To help out members who don't regularly mount their printed works we're putting on a special informal meeting a week prior to our official start so you can enter prints into our first competition of the year. There will be folks who regularly matt their own work in attendance to help us out and they'll have the equipment for you to use. We'll also have matt board available for purchase for a small fee, or you can bring your own along. 

Bring along the prints you wish to make matts for and go away having made your first matts and armed with the knowledge you need to enter prints throughout the year.

Mercury runs a successful portrait photography studio in Strathmore and has been a recipient of multiple AIPP awards for portraiture, family photograph and weddings. Mercury will be graciously sharing his knowledge about portraiture during his presentation.

You can find Mercury at his website Megagraphics Photography.

Entries due for Competition 1 - Monochrome

A fantastic opportunity for you to make some photos for the  Friends of Newport Lakes photography competition. We'll include a macro workshop in this outing, weather permitting. We'll look at capturing the shot using reflectors, flash, your macro lens, and other modifiers and equipment you might need to get the shot.

Meet in the car park off Lakes Drive, Newport.

Alex wowed us when he last presented to our club a few years ago, he left us awestruck and inspired and gave us the knowledge to capture images of the night sky. We look forward to his presentation and filling a whole new set of members with the wonder of astrophotography.

You can check out Alex's work at his website Terrastro.

Entries for the VAPS Interclub are due.

We're waiting on the folks from Colac Camera Club to finalise the date for this one, it will be either the 3rd or the 4th. Which ever day, we'll welcome them to Williamstown and show them around with a photowalk around the town. We'll encourage members to take a look at Williamstown through their cameras in a way they haven't before.

Consider a theme, a point of view, a focal length and challenge yourself to stick to that limitation throughout the walk. We'll meet at the bandstand in Commonwealth Reserve to start things off.

After making a reconnaissance trip for us Neil has come up with a fantastic plan for our beach shoot, we'll visit several locations.

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Our judging nights are a great way for members to get feedback on their images, and to learn from the feedback given to others. On this night we have the judging of our first competition for the year, Monochrome, which will set the benchmark for our entries into the annual Knox monochrome interclub competition.

This is also a supper night, members are encouraged to bring along a plate to share with fellow members on the night.

Note March 14, 2018 is the final day for entries into the Friends of Newport Lakes Photographic Competition. Find details on the Friends of Newport Lakes website.

Emma has been a visitor to our club on several occasions and on each one members have gone away inspired by her words and work. On this visit, Emma will be discussing the idea of "creative preproduction", looking at ways we can use our equipment and make stunning images in camera using blur, panning, lighting, and other techniques.

Find out more about Emma on her site Emma Gilette Photography.

Entries due Competition 2 - "Traces"

Nola and the gang have put together a great itinerary for the weekend, including going back and forth organising the location and accommodation for our group. Read on to view the program for the weekend.

Program
Download a PDF of the program.

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Ian is an accomplished landscape photographer and has been teaching people the art of landscape photography via his workshops and tours for years. With workshops venturing to exotic places from the Central Australian Outback, to the wilds of Kenya, and up to the icy visages of Norway's Arctic Circle, Ian is a well travelled and well versed photographer. We're excited to bring Ian to our club to share some of his work and insights with our members.

You can see examples of Ian's work and his tours on his site Ian Rolfe Photography.

If you've entered the Friends of Newport Lakes competition this is the day they'll be on show and the awards will be handed out. It's not an official club event, but we hope you all got behind the competition and someone comes away the winner.

Traces is likely one of our most abstract competition themes in recent years. We're interested to see what our members make of these images and how the judge views them.

This is also a supper night, members are encouraged to bring along a plate to share with fellow members on the night.

Entries due for Competition 3 - "Macro"

We're excited to bring David Harradine to our club to show us through his Lightroom workflow and to provide us with some tips for using one of the world's most popular photo management and editing applications.

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A photoshoot at Werribee Mansion with a real-live model!

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Steve Scalone will join us to talk composition. A winner of multiple awards Steve knows this craft in which we dabble and will be sharing some of his knowledge with us. Take a look at Steve's site and Steve's Instagram feed, we're sure it will inspire you to come along and find out more from this master of the craft.

Knox (monochrome) entries due

Keep an eye on www.vaps.org.au and the VAPS Newsbrief for more details and we'll update if we see them first! If you're thinking of going along, Warrnambool is a beautiful location you'll be sure to enjoy.

