Club Calendar 2023-2024

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Celebrating 125 Years

September

Welcome back! At this in-person meeting at the Woodfords Club, we will start with an introduction to the Portland Camera Club and our activities for the year. The club's officers and executive board will be introduced.

Members, please bring one print that is your favorite photo taken over the summer. At the meeting, we'll view and discuss prints brought in by members. One print per member, must have been taken between May 1 and August 31, 2023. This will be the 1st Summer Print Challenge meeting since before COVID!

Rob Smith will lead an interactive session to better understand the criteria used in judging images. Rob encourages everyone to review his handouts before the meeting. Click here for handouts.

Via Zoom, we'll meet to discuss images in an open, supportive way. Images are not judged or scored. All members are encouraged to submit one image.

  • Deadline for submissions is Fri Sept 22nd.
  • Images must be in JPEG/JPG format and sized to a maximum width of 1920px, and max height 1080px.
  • Name your image file yourname-class A or B-imagetitle.jpg – for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Yosemite-Valley.jpg (note: if you're new to the club, use B for class B).
  • Email your image file to pccupload@gmail.com. You will receive a confirmation email within 72 hours.

October

Rich Reynolds, Rob Smith and Mike Cullivan will lead a panel discussion on the aspects of Nature Photography. This is an in-person meeting at the Woodfords Club.

An opportunity to shoot fall foliage scenes. You can show up with your camera and join one of these meet-ups:

  • Mike Leonard is coordinating a Kelby International Photo Walk at Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, ME. For all the details including start time and location, click here.
  • Note: Due to heavy rains forecast for Saturday, the Two Lights State Park photo walk has been rescheduled to Friday 10/6 at 3:00. Colleen Graves is leading an excursion in Cape Elizabeth: Two Lights State Park, Kettle Cove and Crescent Beach. Meetup: 3:00pm at the Two Lights SP parking lot (map).
  • The White Mountains photo walk needed to be rescheduled to Oct 5th.

(Zoom meeting) Together we will watch Saul Leiter, a well known street and abstract photographer, take us along with others as he walks the streets doing his craft. Our discussion will follow.

Members are encouraged to bring a guest!
6:00 Come early and bring any photographic equipment you want to sell, give away or even swap. Tables will be set up for a sort of "photography flea market." All sales are the responsibility of the PCC member who is selling (note: bring cash to make change).
7:00 Social hour with Refreshments (members last name A-G bring beverages w/serving items; last name H-Z bring a snack w/serving items).
Door Prize! A $75 gift certificate for Red River Paper, a maker of fine photographic paper and notecards.
8:00 Interactive Discussion - PCC Members “Tell your PCC Story”

(Zoom meeting) We'll discuss fall foliage images in an open, supportive way. Images are not judged or scored. All members are encouraged to submit one fall foliage image.

  • Deadline for submissions is Fri Oct 20th.
  • One image per person.
  • Images must be in JPEG/JPG format and sized to a maximum width of 1920px, and max height 1080px.
  • Name your image file yourname-class A or B-imagetitle.jpg – for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Yosemite-Valley.jpg (note: if you're new to the club, use B for class B).
  • Email your image file to pccupload@gmail.com. You will receive a confirmation email within 72 hours.

The online entry form must be submitted by Oct 28 for the competition on Nov 4th. The mailed-in prints must be received by Oct 28 also. If you choose to drop off your print(s) in person, bring the print(s) to the competition site, Greater Lynn Photographic Association Headquarters, between 9:30-10:30am on Nov 4th. For all the competition details—including rules regarding use of Artificial Intelligence software, click here for the PDF.

Pro photographer Rick Hulbert's presentation is "Artificial Intelligence in/vs. Photography...the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." Rick will show some results from AI apps such as Midjourney, Firefly, and Adobe Photoshop's Beta program. He will also tackle the question of ethics, which, he says "is complicated, but necessary to address." Visit www.rickhulbertphotography.com.

November

Tyler Schaefer's presentation is about creating and processing high dynamic range (HDR) images. This is an in-person meeting at the Woodfords Club.

(Zoom meeting) This meeting will provide a guided tour of processing an image from the beginning to the end. Mandy Saunders will demonstrate in Lightoom; Mike Leonard will demonstrate in Photoshop.

Mandy's presentation, "From Lens to Likes in Record Time," includes some tips and tricks to use when a quick edit is required to get from a raw (or jpg) to a social media post, using Lightroom Classic and some of the fancy new features. For the more experienced Lightroom user, Mandy hopes to include some tricks and tips that you may wish to add to your workflow. If there is time, she will also include a quick review of printing from Lightroom.

All members are encouraged to bring in one print for discussion.

