A Letter from Charlotte Camera Club President

September is here. That means the leaves’ turning are not far off, and it also means our new photography year is ready to begin. Again this year we will be having four competitions (at the first meeting of the months of October, December, February, and April). In these competitions each member may submit B&W prints, color prints, and/or images to be judged online. As always the subject matter is open. In the first meetings of the months of September, November, January, and March we will be having what we call “Shoot and Share.” Each member may bring up to three images (prints and/or digital images [cd or stick]). These images will be discussed by the folks at the meetings – not judged and scored. Again, open subject matter. You may bring in something you’ve been working on as a project, or something you’re looking for feedback on, or something you want to discuss how an image can be improved, or any other reason you’d like to share the images. Depending on the amount of images and the discussion, we’ll try to see all the images. I will make sure we see some of everyone’s images. The second meeting of the month (no second meeting in November and December) we try to reserve for education. It might be speakers (like we have for September and October), special presentations from PSA, tabletop workshops (usually 1-2 times a year), or other topics/events.

I mentioned PSA, which is short for Photographic Society of America. Charlotte Camera Club belongs to this international organization and we compete, as a club, in several divisions (open, nature, photojournalism, creative) throughout the course of the photo year. There is a link to the PSA website from our web page to give you an idea of the quality of work that we are up against.

I would like to mention that our members’ abilities range from accomplished to beginner and everywhere in between. So that means there are folks that can help others anywhere along that experience line. All you have to do is ask. We also try to sprinkle in a field trip or two, which is a great way to shoot and talk about photography in a fun and informal setting.

So, dust off your camera (as if it could ever be dusty!), get plenty of film (just kidding – only us dinosaurs are still in the caveman mode), and start looking for those photo opportunities that always seem to be there – if you are ready.

Happy Shooting!

Tom Snyder
President Charlotte Camera Club