Dec. 2020 Prairie Zone News

Foot Hills Camera Club

Palle Them Dandernel Kjar August 1,1929 -September 22, 2020

www.myalternatives.ca/drumheller/obituaries/2020-kjar-palle-them-dandernel

Palle joined the FCC around 2005 after taking a course by Wilf Cameron and Bob Christopher. He immediately became a friend to all. He was always willing to help and model for all photographers. Palle’s face was the most photographed of any member and he was always willing to sit and be photographed anywhere and any time.  Whether he was hauling a canoe down a mountain, on a field trip, or sitting in a group giving a history lesson, he always had a story to tell, and he could tell a great story!  His love of photography and learning was an inspiration to all!

 

 

 

Images Alberta Camera Club

Images Alberta Camera Club has remained active during this year of COVID. Looking at our November Calendar we held presentations on sixteen evenings. While maintaining our twice monthly meetings we have also tried some new activities. The most successful were two Pecha Kucha presentations and a Member Challenge.

Pecha Kucha is an event where each participant presents 20 photos for 20 seconds each and speaks to the images. In our club some members have pre-recorded their talk and others have bravely spoken live. The subjects have been wide ranging from a tour of our province, to a cattle branding event, to a show on shoes.

Most of our members had never attended or even heard of Pecha Kucha so they were reluctant to volunteer to present. But we did manage to get six presenters and the evening was a big success. For the second Pecha Kucha there was no problem getting participation and we are now planning a third one. The Member Challenge consisted of ten members being given ten themes and required to submit one image of each theme within a time limit. The images from each theme were shown randomly and members could vote for their favourite. Again, this was very well attended, and we will be holding another Challenge.

Another new feature for our club is the sharing of presenters with other clubs. So far, we have shared with two clubs from BC and will be looking at expanding the idea throughout BC and the prairies.

We recommend Kelly VanderBeek who is a sports photographer and broadcaster from Canmore. The other presenter that had an emotional impact on our club was Carlin Getz who is a volunteer coordinator for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/about-us/our-team/volunteers/. She gave a short presentation on the organization that was extremely moving.

Regina Photo Club

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all society worldwide and no less so in the Regina Photo Club.

Last June, club member, Bill Armstrong, asked if the RPC was looking at some photographic initiatives for members during the pandemic as he had noted some other clubs are doing this.

I gave some thought to this and suggested a project  which I titled, “Bridging COVID-19”. With so many people feeling isolated, I felt the need for inspiration and an opportunity to explore possibly uncharted territory. This photography project was to photograph all or as many bridges in Regina and Lumsden including those in between these two centres on Wascana Creek. I know this sounds a bit repetitive but does provide other opportunities to shake the confines of isolation and social distancing. Searching out the bridges provides opportunities to photograph not just bridges, but there are at least three barns along or near the route. Subject material is abundant, such as landscapes, abandoned structures, machinery, wildlife, birds, nature, etc. There are about 17 bridges (vehicle and foot) in Regina and around a dozen between the two urban areas. Individuals could pursue this on their own, however the club did an organized tour on September 19th by meeting at Lumsden to start.

 

Moving forward, meeting size has been reduced to 30 members with social distance requirements and presentations on ZOOM. The fall season kicked off with Greg Johnson on Storm Chasing. Some indoor meeting activities had to be cancelled. Hopefully, a curve in the COVID-19 will start to drop so we can continue the 2021 program. Some activities will include festive outdoor Christmas lighting in residential areas, a speaker such as Brittany Flegel – Wedding Photography, an In-Club print competition is planned for February.  Dan Seqouin – How to Succeed in Competition, An Outdoor Night Shoot in Regina old neighbor hood and a Steel Wool Photography field trips.

The steel wool photography was so popular, there were two sessions in 2019 and scheduled again in March 2021. Chris Attrell will present on Abandoned Buildings. A shooting activity is planned for an old car scrape yard just outside the city and a spring field trip to historical areas of Moose Jaw. The last program items will be a Scavenger Hunt. A summer retreat is being planned for the summer with details later.

The club presently has two trophies awarded each year. The first award, named after a former long-time member Arnold Foster for the 21st time later this year. The award is to a member of the Regina Photo Club for a lifetime of photographic achievement and volunteerism through judging, serving on executive positions and, competition participation. This year’s recipient is Paule Hjertaas.

The second trophy, Most Improved Photographer Of The Year, is an annual award to a member who has demonstrated the most photographic improvement achievements from Novice, Intermediate and Advanced level. This award will be to Joan Morris.

A proposed new trophy will be awarded next season as the Bill Inglis Award for recognition as the founding member and first President of the Regina Photo Club, 42 years ago. Bill Inglis died on March 28, 2020.

This award will be awarded to a member achieving the highest scoring in club annual competition points.

Club members, John Criton received an Honor Award in the 2020 Fall Open competition and Paule Hjertaas received a 1st place Merit award in CAPA Fall 2019 Nature Wildlife competition.