Abbey Camera Club

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Minutes of meeting held on Friday 17th June 2022

 

Present:  Euan McLean; Keith Walker; Jim Harkness; Eunice Laidlaw; Brian Gillespie; Willie Hiddleston; Eunice Laidlaw.

Apologies:  Angela McNay

 

Keith opened the meeting and thanked everyone for coming.

 

Matters arising from previous minutes:

The Insurance has now been confirmed.

 

The pictures from the Caerlaverock exhibition will need to be collected when it has finished, date to be confirmed.

 

Trips to Beamish and the Fringe in Edinburgh are on going and the bus is nearly full, but there is one or two spaces left.

 

There is interest in a visit to the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, not only from our club but the Stewartry and Dumfries Camera Club as well. During the week people would have to be dropped off and Keith would go and park the bus, but Sunday would not be a problem as there are no parking restrictions then. Possibly leave a visit until the spring.

 

Plagiarism – we plan to discuss this at our first meeting of the session, but it is not thought to be a problem withing the club, but we have to be mindful of National/International rules.  If anyone has a problem with a judge, they should contact the chairman in the first instance.  DO NOT post on Facebook.

 

Willie enquired if we had paid the last judge and Keith will check this, but it is the policy of SPF judges not to charge.

 

Finances:

At the last bank statement there was a balance of £1842.00 in the account but there are still cheques to be cleared. Approximately £1500.00 in the account.

 

Membership:

At present it stands at £20.00/£25.00. It has been mooted that we drop the £1.00 per night and incorporate that into the membership. After discussion it was decided that the membership be £40.00 per member per year and this could be split into two payments of £20.00, but if a member prefers to pay up front, then they can get a small discount and pay £38.00 for the year. Other payment possibilities can be made available.

 

 

 

Syllabus:

CPAGB dates have now been put in the correct places, and we can have alternative meetings on the evenings this is taking place.

 

Stewartry are planning a visit to Kirroughtree woods on Thursday 7th July, and we can join them.

 

Jim to contact Anna Barlow at Caerlaverock to see if we can get a visit – last year the charge was £10.00 per head. However, if we park a Castle corner we can walk along to the Castle at no charge, so it was decided to do that rather than the WWT,

 

Keith has still to contact the Aviation Museum to organise a visit.

 

Stewartry are also planning a visit to Glenwhan Gardens on Monday 15th August, which would be well worth a visit.

 

Euan will contact someone who holds the key to the Crichton Church for a visit on 24th August at 6.30 p.m.

 

The September and November competitions will be themed, but we need to decide on themes, and we will need three.

 

The fair will be in Dumfries on the 7th September for the photograph safari.

 

The meeting on the 9th November is to be nightscape photography, but the speaker will now be Rod Ireland and the cost will be £37.50. We will have a raffle and the proceeds to go to St. Andrews Parish Hall.

 

Brian Gillespie to contact the police for the evening we plan to do wire wool spinning.

 

Willie will go onto the Scotland’s Model website to try and get a model for the Portrait night on 30th November.

 

We have four judges confirmed for the session – Karen Berry, Ricky Nolan, Stewart Edgar, and Karen Berry – either in person or by Zoom.

 

We would like to get Kieran Dodds, who is expensive, but Keith is looking into sponsorship by Wex.

 

Libby Smith has agreed to do the last competition of the year.

 

If judges are coming distance, they are to be offered a meal before the meeting.

 

Euan suggested having an internal judge/judges for the March competition and Willie and Euan have volunteered.

 

 

Exhibitions:

Keith has read an interesting article on exhibiting. If you have a theme for exhibiting, is it better to put stronger images on the peripherals and weaker ones in the middle? Possible theme for next Stove exhibition would be Life in Dumfries and Galloway and if we have a lot of images submitted then the committee will cut them down.  Willie suggested that if we think an image needs tweaked, then the author to do it.

 

Distinctions Update:

Images need to be taken in person by the photographer. Euan will continue to join the evening talks with Rod Wheelan’s but may not enter the awards. It is an eye opener as to what has to be done to any image to be suitable for an award.  Jim indicated that it is useful to go onto the CAPG website and look at previous winners.

 

Mount Cutter:

We want to buy a further mount cutter for evenings when we are cutting mounts so that no one is standing around doing nothing and Eunice also has one that she can bring along. It was agreed that images from the photo safari to be mounted. Keith will cost a new mount cutter and spares for the one we have.

 

Jim has mislaid his cabinet keys and thinks they may be in the hall so Willie will find out. Willie also to organise getting a couple more keys cut.

 

Euan has visited, “Kitchen Coos and News,” and recommended it. It is near to Castle Kennedy and costs £18.00 per person. Eunice also recommended Arbigland Gardens for a visit.

 

There being no further business the meeting ended and the next one will be Friday 29th July.