Have a look at our 2024-25 program
We have a great season in store with great speakers, interesting outings and how-to sessions that will help you improve your photography and editing skills.
Download our 2024-25 program.
Sign up for the 2024-25 season
It’s easy to register online. Go to the Membership Info page and open the Membership Signup Request.
A few notes governing the use of Artificial Intelligence (or AI) with regard to submitting images/photographs to a Brant Camera Club (BCC) clinic or competition:
1) A photographic image for the purpose of a Brant Camera Club (BCC) clinic or competition is defined as “an image purposefully captured via a light sensitive device (digital camera, mirrorless camera, film camera, smartphone etc) and recorded to paper, film or digital file by a maker/photographer.
2) an Artificial Intelligence (AI) created image is NOT considered a photographic image based on the image being produced (in whole or in part) by an AI system and that the image does not incorporate any content captured by the maker/photographer. Any wholly or partially created AI image will not be deemed an acceptable submission to any BCC clinic or competition.
3) text prompt programs (online programs such as chatGPT, DALL-E 2, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Adobe Firefly etc) are not to be used in the creation and production of any submitted image (in whole or in part) to a BCC club clinic or competition.
4) the use of AI features inherent in some image post processing software/applications must be used as intended (and not to enhance the maker/photographer image with content that was not previously available in the original image. Examples of these programs include but are not limited to Adobe CC’s Generative Fill AI, Luminar Neo’s AI Sky and Augmented Sky. These programs allow for the introduction of “new content” into an existing image/photo that never existed prior.
5) Programs that use AI as a means of post process refinement/editing of an image (Examples could include Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and Denoise AI, and DxO Pureraw etc ) are acceptable during post processing as they do not “add” content and only refine current content as provided by the original maker/photographer.
The Brant Camera Club (BCC) belongs to the Ontario Council of Camera Clubs (OCCC) along with about 35 other member camera clubs spanning from Windsor to Kingston and all points in between.
The OCCC website can be found here. https://o3c.ca/
The OCCC is a formal group that provides the Photography judges that our Brant Camera Club uses to do the online judging of our clinics and competitions. Below you will find details from the OCCC on the judges scoring model as well as judging details – essentially this is how the judges go about the practice of reviewing, scoring and commenting on images that they are asked to judge. It talks about the main focus areas that judges use to arrive at their scoring and how they go about it.
Hopefully, you will find this interesting and helpful for our upcoming Clinic #1 coming up Oct 17th as well as for the remaining clinics and competitions this year.
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Ontario Council of Camera Clubs (OCCC) Judges Scoring Model and Judging Details
Standard Scoring Model:
• Judges workflow: is to Evaluate, Score, and Comment on an image in 45 seconds
• Evaluation has 3 focus components: Impact, Composition, and Technical
Points for each are scored as below:
Impact – up to 3 points (out of 10)
Composition – up to 3 points (out of 10)
Technical – up to 3 points (out of 10)
+1 bonus point at judges discretion = 10 points
Details/breakdown of the 3 focus/component areas:
Impact (which includes aspects like)
• Mood
• Imagination
• Story
• Subject Matter
• Total points : 3 points
Composition (which includes aspects like)
• Distractions
• Space
• Leading Lines
• Placement
• Depth
• Visual & Abstract Elements
• Total points 3 points
Technical (which includes aspects like)
• Colour
• Light
• Exposure
• Sharpness
• Technique
• Total points 3 points
Scoring:
• Total points: Impact, Comp, Tech 3+ 3 + 3 = 9 points + optional bonus point +1 (remarkable achievement)
• Use 1/2 point intervals
• 3 points per criteria ( 1.5 less than standard, 2.0 standard, 2.5 impressive, 3.0 outstanding)
Scoring Guidelines:
• a score of 5 image has significant flaws
• a score of 6 image is a record shot
• a score of 7 shows signs that maker has made the image
• a score of 8 Image has impact, no technical flaws, may win competition
• a score of 9 Superior technically, high impact, strong story
• a score of 10 Outstanding technical, impact, composition, story
How NOT To Look at an Image (Judges direction)
• Beware of the WOW factor luring you to a high score
• Don’t Nit Pick, no petty excuses to deduct points
• Careful on assumption of flaws and artifacts
• Remove “I” thinking, no baseless personal bias
• swallow your pride, if other judges show you are off
• Stop being afraid to use 9-10 scores, reward achievement
• Street/photo journalism, be tolerant of minor distractions
Guidelines for Judges Comments:
• Mention what is good about the image
• If appropriate, comment on the story element
• Use correct photo terminology, clear concise suggestions
• Tell them what action/technique they can use to improve
elements, eg., Shutter, ISO, filters, focal length, composition
• DO NOT make statements like: I don’t like B&W, oh I love
motorcycles, I have seen a thousand Blue Jays, never use “I”
Composition Guidelines – for all Genres:
•placement of major and supporting elements
•right amount of details, to express message
•good balance, to lead viewers eye around frame
•rule of 3rds, 9 rect., image placed along lines or int.
