One evening in mid December, a group of keen photographers from Vernon Camera Club could be seen around downtown Vernon. The group attracted a few stares and questions from passersby as it’s not every evening as you stroll along 30th Avenue that you run into several photographers out at night with their cameras on tripods.
The club’s keen photographers were out for a session of night photography and were taking advantage of the Christmas lights and window decorations courtesy of the downtown merchants on 30th Avenue. Like the membership of the club, some were highly experienced photographers out to have some fun and some were complete beginners to night photography. As with all Vernon Camera Club events the beginners received some coaching from the more experienced members. To make the outing more of a challenge, we’d set ourselves two possible themes for our photographs that evening —colour and movement. The store windows provided some excellent examples of colour, and long exposure shots of moving traffic were a favourite for the movement theme.
The photographs taken by our members will be shared at an upcoming club meeting. Vernon Camera Club meets twice monthly, generally on the evening of the first and third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Vernon Community Arts Centre, from September to June. The club welcomes anyone with an interest in digital photography to join and you do not have to be an expert or have expensive camera gear to join. Our members range from beginners to professional photographers and while some members have the latest and greatest cameras, we also see excellent work taken with simple “point and shoot” cameras.
One meeting a month is generally an “evaluation night,” where members submit images relating to a chosen theme for the evening. Hints and tips for improving each image are given in a friendly fashion to help members improve their photography. The other meeting is generally an evaluation night with a hands-on learning session or a guest speaker. Speakers have included the North Okanagan’s own Yuichi Takasaka, a Lumby resident and a recognized expert on photographing the aurora borealis (northern lights). The club also participates in local and national competitions and exhibitions.
For more information visit the club’s Web site at www.vernoncameraclub.com or look out for the meeting notices here in The Morning Star’s Community Calendar.
— Submitted by the Vernon Camera Club
