VCC President’s Message: August – September 2020

By | September 25, 2020

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Three months have passed since my last message and many things have happened here in Victoria. Thanks to our fabulous Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and her direction through this pandemic, BC has managed to flatten the curve and we are now on our way back to a new normal life. Of course, this does not mean the pandemic is over. You still need to wear a mask when needed and keep a safe distance from fellow Victorians. 

Now I know that you’ve all heard this information already, but I bet you are wondering what this means for our camera club. We are still unable to hold any club meetings at Norway House as gatherings of more than 50 are still not allowed and Camosun College has cancelled any classroom activities until the end of 2020. So, our next step was to move everything online. The Club has an account with Zoom and our meetings, presentations, and workshops are being run through it, with much success, thanks to the ReZoom committee. They have been hard at work the last few months in preparing and training members to have these Zoom meetings go smoothly. So far, we have had a Members Update meeting, a workshop (thanks Neil Boyle for being the first one!), and external competitions committee has several awards presentations. In September we will start back up with our regular Thursday nights all on Zoom, including the continuation of our monthly competitions, digital and print.

I’d like to highlight a few other activities that have been going on as things ease up in our province. Lorna Shaw has agreed to continue with ‘The Distraction Project’ and there will eventually be some slide shows showing our members photographs. Leah Gray’s Digital Review in the Forums is a great way to get feedback from fellow members on one of your possible competition worthy photos. It’s worth a look to also help out with your feedback on members photos. 

The Tuesday Field Trip group has started back up again with suggestions on where to go or what to focus your shooting on but instead of all meeting up all together you go at a convenient time in the week and post your photos in the gallery. A few new workshops are being developed by the committee so stay tuned for more information. 

I would like to thank all of our volunteers who have been working hard during this transition and to all members who have been patient while we adjust to our new normal.

In the words of Dr. Henry, ‘Be kind, be calm and be safe’.

Teri VanWell, President