•S curves, visual interest, leading eye into scene
•symmetry, identical elements in all 4 directions
• juxtaposition, contrast in subject matter, creating tension,
elements of varying colour, age, texture, gender
• depth, 2-D image appear 3— Dimensional, utilizing a
viewpoint to include foreground, middle, and background
• framing, main subject should have breathing room, subjects
in motion should have space to move into the frame
The Story Element
• story is part of impact, can be obvious, while others subtle
Nature: feeding chicks, nesting material in mouth, fighting,
mating
Portrait: person dancing, playing music, painting,
environmental portrait
Street/ Journalistic: people interacting, parade, protest
Pictorial/Creative: implied message tied to an emotion
Image Defects and Detractions: General items judges look for that may hurt image scoring:
1. Sensor Spots: dust on sensor amplified by small aperture
2.ISO Noise: High ISO in low light conditions, shadows
3.Pixilation: cropping too much, and enlarging too much
4.JPEG Artifacts: overworking a JPEG file, soft and blocky
5.Banding: seen in graduated areas, skies, plain backgrounds
falls under Technical, different from distractions
6. Halos: high contrast with light and dark areas, “Band”
7. Sharpness: major & supporting elements should be sharp
8. Clone Marks: areas are slightly off, repeated in image
9. Colour Balance: Colour cast, or improper colour of subject
10. Cut & Paste Look: Composites, masking, lighting, shadow
11. Mergers: key parts of subject overlap each other
12. Record Shot: called a grab shot, little artistic value
13. Out of Focus: edges of main subject are not sharp, crisp
14. Soft Image: term used for image not quite sharp
15. Chromatic Aberration: purple fringing, lens fails to focus all
colours to the same convergence point
16. Too Tight in the Frame: not enough negative space around
main subject
It’s time to start out new season, which is loaded with great speakers, learning opportunities and chances to improve your skills alongside other club members.
The first meeting of the 2023-24 season will be Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Polish Hall, 154 Pearl St.
The meeting will start with an introduction to our program. And then we’ll get right into lookiing at your photos from the Summer Scavenger Hunt and our first BCC Car Rally. (For details on how to submit photos, see below.)
Click on the link to download the 2023-24 program.
All members, whether they are new or returning, must sign up using the form on our Membership Request webpage.
Hi All, I am encouraging all new members, and previous members to take part in the Brant Camera Club clinics and competitions.
Your pictures make us a better club 🙂
Below is a quick recap of the Clinic #1 categories and a category description to assist anyone who might have questions:
Clinic #1 – Photo Categories – Entries due October 18th 2022 – Choose 2 categories + Digital Fine Art(optional) for max of 3 entries.
1) Open ** Any image, from any category that is not explicitly named in the current Clinic – in which it is being entered.
(Example: you cannot submit a Landscape image in the Open category, if there is already a Landscape category named in that clinic)
2) Wild-life ** An image that captures living animals – can include mammals, birds, fishes that are not domesticated
3) Fall(Autumn) ** An image depicting your vision of Autumn or the Fall season (this could be food, outdoor, change of season etc.)
4) It’s a Bugs life ** An image of your favourite 6 or 8 legged beastie – close up and personal(macro) or any other way you see fit to capture it.
5) Digital fine art ** An image with wow factor and impact that can(but does not necessarily have to be) manipulated via digital processes, added filters, HDR, focus stacked or background enhanced etc.
We’re excited about the program for our season beginning Sept. 6, 2022.
What a season it’s going to be: plenty of great speakers, lots of hands-on experiences, more weekend activities.
And best of all, the next season is going to be primarily in-person, so there will be lots of opportunities to catch up with your photography friends.
It’s easy to register and pay your fees online. Click here to go to our sign-up page.
We’re excited to offer a full program for the coming season that will help you learn more about photography and how to create better photographs. Our season starts Sept. 8, 2020 and we’ll be featuring some of the top photographers in the province who will share their tips and techniques via Zoom.
Download our 2020-21 Brochure.
Go to the Membership Signup Request page to register for the 2020-21 season.
Congratulations to the winners of our annual competitions for the 2019-20 season. Click on the Download buttons to see the entries and winners.
Verginnia Barrie Contest: Dave Evans (first), Jan Carey and Donna Thompson (second), Jay Youngson (third)
Rookie of the Year: Mike Brown (first), Robin Brennan (second), Robin Daniel (third).
Image of the Year and Peoples Choice: Brian Thompson
Digital Artist of the Year: Donna Thompson (first), Mike Brown and Pete Byerlay (second), Nicole Pinto and Rick MacKinnon (third)
Photographer of the Year: Dave Evans (first), Donna Thompson (second), Nicole Pinto (third)
The results are in and we have our nominees for Photo of the Year.
These are the Peoples Choice winners for 2019-20. Congratulations to the photographers for their great work.
Now all 11 Peoples Choice photos are candidates for Photo of the Year. Voting deadline is June 12
That means you can now vote for your absolutely fav pic to be the club’s top image. It will be recognized by being the cover image on next year’s BCC program brochure.
Normally we have nine candidates (three from each event) but due to ties the list was expanded to 11.
To make your pick: