate in photographic activities as a group. A camera club Council may also be known as an association, federation or organization of camera clubs or photography clubs. The activities of a Council usually include photo competition(s) for the Councils' member clubs and the individuals who belong to the Council - member clubs. There are approximately 25 camera club Councils that are members of the (PSA) Society, including 18 Councils that are members of the Society for more than 25 years, and nine Councils that have been Society members for more than 50 years. The Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association (CACCA) has been a PSA member for 67 years. Eight of the PSA - member Councils are located outside the United States, three are located in the United Kingdom, two are in Australia, one is in Finland, another is in Sweden, and there is one in South Africa. In 2005, the PSA Councils Challenge was created to showcase the images from PSA-member Councils in three pictorial areas; color digital, monochrome digital, and prints. The closing date is usually at the end of May each year. The winning images are first presented at the P?SA Annual Conference and continue to be displayed on the PSA web site. The Des Plaines Camera Club is a proud member of the Chicago Area Camera Club Association and Photgraphic Society of America IN Focus Newsletter Page 6-6