Welcome to Photo Blog!

23/02/09

I am starting this Photography blog to hopefully share information about all things photographic. This section is really for all- from the novice photographers to the strong amateur and even perhaps the professionals out there. To start with I better give a brief history. I first started taking photos in 1999 in Australasia with a small compact camera as I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience so I wanted to preserve the memories on film to share the amazing scenery with friends. The results were less than spectacular (to say the least) but I got bitten by the photography bug and was determined to learn more. I attended classes, bought new equipment, books, researched the web and quizzed up knowledgable friends for any tips they had.
In 2006 I joined Dungarvan Camera Club and as well as making new friends it also gave me an opportunity to learn more and the weekly & quarterly competitions made me push myself and experiment with new techniques. Dungarvan Camera Club is very strong on the creative side of photography and has encouraged members to come up with interesting (and sometimes whacky) interpretations of the topics. The Dungarvan Camera Club web site is www.dungarvancameraclub.com
For any beginners or amateur photographers I would recommend joining a camera club as it really allows you to learn from other photographers images and to share ideas and techniques. The camera clubs are located throughout the country and are part of the Irish Photographic Federation. As a result there is an annual national competition for camera clubs to compete against each other in three categories-colour, black&white and slide.
Camera clubs normally meet once a month although some meet on a fortnightly basis. The meetings normally last about 2 hours -excluding optional social beverage afterwards! A normal meeting might include topics such as profile of a famous photographer by one of the members of the club, slideshows of recent events, information on upcoming events, a member giving a technical photographic talk and finally, the monthly and quarterly competitions.
For monthly competitions members submit up to two 7 x 5 inch prints on a chosen topic eg. ‘Light and Shade’, ‘Movement’, ‘Red’, ‘Up the Deise’ etc. The photographers place the prints upside down on a table so that they remain anonymous. They are then critiqued by selected members of the club and the winner is decided by a points tally of votes by members for each image. The fact it is anonymous means that it is a fair and equal competition among members.