Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Cape Cod Art Center’s All About the Light 2021 Online Photography Exhibition.

We’re kick-starting the new year with a fun exhibition for every photographer across our NECCC region…

Win fame and fortune (cash prizes) in CACC Camera Club’s All About the Light open juried online photography exhibit!

You read that right! Cash prizes! You could win the $500 1st Place, $250 2nd Place or one of two $75 HM cash prizes in Cape Cod Art Center Camera Club’s juried February-March online photo exhibition. It’s open to every photographer across our NECCC region!  All photographers of any level can enter this open juried online exhibit.  Just submit your entries between now through our January 24, 2021 entry deadline.  There aren’t any “catches.” By entering, you only grant permission to CCAC to display your picture during the February-March exhibit period in Cape Cod Art Center’s online exhibit gallery. You retain all other rights to your entered images. Now, here’s the exhibit entry information you need:

Place your exhibit entry through Cape Cod Art Center’s Smarter Entry page at: 

https://www.smarterentry.com/CallsForEntry/CapeCodArt

…and scroll down to All About the Light 2021 Online Photography Exhibition.

·         You can enter now; but be sure to do it before entries close at midnight, January 24,2021.

·         Entry fee: $15.00 USD for each entered image.

·         Any interpretation of the theme will be considered. 

·         Entries must be original work; they cannot be a copy of another artwork, a magazine or newspaper photo, or any type of reproduction. The entry must be the artist's own composition.  All artwork must be created within the past three years.

·         While you may make as many entries as you wish, the jury may accept a maximum of two works from any one artist to show in the exhibit.  Artist notification by email by February 5, 2021.  

·         Entry payment is non-refundable and does not guarantee acceptance.  

·         The exhibit will appear on our website by February 5th.

·         Did we mention that cash prizes will be awarded for First Place (Best in Show), Second Place and two Honorable Mentions!

So what are you waiting for?

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Click Saturday Seminars

Click Saturday Seminars

As you realize, we’ve had to cancel this November’s in-person CLICK! Photography Conference in Hyannis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But, we're keeping the Click Conference momentum going with a fall series of CLICK! Saturday Zoom Seminars featuring internationally known master photographers. Our first series this fall (yes, there’ll be more after we swing into the new year) includes programs by Harold Ross, Tony Sweet, David H. Wells and Rad Drew.  Our first series this fall is coming up quickly, so don’t delay!

October 31 – Sculpting with LightLight Painting Still Lifes, Landscapes & More with Harold Ross, fine-art photographer who will show you light painting techniques to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

November 7 – Mastering Found lightLight, Shadow, Night and Twilight. Learn all about light from visual storyteller David H. Wells 

November 14 – Visual Artistry with Tony Sweet discover how Tony approaches composition to find the essence of an image. You’ll then have chance to have him critique and edit one of your photographs.

December 5 – Creating with Topaz Studio 2 and related Topaz Tools with Rad Drew

For detailed information and registration, click this hotlink to our Click! Saturday Seminars web page:

https://capecodartcenter.org/classes-workshops/oct-31-nov-7-nov-14-click-saturday-seminars/

Sunday, October 25, 2020

IDEAS FOR KEEPING CAMERA CLUBS ACTIVE DURING COVID-19 SOCIAL DISTANCING

 IDEAS FOR KEEPING CAMERA CLUBS 

ACTIVE DURING COVID-19 SOCIAL DISTANCING

Each club can send has two slots (typically the NECCC rep and the president), but clubs can send substitutes (like perhaps your program person)

Monday – November 2, 2020 Meeting

Agenda

  • Learn what other clubs are doing
  • 7:00 – 7:30 – informal conversations as people join
  • 7:30 – Meeting kickoff – Chane Cullens
  • 7:35 – Antoinette Gombeda, NECCC President
  • 7:40 – Open discussion on what is working or not working at their clubs
  • – When are in-person meetings resuming
  • – Is membership up or down (fees – up, down, not collecting ….)
  • – Is attendance at competition and programs up or down
  • – Fundraising opportunities – Liz Champeon, Eastern Maine Camera Club
  • – What have you tried that is working
  • – What have you tried that is not helping
  • – Using phone photography to recruit new members
  • 8:40 – Ideas for the next meeting agenda

Note – we are now alternating the meeting weekday every month. This meeting is the first Monday of the month.

