Tag Archives: Manitoba Camera Club

Awards Won! (Winnipeg Award Winning Photography)

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Last week was the year-end banquet for The Manitoba Camera Club. Part of this event is the annual competition for trophies in a number of categories. I enjoy entering competitions because of the experience of having images critiqued and also for the experience of trying to perfect images to make them ready for competition.

Here are my winners from this year’s annual competition:

I won first place in the Life category for this image that I took while on a boat in a canal in China. This image tells us a lot about the life of people who live along this canal.

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I won second place in the Life category for this image, which was also taken in China. The dad of this sad little boy was selling food from his cart when I spotted the little boy’s face through the window.

The image makes me wonder why such a small child would be so sad.

 

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Another category that I really like is Contemporary. I love playing with images in Photoshop and also looking for ways of shooting an image that changes the perception of the image.

This first image is done in Photoshop with layer upon layer of a flower and then blending the layers together. I won a first honourable mention for this one.

 

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This is an example of an image that I shot and then looked at more closely and saw a face peeking through. It is cropped quite a lot from the original image and honestly, I can’t remember what I took a picture of!  But it is an example of practicing the art of seeing.

I won 2nd place in Contemporary for this one.

 

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Image of the Month! (Manitoba Camera Club)

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I got the top prize last month at the Manitoba Camera Club for this image.

Image of the Month: October 2012

The theme for this month’s competition was: Peace and Tranquility

Photographer: Christina McWilliams

The theme for this month’s competition was “Peace and Tranquility.” What the words peace and tranquility bring to my mind are babies sleeping or looking peaceful. Babies fill me with a peaceful feeling, which is a large part of the reason that I love to photograph them.
I picked this image in particular because of its composition and because of the beauty of this baby. The baby’s eyes draw us in and then we follow the dad’s gaze back to the baby. The difference in skin texture between the softness of the baby and the rough beard of the dad is also a strong element, as are the lines formed by the dad’s hands and the baby’s hands. On closer analysis you can see there are a series of triangles in the shape of the arms, the hands and the positioning of the baby.
The emotional connection with this images is one that leaves the viewer feeling peaceful and tranquil.
Christina

The Manitoba Camera Club (Winnipeg Photography Clubs)

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A new year at The Manitoba Camera Club began yesterday, on Sept. 4th. MCC as our club is known has been a great learning experience for me as well as lots of fun. I have made many wonderful friends there who share a love of photography. And you can too.

If you love photography and want to learn more; then this club is an excellent opportunity for you. We meet every Tuesday from the beginning of September, until the end of April; a total of about 35 meetings. (There is a break in December.)

Here are some of the reasons to join:

  • Where can you get an evening of entertainment and learning for around $3.50 a night?  At $100 for the year, that’s all a meeting comes to.
  • You will find a community of like-minded people who are willing to share their expertise.
  • Some of the “experts” who are members include:

Joe Kerr,  http://pixels2.com/-/pixels2/who is an expert in both Lightroom, Photoshop and in fine art printing

Myself,  an expert in newborn, child and family portraiture.

Barry Streimer http://www.bearcreekartgallery.ca/index.php?p=1_6_FAQ, who is an expert art framer and night  photographer.

The list could go on and on.

  • Other photographers who are experts in their field will be doing presentations this coming year. This list includes:

Alexandra Morrison named photographer of the year twice in Manitoba and once in Canada,

http://nature-photography-central.com/about-                    nature-photography-central.html,

Mike Grandmaison, http://www.grandmaison.mb.ca/index.htm, a nature photographer in a class all his own.

Manuel Sousa; msousa.com; one of our favorite presenters, an expert in wedding photography, as well as travel photography.

There are many others; too many to mention.

  • There is the chance to go on field trips to places you might not venture out to. Next Tuesday, the 11th, we are going to shoot in the Exchange District in the evening. Would you venture out there by your self at night? I know, I would not. This past summer, field trips have included: The Selkirk Rodeo, fireworks at the Red River Exhibition and at the Forks for Canada Day, The RCMP Ride, the car show in Beausejour, The Northern Lights in Meadows, Mb, and many more.

So the question really is; why wouldn’t you join? If you are interested in photography, joining will be one of the best decisions you could make.

Check out our website at:  http://manitobacameraclub.ca/ for more information or join our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Manitoba-Camera-Club/377874278916436?ref=hl

Red River Exhibition Fireworks! (Winnipeg Photographers)

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A group of us from the Manitoba Camera Club, led by our intrepid leader Vic Schertow, went out to shoot the fireworks at the Red River Exhibition. Vic took us down some back roads to get to the spot these images were taken in.

Great scouting Vic! Thank you very much!

Aren’t these images amazing?

 

 

 

 

And the Winners Were (Winnipeg Photographers)

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Tonight was the annual Awards Dinner for the Manitoba Camera Club. These were my entries that placed.

 

This was a restaurant ceiling in Costa Rica. (The food was great too!)

This placed 2nd in Architecture.

I did an overlay of a waterfall in Costa Rica on this daisy image; got another 2nd for this one in the Contemporary category.

I took this photo a couple of years ago in Calgary along the river walk. Just recently, I cropped it and played with it, adjusting the colour and sharpness. The images had already won a first in a monthly competition and it won a first again in the Projected category.

And who wouldn’t love this gorgeous guy!  He won me an honourable mention in the Open Monochrome and had also won a first place in a monthly competition.

 

And the Winners Are (Winnipeg Photographers)

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The following 3 images were winners at this month’s Manitoba Camera Club competition. The category was Open. I won’t announce how the images finished yet as the winners won’t be officially announced until Tuesday.