(Zoom meeting)  Pro photographer and teacher Ian Plant is our guest speaker tonight. Visit Ian's website: www.ianplant.com

December

All members are encouraged to bring in one print for discussion.

A day of photography starting at 10:00am in Kennebunk (meetup location: Depot Street Parking Lot). For all the locations and details of the photo walk, see this PDF.

Ella and Knapp Hudson – Downtown Portland holiday lights and store displays. Meetup time is 5:00pm at Longfellow Square (Google maps). For additional details, see Ella's email to club members.

(Zoom meeting) Tonight's judge is Larry Dunn, a professional fine art photographer (dunnphotographic.com). Submission Guidelines:

  • Deadline: Thursday, Nov 30th.
  • Click here for details about new rules regarding AI-generated content.
  • One image per member. JPEG format only. Images should not exceed maximum width 1920px and maximum height 1080px.
  • Name your image file in the format your name-[class A or B]-title.jpg, for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Winter-Storm-Yosemite.jpg
  • Send your image file by email to pccupload@gmail.com (every entry receives a confirmation within 72 hrs).

Come and shoot the annual Light Parade of ships in Portland Harbor, also fireworks. Two locations (choose either):

  • The Portland Fish Pier, which is right on the harbor. Led by Mike Leonard. Meet on the Fish Pier next to the Vessel Services building (directions). Free parking is available at the nearby Maine International Trade Center.
  • Bug Light Park, So. Portland, which includes a view of the Portland skyline. Led by Colleen Graves. Meet at Bug Light Park (directions).

At this in-person meeting, we'll discuss holiday lighting images in an open, supportive way. Images are not judged or scored. All members are encouraged to submit 1-2 holiday lighting images.

  • Deadline for submissions is Sunday, Dec 17 at 10:00pm (extended deadline).
  • One or two images per person.
  • Images must be in JPEG/JPG format and sized to a maximum width of 1920px, and max height 1080px.
  • Name your image file yourname-class A or B-imagetitle.jpg – for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Yosemite-Valley.jpg (note: if you're new to the club, use B for class B).
  • Email your image file to pccupload@gmail.com. You will receive a confirmation email within 72 hours.

January

(Zoom) Matthew Johnson, Visual Arts Educator at Westbrook High School, Jennie Driscoll, Art and Music Department Chair and Visual Arts Educator at Brunswick High School, and Rachel Lake, last year’s recipient of the Latimer-Hutchinson Scholarship will join us for a discussion on what is currently being taught in high schools. Matthew is also the current President-Elect of the Maine Arts Education Association (MAEA) and Jennie runs the MAEA Photo Teachers Interest Group.

All members are encouraged to bring in one print for discussion.

Meet-up locations and times will be announced.

(Zoom meeting) Tonight's judge is pro photographer Allie Richards (www.allierichards.com). Submission Guidelines:

  • Deadline: Thursday, Jan 11th.
  • Click here for details about new rules regarding AI-generated content.
  • One image per member. JPEG format only. Images should not exceed maximum width 1920px and maximum height 1080px.
  • Name your image file in the format your name-[class A or B]-title.jpg, for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Winter-Storm-Yosemite.jpg
  • Send your image file by email to pccupload@gmail.com (every entry receives a confirmation within 72 hrs).

Founder, creator and publisher of ICM Photography Magazine, Stephanie Johnson's presentation will be about Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) photography.

Visit Stephanie's website: stephjohnphoto.com

February

All members are encouraged to bring in one print for discussion.

(Zoom meeting) Tonight's judge is pro photographer Rick Berk (www.rickberk.com). Submission Guidelines:

  • Deadline: Thursday, Feb 1st.
  • Click here for details about new rules regarding AI-generated content.
  • One image per member. JPEG format only. Images should not exceed maximum width 1920px and maximum height 1080px.
  • Name your image file in the format your name-[class A or B]-title.jpg, for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Winter-Storm-Yosemite.jpg
  • Send your image file by email to pccupload@gmail.com (every entry receives a confirmation within 72 hrs).

(Zoom) Bill Shumaker will explore the history of composite images, then demonstrate some techniques for creating them through a review of his own work.

You can see a selection of Bill's composites here: https://www.aurelianimagery.com/galleries/visions-artifacts

(Zoom) Pro photographer Isaac Crabtree specializes in aerial imagery, especially in Maine's North Woods (Moosehead Lake). He will give a presentation about drone photography.

Visit Isaac's website: www.northwoodsaerial.com

March

Opening night for the PCC 125th Celebration Exhibit at the Portland Public Library's Lewis Gallery (gallery details). The Portland Public Library is located at 5 Monument Square, Portland (Google maps).

