Dubuque Camera Club member Sam Fenstermacher contributed to these meeting notes.

Fourteen club members attended the Dubuque Camera Club virtual club meeting on Monday, September 20, 2021. This meeting was held via Zoom. Tentatively, the club plans to meet IN PERSON for the next meeting on Oct. 4th. However, internet is not working at the nature center, so the club will NOT be stream meetings as we hoped. (Scroll to the bottom of this post for more meeting information).

Finishing up DJ judging. The top item on the agenda for tonight’s meeting was deciding tiebreakers for the monthly N4C Digital Journalism (DJ) contest. “There was a lot of stuff that was close in caliber,” said club president Ron Tigges, “so we need to resolve those tonight.”

As a club, we looked at all of the DJ entries for this month’s contest. Club N4C rep Cara Pusateri organized the top-scoring images. (She had experienced some trouble with Excel, due to outdated software, so tech recommendations flew back and forth a couple minutes. )

Prior to the meeting, three of our club members had already judged 63 images from 18 clubs. No manipulation is allowed in the DJ category, which means that photos need to be “real,” with nothing added or removed or altered. Panel-type images, consisting of a story of 2-3 photos, are fine.

Each judge had given each entry a numeric score. In DJ, 3 judges score each entry 2 to 9 for a max possible of 27pts. When all of the judge’s scores are put into a spreadsheet, ties happen. Ron was the only judge present, so he asked for input from others.

First, second, third, and honorable mention images were chosen. See the top-scoring Digital Journalism entries, along with winners in other categories, in the Winners’ Galleries on the N4C website.

Do you need a model release for that?

Photo opps — model releases, privacy, copyright. Several of the DJ images were of athletes, which inspired a discussion of similar local photo opps. Several trail runs and marathons/ultramarathons are hosted in Dubuque — The Swiss Valley Trail Run is coming up on Oct. 5, and the Mines of Spain 100 will be on Oct. 15-16.

The club briefly discussed the subject’s right to privacy, whether permission is needed to take photos of others, if a model release is needed, and whether it makes a difference when an event is held on public land.

“It’s a very complicated issue,” said new club member Suzie Wright. Her work in the past involved clearing permissions in book publishing. “That’s why I can’t wait to hear what changes happen in January.” That’s when the CASE Act will get up-and-running.

Suzie explained: “When you’re hanging something for art’s sake, and not making money on it, as long as you’re not harming that person’s brand, you have a little more latitude.”

“There’s two people that need to be protected,” added Ron, “the person that you’re photographing, and your work as a photographer.”

The group consensus was that, if you hope to photograph the upcoming trail runs and marathons, one strategy is to make contact with race organizers in advance. Another option is to approach the athletes themselves beforehand or afterwards, to get their name and request permission, or to have them sign a model release form.

A suggestion was made to see what Adobe Stock’s policy is for their contributors. Here’s their policy on Model Releases. Here’s their info on Property Releases.

Club business

Membership update, treasurer’s report, and “Trees” exhibit. As of Sept. 20th, our club has 28 active members for the 2021-22 season. We are a “large” club by N4C standards. (Reminder: Only active members may participate in club exhibits. It’s easy to renew your membership. Simply pay $20 annual dues).

Jennifer prepared a summary of club financials. We are in the black, yay!! Recent expenses have included food for the opening reception for the club’s “Eclectic” exhibit at the Smokestack; along with catered lunches for the club picnic in June.

The club has the option to again subsidize the cost of prints for the Dubuque Museum of Art exhibit. Ron will meet with the curator later this week. She is currently reviewing submissions. After exhibit images are chosen, each club member with an image chosen will be notified and asked whether they wish to participate. We’ll be ordering prints as a group.

The club will give two presentations during the 3-month duration of the “Trees” exhibit:

• “History of War Photography” — a presentation by Ron, Stephonie, and Bob.
• Exhibitor presentation — a talk by club members with prints in the show: Get ready to volunteer!!!

Our club will enter N4C Print Contests!

NEW: Print competition. Due to positive changes in the contest, our club has decided to start participating in N4C print contests. Stephonie Schmitz has volunteered to serve as print chairperson. She will collect submissions, and make sure they get forwarded to the appropriate judging club.

** Deadline to submit prints will be the first meeting of each month** There will be a few days of wiggle room (no later than the 7th). They must be received in time for her to get them in the mail so they can reach the judging club by the deadline. Stephonie made ** print labels ** as well as a concise version of the ** N4C rules for Prints ** which you can also find in the club’s Facebook group.

“I would be ordering stuff now for next month’s entry,” Stephonie suggested to the group. 8″x10″ prints will work fine. She uses Miller’s (was MpixPro) and McKenna in Waterloo. (Sam F. suggested Nations Photo Lab). Next season, our club will probably need to judge prints too.

