Our November meeting has moved to a different date for this month. We are very pleased to have Eiko Jones come and speak to us about his photography. The topic is Watershed Awareness – one photo at a time.

At times he is overwhelmed by the beauty of the world around us. He is passionate about sharing this Pacific Northwest environment with everyone. Through artistic and dramatic imagery, he endeavours to offer people a glance of that world, whether they live in a big city condo, or have no ability to experience the world below or out in nature. His work is all about drawing attention to the entire environment and watersheds, from the mountaintops all the way down, and into our vast, but fragile oceans.

Coffee service will be available so bring your loonie.

This month is our Christmas social evening. We are taking a different approach this year,  we are going to buy cookies/food items and will ensure that we have some Gluten free and peanut free items BUT we are instead asking something from you. 

You know that we are trying to be more connected to the community and with that in mind we are asking that you, if you are able, bring a food item or two for the Food Bank

Most needed food bank items
    Pasta (canned or dry) and pasta sauces.
    Canned meats and fish.
    Meat alternatives (peanut butter, soy, assorted nuts)
    Canned goods (beans, soups, and stews)
    Dairy (canned, and powdered milk)
    Canned vegetables and fruit.
    Whole grain cereals.
    Infant foods and baby formula

Coffee and tea will be available so bring your loonie!!

We do not have a speaker and will have a short business review followed by slideshows of the field trip to the Shelter Point Distillery, the Old Buildings assignment. We will also show the Best of 2016 images that our members have sent in.

Our speaker to start the year off is former club member Randy Hall.  Randy has developed a style that shows enhanced colours and contrast. When many people think of contrast, they think colours and tones. There can also be contrast in content. An example of this can be seen in some of Randy’s early morning images of Parksville Bay. Towering or threatening clouds can instill the feeling of unrest, while the calm waters of the bay say serenity. “It’s this type of scene, and the incorporation of weather, that interests me the most”.

Fire in the Sky

Randy will be speaking to us about his style of  photography and HDR.  Click on Randy’s photo or the Fire in the Sky image to see more of his images.

Following our business portion of the meeting we will see the results of the Portraits and People assignment and the field trip to Robert Held glass works.

We are going to have an exciting evening.  Wally Chinn and his wife Alison will be offering his photo-travelogue presentation on exploring the polar bear domain in the Churchill, Manitoba region.

As the marquis animal or symbol for Canada’s northern wildlife, the Polar Bear has little rival. As the largest land carnivore in the world, Canada is home to more than 60% of the world’s polar bears, an animal species that has attracted much interest, curiosity and concern.  Wally & Alison have made a few presentations to the OPS in the past, and through another of their narrated photo presentations, they will focus on their recent experiences in northern Manitoba.  As opposed to their previous presentations that were directed at distant lands such as Africa, Antarctica or the Galapagos Islands, this showing will be directed somewhat closer to home, examining wildlife and geography with a particularly Canadian perspective, including the realities of polar bear life and some of the lighter sides of their behaviour.

The club business will get underway first and we will review the Table Top assignment, the field trip to Rathtrevor and our January favourites.

Our speaker for March is Bryn Tassell from Ladysmith. Bryn is planning on sharing and talking about the images he has captured on various trips, some of the challenges along with some tips and tricks he has learned along the way.

Bryn Tassell is a photographer who been pursuing a passion of documenting nature for 10 years. He has combined his passion for out door adventure with capturing the natural beauty of the locations he visits. His passion has taken him to remote areas on Vancouver Island to tropical jungles and desolate landscapes of Iceland. More info about his work can be found on his web site at www.BrynTassell.ca

We will have slideshows for the assignment, the field trip to Milner Gardens and the February favourites.

Be certain to bring a loonie for a coffee, can’t get a better deal than this…

loonie for coffee

Our speaker for April is Larry Breitkreutz, his topic for his presentation is Creating Compelling Compositions.  Larry has been an avid photo enthusiast for over 30 years. He enjoys the inspiration and challenge of all types of artistic images, whether created with the camera, with software, or with brush and paint. With his camera and computer software he creates impressionistic images of a world often overlooked by the casual observer.

Larry is a Certified CAPA Judge and is called upon frequently to critique and judge images in various competitions, both local as well as international. He enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for photography and teaches Level One and Level Two Photography Courses for the City of Surrey, Parks and Recreation.

