George Soules and Janice Kenyon hosted the annual summer meeting and cookout at their home in Southwest Harbor on August 9, 2016. We had a lovely evening with good food and time to socialize before the meeting got underway. If you could not attend, we hope you can make it next year.

Below are minutes from the Steering Committee portion of the meeting followed by a record of the lively and productive discussion among club members.

Present: Brenda Beckett, Jenn Booher, Judith Bradshaw Brown, Kenn Chandler, Harold Drabkin, Dorothea Eiben, Al Judd, Jim Keene, Priscilla Keene, Janice Kenyon, Tom Lawrence, Kat Montminy, Steve Montminy, Howie Motenko, Steve Mullane, Steve Redgate, Jim Reynolds, Kathe Simons, Ken Small, George Soules, Anne Wetzel, John Whetstone, Mary Whetstone

Club Business

George called the meeting to order and asked the Steering Committee members to vote on the following motions as a single slate since all had previously been discussed and approved via email:

  • Change meeting to the 2nd Tuesday of the month
  • Change the meeting time to 6:30-8:30
  • New officer terms begin on July 1 following their election
  • Spend approximately $300 to move the club web site and host for 3 years

Ken Small motioned to approve, Mary Whetstone seconded. All voted in favor.

Presentations by Officers and Committee Chairs

George shared a summary of the 2016 Survey Results.

George shared his goals for the club this year. His #1 goal for the club is to stay focused on fun, learning, and enjoyment of photography. Other goals include having a learning aspect to each meeting and outing, making more use of the web site to disseminate information, delegating club responsibilities to lessen the responsibilities of the president and involve more people.

Dorothea presented Howie and Brenda with a book of photos from the 2016 Annual Photo Exhibit in appreciation of their years of hard work as President and Secretary. Thank you to Dorothea for creating the book and to all the club members who contributed their photos.

The officers introduced themselves and spoke briefly.

Mary Whetstone said there would be a few changes in the membership procedures this year, including printed name tags for members, a sign in sheet for guests, and having the membership table outside the entrance to the meeting room instead of in the room.

Kenn Chandler said he had a list of 20-25 potential outings and proposed that a committee form to decide on and organize the outings. He also said he liked working as part of the community. Several people volunteered to help with outings.

Meeting Format

George said that this year there would be a new category for monthly photo submissions called “Share”. The Share category let people show photos without asking for feedback. Members can submit up to a total of 4 photos in 3 categories – Outing, Share, or Critique (example: 1 outing photo, 2 share, 1 critique).

The monthly assignment will continue, but it is only a suggestion.

The meeting format will change to 2 hours, starting at 6:30, and will start with club business followed by the speaker or workshop. After the break we will follow with outing photos, share photos, and the critique. George emphasized that the critique is intended for serious discussion on how to improve a photo. The purpose is to help the photographer move forward. This year we will identify the photographer so they can ask for specific comments if desired. Also, two people will be designated at each meeting to keep the critique moving along.

The rest of the meeting was open discussion on a variety of topics. Some of the suggestions and ideas were:

Critique

Harold suggested that we encourage members to upload critique photos ahead of time to give people time to study them. Howie thought this would be particularly helpful for the two designated critique people.

Harold suggested having someone submit a raw file that members could post process and share the results at the next meeting. Kenn thought this could make a good monthly assignment.

Tom asked if there was a committee for organizing the critiques. Several people thought it was a good idea and Tom, Howie, Steve Redgate, and Kathe are possible members. Kathe proposed that the committee include a relatively new photographer.

Kathe also asked if we could show the metadata and histogram for critique photos.

Discussion followed as to whether we should spend time critiquing a photo if the photographer is not present. No conclusion was reached, but perhaps we could ask the group at the time. Kathe suggested we evaluate the critique process part way through the year.

We discussed allowing variable amounts of time for speakers depending on their needs. George emphasized finding out what they need before the meeting, and Al thought if someone needed more time we should accommodate them. Kathe proposed using signs to guide a speaker on how much time is left.

Speakers and Workshops

We talked about the balance between workshops and speakers. Brenda liked sessions where people work with photos and liked speakers who incorporated teaching and techniques. Kathe suggested having five speakers and four workshops per year. George said that the survey feedback indicated there weren’t enough learning opportunities and that people were interested in learning about cameras and computers.

Al thought the presenter should be given guidelines about what we were interested in learning.

Jenn liked just learning and seeing someone’s photography and enjoyed the artistic skills not just technical skills

Pri liked seeing things that people do, but some things like night sky photography and panoramas seem out of reach. She liked more practical topics.

George suggested having a couple of “wow” topics, a couple of more basic topics, and more in the middle.

Kathe said each of us will have a different takeaway from a speaker so everyone will learn something different,

Ken Small suggested soliciting feedback on speakers, perhaps online. Howie asked what the goal of the evaluation would be. Kenn said we could send out email after a speaker asking for feedback. Dorothea suggested 3 high level questions tied to the goals of the club to find out if we are hitting the target.

Howie proposed setting a budget for outings and speakers. George said the Steering Committee would first develop a budget before determining for how money is allocated.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.