COMPACT FLASH

JANUARY 8
MEETING

NOTE: the CHANGE - January 1
is a holiday; therefore, we will meet on Tuesday, JANUARY 8.

VBPC TUESDAY, January 8, 2013, meeting.

• January: BRING
  some of your photos for critiquing or sharing.

• January: Print Competition
  - Open

• January: New categories for 2013 are Diagonal lines, Reflections, Street people, Fireworks, Sports, and
  Machines.

• January: VBPC presented a check to Otis Cuffee, the church's maintenance man who ensures we have what we
  need for our meetings and helps us put away the chairs and tables after our
  meetings. He regularly stays later than
  he needs to in order to accommodate us and we appreciate what he does for our
  club.

• January: Volunteers are needed to make the banquet happen on January 19, 2013. We need people to stuff envelopes with meal ticket, door prize ticket, and to carry
  equipment and photos in and out of the room; to set up display of photos and door
  prizes; to sell raffle tickets;
  etc.

• January: MEMBERS
  ONLY: The Awards Banquet 2013 will be held on
  January 19, 2013, at the Black Angus Grille at TPC / Virginia Beach National Golf Course, 2500 Tournament Drive, off Princess Rd, VA Beach.
  Speaker: Keith Cephus (www.keithcephus.com). 6:00PM - 10:00PM.

Club member and guest will each pay $15.00 and the club will pay
$5.00 toward each person's meal.

In addition to a great speaker, we will have door prizes, 50/50 raffle, good food, and great company.

Ribbons will be awarded for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd, place winners
in Color, B&W, Digital, and Portrait in Assigned and Open categories and a
photo of year.  Other awards include the
Eve Green*, Tommy Finch*, and Charlie Davis award*.

We need items to be donated
for the door prizes.  If you wish to donate items of interest to
photographers or if you know vendors willing to donate such items, let someone
on the board know.

Reminder that ALL member dues are due in January 2013.

Registration will open soon for payment of DUES online.

*Eve Green was one of the
original club members responsible for the formation of our club.

*Tommy Finch was a
long-time member who organized and kept up the display of members' photos at
Pembroke Mall.  He dedicated much of his
time to the success of the club.  His
signature photos were of trains; he worked for the railroad.

*Charlie Davis was a
long-time member who took the time each month to critique every photo entered
in the competition.  While he usually
found something good to say about every photo, he also discussed what he would
have done differently, if he were the photographer, to make the image stronger.

All these people
obviously had a great passion for photography and willingly gave of themselves
to inspire and encourage others to continually improve their craft.

PRINT COMPETITION

The print competition has been a significant part of our
club for a long time.  It is very
exciting and gives us each a chance to improve our skills as we compete.  As I look at the entries each month, I notice
the quality improve significantly because of the determination of the
photographer to constantly improve his or her craft.  If we don't improve the quality of our work,
it will remain the same or decline.

The competition is a way of sharpening our skills, becoming
more creative, and changing our perspectives. 
The assigned categories are meant to slow us down and make us stop and
think of a creative way to achieve our specific goal for that month, not just
snap something in the backyard with little or no thought about improving our craft.

As you know each month winners are given ribbons for first,
second, third and sometimes honorable mention. The winners are then given
points for the annual competition:  first place = 4 points, second = 3 points, third = 2 points,
and honorable mention = 1 point. The scores are posted on the club web site.         

This year we have not had as many people enter the
competition as we have in the past. This has made it a little easier for a few
people to become repeat winners throughout the year. Their skills have helped
them certainly, but had there been more competition, perhaps the results would
have been different.

Remember that we all have to start somewhere, so don't feel
intimidated thinking your work is not good enough.  It probably is.  Sometimes, we are our own worst critics.

Get out there and shoot new subjects with the intention of
trying something new each time.  Unlock
the power of your camera.  Read the
manual, read the manual, etc.  Change the
settings as well as you perspective and watch what happens.

We need more people to enter the competition because it

1.     
involves you in the action

2.     
is a lot of fun

3.     
helps improve your skills

4.     
gives you a opportunity to beat those same winners
every month.

COMING SOON to your VBPC:

1.     
MEMBER SURVEY

2.     
MOST IMPROVED PHOTOGRAPHER AWARD.  Guidelines include
the following: 

a.      
To be eligible members must
participate in the monthly competition at least 9 out of 12 months.

b.     
Photos must show a marked
improvement evidenced by total scores that show a positive trend as the year
progresses.

c.      
Members are eligible for the award
only one time.

3.                                                                                                                             
SPEAKERS:

Tom Shaad for the March meeting.

Videography instructor at the April meeting.

4.      MEMBER
EXHIBIT AT BAYSIDE LIBRARY.

 SEPTEMBER:     ROUND TABLE/GROUP DISCUSSION(Something Blue), one or two members will initiate a discussion

of what makes the photos good and what could be done to improve others.

SEPTEMBER:       PRINT COMPETITION-(Open) Members will discuss why winners are so good AND we will include a

discussion on how the other photos could be improved.

SEPTEMBER:       Tom McElvy offered  to demonstrate adhering photos to a canvas board.

SEPTEMBER:       Camera Club of Richmond has invited us to a workshop in Richmond, September 15, 2012.

California master photographer Harold Davis will present an all day workshop 10:AM-4:00PM.

Cost is $60 or $72 with lunch included. For details see Camera Club of Richmond.