Working with some local sports groups to find a photoshoot for us.

Judging of our 3rd competition, Macro. We look forward to seeing the little world close up through your eyes.

This is also a supper night, members are encouraged to bring along a plate to share with fellow members on the night.

Lisa Saad's work is amazing. Capturing the food, architecture, lifestyle, advertising, commercial and corporate genres, Lisa's work is an inspiration. For her talk to our club, Lisa will hone in on her work in the field of architecture. You can find out more about Lisa, and see more of her work at lisasaad.com

Entries due for Competition 4 - Astrophotography

Our Photoshoot scheduled for next Sunday has changed from the You Yangs/bikes/Serendip and now, by popular vote -Waterfalls, Old Paper Mill, and Dog Rocks — all near Geelong.

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Judging for Astrophotography... we are all may of stardust! We're looking forward to see how you've chosen to capture the light of the stars, much of the light has taken millions of years to arrive on your camera sensor.

This is also a supper night, members are encouraged to bring along a plate to share with fellow members on the night.

We'll quickly dispense of the formalities of our annual general meeting before we head into the night's presentation by Jane and Martin Clancy.

Jane and Martin will join us to explain the "How and why of what we do", they'll be presenting their method of portraiture including sharing their lighting setups with us. Be sure to take notes for our 6th competition of the year, portraiture.

Entries due for our 5th competition - Creative Preproduction.

The program for our Echuca weekend is well underway - thanks to Graeme Brown and Brian Young for valuable input and support. A draft program is attached. As always, subject to change. Also attached are some photos taken recently by Brian. We are working hard to put together a memorable weekend for you all - which is only three weeks away.

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After two presentations throughout the year by well established portrait photographers we'll be holding a workshop to put into practise the skills taught during the presentations and ensuring we're all in good stead for the final themed competition for the year.

We'll be looking at how we've all interpreted the presentation on Creative Preproduction by Emma Gilette earlier in the year. Emma will be judging this competition for us.

This is also a supper night, members are encouraged to bring along a plate to share with fellow members on the night.

A 36-hectare garden with extensive paths past diverse plants, trees & water features. Entrance to the garden is free. It is advised you arrive early, especially if the weather is good, to secure parking. The location is about an hour's drive from Brooklyn Community Hall, our club's meeting location.

Please note the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden was formerly known as the National Rhododendron Gardens.

We'll begin this night with a short presentation about the judging process and then conduct an image review. These meetings encourage critical thinking and the conveyance of constructive feedback that you can apply to your own image selection criteria.

Entries due for competition 6 - Portraiture and Open

During this meeting we'll likely break into two groups at the opposite ends of our hall, one to cater for the more advanced questions the other the basics of the applications. As we gather new members throughout the year we feel it's valuable to reenforce the basic concepts that David Harradine will have covered at a previous meeting earlier in the year.

It's about people, people! Let's see what we make of this largely open category of portraiture.

This is also a supper night, members are encouraged to bring along a plate to share with fellow members on the night.

First place to meet up in Lilydale at 10am at the  Gracious Grace Café, then do a round trip to Healesville (for lunch), visiting points of interest in between, and partaking an optional short roundtrip train ride on a restored Walker Railmotor RM22 - Healesville/TarraWarra/Healesville. 

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Tom is always a welcome visitor to our club. His unique presentations are a joy and inspiration. On this night, Tom will be sharing his art and new-found love of Aerial Landscapes. You can find out more about Tom on his website.

Entires due for the End of Year Competition.

Always a fun-filled night, our annual Paper Bag Challenge is on again. What will be in the paper bags this year?

At this meeting, members work in groups to make images, on the night, featuring the item/s in the paper bags they are given. No one knows what will be in the bags being given to the groups. It's always exciting to see each of the groups working to make something wonderful to present for peer judging by the end of the night.

We're having a night of creativity with multiple stations working in different disciplines of photography. Bring your camera gear along for a highly interactive night.

Join us at the Braybrook Hotel for a night of food and frivolity. A social gathering of our club members celebrating the year that has been.

Details of cost and payment requirements to follow. Be sure to get in quick to secure your place.

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A night of revelry... we begin with the judging of our end of year competition, typically with a panel of judges from another camera club invited along for the evening.

After the judging we feast upon the delicious foods we bring to share and we socialise and reminisce about the year passing and look forward to the year ahead.