Good afternoon, Sweetwater Camera Club members, visitors and friends . . .

You are invited to join us this Thursday evening, September 8th at 7 p.m. for an evening hosted by an exceptional commercial photographer and photo journalist, Mr. Tom England of Thomas S. England Photography. You should visit his website at http://www.englandphoto.com to see what a strong and interesting photographic career Tom has had over the past 25 years. He has photographed many national and international subjects. His website states:

“Atlanta based photographer Thomas S. England works on assignment for publications & corporations. He uses skills derived from over 25 years of shooting photojournalism for national magazines to cover people in locations around the world. Specializing in the use of portable lighting to enhance and mimic natural light, his images are consistently high quality with exact composition.”

We are so lucky to have the opportunity for Tom to give us a presentation of his work and to critique our contest entries. According to his website, Mr. England has been photographing professionally since 1971 and has performed assignments for The New York Times, People Magazine, Time, Newsweek, National Geographic Traveler, Business Week, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes and many more.

Thomas has taught photography for The Nikon School and Northwestern University.
Do we need to say anything more? Don’t miss this great opportunity to meet Mr. England and enjoy his presentation.

This month’s contest: Street Photography: ”A picture that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, etc.” Also, those who participated in our monthly field trip to Smith Gilbert Gardens are encouraged to enter the field trip portion of our contest. Any photo taken during a Sweetwater Camera Club field trip qualifies to be in the contest.

2011 Contest Topics: The contest topics for this year are located at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/contests/contest-topics-a-descriptions/contests-2011. You can find out more about the contest rules on the web at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/contests . The rules state that you may enter two photos each in the color, monochrome and field trip categories. Attached you will also find a proof of the next SCC Photo Contest page which will appear in the October issue of the Chapel Hill News & Views magazine.

Upcoming Field Trips: We have two excellent field trips planned for this month: On Sunday afternoon, September 18^th we will meet at the Douglas County Library to go over the rules for the upcoming North Georgia Camera Club Council’s shootout at the Booth Museum which takes place all day on Saturday, October 1^st. Both of these events qualify as field trips for next month’s field trip contest. I cannot emphasize enough the value of taking part in our field trips, this one especially. We have so far had 12 people sign up for the Booth Museum shootout in Cartersville, but we need at least 20 participants in order to take advantage of this “opportunity of the year.” We will be competing individually and as a club against over 300 photographers from 10 photo clubs. A list of 5 topics will be handed out early in the morning of October 1^st, and it is our mission to use the museum grounds, the museum itself and the city of Cartersville as our major photographic resource. We will have several hours to go out and shoot the 5 assigned topics, return to our classroom across from the museum to process the images, and get 50 pictures turned in to be judged by 5 expert judges. There will be many prizes given away during this “photo opportunity of the year” with many of them provided by the largest sponsor, Showcase Photo in Buckhead.

If you can come to the dress rehearsal on Sunday afternoon, September 18^th at the Douglas County Library at 1 p.m., please do so, even if you can’t make it to the major competition in Cartersville on October 1st. We need to know by Thursday, October 15^th or sooner if you plan to attend so the Booth Museum folks can make the proper plans for us, provide instructions, bring the appropriate number of prizes and reserve classroom space at the Teachers Resource Center across the street from the museum.

There is NO CHARGE for you to participate in this event. The $300 entry fee is paid for by the Sweetwater Camera Club. In order to participate, you must be a member of our club. Currently the membership fee is $10 per person or $20 per family—your membership is for the calendar year, meaning it lasts through December of 2011. Please visit the NG3C website for all kinds of information at http://www.NG3C.org . You may join us on-line at http://www.sweetwatercameraclub.org/membership or come to this month’s meeting and find our secretary, Stella Spyrou.

We need your help in selecting SCC Officers for 2012: In September, according to tradition and the bylaws of the Sweetwater Camera Club, the president is to appoint a nominating committee whose job it is to contact those who might be interested in serving as President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer for the following year. We also attempt to determine who would enjoy serving on committees either as chairpeople or committee members for the approaching New Year. If you would like to be on the nominating committee, please get in touch with me either by phone or e-mail. If you would like to be an officer, committee chairperson or committee member, the job descriptions of our officers are fairly straight forward— the gist of each title’s duties are listed below:

The President presides over meetings of officers, committees and members. In addition the president is a member of every committee, represents the club to the public and works to ensure the smooth running of the group.

The Vice President presides when the president is absent or cannot continue in office. The vice president is the Program Chairperson, meaning that she or he along with the Program Committee finds speakers and critiquers / judges for the monthly meetings.

The Secretary records all meeting minutes and submits them through the website. She or he also takes in all club money, handles new memberships, deposits money in the bank and keeps our records up to date. It is a good idea for the Secretary to also find an assistant who can handle matters when she or he is absent or in need of help.

The Treasurer watches over the club’s money and handles expenses; He or she pays out all fees required in the everyday running of the club, and provides reports to the officers as needed.

Committee chair people are not usually officers—except as described above. They are volunteers who serve the club in a variety of ways. Committees include the Contest, Field Trip, Publicity, Welcoming, Programs and Exhibits committees. Other committees can be formed at any time to handle special projects. If you have questions or would like to serve our group, please contact me at my email address listed above or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If you would like to become an officer and donate some of your time (not a lot required during the year), and if you have the ability and desire to do so, please let it be known to one of our current officers. We are also working to get a head start on committee chairpeople and members for 2012. We are always open to new ideas, new leadership and enthusiastic participants.

Digital Image Group on Thursday, September 15^th: For those of you who are interested In attending the Digital Image Group meeting, to show your work or see what others are doing, our next meeting is Thursday, September 15^th at 6:30 p.m. or later. It will be held at the Douglasville School of Art at 6774 West Broad Street here in Douglasville. You may view recent images for the past several months and years online for the world to see at http://www.digitalimagegroup.org/photo/index.php?folder=/2011/ . We need for people to bring their own chairs to the DIG meeting. There are a few chairs available for those who don’t or can’t bring one.

Hope to see you at the Sweetwater Camera Club meeting! No matter what your calling in life, photography and related disciplines are great ways to continue to learn and interact with the world. Image making and image manipulations allow us all to contribute our own creative ideas to society while we also express and improve ourselves. Thank you for your enthusiastic participation!!!

Richard