Lake County Camera Club

Description and Rules

Lake County Camera Club

2012 – 2013 Season

The Lake County Camera Club (LCCC) was founded many years ago by dedicated photographic artists for the purpose of enjoyment of the skills and craft inherent in this endeavor. Through sharing of our avocation, friendships are made and strengthened that will endure forever. One of the goals of the LCCC is to have fun at doing what is enjoyable in the spirit of friendly competition and sharing of knowledge. To this end, the club meetings are friendly and open, conducted in a casual atmosphere where everyone is welcome to participate as fully as they like. Our mission; to promote, teach and share the ideas, skills, techniques and good practices of the art of photography and the use of cameras and photographic equipment.

In May 2010, LAKE COUNTY CAMERA CLUB, NFP was created as a 501(a) corporation incorporated and registered in the state of Illinois. The purpose of the Corporation is to promote, teach and share the ideas, skills, techniques and good practices of the art of photography and the use of cameras and photographic equipment.

LCCC is a member of the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association (CACCA) and a member of the Photographic Society of America (PSA).

On the first Thursday of each month, the club meets at University Center in Grayslake, IL (http://ucenter.org/contact/location/) at 7:00 pm with the exception of our competition nights in October, December, February and April. On those competition nights our meetings begin at 6:45 pm. The season begins in September and continues through August. Meetings typically last approximately 2 ½ - 3 hours.

The yearly club dues are $35 per person and $10 for each additional family member. Family members include: spouse and children or stepchildren (up to the age of 21). Yearly club dues are prorated accordingly throughout the remainder of the year. Soon after joining you will receive a contact from one of our members to find out if we can provide any special help for the new member. All members are required to complete, in full, a membership form. Dues are due at the September meeting and are required before competing in any competition.

A condition of LCCC membership is that the use of LCCC member phone numbers, mailing addresses and email addresses should only be used for club related business and activities. Club members should refrain from sending other members unsolicited email and/or SPAM. This includes but is not limited to mail or email containing chain letters, business solicitations, political and religious viewpoints. Violations of this policy should be reported to the Board who will review any incident(s) and make a determination if the club member has violated this policy. If a club member is found in violation of this policy the Board has the option to invoke sanctions, suspensions or revocation of membership as it sees fit.

Competitions are held four times a year in October, December, February and April. The club competitions are designed to stretch the photographer’s imagination and skills by judging one’s work against other photographers.

For the remaining months of the season, a program is prepared. Topics of interest for the program meetings range from technical discussions of photography to post processing techniques to subjects about specialized photography. The programs are generally free of charge to paid members and will benefit the novice to advanced photographer; however a fee may be charged for special programs. In this instance, advanced notice will be given.

Monthly photo excursions are planned for club members for the purpose of providing material for the photographer’s experience and enjoyment. The photo excursions are purely voluntary and at the member’s own expense (if any). The member assumes all responsibility for liability and travel arrangements as necessary. The photo excursions are subject to weather, no rain dates. Times for meeting will be communicated to all members in advance of the date.

On the third Saturday of each month, we gather for our Shutter Cafe. These are small, casual meetings held at the Hillside Restaurant, 804 Barron Boulevard Grayslake, IL 60030 at 8:00 a.m. Discussions will be topics related to photography and will last only as long as people want to talk.

To challenge our members to pick up their camera and take some photos, each month a Challenge is given. These challenges are purely to get members out shooting and are not mandatory.

Table of Contents

1. Mission

2. LAKE COUNTY CAMERA CLUB, NFP

3. How to Join

4. Communication

5. Schedule

6. Club Competitions

7. Programs

8. Photo Excursions

9. Shutter Cafe

10. Challenges

11. Library

12. CACCA

13. PSA

14. Community Outreach

15. Volunteering

16. Board and Officers

1. Mission

2. LAKE COUNTY CAMERA CLUB, NFP

In May 2010, LAKE COUNTY CAMERA CLUB, NFP was created as a 501(a) corporation, with a five member Board of Directors, and registered in the state of Illinois. The Club is a not-for-profit, tax exempt Corporation whose purpose is to promote, teach and share the ideas, skills, techniques and good practices of the art of photography and the use of cameras and photographic equipment.

3. How to Join

To become a member yearly club dues are $35 per person and $10 for each additional family member. Family members include: spouse and children or stepchildren (up to the age of 21). Yearly club dues are prorated accordingly throughout the remainder of the year: starting in March, dues are $18 per person and $5 for each additional family member and starting in June, dues are $10 per person and $3 for each additional family member. Cash and checks are accepted. Checks are to be made payable to Lake County Camera Club. The revenue from the dues is used for necessary expenses to run the club. All advice and information exchanged during, before and after the meetings is free of charge to those willing to listen. Soon after joining you will receive a contact from one of our members to find out if we can provide any special help for the new member. All members are required to complete, in full, a membership form. Dues are due at the September meeting and are required before competing in any competition.

