As a member of the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA), the Sunshine Coast Camera Club has participated in several national and regional competitions during the 2019-20 competition year. As the only national association for camera clubs in Canada, CAPA encourages the development and growth of all aspects of photography and photographic art.
Fourteen of our club members participated in five major competitions. Each competition, either digital or print, has very strict specifications that all competitors must adhere to. Judging of the images is performed by CAPA certified judges and points are awarded accordingly.
Our club is proud to announce and congratulate Karen Abrahamson and Chunmin Li who were awarded the Silver Medal in the Series of Four national competition. For this competition, two photographers each take two photos that collectively represent a theme for the viewer to enjoy. A total of 604 images were submitted, one of the largest number of submissions for this competition.
We also had winners in the Lions Gate Celebration of Nature competition where congratulations go to Teresa Conyers who won 3rd place in the Botanical category and to Rob Coote who won 3rd place in the Landscape category. Congratulations also to dual-club member Janet Slater (competing as a member of the Langley Camera Club) for taking 1st place in the Landscape category.
Despite the pandemic, the Sunshine Coast Camera Club has been holding its regular meetings since late April, successfully using Zoom meetings for topical presentations and member photo reviews. Some members have also participated in small group, physically-distanced photo walks in pursuit of capturing photos on a specific theme. Other members have chosen to go out independently to capture their images for display and discussion at our monthly member photo review sessions.
Our club year starts each September and new members are always welcome. Details about our club can be found at our website (https://sunshinecoastcameraclub.ca/) where you can see our fall schedule of activities and perhaps look through our gallery of member photos. Our club also has a private Facebook page where members of all skills can share their images and, if requested, can solicit feedback from other members.
While it is interesting how events can temporarily change our lives, with this pandemic, new opportunities are now under discussion to have collaborative camera club Zoom meetings with guest presentations from photographers from all over the world. There are many professional photographers who would like to share their expertise and creativity for the benefit of camera clubs such as ours. It is quite likely that some Zoom meetings will continue to be part of our regular club programming.
– Phil Cunnington, Club President