(Zoom meeting) Pro photographer and macro specialist Mike Moats's talk is titled "The Properly Equipped Macro Photographer."  Being a properly equipped macro photographer is not just about the equipment, but also equipping yourself with the how-to knowledge of macro photography. Mike will cover the most important equipment for macro photography, how to control depth of field, composition, and finding character in your subjects.

Visit Mike's website: www.tinylandscapes.com

(Zoom meeting) Tonight's judge is pro photographer and teacher Paul Nguyen (www.paulnguyenphoto.com). Submission Guidelines:

  • Deadline: Thursday, Feb 29th.
  • Click here for details about new rules regarding AI-generated content.
  • One image per member. JPEG format only. Images should not exceed maximum width 1920px and maximum height 1080px.
  • Name your image file in the format your name-[class A or B]-title.jpg, for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Winter-Storm-Yosemite.jpg
  • Send your image file by email to pccupload@gmail.com (every entry receives a confirmation within 72 hrs).

(In-person meeting)  Always a popular, entertaining night of short slideshows by PCC members. Family, friends, anyone is welcome to join us to watch the shows. Submissions by members only.

Note: To watch a video about how to create a slideshow using Lightroom, click here. For a video about using WnSoft's PicturesToExe, click here.

Slideshow Guidelines:

  • Family appropriate content, please.
  • Create (export) your slideshow as an .MP4 file (1080P at 30fps).
  • Shows should be not longer than 4 minutes.
  • Royalty Free or your own original music
  • First "slide" should include the slideshow title and your name.
  • After all of the image slides, add a slide that provides music attribution (song title, artist).
  • The final slide should be a black slide. This will help with transitions from one slideshow to the next.
  • Use WeTransfer (a free program) to send in your .MP4 file. When WeTransfer prompts you for a destination email, enter mleonard@maine.rr.com – Mike Leonard is collecting the slideshows for presentation at the meeting.
  • Submission dates: submit your slideshow (i.e., use WeTransfer to send your .MP4 file) between Mar 7 and Mar 17.

(Zoom meeting) Professional photographer, teacher and specialist in iPhoneography, Rad Drew will be our guest speaker (via Zoom). The focus of his presentation is Lightroom Mobile. Visit Rad's website: www.raddrewphotography.com

The online entry form must be submitted by March 30th for the competition on April 6th. The mailed-in prints must be received by March 30th also. If you choose to drop off your print(s) in person, bring the print(s) to the competition site, Greater Lynn Photographic Association Headquarters, between 9:30-10:30am on April 6th. For all the competition details—including rules regarding use of Artificial Intelligence software, click here for the PDF.

April

Greg will share his story of how film helped in his journey to be a better photographer.

(Zoom meeting) Tonight's guest judge is Matt Johnson, visual arts coordinator for Westbrook High School. Submission Guidelines:

  • Deadline: Thursday, Mar 21st.
  • Click here for details about new rules regarding AI-generated content.
  • One image per member. JPEG format only. Images should not exceed maximum width 1920px and maximum height 1080px.
  • Name your image file in the format your name-[class A or B]-title.jpg, for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Winter-Storm-Yosemite.jpg
  • Send your image file by email to pccupload@gmail.com (every entry receives a confirmation within 72 hrs).

At this in-person meeting, members are encouraged to share images from a location visited for the first time, a location within 30 minutes drive from your home. Visit as many times as you want, then submit up to three of your favorite images taken there. We will discuss our images at the April 15th in-person meeting at the Woodfords Club.

Looking for a location? Try this: choose a town that's 30 minutes or less from home, for example Topsham. Go to Google and enter 'Topsham walking trail' or 'Topsham land trust property' Or go to Maine Trail Finder and click on Find Trails, then choose a town. Submission Guidelines:

  • Deadline: Saturday, April 13.
  • Up to three images per member. JPEG/JPG format only. Images should not exceed maximum width 1920px and maximum height 1080px.
  • Name your image file in the format your name-[class A or B]-title.jpg, for example, Ansel-Adams-A-Winter-Storm-Yosemite.jpg
  • Send your image file by email to pccupload@gmail.com (every entry receives a confirmation within 72 hrs).

An opportunity to shoot springtime scenes. Location meet-up details to be announced.

Sean Thomas of Hunts Photo & Video will lead a mini workshop on the technique, lighting and equipment of portrait photography.

There will also be an opportunity for post-season review.

May

Tonight's in-person meeting at the Woodfords Club is the Portland Camera Club's annual business meeting, including the Treasurer’s report as well as the election of Club Officers and Executive Board members for next year.

Come and celebrate the Portland Camera Club's 125th continuous year of meeting. More details coming!

Summer 2024

The club doesn't hold meetings in June, July or August.