Pictured are winners from the September 2017 competition
CHESTER COUNTY CAMERA CLUB
MEETING NOTES - SEPTEMBER 26, 2017
Rhoads Building ~ Chester County Hospital
Meeting ~ Bob Kelly called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Chester County Camera Club. Bob asked everyone to please silence their cell phones.
New members and guests ~ There were 2 guests at tonight’s meeting.
Next Mentoring Session ~ Wednesday, October 18. Bob Kelly told the club that the first mentoring session was a success; there were 12 mentors & 14 mentees!
Competition winners ~ Bob Kelly asked all winners to stay after the meeting ends to have a group photo taken by Betsy Wilson.
After the meeting ~ Bob Kelly asked everyone to please leave the room as they found it. Dispose of all trash and push chairs back under the tables.
Competition ~ Richard Greenwood explained the new judging system allowing for additional comments during print judging. An audience member can call out “comment” if they desire further information on an image. The judge will elaborate on the image at the end of the category.
Richard introduced tonight’s judge, Kathy Buckalew. The Assignment - Leading Lines.
Kathleen (Kathy) Buckalew proudly declares, “I’m from Wilmington, Delaware, born and raised! I’ve been taking pictures since I was 12 years old, when my godmother gave me an Instamatic camera. I’ve been the family historian ever since. I love photographing a lot of different things: architecture, landscapes, events, portraits & still life images. I’ve become totally enamored with iPhoneography and using different photo apps. I also do infra-red photography and light painting. I like photographing various local festivals, the Longwood meadow, road trips, and just ordinary things I find in my neighborhood when I walk my dog.”
When asked about her creative process, she says, “I would say my own photography is about seeing the wonder and the magic in ordinary, everyday life. Capturing an image is a feeling born of years of practice. Sometimes you just see something that amazes you or causes you to stop and say, ‘Oh!’
“It’s the light and sometimes it’s the feeling that passes between you and another person. You hope that you captured some of that magic in the camera.”
Questioned about shooting digitally, Kathy replies, “The best part of digital for me is that I can play and experiment and try all kinds of different things, like moving the camera during the exposure, sliding the barrel of the lens in and out during the exposure, blurring the foreground or background, putting the camera into different positions where I can’t always get to myself (flat out on the ground, in a bed of tulips). I get to do things with digital I would not have done with film because of the expense and the time to get prints.”
Asked about her teaching, she says, “My teaching philosophy is to keep it simple and to do as much hands-on teaching as I can. We do field trips in my classes, so I can be right there with the students as they shoot and ask questions. I can direct them to look in certain directions, to think about this viewpoint, or to see a line or to look at something in a particular way. I try to give students a good technical background, so they know the difference between shutter speed and aperture. Then we work on the composition, lighting, and feeling in the photographs.”
Minutes submitted by Stephanie Vacek