So what do you think?  Which do you like best? Which one do you think did the best?

And BTW: Come out to one of our meetings. We meet every Tuesday at 7:30  at Lions Place, 610 Portage Ave. If you’re at all interested in photography come and learn and have fun.  Our website is www.manitobacameraclub.ca.

Entries for April Competition (Winnipeg Photographers)g

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April is a big month at the Manitoba Camera Club as far a competitions go. It’s the end of the year and entries can be submitted in a number of categories including: the Open, Animals, Architecture, Contemporary and Life. I put all of my entries from this competition in a gallery and added a few that I entered in some other months. You can see my entries at this link:

http://www.chrismcwilliamsphotographylandscapes.com/A-Bit-of-Everything/MCC-Entries/12001078_uSToc#851120217_BSQ2y

The judges picked one of the entries as a first. They also picked a second, third and honourable mention from the images. Pick your winners and see if they match what the judges picked. I’ll let you know how you did on Wed. of next week.

May 1st marks the 6 month mark of not buying any clothes. That means I’m half way there. It is getting easier. I look in my closet for what to wear this spring and see a lot of clothes. No need to buy more, but then it rarely is a need when we go shopping.  I just have to think of all the money I have saved for travelling!!

Spring has Sprung Special (Winnipeg Photographer Special)

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After a very, very long cold winter, we finally are getting a taste of warm weather. This warm weather is not a constant, but comes and goes as the phases of the moon, but at least we do get a glimpse of spring now and then.  I think Spring is a grand thing to celebrate. Why not mark the end of yet another dark season to welcome the beginning of new life and more light. So I am offering a spring has sprung special. If you book a session by May 15th, I will give you a $25 print credit. It’s a limited time offer so why book that session that you’ve been meaning to book now?

I showed you the image in the poster in an earlier blog. It now has won another award at Manitoba Camera Club; a 2nd and a 1st Honorable Mention. email-mailing-april-21-09-sm2copy

 

Hope to hear from you,

Christina

Night Photography (Winnipeg Landscape Photographer)

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The last theme for competition for Manitoba Camera Club was low light/night. I had mentioned this in an earlier post but did not post the actual images that I entered. Well, judging has happened and so here are the entries:

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So how do you think they did?

The sky view of the Exchange District finished as first BUT as I labeled it incorrectly it was disqualified.I will be entering it again in the annual Open, which is in April, and I will be SURE to label it correctly.

The traffic lights got an Honorable Mention and would have placed higher, except for the fact that I left a flag in one of the office windows. The judge had a problem with some elements of the lane picture, which I have since removed. I will be entering that one in the Open as well.

I’m not giving away all of my entries into the Open, but this is a real favorite. I took this at a place out near Anola, MB. This sweet little girl was a joy to photograph. She was not one bit awkward or self conscious in front of the camera and loved all of her pets, and there were a ton of pets; horses, goats, dogs, cats, ducks, and more. It still is one of my all time favorite shoots!!

 

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The eyes really are the window to the soul and this image draws you right in with both of their eyes. Talk about a beautiful cat and girl!! It all just works sometimes, and this is one example of everything coming together in an amazing way. Makes this photographer’s heart soar.

Till next time,

Christina

Calgary, Winnipeg and China

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I’m off to Calgary tomorrow to visit our son and his family. Best part is that our son and his wife are going skiing so I will have my grandson to myself. Ashton is 7 and in grade 2. I timed the trip to coincide with his Parent Teacher Interview. The teacher in me wants to know. lol.

Been out doing a lot of night shooting in the last couple of weeks; in the exchange and at the train station. We actually got out onto the tracks at the station while an engine came in. It happened so fast but I did get a shot. The theme this month at Camera Club is night/low light, hence the night pics.

Also, taught a couple more photography classes at Ralph Brown School. I wish that I could post some of the pictures that the kids have taken but since most of them are pictures of each other, I am not able to. I’m so proud of the great job that they’ve done. Turns out that holding the camera still is their single biggest challenge. We worked on that quite a bit and there was a big improvement.

Other than that I’ve been working on setting up a friend’s website.  Check it out: www.digital35.ca. Tse Li Luk is the name of the photographer and he will be having an exhibition at the Millenium Library for the month of May. All proceeds from the exhibition will be going towards the Chinese Cultural Centre to celebrate the Chinese community having been here for 100 years. The images are all from the Chinese countryside that Tse Li took on a recent trip to China. This exhibition is definitely worth checking out. I am by no means a website designer, but know how to see up a site at www.smugmug.com , because  they are the hosts of my 2 sites;  this one and www.studio86.smugmug.com.  The customer service at smugmug is simply the best and keeps me there.  I don’t do a lot of work on the studio86 site as my www.chrismcwilliamsphotography.com site keeps me busy enough. Anyways, I will post one of  Tse Li’s images for a sneak peak at the exhibition.

That’s it for today. The sun is shining but winter seems to be back. When will it end? Or rather will it end? Who knows. One can only hope.

These are not the images that I will be entering this month. I will post my entries after the judging night. I also have changed the resolution and size of these images.

Here are a couple of images from my night shooting and then one of the images that will be on exhibition at the library:

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I’m sure that you’ll recognize these spots if you’re from Winnipeg.

And now one from a place faraway with mystique and beauty-China:

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Isn’t that a beautiful image! Mark May on your calendar and come down to the Millenium Library to see more of  Tse Li Luk’s work.

That’s it for now.

Christina