The South Sask. Photo Club continues to offer a place for photographers to further their skills and boost their love of photography.
The club, which meets the final Tuesday of the month at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM), held their year-end photography show and reception Tuesday night at the EAGM. Club members had their photographs on display, showcasing the skills they have picked up since the club’s first meeting in September of last year.
“The year has been really good,” said instructor Jon Gillies, who was also the adjudicator for the photo show. “We’ve had a good number of people that were new, as well as a good core group of people who were here the last few years.”
Approximately 25-30 people were part of the club this year.
“With our photo club, we’re a very casual and fun group, so our purpose is not to be ‘You have to attend’ and stuff like that,” said Gillies. “Whoever is able to make it, makes it, and so every month there is a different group of people coming and going, but we normally have our core group of 15 that are regularly here.”
The others come if they can fit it into their schedule.
The club focuses on what the members are interested in. They had activities that dealt with macro or close-up photography, special effects, photo editing and artistic photography. They also tackled the basics found in every photo club, such as landscapes, animals, plants, people and more.
At Tuesday night’s reception, entries were divided into intermediate and advanced, and winners were crowned in landscapes, animals, plants, action photos, macro or still life, and artistic-creative.
The latter category was included this year to encompass a variety of different experiments, such as Photoshop, or experimenting with such disciplines as night photography.
Awards were also handed out for Photo of the Year, which went to Ellen Delorme in the advanced category and Melina Shepley in the intermediate division.
Gillies pointed out that those who have won an award at previous editions of the photo show in the past had to compete in advanced. Those who haven’t won an award before, or are new to the club, could be in intermediate, although they also had the chance to enter in advanced.
As the judge, he asked people to put their names on the back of the photo, instead of the front, because he didn’t want that to influence his decisions.
Gillies believes the members continue to learn a lot through the club, and they have a good time. He also hopes they recognize the importance of printing their photos.
“If you look around here tonight, you’ll see amazing images. They’re not just digital files; they’re actual photographs because they’re actually printed.”
He always tells the students a photo isn’t a picture until it’s actually printed, and the reception on Tuesday night is a perfect example of the impact of printed photos.
The format for the club will change slightly next year. Instead of Gillies coming from his home in Weyburn every month to guide the club, he will be in Estevan every second month.
The club members used Tuesday night’s reception as a chance to organize what the other sessions will be. Gillies has always wanted the club members to incorporate their own interests into the schedule.
“For example, one of the people that I spoke to a couple of days ago is very interested in scrapbooking photography, so she is going to take one of the evenings and bring a demonstration of how to use photography in the scrapbooking world.”
They also have a summer activity that he compared to a scavenger hunt, so that the members can keep their skills sharp.
