Welcome to Charlottesville Camera Club

Here’s your opportunity to get friendly feedback on your photos from your fellow club members. Do you just want to learn more about the basics of taking a good photo? Are you having some difficulty getting the “look” you want with lighting and composition? Want to do better in our competitions and juried exhibits? Whatever your level of experience or ability, you’ll find these casual and supportive meetings helpful—and just plain fun!

You’ll get the most from these meetings by posting your own photos. But of course you’re welcome to just show up and observe the photos posted by others.

If you’d like to show us your photos, upload up to two* JPEGs (sized to about 2000 pixels on the longest side) to the current photo review entry on the PhotoContest Pro website (www.photocontestpro.com).

The deadline is always midnight before the meeting. (If you need help with uploading, check out the information available on the CCC website under Competition Info, or contact Gerry Bishop via email.)

* You can upload up to four photos, but only as two sets of "before" and "after" versions.

Our judge this month is Sandi Croan. Sandy is a fine art photographer who specializes in landscape, nature, and travel photography. She has won numerous competitions and awards for her fine art photographs, including Best Landscape and People’s Choice awards at Nature Visions Photography Expo and Best in Show and 2nd Place at the Meadowlark Photo Expo.

Her images are on permanent display at the Fair Oaks Hospital Cancer Center and Inova Schar Cancer Center. Sandi was a featured artist in Elan Magazine and has had photographs published in other local and national magazines. Additionally, she was a finalist in Outdoor Photographer Magazine’s Nature’s Colors in 2021.

Sandi has been a member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society since 2004 and has served in a variety of board positions.

You can see a sample of Sandi’s work on www.sandicroanphotography.com

Got some photos you'd like to share with your fellow members? Want some helpful suggestions on how to improve your photography skills? Just want to see what others in the club are shooting these days, and how they're using editing software to optimize their photos? Then our photo review sessions are a great place to spend some time.

If you haven't yet joined us in these Zoom gatherings, you should at least give it a try. Just show up and see what you think. Then, if you decide you want to show some of your own photos, go to the CCC website (www.cvillecameraclub.org) and click on Competition Info > Uploading in the left-side column for more information. (Don't worry: The photo reviews are not at all about competition!)

Forest photography can be tough, with scenes that often appear cluttered and chaotic at first view. Even in the most beautiful forests, finding a composition from the smallest scene or lone tree to something wider can take patience and effort, along with an open mind to what you might find. I will share my successes and challenges with forest and tree photography over the years. As someone who grew up surrounded by trees as a child, I find being around them not only enjoyable for photography but beneficial to our well-being.

Adrian Klein is a professional photographer and outdoor enthusiast. He is active within the photographic community, including serving on the Professional Photographers of Oregon Board of Directors and leading the effort to help create Photo Cascadia with this amazing group of talented photographers. Awards and juried exhibitions include PPO, PPA, ICPA, Nature’s Best, and Center for Fine Arts. Besides his personal adventures for photography, he very much enjoys helping others learn more about photography and the outdoors.

The judge for this month's competition on the 12th will be unavailable on that date, so we'll be recording his evaluations and scoring of your entries ahead of time. Therefore, the deadline for uploading your entries will be at 11:59 TONIGHT, Sunday, November 1.

Our judge will be Mike Mezeull II.