Other news

• The N4C has updated their “Handbook” for the current season. It is on the “Supplies and Forms” page on their website.

• Dubuque Camera Club member and state representative Chuck Isenhart reminded the group of a conservation bond coming up for vote that will give financial support to local parks and preserves. It is called the Dubuque County Land and Water Legacy, and should be of interest to all landscape and wildlife photographers. The Catfish Creek Music Fest will be held in support of this bond measure at Swiss Valley Park on Sun. Oct. 3rd from 2-5 p.m. Find more info at dbqlandandwater.org

• Dubuque Camera Club member Stephonie Schmitz has invited us to a reception for her photography exhibit at Chestnut Mountain Resort. The exhibit is currently on display in the lobby. The reception will be on Thurs., October 14th from 4-7p.m. This is a pretty spot for landscape photography, especially with the trees changing, so stop out if you get a chance!!

:: ARTIST RECEPTION ::
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14th
4:00pm – 7:00pm
Chestnut Mountain Resort Lobby
Light snacks provided. Drinks and food available for purchase with one of the most scenic views of the Mississippi River in the TriState area.
Chat and mingle while viewing photographic works by Stephonie A Schmitz of SAO Dzynz, Inc.
Art + 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles available for purchase
****

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Next club meeting will be IN PERSON on Monday October 4th at 6:30 p.m.

The next Dubuque Camera Club meeting will be held on Monday, October 4th, starting at 6:30 p.m.

TENTATIVELY, the next meeting will be in person at E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center in the Mines of Spain. The internet is not working at the nature center, so the club will NOT be livestreaming meetings as we hoped.

N4C contest submissions are due before the meeting. Because we judged that category this month, our club can submit double (16) entries in Digital Journalism. See the Competition page for more information about submitting to monthly N4C contests.

Note: Meeting details are subject to change. Current club members will receive more information by email.

Meeting notes contributed by Dubuque Camera Club member Sam Fenstermacher.

Sixteen people attended the Dubuque Camera Club virtual meeting on Tuesday, September 7th, 2021 (It was on Tuesday due to Labor Day). The meeting was held via Zoom and began at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting began with a photo opp discussion. The “American” riverboat was to arrive in the Port of Dubuque the next day. (If you know of any local photo opps, please share them at meetings or to the club’s Facebook group!)

We have gained two new club members:
• Destiny Goetzinger
• Suzanne Wright

Welcome to the club, Des and Suzie!!!

• Submit your info to the club’s Member Directory! We’ll use this biographical information in the brochure for the upcoming “Trees” exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art (DuMA). The member directory is password protected, and the password was given out during the meeting.

Return to in-person meetings? Club president Ronald Tigges explained that the first two club meetings this season will be virtual. The internet/wifi is not presently working at our usual meeting venue. Also, at the next meeting, the club will review judging results, and that is well suited to a virtual meeting.

The current hope is that the first meeting of October will be held in-person at the E.B. Lyons Interpretative Center, in the Mines of Spain. Please note that with the Covid numbers increasing, we may need to be flexible with virtual meetings. Plans are in the works to continue to have a virtual option even after meetings return to in-person.

About the club. Ron gave some basic information about the club, and also introduced the club officers. The Dubuque Camera Club has a long history, which dates back to the 19th century. We are affiliated with the North Central Camera Club Council (N4C), which is made up of 37 midwestern clubs. Our club currently competes in six categories of digital photography.

A question was asked about PSA affiliation. The N4C is an affiliate of the Photographic Society of America (PSA). At the end of the N4C season, the N4C’s PSA chairperson selects and submits from winning images and enters them in a PSA contest. However, as far as we know, we do not have access to educational materials on the PSA website. Note that the annual PSA Photo Festival is coming up in Rapid City in October.

N4C convention for 2021 was cancelled. The N4C convention in Duluth was cancelled due to Covid and forest fires. A couple of our club members are still heading up north to Duluth or the Apostle Islands, so we look forward to seeing their awesome autumn travel images!

Annual Dues are Due! Participating in club exhibits is one of the perks of Dubuque Camera Club membership. If you have not paid your dues for the 2021-22 season, please do so now. Annual dues are only $20 and may be easily paid online. (Click here to pay your dues online.)

TREES exhibit. The Dubuque Camera Club photography exhibit, “Trees,” is scheduled to open on November 13, 2021 at the Dubuque Museum of Art. It will be on display concurrently with a military and veterans related photography exhibit: “Vietnam: The Real War – Photographs from the Associated Press.” Both shows will run for about three months, through February 6th, 2022.

