Contributed by Pamela Brandt
The March 7 meeting was attended by 22 club members and guests.
Dubuque Museum of Art exhibit: Dubuque Architecture From a New Perspective
Jennifer Tigges met with the curator of the Dubuque Museum of Art to develop guidelines for this year’s show. This will be the Dubuque Camera Club’s fourth consecutive year to exhibit. The theme is “Dubuque Architecture From a New Perspective.”
“It’s architecture, but they don’t want to see a straight-on shot of a building,” Jennifer said. “Maybe it’s an archway, or a doorway.” She handed out printed guidelines during the meeting and posted a few sample images on Facebook that may be used for ideas.
Dubuque Camera Club meeting, March 7, 2016 | Photo by Bob Felderman
N4C contest returns and submissions
Most of the meeting was focused on going over returns and submissions for the N4C photo contest. Comments are now optional, which will save time when we judge, although it is nice to get some feedback from others.
Our club has been doing extremely well in the monthly contests. Those awarded 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or Honorable Mention are eligible for the annual Council competition at the end of the year (the club year runs from September through May).
The Dubuque Camera Club currently has 45 members, which Ron pointed out is near the historic high membership level. This club has been in existence since the 1940s. It’s a big advantage to be able to use E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center at the Mines of Spain for meetings, and a portion of our dues supports this venue. Previously, the club met in members’ homes or in a bank.
N4C rules limit the club to 8 submissions per contest category on non-judging months (16 submissions on an alternate month when a category is judged). Which means that – if more than 8 entries are submitted in a category – we need to develop a process to narrow them down.
DeWayne pointed out that more participation means we have a thriving club. “I want to take a minute to thank everybody for submitting and creating the problem we now have,” he said.
Lois Pancratz said that real-world photography is juried, so it makes sense to evaluate the photos before we send them to the contest.
Ron said he wanted to emphasize that winnowing down images can be a way for the more experienced photographers to mentor those who are still learning. “The club can pick what we think is best,” he said. This is an opportunity to share constructive information with new members.
By a consensus of those present, it was decided that photos submitted to previous months’ contests will be removed so that new photos can compete.
Because we will be judging the Pictorial category on April 18 and the Travel category on May 16, we can enter double, or 16 photos, for both Pictorial and Travel in April. (Zero entries for any category the month we judge it.) Email your submissions to Cara before the April 4 meeting.
Be sure to follow the instructions that are listed in the club folder or “book.” If you don’t have it yet, paying members can pick up a book from DeWayne Beecher during a meeting. The information contained is very helpful when it comes to re-sizing or naming photos, or selecting a contest category.
Upcoming meetings
Drones are a hot topic in the news, and can be controversial. We plan to cover them in an upcoming meeting or seminar. A presentation by a drone videographer is tentatively scheduled for an upcoming meeting. Details forthcoming.
Next meeting: Monday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m.
Other news
Several club members attended Ty Smedes’ presentation at Swiss Valley. He was also recently in Clinton, Iowa. Because we live in a major migration flyway, bird and eagle photography is very pertinent here.
Club member Ken Kiss won first place in the Dubuque County Conservation Board Moments in Nature photo contest. His winning photo of a juvenile Great Horned Owl appears on the cover of the March 2016 issue of Julien’s Journal.
Some members submitted to the farming-themed photo contest sponsored by the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. Selected photos will appear inFarming Today, to come out with the newspaper on Saturday, March 26.
The Julien Dubuque Film Festival will be held on April 21-24. This festival is highly recommended if you enjoy videography.
On Saturday, April 23, the Linn Area Photography Club in Cedar Rapids is hosting “Spend a day with Moose Peterson, wildlife photographer and Nikon Ambassador.” Cost is $25. To learn more or to register, visit linnareaphotoclub.org.