Monthly video meetings to share ideas for keeping our clubs vibrant and active during the pandemic. 

Tips for joining a WebEx meeting - http://www.flagpolephotographers.com/news/how-to-join-a-virtual-meeting

Test before our call by visiting https://www.webex.com/test-meeting.html

Chane Cullens, MNEC

NECCC VP Photo Conference Website

If you would like to join in and did not get the link email Chane@CCullens.com

Friday, October 16, 2020

Click Saturday Seminars

Click Saturday  Seminars

As you realize, we’ve had to cancel this November’s in-person CLICK! Photography Conference in Hyannis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But, we're keeping the Click Conference momentum going with a fall series of CLICK! Saturday Zoom Seminars featuring internationally known master photographers. Our first series this fall (yes, there’ll be more after we swing into the new year) includes programs by Harold Ross, Tony Sweet, David H. Wells and Rad Drew.  Our first series this fall is coming up quickly, so don’t delay!

October 31 Sculpting with Light: Light Painting Still Lifes, Landscapes & More with Harold Ross, fine-art photographer who will show you light painting techniques to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

November 7 – Mastering Found light: Light, Shadow, Night and Twilight. Learn all about light from visual storyteller David H. Wells 

November 14 – Visual Artistry with Tony Sweet discover how Tony approaches composition to find the essence of an image. You’ll then have chance to have him critique and edit one of your photographs.

December 5 – Creating with Topaz Studio 2 and related Topaz Tools with Rad Drew

For detailed information and registration, click this hotlink to our Click! Saturday Seminars web page:

https://capecodartcenter.org/classes-workshops/oct-31-nov-7-nov-14-click-saturday-seminars/

Thursday, October 8, 2020

For sale Olympus M.Zuiko 300mm, f4, IS-Pro telephoto lens in mint condition

Olympus M.Zuiko 300mm, f4, IS-Pro telephoto lens in mint condition with original packaging. 

Current Olympus price is $2899; add this gently-used tack-sharp lens to your kit for $2200.

Dan Beaudet, Nature Photographer

603-203-8855 | dan@danbeaudet.com

www.danbeaudet.com

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Leslie A. Campbell 1925 - 2020

Leslie A. Campbell, 1925 - 2020

Many of us have lost a good friend. For the local photographic community, it is the equivalent of a huge tree falling in the forest. Long-time Belchertown resident and nationally recognized photographer Les Campbell passed away Thursday, September 24th, at the age of 95. He lived many years in a home at the main entrance to Quabbin where he had started working for the Metropolitan District Commission at the age of 17, retiring 44 years later as head of the water quality laboratory. He then moved to the 24-acre homestead he belovedly called Sky Meadow, where he lived for the remainder of his life.

In 1984, his love of the Quabbin motivated him to establish the Quabbin Visitors Center and its support organization, the Friends of Quabbin. He wanted to use his photo skills to help preserve old photographs of the Swift River Valley for future generations. The Visitors Center has continued to grow and expand their scope ever since.

Les was considered by many to be western Mass's most well-known photographer. His interest in photography started 80 years ago as a teenager. By 1981 he became only the second person in history to hold all three of the highest awards given by the Photographic Society of America, the world's largest photographic society. This third award read "In special recognition of his long-term dedication and encouragement to photographers of all ages by teaching them to enjoy, improve and share photography both as a hobby and profession." Over the course of his 80-year career, he was an innovator, entrepreneur, inventor, lecturer, teacher, as well as a master of his craft (writing with light).