The DuMA curator is currently choosing images. We’d like to include at least one image from each participating club member. New club members, please be aware that the “Trees” exhibit was an event that was postponed from 2020. If you have not had a chance to submit, send up to 5 images to Ron ASAP. He also has one mystery photo to identify from prior submissions.

If you didn’t send in a high-res or final version, you’ll need to do that after you get notification that your image was chosen. We’ll be printing images as a group, with the final cost and details to be determined. (We’ll probably print at 12×18″ at a total cost of around $60 per print). No watermarks on the final images. We’ll be signing prints by hand.

Ron Tigges, Bob Felderman, and Stephonie Schmitz have volunteered to do an informative photography presentation at the art museum during the “Trees” exhibit. The tentative topic will be changes to military photography and photo-journalism techniques over the years. More details will be shared when we know more.

Competing in N4C Print competition. Due to changes in the N4C monthly print competition, which hopefully will lead to a reduction in both hassle and cost, our club may start to compete in prints (in addition to digital).

“Because we don’t do print competition currently,” said Jennifer, “there’s not a good chance we can be Large Club of the Year.” Digital is limited to 8 submissions per category per club (unless we judge, when it’s 16). For prints, up to 16 prints could be submitted in each category, which will ratchet up our club’s points, if people participate.

Stephonie has volunteered to organize the mailings, and to serve as contact person for prints. Jennifer will check with the N4C to see if we can still get onboard this season. Typically, we would have to judge prints, too (that happens in person!). However, the N4C prints judging calendar is already made up for the season.

More details about print competition will be sent out when we know more. If you foresee participating, 8×10 prints are a safe bet! No matting or frames are needed. See the rules on the N4C website.

Upcoming club meeting workshops. Several ideas were suggested for hands-on activities during upcoming club meetings:

• Macro/closeup workshop, including focus stacking
• Still life, with various lighting or subject options
• Copyright/CASE act presentation
• Critique of member images

Bob Felderman showed off a “Learning Light” with a variety of lighting modes for trying new lighting styles. (Kudos: Bob was mentioned in a recent issue of Photoshop User magazine. Good job!!)

Digital Journalism judging. This month, our club will do virtual judging of the N4C Digital Journalism category. Club N4C rep Cara Pusateri will organize the judging. Volunteer judges: (1) Ron Tigges, (2) Bob Felderman, (3) Kenneth Kiss. Judging will happen from Sept. 16-19. We’ll go over results at the next meeting.

Submissions to the monthly Digital contest. The remainder of the meeting was devoted to viewing the club’s submissions to the September N4C Digital contest. The submission process was reviewed for the benefit of the new club members. Some categories did not have enough entries. “If a category is not full,” said N4C rep Cara, then it’s first come, first serve, after the meeting.”

Thanks to everyone who submitted photos this month! Remember, submissions are always due before the first meeting of each month, so your next chance to submit will be before the October 4th meeting (double DJ).

Meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m.

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Next meeting on Monday, Sept. 20th at 6:30 p.m.

The next Dubuque Camera Club will be VIRTUAL. It will be held on Monday, September 20th at 6:30 p.m. We will review the results of Digital Journalism judging. This meeting will be held via Zoom. If you are a tri-state resident interested in attending, please send your contact information to dubuquecameraclub@gmail.com

Don’t forget to renew your club membership! Annual dues are only $20 for the 2021-22 season. Your dues must be current to participate in upcoming club exhibits, or to submit to monthly N4C contests. Learn more about the club on the FAQ on this website.

The Dubuque Camera Club will hold a season kickoff club meeting on Tuesday, September 7th at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually, via Zoom.

If you are a tri-state resident who is interested in joining the club, send an email with your contact information to dubuquecameraclub@gmail.com

To join the club or renew your membership for the 2021-22 season, please pay your $20 annual membership dues. Active membership qualifies you to participate in all club activities and exhibits.

• Click here to update your membership and pay current dues.
• Questions…? See the FAQ page.

Experienced club members: N4C submissions are due before the meeting. Remember, up to 1920px on the longest edge, file size up to 750KB. More information is on the Competition page.

Our club will judge the Digital Journalism category in September. Speak up during the meeting or contact Ron if you are an experienced club member who is willing to serve as volunteer judge for the monthly N4C contest. Click here to see past DJ winners.

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Below is information about the Journalism category from the official N4C Rules:

Journalism
Journalism Photography depicts some event or activity; story telling is emphasized, as in a newspaper or magazine photograph. An element of human interest is a fundamental quality for a journalism photograph.

