Activities

Meetings

During COVID-19 pandemic the meetings are presented virtually using Zoom. Members of the club will receive an email with the link prior to each meeting along with any details.

Post pandemic ...

The Club meets 2 times a month (2nd Tuesday, 4th Thursday, September through June, with the exception of December which only meets on the second Tuesday.

The 2nd Tuesday and 4th Thursday Meetings consist of about 20 to 30 minutes of Club business as needed (up-coming events, committee reports, et cetera). Followed by an evening Presentation with a short intermission, and social.

Presentations are made by respected photographers, including Club members, and industry professionals alike. We try to vary the subject matter, and level of the presentations to take into consideration the level of photographic experience within the club, so as to meet the interests of all club members.

Your suggestions for future presentations or guest speakers are welcome and greatly appreciated.

Please forward any suggestions to the Presentations Chairperson.

Field trip

The CVCC Field Trip Program is open to all club members and provides opportunities for individuals to develop photographic skills through hands-on, onsite photography at varied locations around Vancouver Island.

Our Field trips are currently offered approximately two per month.

Participants will benefit from the discovery of newly accessible areas, the fellowship of others, and most of all from the sharing of photographic knowledge. Many of the past photos can be viewed on the CVCC Field Trip Gallery display area.

Images displayed throughout these Field Trip Pages were all taken on location and are displayed courtesy of CVCC members. Thank You

The club offers a "Mentor" program in conjunction with the Field Trips. This program is intended to pair a member who is interested in gaining experience with either photo technique or in better understanding of their equipment with a member who is more experienced and is willing to pass on their knowledge.


Posting of photos to the p-base field trip galleries:

Any related photo taken during the duration of a scheduled field trip, as noted on the club calendar, will be eligible for posting to the Field Trip Gallery up to a maximum of 4 images per member per field trip.

Exhibitions

From time to time throughout the year, the Exhibitions Committee arranges for a display of CVCC members' photographs to be hung at appropriate public locations.

Competitions

Every year the Cowichan Valley Camera Club participates in a number of external photo competitions.


CAPA - CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS

CVCC is a member of the Canadian Association for Photographic Arts (CAPA). CAPA is a national association operating as a parent organization to member Camera Clubs from across Canada and individual members from worldwide.

Individual photographers may join CAPA to take advantage of the many benefits offered. These benefits include Competitions, Workshops, Exhibitions, Individual Photo Galleries, the "Canadian Camera Magazine", On-Line information, and a Forum to name just a few.

CAPA conducts a number of "Nature/Wildlife", "Themed" and "Open" competitions in digital format each year. Each competition at the CAPA level is judged by Certified CAPA Judges. Separate club and individual competitions are offered in most categories. Each club can enter up to 6 digital images taken by 6 different photographers.

CVCC members are invited to submit images to the Competitions Committee for judging to determine the photos to be entered on behalf of the club members to each of the CAPA competitions throughout the year.

For current, detailed competition information be sure to check the following resources:

1) CVCC’s website calendar, click on the date on the calendar, and another window will open with detailed information about that event.

2) CAPA’s website Competition Guides

3) Contact the CVCC Competition Chairperson or Facilitator


Celebration of Nature - Lions Gate Camera Club

CVCC participates in the Lions Gate Camera Club’s annual "Celebration of Nature Photography " photo competition.

Club members are asked to submit appropriate natural world images to the Competition Committee. This competition has used CAPA’s rules, definition, and guidelines from their Nature/Wildlife competition in recent past years.

From the photo submissions, the Competitions Committee will judge the images submitted and the top 8 photos by 8 different photographers will be forwarded on behalf of the club members for entry into the Lions Gate’s Celebration of Nature Photography competition.

This competition is open to photo clubs from BC and Yukon.


North Shore Challenge - North Shore Photographic Society

CVCC participates in the North Shore Photographic Society’s annual "North Shore Photographic Challenge" photo competition which is open to clubs and individuals from BC and Yukon.

Club members are asked to submit appropriate images to the Competition Committee. This challenge is an open theme: subjects can include rare wildlife action, breathtaking landscapes, streets, architecture, the human form, altered reality, and abstracts.

From these submissions, the Competitions Committee will judge the images submitted and the top 6 photos by 6 different photographers will be forwarded on behalf of the club members for entry into the North Shore Photographic Challenge competition.