Les traveled often, as far as Canada in the 60's and 70's to put on slideshows with multiple projectors and music on a widescreen. His production of Photo-Musicale in 1972 brought Belchertown High School international recognition. He was named Citizen of the Year by the Selectmen of Belchertown partly for that endeavor. Many people have seen his work on display at his own Gallery at Sky Meadow. His work has been in many major magazines including National Geographic. He has received numerous awards and citations from prestigious organizations, governors, senators, and more. But his passion, for the last forty years, and what he may be remembered most for is his love of teaching other people his skills.

He started many local camera clubs to help him do that on a larger scale. More recently he became concerned that his fellow photographers could not show their work because of the expense of having it framed. He felt all photographs needed to be seen. So he taught them to frame their own photographs in his living room.

He may be best known for his nature photography. That was driven by his embrace of the philosophy of the American Indians and their reverence for all living things (plant, animal, insect...). That may be why everyone who crossed his path became his friend. And they all remember him as a gentle soul, who is compassionate, generous, and humble. Humble may be the reason he never wanted to be referred to as a professional photographer. He used to say "I'm just an amateur."
Les was born in Ware on August 15, 1925 son of John W. and Myrtle I. (Andrews) Campbell. He married his high school sweetheart Lorraine( Millier) and had sons Bruce and David. He later married Terry-Ann (Replenski), had son Mark, and welcomed to the family her children Richard, Suzette and Lisa. He is predeceased by his first wife Lorraine, second wife Terry, his son Bruce, his brother Edward, his sister Nancy, and adopted sister Marie. He is survived by his children; David and wife Ellen of Belchertown, Mark and wife Vikki of Darien, CT, and his step children; Richard Parent and wife Christine of Belgium, Suzette Farnham and her husband Jack of Belchertown, and Lisa Osland and her husband Miles of Lexington, Kentucky, and seven grandchildren; Kevin, Grace, Brady, Taylor, Stephanie, Robert, and Adelaide, and two great grandchildren; Lilli and Mila , and his brother Leonard of Torrington CT.

Les asked that we remember him at a celebration to be held at Sky Meadow in early May. Why early May? I'll let you know when we see you. The date will be posted in advance here and on Facebook. For details, visit www.beersandstory.com

To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.



Friday, September 11, 2020

Master photo editing with Adobe Lightroom Classic this fall without ever leaving the comfort of home!

Master photo editing with Adobe Lightroom Classic this fall without ever leaving the comfort of home!

Join award-winning Juried Master Artist in Fine Art Photography Bob Singer, MNEC this fall in Cotuit Center for the Arts’ Introduction to Adobe Lightroom Classic class on Zoom. To avoid conflicts with most camera club meetings, we’ve scheduled it from 7:00-9:00PM on five Monday evenings from October 19th through November 16th.  This lively interactive online class is intentionally kept small to enable effective two-way conversation as you grow your knowledge and editing skill with Adobe Lightroom Classic!  For more information or to register, click on this Cotuit Center for the Arts website hotlink or copy-and-paste it into your internet browser’s address bar. Don’t wait. This class will fill up quickly!

https://ci.ovationtix.com/31005/production/1030933

 Introduction to Adobe Lightroom Classic ONLINE class on Zoom

With instructor Bob Singer, MNEC and CCAC Juried Master Artist in Fine Art Photography

Presented by Cotuit Center for the Arts on Monday evenings from 7:00-9:00PM, Oct 19 – Nov 16 (10 class hours) 

Bill Dillane's presentation on Photojournalism

Connecticut photographer and videographer Bill Dillane gave an online presentation on Photojournalism this week for North Haven Camera Club, where he is a member. 

The presentation is now available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/YRPtSdN6H8Y 



Monday, September 7, 2020

Camera Club of Oxford Greens Annual Photo Exhibition

 For the past 14 years the Camera Club of Oxford Greens has held an Annual Photo Exhibition at which we traditionally display, for one weekend in September, 150 -200 of our favorite prints and invite the surrounding community and local camera clubs to come and view our work on display.