SEPTEMBER:        Lane workshop. Cost is $50 per person up to a maximum of 20 people. Registration has begun

and will run through the end of September 4. Date of the workshop is September 22. We must

have the money upfront in order to pay the Lanes. We must have a minimum of 14 people. Online

registration is messed up. Members must pay by check at the September 4 meeting. Outsiders 

wishing to attend may pay $10 for prorated membership and the $50 for the workshop. We

will meet at ECPI for the classroom portion of the workshop and shoot in the Botanical 

 Gardens. We usually have 3 hours of instruction on exposure and manual settings in a classroom

and then 5 hours of shooting in an outdoor setting. They are great instructors and award 

photographers. If we participate, we will need a minimum of 14 people to register and pay and a

maximum of 20 people in all. They provide individual instructions; therefore, they accept no more 

than 20 people.

OCTOBER:             Monarch butterfly trip. We will be opening this field trip to other local camera clubs and the

public via an article in The Virginia-Pilot. Location: Visitors' Center of the Wildlife Refuge

State Park in Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore in October to photograph the Monarch butterfly

migration. Since much depends on the weather, it would be nice to have someone from the 

club at the Visitor's Center each suitable Saturday or Sunday any weekend 9/15-16, 9/22-23,

9/29-30, 10/6-7, to 10/13-14 to meet and greet guests. VBPC brochures will available at the

Visitor's Center for potential new members.

OCTOBER:             Need help to plan for Awards banquet2013. Again, we need volunteers to make the

banquet happen. January 19, 2013.

OCTOBER:             Call for Nominations for the November Elections. Need a slate of Officers. Please consider

running for office or serving on the board. We need an events coordinator, judges, WEBMASTER,

etc.

OCTOBER theme is Out of Place.

NOVEMBER:           NOTE: November meeting will be held the second week on November 13 NOT November 6.

                               November 6 is Election day and the church is used as a polling place. Therefore, we will

                               switch days with the Wedding & Portrait group. W & P will meet on November 6. VBPC

                               meeting will be held on November 13.

NOTE:   We will have the score sheets from the previous month's competition available at each meeting. If you

entered the competition, check out the scores. Ballots serve as a mini-critique of each photo entered.

CATEGORIES for next two years.    MEMBERS: Come up with ideas for new categories for the next two years

and bring a list of 12 ideas by the October 2 meeting.

1. Robin Stamper will review the updated competition rules.

2. Monthly Print Competition Category: Mermaids of Norfolk. One or two members will initiate a discussion of what makes a photo good and what could be done to improve others.

3. Monthly Photo Challenge/Round Table for mAugust: Shoot from the Hip. Members will discuss why photos are good and what could be done to improve the others.

4. Bill and Linda Lane ( www.lanephotoworkshops) is set for Saturday September 22,2012, for a one-day photo workshop. Online registration is open. Need all payments in on or before August 15, despite what it says on the website. We usually have 3 hours of instruction ( held at ECPI) on exposure and manual settings in a classroom and 5hours of shooting in the Botanical Gardens. This year we will be shooting butterfliesat the Gardens. They are great instructors and award winning photographers.We need a minimum of 14 people to register amnd pay, maximum is set at 20. They provide individual instruction , therefore they accept no more than 20. The cost is $50.00/person. NOTE: In order to keep a tally of those who are planning to attend the workshop, please register online. Registration is open to the first 20 people who register online.Even if you paid by check at a meeting, you need to register online.

5. Migration of the Monarch butterflies in September/October: Competition Chair Dave Grochmal has talked to The Virginian-Pilot's columnist Mary Reid Barrow( Close Encounters/ Coastal Journal), who is willing to write an article about a VBPC club field trip. This event will take place in late September or early October at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife refuge, 5003 Hallett Circle, Cape Charles, Va 23310, to photograph the magnificent Monarch butterflies on their way south  for the winter. The trip date depends on the weather.

    The club is invitinganyone( members and nonmembers ) with an interest in photography to join us for this field trip.

Directions to the Eastern Shore of nVirginia National Wildlife Refuge:  Take the first right off the Bay Bridge tunnel on the Eastern Shore side, then take first right into the parking lot of the Visitors' Center. It should not be to difficult to find these magnificent display of butterflies without walking too far. Dress appropriately and for the weather and wear sturdy shoes.

6. We need volunteers to help plan the Awards Banquet for January 19,2013. We are hopin Keith Cephus will accept our invitation to be our speaker.

7. Call  for Nominations: We will hold our annual elections during our November 13th meeting. Those interested in holding office or charing a committee, please step up and volunteer to help make this club the best it can be in the area.

NOTE: The National Election falls on our regular Novemeber meetin night, and since the church is a polling place , we will switch with the Wedding & Portrait group. The regular meeting is November 13 and the wedding & Portrait meeting is on Nov. 6.

8. Ways to servw your Club:

 1 Enter the monthly competition

2 Learn to judge photos, so you will know what judges look for in a winning photo

3Learn to critique the winning photos- tell us what is good about the photo and what could have been done to make it even better. Learn how to improve average photos.

4 Provide topics for discussios. What do you want to learn more about?

5 Participate in Round Table discussions. Enter the photo challenge assignment every month and learn things like how to control depth of field, obtain the correct exposure/

6 Submit samples of great photos and so great photos ( yours or from magazines) and discuss with other members.

7 Scout new places for us to shoot as a group

8 Join one of the 6 committees:

competition, events, judging, membership, website updating, online competition organizer

The July print competition results have been posted. We had some good entries, but in my opinion not enough great entries. Our attendance is low and not enough people are entering prints. The same people are winning. Those winners are very good, but we just need more competition. I challenge everyone in the club to enter at least once in the remainder of the year.
David Grochmal