He has been honoured with the CAPA Fellowship (FCAPA) designation, and is actively involved in promoting photography throughout the region. He serves the photographic community as the President of the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA).

Larry is visiting with his wife Hazel who is an accomplished artist and photographer.  You can view a recent article they wrote for the CAPA Magazine (here).

Following our regular business for the meeting we will have the slideshows from the Wildlife assignment, the March favourites and the field trip to the North Island Wildlife Centre.

Bring that loonie for the coffee break –

loonie for coffee

Our Annual General Meeting night is on Monday May 1st; there was a scheduling issue with the the Civic Centre and the day was changed.

Elections for our new management team will be held at this meeting. Ed will offer his final message and we will hear from each of the management team. Our slideshows from the month of April will be run and then Ed will announce our photographer of the year and conduct the elections.

Remember that all positions are open, we are all volunteers on the board and we all welcome the opportunity for new members to join us and bring their new ideas.  Once the new team has been voted in,  announced and introduced we will have a social evening.

As a BC Society, we are required to review the rules under which we operate (check here). Take this opportunity to meet with the new group and discuss any changes that you think would offer improvements to any aspect of the club’s activities.

Our speaker this month is member Brad Powell; the topic for his talk is “Sunset To Sunrise”

Brad  is a Nanaimo photographer and a member of the Oceanside Photography Society and the Harbour City Photography Club. He really became interested in photography when he bought his first digitial camera in 1999. It was a 2mp Kodak DC280, and he got it for for the sweet sweet price of $750! But what really got him excited was the free version of Photoshop that came with his new camera! One thing lead to another and Brad soon realized that he loved photography and that he needed to learn more if he was going to get any better at it. So he joined the Harbour City Photography Club in 2001 when it had about 30 members and was meeting at the tiny Kin Hut. Brad took full advantage of all the benefits you can get from belonging to a photography club. He took a lot of inspiration from such talented photographers in the Club as Wayne Buhr and Kelli Etheridge. But probably the most important person in Brad’s photographic life at that time was his photographic mentor, the late Bob Goerzen. Bob Goerzen was an experienced photographer and was teaching photographic workshops and working as a newspaper photographer at the time. Bob was the first person to convince Brad to take his camera off the “P” setting and onto Aperture. But more importantly, Bob introduced Brad to night photography one fateful October night in downtown Nanaimo. Brad’s love of photographing in the dark hours started that night in 2002 and continues to this day! 

This month, we are in the East hall at the Civic Centre.

Slideshows from the Action shots assignment, the field trip to Little Qualicum will be shown. And remember to bring your loonie for coffee!

loonie for coffee

Our speaker for our July meeting is Judy Holland. 

Artist Statement – Photography, for me, is a spiritual practice, a way of drinking in and celebrating the everyday miracles to be found in the mundane. I travel very little, but rather focus on a deep appreciation of the everyday beauty that my life on Vancouver Island brings me. No matter where I am, I enjoy making photos to delight the eye and move the heart.

I am located in Nanaimo on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC, and am also available for photography teaching and one-on-one coaching.
HONOURS & AWARDS

– 1st place Canadian Association for Photographic Art gold medal, Harbour City Photography Club Photo Salon 2016, View Gallery at Vancouver Island University, May 2016.

– numerous 1st place awards at club competitions, Harbour City Photography Club, 2014-2016.
– “Voluptueux” published in PhotoNEWS Canada, fall 2016.

– Judy Hancock Holland
JHHphoto.com

Slideshows from our assignment, the field trip and favourites will be shown. And remember to bring your loonie for coffee!

loonie for coffee

Our speaker this month is Cim McDonald who is coming up from Chemainus where she is the Curator of the Chemainus Festival of Murals Society. She is a fine art photographer and artist who has won many awards. Her topic for our meeting is the relationship of line and colour to art. For more information about Cim visit her website cimmacdonald.ca here.

Following the business of the meeting, we will show our slideshows from the Deep Bay field trip, the July favourites and the Canada 150 assignment.

Remember to bring your loonie for coffee at the break.

loonie for coffee

If you would like to spend more time reviewing the images, go to the Galleries in the menu above.