If you’re interested in photography and want a supportive environment to improve on your hobby, the Moose Jaw Camera Club is the place for you.
The Moose Jaw Camera Club operates with the mission of fostering an appreciation for photography as an art form. The club helps promote and develop the photographic skills of its members and photographers can learn from one another on its regular meeting nights.
Don’t let the burden of expensive camera equipment stop you from joining. There is no requirement to own professional camera equipment or software, and virtually everyone is qualified to join based on owning a cellphone camera.
What’s more important is the thought and technique behind the shoot. Even with your cellphone camera, the club’s attention is on the composition, focus, choice of subject, and photographic methods.
At the club’s monthly meeting, members can participate in skill workshops and see their works displayed and be given a positive, helpful critique in an open dialogue with other members. The club also holds regular photography contests.
From time to time, guest speakers are invited and at these meetings they share their insights, experiences, and the night is set up in the form of a classroom. On Oct. 16, Stan Hingston is scheduled to attend, and anyone interested in his works is certain to learn a few pointers. Hingston is the president of the Rosetown Photography Club.
Members are encouraged to submit sections of their work to the club’s website in a digital format. Every nature of photograph is accepted, and unique individual differences give the club a deep, personal character.
“The website should be representative of us as a club. I encourage everyone to submit (a photo),” said Sheryl Parry with the camera club. “Don’t feel that your photo isn’t good enough for our website.”
The first meeting of the season began with a review of the basics, a financial breakdown, and new members were given the opportunity to introduce themselves.
Following this, freshly made popcorn was handed out and the rest of the night was spent sharing a slideshow of member submission photos without the limitation of a theme.
This is the format for most of the club’s meeting nights. Pictures used in the slideshow usually have a theme, and an open floor discussion helps each individual member grow and develop their art thanks to positive feedback from the group. It’s a welcoming environment and every artistically minded individual will feel at home in the group.
The Moose Jaw Camera Club also holds regular photography outings, which are an optional complement for members to improve their craft.
On Sept. 23, the club is holding one of these outings in the form of a scavenger hunt. Everyone interested will be meeting at the Crescent Park Amphitheatre for 2 p.m.
Members will “get a clue about something, look around the park, and take a picture of it,” explained the club’s president, Leonard Ber. “Everybody goes around and finds what that (clue) means to them.” This is the nature of their outings, which encourage both creativity and learning.
If you’re interested in joining the club, membership is open to everybody with an interest in photography.
The membership fee is paid as a one-time annual payment and costs $50. Additional members of your family from the same household pay a discounted $25 per person, and the student rate is $30. The membership fee also comes with a discount card that can be used at Wells Camera & Sound.
The Moose Jaw Camera Club meets at the Cosmo Centre on the second Monday of each month and meets every month of the year except for July and August. Meetings are held from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. on each respective night.
The Cosmo Senior Citizen's Centre is located at 235 Third Avenue Northeast.
For more information about the club, Wanda Hudson can be reached at 306-631-7440 and Leonard Ber is available at 306-693-7865.
The club’s website also features member photos and can be viewed at TheMooseJawCameraClub.com.
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