The South Sask. Photo Club wrapped up its 2016-17 season on Tuesday night by hosting a photo contest at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM).
The photo club gathered at the EAGM on the last Tuesday of each month from September to June, with the exception of December. Jon Gillies, who drives from Weyburn to instruct the sessions, said the club had approximately 35 people participate this year, with some people showing up once or twice, and others coming out each time.
The average meeting attracted around 20 people.
“We really love landscapes, and people have the chance to go out on field trips, so we get a lot of chances with the beautiful vistas around Estevan to take really cools pictures of sunsets, sunrises, animals and stuff like that,” said Gillies.
They also encourage members to be creative with using Photoshop to process their photos.
“Every year it’s amazing how many people come in and say ‘Wow! Look at what we can do,’” said Gillies. “One of the things I do tease them about is I don’t really see how much development they do until the year of the year … because of the photo competition.”
Many members will take photos throughout the year, but they won’t be printed. Photos might be stored on computers or posted to Facebook. But it’s a challenge now to have pictures printed. At the same time, Gillies stressed it’s not a true picture until it’s printed. If it’s on a computer, it’s a digital file.
“Because they are forced to print pictures for today, we get to see all of the work they have done,” said Gillies.
This year’s photo contest had nearly 120 entries. Categories were black and white photos of people, landscapes, flowers, animals, and a special category for Canada’s 150th birthday.
They also have an in-camera creative division in which photos can’t be processed, and another category for processed pictures.
Gillies noted black and white photography is a discipline that has been emphasized this year, so it was included in this year’s competition. The categories change from year to year, and while Gillies does have some input, the members ultimately decide the categories.
Each category also has intermediate and advanced categories. New members can enter as intermediates, but once someone wins at the intermediate level, they have to move up to advanced.
Some people will enter only one or two photos, he said, while others will take advantage of entering up to three photos in each category. But the pictures must have been taken in the past year, and each entry must be unique.
Local photographer Byron Fichter was this year’s judge for the competition. He chose the top finishers in each category, and tabbed Ellen Delorme’s floral photo as the best overall picture in the show.
