Organization Membership

Objectives

• Provide educational opportunities for members of the community to develop photographic interests and skills.
• Stimulate community interest in photography by sponsoring and teaching adult education classes in photography through the Grosse Pointe School System.
• Afford members educational and productive associations with people who have common interests in photography. This is accomplished through competitions and participation in assignments, miniprograms, field trips and organized shoots.

Meetings

Visitors and potential members are always welcome. You are urged to attend as often as you like. However, in order to take part in photographic competitions, you must be a member. The best images of our club go on to compete against other clubs from Southeast Michigan and Windsor.

The meetings are open to the public, as are most club activities, and visitors are welcome. The Club calendar is distributed at our meetings and published on our web site. Call the number at the end of this guide to confirm a meeting date.

Competition is Held Two Tuesdays Each Month

Each competition is limited to Nature, Color General, Monochrome or Color Creative images. Members may enter up to four images. Entries are judged and scored; helpful comments are offered as time permits. Audience members may ask questions and make comments. There are special Color General and Nature assignments. Members may submit only one image for each special assignment. If a member has no assignment entry, then only three images can be entered. Special meetings are scheduled for print competition. Prints may be commercial, color, monochrome and digital. Prints may be of any subject.

Board of Directors Meet Once a Month

The GPCC board meets once a month, if necessary, to plan events and address business needs of the GPCC.

Social & Educational Programs Once a Month

In addition to special programs, members and visitors are encouraged to participate in field trips and shooting sessions arranged by the Program Chairperson.

Mini-Programs

Short, informative and entertaining presentations on any Tuesday competition night offer “how-to” and “where to” ideas, for use of filters, lenses, flash, Photoshop and other digital techniques, etc.

Other Activities

Features of interest, such as travelogues or hosting competition meetings of the Greater Detroit Camera Club Council. We provide judges and facilities for competitions among other clubs in the metropolitan area.

Competitions

Members compete against standards – not against each other. Scores are awarded by three judges. Entries are scored on subject interest, composition and photographic technique. Judges do not vote on their own entries: the score of the other two are increased by 50% to compensate for the missing score. Each judge scores on a scale from 1 to 9. Total score for an entry is the sum of points from three judges (27 maximum).

During competition each entry’s total may receive an honor depending on the entrant’s class. New members start in Beginner class. Members from other clubs carry their class status if they transfer to our club. Minimum score for an honor in each class is as follows: 

Beginner 14
Advanced 15
Salon 16
Star 17
Galaxy 19

Classes and Awards

Point totals and class status are kept separately for Monochrome and Color Prints and in Nature and Pictorial images. Points required to advance in each category are:

Members reaching 400 honors go into Galaxy Class and thenceforth receive no ribbons for high scores unless they equal or exceed high score in the competition. Honor points continue to accumulate. Class status as of December 31 is the status for year-end club competition.

Competition Division Definitions

Prints

Subject matter is not restricted for entries in Monochrome or color prints. Prints may be traditional or inkjet.

Color General (35mm Slide or Digital)

Entries may be digital or film. Slide entries will be digitized for projection. Shall not contain a wild animal, bird, or insect that fills more than one-third (1/3) of the frame. Those images that are not acceptable in the Nature Division are acceptable as Color General.

Nature Images (35mm Slide or Digital)

Entries may be digital or film. Slide entries will be digitized for projection. Nature is defined as: Nature in all its forms, including the many facets of Botany, Geology, and Zoology. Human elements, if present, should be unobtrusive and enhance the nature. Those depicting cultivated plants, domestic animals or pets, still life studies, mounted specimens, museum pieces or groupings, or similar subjects are NOT eligible.

Monochrome General

Images that are black and white with shades of gray are acceptable.

Images that are “toned” (1 color) are acceptable.

Color Creative

(Anything Goes). Any color/nature digital image that contains "Any Subject", that is not eligible in another category. This includes images where all or part of the image is manipulated, created, edited, fixed, duplicated, or imported from another image (see below). All the components of the image must be original work created by the photographer and all manipulation must have been performed by the photographer.

Cropping and horizontal flipping (equivalent to reversing a slide), straightening, keystone, noise removal, dodging and burning, exposure adjustment, color removal, adding one color, white balance, saturation, sharpening, and “HDR” (High Dynamic Range), are examples of acceptable modifications. Images are not limited to only these modifications.

Adding elements to your images combining separate images or rearranging and/or cloning elements in your image, removing major elements from your image, are examples of acceptable modifications.

The above competition division definitions will be modified as necessary to match GDCCC guidelines.

Competition Rules

Prints

A print shall be an image printed by photographic techniques and mounted on 16"x20" mount. Any size prints are eligible for entering. Prints are entered in two distinct classes. (1) Color or (2) Monochrome prints made by the exhibitor using traditional methods, inkjet or printed by a Commercial lab. The original exposure must be made by the exhibitor for all print classes.

All entries must contain on the back in the upper left hand corner:

• Maker’s name
• Title of print
• Division Name

Digital Images

Digital images are to be prepared according to the guidelines located on the clubs web site. The images shall be sent to the digital director four days before
competition or the scheduled deadline.

Dues

Payable to the treasurer in September, dues are determined by the Board of Directors. New members joining after February 1 pay half the annual amount.
Voluntary contributions by Life Members support activities of the Greater Detroit Camera Club Council.

Single $50

Family $60

Student $25

Club Banquet

The annual club banquet is held to provide recognition to the efforts of all club members. Certificates are given to the year’s best nature and pictorial images for each of the five different classes. In addition, one nature and pictorial image is recognized as the year’s best. The makers of the year's best are presented with a certificate and a traveling trophy with the winners name added to the previous winner’s names.

Please call 313-402-6784 for more information