VCC President’s Message – May 2022

By | May 28, 2022

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Hello everyone!

It’s been nearly one month since we held our AGM and a new Board was elected.

As the incoming President, it’s my pleasure to give you an update on what we’ve been up to.

With the help of the outgoing Board members, we have been oriented to our new roles and we will be meeting on the last Thursday of each month, beginning on May 26th. Thank you to Susan McRae, Kim Smith and Maureen Reid for your service to the Club and we are very happy to retain Bob Law and James Dies as ongoing Executives.

You can find information about your Executives and their individual roles by logging into your VCC website account and going to the Members’ Only section:

Here: Board & Committee Chairs (Tab: Members Only/Board Committee and Chairs)
And there: Org Chart, Info about VCC Board Members (Tab: Members Only/Organizational Chart with Photos)

Some key things to note since the AGM:

  • Updated COVID-19 Safety Plan: We have updated the VCC Covid-19 Safety Plan for in-person events to reflect the latest provincial guidelines and membership considerations. For the foreseeable future, workshops will continue to be delivered mostly by ZOOM. For those workshops that are in-person (e.g., the 4-part Fundamentals of Black and White Photography being held at Camosun College this month) the updated Safety Plan applies. Read about it here: VCC COVID-19 Safety Plan We will decide whether to resume in-person meetings at Norway House closer to September and let you know.
  • Website Administrator: Greg Blaney has successfully transitioned into this role. Many thanks to Richard Letourneau for his strong leadership in that role for the past 4 years.
  • Communications: As you know, the last edition of Close-Up magazine was the May-June 2022 edition. Over the summer months, the Board will consider future options for communicating with members. If there are special aspects of Close-Up that you treasured and would like to see continued, please send a message to Margaret McNay with your views by June 15, 2022.
  • Internal Competitions: under the Competitions tab on the VCC website, you will find the 2022-23’s internal competition themes (Friendship, Beautiful BC, Nautical, Monochrome Street Scenes, Weather, and One Colour). The summer is a great time to add images to your catalogue so that you are ready for these competitions.
  • External Competitions: With Jim Fowler in the lead, a new External Competitions Committee has been constituted and is looking forward to VCC 2022-23 participation in several CAPA competitions as well as the Eastwood, Northshore and Lions Gate competitions that have been part of VCC’s traditions. Look forward to more information from Jim and on the website soon!
  • Shared Interest Groups (SIGs): Under James Dies’ leadership, a new Drone SIG will be rolled out soon with some interesting learning opportunities and outings. The Street Photography SIG is on hold for now but we hope this group can resume soon.
  • Mentorship: the mentorship program will be continuing under the enthusiastic co-leadership of Jason Frank and Ian Faris.
  • CAPA/PSA Liaison: Richard Letourneau has taken on the role of liaison with these two valued umbrella organizations.
  • BC/Yukon Inter-Club Events: VCC will continue to contribute to the BC/Yukon inter-club events that have been part of our repertoire for the past couple of years.

Summer VCC Activities

  • Don’t forget to check the calendar from time to time as there may be updates.
  • As of now, some Saturday and/or Sunday field trips are planned into May and June, including a trip to Salt Spring Island on June 4 and a week-end trip to the Comox Valley on June 18-19. Sign-up required for all field trips.
  • Tuesday/Alternate Tuesday shoots will continue weekly throughout the summer.

In closing, I hope that our weather soon improves so that we can enjoy some great summer times and possibly even some travels. But as we recently heard from TJ Thorne, “there’s no such thing as bad light…” although he really didn’t show us any rainy-day images, did he? I really enjoyed the images of intimate scenes he showed in his presentation. I find that kind of photography very immersive and I hope to create a body of work with those kinds of images over the coming months.

Danielle Labonté, President