Obviously, this is a non-starter during the current health crises.  Our alternative plan was to create a YouTube video showing almost 200 of our images with accompanying narrative.  We miss the prints but are able to reach a much broader audience and the time available for viewing is expanded from a weekend to several months.  So far the response has been very rewarding and we would like to invite any interested NECCC members to visit our 15th Annual (virtual) Exhibition at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz3wrw6wV2s .

Thank you.

Scott Hudkins

NECCC Club representative

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

#TheBreakFreeProgram – a three-month, hands-on program that gives emerging photographers both tools and mentoring to complete their passion projects.

Olympus just launched #TheBreakFreeProgram – a three-month, hands-on program that gives emerging photographers both tools and mentoring to complete their passion projects. You can learn more and submit your application:

As a result of overwhelming interest in #TheBreakFreeProgram, we are excited to announce that we are expanding our program to emerging photographers of all ages and including additional participant slots! In this challenging year of 2020, we continue to be inspired by your inspiration and creativity, and we are humbled to be approached by so many seeking the opportunity to learn and grow with Olympus.

The Break Free Program is a three-month, hands-on program to provide both tools and mentoring to help emerging photographers complete their passion projects.

Interested parties can visit http://bit.ly/TheBreakFreeProgram to learn more and to submit their application.

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop Together with Bob Singer, MNEC

No need to drive dark roads in bad weather to learn Photoshop & Lightroom Together

In this online class on Zoom with Bob Singer, MNEC

If you’ve already started using Adobe Lightroom Classic or Adobe Photoshop and want to become more proficient using both computer programs together to improve your finished results, this small group class on Zoom with MNEC and CCAC Juried Master Artist in fine art photography Bob Singer is for you. Gain a fuller understanding of the more advanced image editing techniques, tools, and finesses possible to bring the images you visualize to life. For more information, visit this Cotuit Center for the Arts’ education page: https://ci.ovationtix.com/31005/production/1030932

Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop Together with Bob Singer, MNEC

Five Wednesday evenings from 7-9pm, Sept 9th through Oct 7th


Sunday, August 2, 2020

8-4-2020 Monthly video meetings to share ideas for keeping our clubs vibrant and active during the pandemic.

Monthly video meetings to share ideas for keeping our clubs vibrant and active during the pandemic. 

I'm impressed with the ideas that we have already received from five camera clubs! Let's discuss all ideas and find out what made them work. This provides you with a range of suggestions to keep your members taking photos, socializing, learning and above all, having fun with photography.

When: Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Tips for joining a WebEx meeting - http://www.flagpolephotographers.com/news/how-to-join-a-virtual-meeting

Test before our call by visiting https://www.webex.com/test-meeting.html

Chane Cullens, MNEC

NECCC VP Photo Conference Website

if you would like to join in and did not get the link email Chane@CCullens.com

Thursday, July 30, 2020

More Club Activities During Pandemic


More Club Activities During Pandemic

Milt Williamson / Upper Cape Camera Club (MA)
Our last live meeting was March 11 and we had to forfeit only our second March meeting before we got the Zoom platform up and running.

The club competitions for April and May were held with the scheduled judges. We noticed the virtual attendance actually increased, now including members who were still away for the winter.

The two planned programs, one a seminar on Matting, Framing and Exhibiting by two local commercial shops and the second a session with a local backup specialist had to be postponed as not being practical over Zoom.  

These were substituted with two excellent Zoom presentations, one by Brewster photographer Steven Koppel and another by Carver professionals Bobbi Lane and Lee Varis. I had been trying for some time to arrange a date with Bobbi & Lee and now because they were also in lockdown we arranged a successful program for May.

Our last meeting for the season traditionally featured a Photos of the Year competition combined with a “pot luck supper”.  Zoom canceled the supper but the competition went on successfully with three judges from three clubs including comments and challenges.

We were able to use our normal judging and competition system — Visual Pursuits Judging and VP Image Competition Manager — along with the Zoom video conferencing system for our normal competition meetings and the combination works quite well.

