On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 11:59 PM, Christine Aguila <[email protected]> wrote: > Last night I stopped by the Green Briar Camera Club: > > 1) A bit of history: the Green Briar Camera Club has been in existence > since 1934--can you believe it!--and, of course, has been meeting at the > field house of Green Briar Park in Chicago since the beginning. At one time > they were so large, they had weekly meetings, which really were (and are) > weekly competitions. Now the club membership is a lot smaller, but still > appears to be quite active, holding about 2 meetings a month. > > 2) Last night was the pictorial competition, which, for me, proved > interesting, since I've never been to a photography competition. Prints are > viewed by 3 judges from another camera club and viewed in a *print box* > which is lighted with 2 tungsten bulbs & 2 fluorescent bulbs. This lighting > set-up is the standard for single club & interclub (Chicago Area Camera > Clubs Association--(CACCA)) competitions. The club has created a specific > category called Digital Projected Images (DPI), but it was very clear the > projector was not calibrated; all images were way too bright. > > 3) The equipment for judges is quite impressive: each judge has an > electronic box used to punch in a score, which is then automatically > calculated and displayed. A reader states the combined score aloud, which > is then tallied in software & by hand on a score sheet. Once the category > judging is finished, judges give critique & justification for score. > > 4) I was invited to join everyone for coffee & ice cream at a nearby diner > afterwards. Lots of fun stories were told, some printing equipment talk > ensued , and I was asked to testify: was I a PC or Mac user. When I stated > I was a PC user, I was playfully dismissed. > > 5) I was encouraged to get some prints together for a club nature > competition in a few weeks. Out of several thousand frames, I've found > about 2 that will meet the competition requirements--no alterations & no > *hand of man* in the frame (no people, trails, fences, etc). I've got > people everywhere in my shots. lol. > > 6) All in all, it seems like it might be fun, but there is something that > really struck me last night that has nothing to do with photography: Despite > the fact that Chicago proper is a huge, bustling city of brick, steel, & > concrete, we have an outstanding park system; there are over 500 inland > parks and, of course, the lake front is considered 1 huge beach & park. When > you meet someone who was born & bred in Chicago, one of the 1st questions > often asked is *what park did you hang out at as a kid?* I, myself, grew up > in Eugene Field Park (named after the poet). Each park has a field house. > Some are quite beautiful. Eugene has a gym, club rooms, a beautiful > auditorium, a wood shop, and an administrative office. I spent my entire > childhood in that park: We all played on the 16 inch pony-tail softball > league; I took sewing lessons there; we were in the drama club & performed > in plays in the theater; we had gym shows; we played all kinds of sports & > track & field; and we attended girl scout meetings in the club rooms. > Darrel & I were even able to have our wedding ceremony & reception in > Eugene's auditorium. I am a child of the Chicago Parks. And there I was > last night, exactly 22 days away from turning 50, and what was I doing? > Walking into the field house of a neighborhood park, looking for the east > club room with intent of possibly signing up for, yet, another park activity > :-).
Photography (or any other art) competitions rankle me. Since they seem central to what the club does, I fear I wouldn't enjoy it much. Hope you have a good time, though. They seem like nice people. I think I prefer the social part of these things to talk about parks more than incessant talk about cameras, equipment and the like. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