1. A Journalism entry can be a single image or a sequence of related images arranged for presentation as a single entry.
2. Only minimal digital editing is allowed. In the interest of credibility, photographs that misrepresent the truth, such as manipulation to alter the subject matter, or situations set up for the purpose of photography, are unacceptable. No elements may be moved, cloned, added, deleted, rearranged, or combined. No manipulation or modification is permitted except resizing, cropping, selective lightening or darkening, and restoration of original color of the scene. No special effect filters may be added or applied.
3. For the Print competition, PRINTS should be UNMOUNTED or on a lightweight mount not to exceed 8 x 12 inches in size.
4. The three (3) jury members shall vote a score of between two (2) and nine (9) points. Separate voting for technique, composition, and interest will NOT be made, but will be considered only in connection with the suitability of the work for Journalism competition. The total score for each submitted photograph will range from six (6) to twenty-seven (27) points.
5. The titles or captions of the submitted works will be read at least for the first round of judging. If subsequent rounds are required, it is not necessary to repeat the title or caption.

The Dubuque Camera Club held its end-of-the-season picnic on Monday, June 7th, 2021 at the America’s State Tree Woodland Walk shelter in the Mines of Spain Recreation Area. Twenty club members and two guests attended. The club provided pre-packaged box lunches and bottled water for a light evening meal. (We hope to bring back the yummy potluck next year!)

Jennifer Tigges did a great job with purchasing and gathering food and supplies for the picnic. Not only did she bring tablecloths, but they were each weighted down against the breeze with bug soother or hand sanitizer. Very practical!

During the picnic, Cara Pusateri, club N4C rep, gave out stacks of ribbons and comments from this season’s N4C contests. Because our club has been holding virtual meetings since April 2020, she had quite a few awards stacked up. Our club did awesome during the 2020/21 season! See the Club Winners page for our club’s top photographers who earned recognition in the monthly N4C contests.

At the start of the evening, Chuck Isenhart, who is a state representative in Des Moines, as well as a club member, gave a short pitch for club members to support the Dubuque County Land and Water Legacy coalition. This will be another option for protecting the natural areas and creatures that so many of us love to photograph!

Casey Klein passed around a printed copy of a recent Galena CFA virtual exhibit. You can order printed copies of the flipbook, which makes a nice keepsake for participants! See all the flipbooks here. If you are interested in future opportunities, contact their gallery manager or sign up for their newsletter on the Galena Center for the Arts website.

Other news shared or overheard during the picnic….

• Henry Matthiessen suggested that everybody who participates in the upcoming Smokestack exhibit needs to commit to share the event (either on social media or in person) at least FIVE times.
• Stephonie Schmitz has agreed to use her graphic design skills for the upcoming club photography exhibits.
• Jennifer and Ron brought a sample “Woodsnap” print, just in case the club wants to print the DuMA show on wood this year.
• Ken Kiss is planning a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, so get ready to see lots of great scenic images!
• Kevin McTague is caring for a bluebird trail at Swiss Valley. This year, it was used by 10 bluebird families and 4 tree swallow families.
• New club member Jim Kelly is originally from Ireland (really!)
• Nick Lucy was so happy to come to the picnic, he arrived one day early! (Shhh, don’t tell!)

New club officers for 2021-2022

The club also (re)elected officers for the upcoming season. Jennifer started out with a bang in her new role as treasurer by giving a snapshot of the club’s (healthy) finances. She is also still on the N4C board of directors. New club vice president Jim Durrant will sub for Ron to lead meetings when needed. Cara will continue her role as N4C rep, but she is looking forward to training a new volunteer. Ken will continue to handle the Nature and Black & White entries.

Club office	Club member
President	Ronald Tigges
Vice President	James Durrant
Treasurer	Jennifer Tigges
N4C Representative	Cara Pusateri
N4C Representative	Kenneth Kiss
Communications	Pamela Brandt

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UPCOMING EXHIBITS — An opening reception for the Dubuque Camera Club exhibit at the Smokestack will be held on Friday, July 2nd from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. More info here. This is a really nice venue, so be sure to invite the people you know!

Trees at DuMA. Everybody please check what you sent in for the Trees exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art. If you want to add or delete an image, let Ron or Ken know. For DuMA, we’ll order prints as a club. Opening date is Nov. 13. It will be on display during an exhibit of Associated Press photos that were taken during the Vietnam war.

Participating in club exhibits & activities is a perk of Dubuque Camera Club membership!

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NEXT MEETING…

Remember, there are no regular meetings during the summer. The first club meeting of the 2021/22 season will be on Tuesday, September 7th at 6:30 p.m. We plan to meet in person.

Membership dues of $20 will be due at the Sept. 7 meeting. You are welcome to click this link to renew your member dues online. New members may join the club using the same link.

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