We continued our monthly meetings for the Steering Committee involving eleven members scattered across the Upper Cape as well as a member in California and two in Florida. These Steering Committee meetings are now continuing throughout the summer via Zoom.

A planned annual exhibit of prints is now a virtual exhibit at the Falmouth Public Library. A January print competition category, “Cape Cod & Islands Boats” is the theme of the exhibit. In June it was arranged and ”hung" by a committee over Zoom. Here is the link to the exhibit at the Falmouth Public Library <https://tinyurl.com/y72xp6j5>.

Many of our members are participating in other area exhibits and shows so photography is still very much alive at Upper Cape Camera Club.

With an unpredictable future for live meetings, even though our meeting place, The Falmouth Art Center, is now open and will become available in September, our membership is larger than the size of groups allowed to hold meetings, at least for the next few months. We will be planning to make use of the Zoom platform for competitions and programs. The challenge with many of the available webinars out there is to find the ones that are not scheduled for any particular time slot, but live ones where club members can ask questions, comment and so forth.

Chuck Fleishman Oxford Green Camera Club (CT)
I just signed up for a free course, Seeing Through Photographs through https://digitaldefynd.com/best-photography-course-certification-training/.  This course is being conducted by MOMA and it takes several weeks to complete and includes required reading and homework assignments.  I plan to do the homework but not necessarily doing the reading.

While the course itself is free there are several prompts to register for a certificate at $49.  You won’t get feedback unless you sign-up for the certificate.  There are also optional surveys about health, politics, etc.
I Googled Free Photography Webinars 2020 and came up with several interesting links.  While I have not investigated or tried any to date I am going to try one of the courses in the link below:


Henry Winkelman Boston Camera Club(MA)

The Boston Camera Club (BCC) switched to only meetings via webex and now ZOOM - we held competitions, photo critiques, a Tri-Club competition with the Stony Brook and Gateway clubs - and all the speakers scheduled for the spring presented on line.

Although our meetings usually end in June, this summer the BCC has had programs almost every two weeks - including digital competitions, photo critiques, Essdras Suarez presented in July and Jack Curran will be with us in August.

The BCC was scheduled to have an exhibit in one of the local libraries. That set of images was set-up in an on-line gallery.

Our newsletter comes out monthly Sept - June. The BCC Blog is sent our weekly or more often to alert the members to photography news.

Plans are being made now for net year. We anticipate being online for many more months.
The church where we meet has not decided on re-opening plans. Near the end of August Tom Hill, our president, plans to poll the members to see if they are comfortable returning to our meeting space when it will be available.
At the current time - we expect to be meeting on ZOOM for many more months.

Members have expressed an interest in having ZOOM meetings at times - even after we can return to meetings - especially during winter months when travel can be a problem. Also, many members live a distance from our meeting
place - and with the ZOOM meetings they are able to participate and attend more meetings.

Lisa Lacasse Quichee Camera Club (VT)

 The Quechee Area Camera Club in Vermont uses Meetup as our platform.   It continues to serve us well.   I got ZOOM for the club in early April and it has worked well for us. 

We have continued to have “assignments” each week(or every 10 days) that members can photograph, post and make comments on.   Assignments have included: Photographing Car Streaks, Photograph Solitude, Scavenger Hunt, Shoot the Same Subject 15 different ways, Reflections, Macro, Sports, Summer Story Telling, Self Portrait, Abstracts, Shutter Speed Fun, Leaves and Trees, Animals - tell your story 2 ways, the color red and a couple different Scavenger Hunts.  Members can start the assignment on their own time but they post their images between the start and end date of the assignment (about 10 days).  We ask that for each photo uploaded members comment on 2-3 others. 