4. Communication

All communication for the club is done through Yahoo groups email, our website and our MeetUp group. We have two levels of email through the Yahoo groups. The first level is by invitation and you will be able to send as well as receive from all other members who have accepted the invitation. With the second level you will be able to receive only club news as issued by the officers of the club and will not be able to respond. This level will receive less than 10 emails per month.

5. Schedule

The schedule is subject to change with advanced notice.

l September – Program

l October – Club Competition: 3 total images; plus a 4th if the image is a small or large monochrome print, with no more than 2 images in one division.

l November – Program

l December – Club Competition: 3 total images; plus a 4th if the image is a small or large monochrome print, with no more than 2 images in one division.

l January – Program

l February – Club Competition: 3 total images; plus a 4th if the image is a small or large monochrome print, with no more than 2 images in one division.

l March – Program

l April – Club Competition: 3 total images; plus a 4th if the image is a small or large monochrome print, with no more than 2 images in one division.

l May – Program

l June – Program

l July – Program

l August – Year End Party and Competition

6. Club Competitions

The club competitions are designed to best provide a venue for all types and levels of photographers to assess their work against others in the club. Judging is based equally upon Impact, Composition and Technical Proficiency. Our competition is entirely open – not a specialty such as photojournalism or nature. As such, all methods of acquiring, capturing, processing and presenting the image are equal and judging is based entirely on the image as presented. The judging is not to be influenced by techniques, difficulty or subject matter. Using judges from outside the club, we compete in five Divisions: Large Color Prints, Small Color Prints, Large Monochrome Prints, Small Monochrome Prints and Digital Projected Images (DPI). Each Division is divided into two Classes: Class A (advanced) and Class B (novice). See the Competition Rules document for further information.

7. Programs

Seven months of the season, a program is prepared. Topics of interest for the program meetings range from technical discussions of photography to post processing techniques to subjects about specialized photography. The programs are free of charge to paying members and will benefit the novice to advanced photographer; however a fee may be charged for special programs. In this instance, advanced notice will be given.

8. Photo Excursions

Monthly photo excursions are planned for club members for the purpose of providing material for the photographer’s experience and enjoyment. At least one board member or designated club representative will be in attendance at each photo excursion. The photo excursions are purely voluntary and at the member’s own expense (if any). The member assumes all responsibility for liability and travel arrangements as necessary. The photo excursions are subject to weather, no rain dates. Times for meeting will be communicated to all members in advance of the date.

9. Shutter Cafe

On the third Saturday of each month, we gather for our Shutter Cafe. These are small, casual meetings held at the Hillside Restaurant, 804 Barron Boulevard Grayslake, IL 60030 at 8:00 a.m. At least one board member or designated club representative will be in attendance. Discussions will be topics related to photography and will last only as long as people want to talk.

10. Challenges

To challenge our members to pick up their camera and take some photos, each month a Challenge is given. These challenges are purely to get members out shooting and are not mandatory. Photos must be newly taken images between the day the assignment is given and the end of the given month. Please follow our DPI Sizing and Naming Convention found in the Requirements section of the Competition Rules of this document. Photos need to be submitted on our website. Be creative. Think about creating, not just taking. In this challenge there are no bad pictures. It is a learning experience. Make your camera (tool) do different things. At the end of each month, check our website for a gallery of the images submitted.

11. Library

If you have old photography magazines or publications lying around collecting dust, and you are willing to part with them - bring them into the club. Please only include publications that are within the last two years. If you are interested in reading old photography magazines, and there are ones available, pick up one from the club. When you are done - return it so others can benefit. This isn't a 'library' where you are checking items in/out -- it'll be on the honor system. Magazines and publications will be on a table at our meetings.

12. CACCA

LCCC is a member of the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association (CACCA). CACCA provides a forum for area camera clubs to participate in interclub competitions utilizing the monthly club competition images as material for CACCA competition. The association with CACCA provides the club a measure of the member’s success and individual members a forum for individual competition with those from other clubs. Individual competitions are voluntary (and encouraged). CACCA provides a photographic school, CAPS (Chicago Area Photographic School) every other year for those interested in improving their skills as a photographer utilizing a seminar format. CACCA competitions are open to members of all affiliated clubs. The interclub competition is currently held at

Christian Church of Arlington Heights, 333 W. Thomas Street, Arlington Heights, IL 60005 on the second Saturday of each month, October through May. CACCA Competition Rules can be found on our website or on the CACCA website (http://caccaweb.com/).

At the beginning of each CACCA season, the Board will decide whether to join CACCA as one club or as two clubs. If we join as two clubs, the members who start the year in Class A or join mid-year and opt to be in Class A will be in Lake County Camera Club One. The remainder will be in Lake County Camera Club Two. No member will change clubs during the year.