Bill began the meeting at 1:00 with Clay, Bob, Lynn, Suzy, Mary Ellen, and Scott present.
As is our normal practice, each member mentioned involvement with any recent photography related endeavors.
Suzy won the monthly photo contest (topic: Indoor Challenge) with her image ‘Onion Study.’
Scott won the best pic of the year competition with his image “Poppies” and will receive a $50 Amazon gift certificate.
Next was the monthly photo edit challenge.
Scott mentioned a website by John Greengo with “Complete Camera Guides” for various mirrorless and DSLR cameras. The first 3 chapters for several cameras are at no charge and each contains a very useful “Camera Basics” video. If you want to master every button and setting on your camera look to JohnGrengo.com.
At the January meeting members suggested and discussed new ideas and activities for NAPC in 2025. Below is a summary of what was discussed:
Project photo contest topics 4-6 months in advance (if yes, publish topics)
Winter outing to skidoo or dog sled race, Spring outing to high school sports event. (no action required at present)
At a future meeting each moderator conducts a 15-20 minute photo edit with their go-to software. (If yes, set month )
Designate a month(s) for photo contest images (open topic) to be submitted in print. (if yes, decide which month(s))
Photo project challenge: Do something new or out of your comfort zone. Learn something new and each member present a discussion at a future meeting. Refer to 52frames.com for ideas. (if yes, each member discuss their selection)
Attract new members through use of social media, local newspapers, etc. Members in favor of this suggested placing a notice in local newspapers under recurring events to announce NAPC meetings, photo contests, or other events;. Others questioned the need or reason for attracting new members, instead, favoring the present more cordial, relaxed setting . Scott will revitalize the current NAPC Facebook page. (Further discussion is needed)
The photo contest topic for March 8th is “Smartphone Photography (Open). Bill provided a handout with tips for fine tuning your cell phone camera skills which included URLs for useful YouTube videos.
Tim will moderate the March 8th meeting.