We have also had quite a few ZOOM meetings.  3 of our regular speakers who we would have presented in person just did ZOOM calls - One was a professional critique, One on Lightroom, One on Portraits, and One on Anatomy of an Image.  The club felt  it was important to honor our commitments to these professionals who have supported our club with their time and we didn’t mind paying them for their time.  We have also had several ZOOM calls where we share members photos and have open discussions on them.   We are starting to do ZOOM calls on specific subjects - we just did one on Photography as a Business and how do you store your photos - By having both of those subjects we appealed to both our members that are trying to sell images and also those who just want to know the best way to keep their images safe.  We will continue to add these into the mix.   

In addition, we have sent out to the members via emails info about free webinars, free videos to watch and learn from as well as different photography sites to explore.    

Bill Barnett Connecticut Association of Photographers

I think this collection of ideas is great and I hope to participate in your video meetings starting Aug. 4. These are weird times and lots of creativity is needed.

I have a new program (“Infrared Connecticut”) that I can present to any club that has a Zoom account, or possibly Global Meeting that I will use for the first time in October when I am scheduled to present to GBCC. My other programs wouldn’t work well in this environment due to video and lots of zooms and pans that can look awful for anyone with a slow internet connection (I know, I tested it with a Zoom meeting between my desktop and laptop).

Clubs that are doing judging virtually should be encouraged to recruit judges from further away than normal since distance doesn’t matter. The just concluded PSA portfolio assessment session using Zoom had judges from CT, Nova Scotia, the midwest, and California. This is a chance to get different points of view for club competitions. PSA has a club judging service ( https://psa-photo.org/index.php?club-judging-service) and they might be willing to recommend judges for clubs that are PSA members.

Dennis Goulet Photographic Society of Rhode Island (RI)


PSRI has had two digital and print competitions, The images were judged ahead of time with the judge and then a zoom meeting was conducted with the members to comment on the images and announce the winners. For the prints we did a digital version on the first judging, then for the last print competition judging holding the print competition and Print of the Year judging at the same time with only two staff and the two Judges. We then used digital images of the prints to conduct the presentation and comments on the prints using a Zoom meeting.

I gave a Zoom presentation to the Medford Center for the Arts in April, and PSRI has had presentations from TJ Thorne, Tony Sweet, Rad Drew, and on the 28th we have Charles Glazer, Canon Explorer of Light.

Dave Westlake Quiet Corner Camera Club (CT)
To keep active during the Pandemic we are doing the following:

·        We have a monthly digital photo challenge. The members are given a theme, Images are posted on SmugMug and voted on by the members
·        We are planning to hold monthly Zoom meetings. We are compiling a viewing list of Youtube videos and/or webinars. One will be chosen by the board initially and the members will view it at their leisure and it will be the topic of discussion in the virtual club meeting.

Any suggestions from other clubs concerning virtual or safe distancing activities would be greatly appreciated.

Dennis Goulet Photographic Society of Rhode Island (RI)

PSRI has had two digital and print competitions, The images were judged ahead of time with the judge and then a zoom meeting was conducted with the members to comment on the images and announce the winners. For the prints we did a digital version on the first judging, then for the last print competition judging holding the print competition and Print of the Year judging at the same time with only two staff and the two Judges. We then used digital images of the prints to conduct the presentation and comments on the prints using a Zoom meeting.

I gave a Zoom presentation to the Medford Center for the Arts in April, and PSRI has had presentations from TJ Thorne, Tony Sweet, Rad Drew, and on the 28th we have Charles Glazer, Canon Explorer of Light.

Dave Westlake Quiet Corner Camera Club (CT)
To keep active during the Pandemic we are doing the following:

·        We have a monthly digital photo challenge. The members are given a theme, Images are posted on SmugMug and voted on by the members
·        We are planning to hold monthly Zoom meetings. We are compiling a viewing list of Youtube videos and/or webinars. One will be chosen by the board initially and the members will view it at their leisure and it will be the topic of discussion in the virtual club meeting.

Any suggestions from other clubs concerning virtual or safe distancing activities would be greatly appreciated.



Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Monthly video meetings to share ideas for keeping our clubs vibrant and active during the pandemic

Monthly video meetings to share ideas for keeping our clubs vibrant and active during the pandemic

I was so excited by the ideas spurred by you at our meeting Friday night and the responses they generated. Thank you Dave Westlake for starting us off. . Thank you to Chane Cullens (chane@ccullens.com) for taking point on monthly video meetings starting August 4th and continue on the first Tuesday of each month. You will be hearing more from Chane.

Throughout history when disaster has struck people have united and worked together to get through. One example is the creation of a fire hydrant system and the first insurance company as a result of the Great London Fire in the 1600's. Well, the Covid Pandemic of 2020 has not stopped camera clubs from meeting and enjoying the gift of photography.  Clubs have maintained a virtual focus to keep everyone safe and still maintain and inspire their membership. Maybe the idea of monthly virtual meetings will be our new normal.

Please keep your ideas coming. Let me know if you have tried any of the ideas in this attachment. I am sure your discussions with Chane will be lively and full of ideas. 

Stay safe, stay well. Antoinette

Hi NECCC Reps

On 7-19-2020 you received an email from NECCC President Antoinette Gombeda announcing our monthly video meetings to share ideas for keeping our clubs vibrant and active during the pandemic. I'm impressed with the ideas that we have already received from five camera clubs! Let's discuss all ideas and find out what made them work. This provides you with a range of suggestions to keep your members taking photos, socializing, learning and above all, having fun with photography.

When: Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Tips for joining a WebEx meeting - http://www.flagpolephotographers.com/news/how-to-join-a-virtual-meeting

Test before our call by visiting https://www.webex.com/test-meeting.html

Chane Cullens, MNEC

NECCC VP Photo Conference Website

if you would like to join in and did not get the link email Chane@CCullens.com

Flagpole Photographers Camera Club Adapts During Pandemic



Flagpole Photographers Camera Club Adapts During Pandemic

A screen shot of a computer

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Things Flagpole Photographers did when the pandemic hit

1.     We switched to online virtual meetings for our monthly competitions. We used to have competition categories of Digital Assigned Subject and Digital Open A and B, and Print Assigned Subject, Print Open Color, and Print Monochrome. We changed those categories to Digital Assigned Subject, Digital Open Color A & B, and Digital Monochrome A & B.
2.     In lieu of our regular program night, the club participated in Matt Kloskowski’s free Virtual Program on “How to Edit Your Photos Like a Pro in Lightroom and Photoshop.”
3.     We offered two “Virtual Scavenger Hunts” which were a lot of fun. (*See details below.)
4.     We normally have our end of year print competition held at our local library. However, since the library is also closed, we put together a “Virtual Exhibit” showcasing a winning photo from each of the 34 different members who placed in this year’s monthly competitions. These photos were also used to create a video set to music. The “Virtual Exhibit” was featured on both the club’s website as well as that of the C.H. Booth Library.
5.     We continued to send out our monthly Newsletters to keep members informed of what’s happening with the club, NECCC, and other things of interest.
6.     We changed our club rules of requiring all competition photos to have been taken in the previous 24 months, extending that to 36 months for next year. This recognizes members aren’t getting out as much to take photos, but may have more time to look back through and edit their photos they’ve taken in the last few years.

*Click for full “Virtual Scavenger Hunt” details. Basically, 10 categories were drawn from a hat live on our club’s Facebook page. Photographers had 6 hours to take, edit, and upload one photo per category. Then all participants and other club members voted for their favorite photo in each category to determine winners. The link above shows all of the creative entries and gives another link to the “Winners Gallery”.

Things the club is looking at doing this fall if we still can’t meet

1.     Continue with virtual meetings and competitions.
2.     Offer all our club programs virtually.
3.     Offer additional Virtual Scavenger Hunts.
4.     Look at offering other industry programs and webinars that might be of interest to members.
5.     Look at the possibility of continuing our matching up of member “Leaders” with “Learners” in a socially distant or virtual way to encourage one-on-one assistance and growth.