Evening Favourites & London Drugs Competition’s

Evening Favourites

The CVCC conducts a friendly themed competition at our Tuesday meetings each month.  The Evening Favourite themes are selected by the membership by voting for their top 10 choices.  A different theme is assigned for each month from September through to June of each year.

To participate, about a week prior to the meeting, members will post one image to a folder located under Galleries on the CVCC website.  The image only has a title, and 2 days prior to the meeting, members can vote for their top 3 choices by emailing the evening favourite chairperson.

At the in-person  meeting, images are shown on a large screen.  Currently, meetings are also available on zoom for those that cannot attend in person.

As each image is shown, the photographer comments about their photo and can answer questions from other members.  Afterwards the top 3 images are revealed.  All images remain on the website, with the photographers name,  for the month until the next theme competition, at which time only the top 3 will remain posted.

In June, all the images that placed first from September to June are eligible for a draw for a gift certificate.  There’s a summer break and then the CVCC  members start again in September with a new challenge.

For details on the monthly themes please check the CVCC calendar,

 

London Drugs Canvas Print Competition

London Drugs is currently sponsoring a canvas print competition for CVCC members, 4 times a year.  A theme is chosen and members post an image to the CVCC website.  After voting, the winning photographer can take their image to London Drugs, and they produce a 16 x 20 canvas print.  It's showcased at the London Drugs Photo center for 3 months.  When the next competition is completed, the CVCC member can pick up their canvas print at no cost.  Thanks to London Drugs for sponsoring this competition.

CVCC Image Galleries

CVCC maintains a large image library on PBase, a photo-sharing website on the internet.

All the images have been provided by club members (both present and past). The images are divided into numerous categories as defined by the club from time to time. Each of these categories is presented in a hierarchy of Galleries.

The Home CVCC Gallery page can be reached here.

To post or edit pictures in any gallery, you must be logged onto the CVCC GalleryAccount.

The Login ID and Password as well detailed instructions for resizing and posting pictures to any CVCC Gallery are available to Members Only, in the Secure area of this website.

Look under Galleries - Instructions on the Website Top Menu.

NOTE: Please check the information at the top of each of the respective galleries for posting details, they vary from gallery to gallery.

The individual galleries can be accessed directly through the links under the Galleries heading on the menu bar.

The galleries currently available for displaying pictures are:

  • CVCC Field Trip Galleries - A separate gallery is maintained for each club field trip taken throughout the year. Field Trips from prior years are consolidated into an Archive Field Trip Gallery.
  • Photos of the Month Galleries - Members are encouraged to post their most memorable shots of the month.  The galleries for the most recent 4 month period are available for posting.  An archive gallery is maintained for older Photos of the Month.
  • Evening Favourites Galleries  - The winning photos from the monthly Evening Favourites print competition are posted by the PBase Administrator in a series of galleries. During COVID restrictions, the Evening Favourites gallery also showcases candidate images for the membership to vote on.  The 3 winning images are kept in the gallery.
  • London Drugs Competition Gallery - The winning photo from the quarterly print competition is stored here. Winners receive a mounted enlargement of their photo, suitable for hanging following a public display at London Drugs in Duncan.
  • CVCC Challenges - The CVCC PBase Administrator creates several photographic challenges each year. In the past such challenges have included such themes as "Photo Tag... You're It", "Leading Lines", "Signs", an annual "Scavenger Hunt", and others. Separate Challenge Galleries are maintained to display member’s interpretation of these Challenges.
  • CVCC Themed Galleries - A themed gallery is not a challenge, it is an opportunity to work on specific photographic skills for a longer time period than a challenge allows. Multiple galleries are open for posting members' pictures. In addition, there is an Archive Gallery for past Themed Galleries which are now closed.
  • Competitions Galleries - Members' photos selected by the club to be entered in external competitions offered by CAPA and as well as other organizations are displayed in separate galleries for each competition.
  • CVCC Meetings and Events Gallery - Pictures which were taken, at specific club events, meetings, and Tech Nights.
  • CVCC Member's Galleries - Members' pictures posted to any of the other PBase Galleries are collected, and displayed in a separate gallery for each member. This collating is done by the PBase Administrator. Members are asked to not post directly to these galleries.
  • CVCC Mugshots - Informal pictures of CVCC Club members. The PBase Administrator posts pictures to this gallery. This gallery is not publicly viewable, members must be logged in to the CVCC PBase account to view the gallery.