Tonight, we are enjoying the artistry and community of the Simsbury Camera Club.

We’ll see the best of the year’s images
We’ll enjoy some humorous images
We’ll recognize club members for their photo artistry and club service
…punctuated by raffles throughout the evening

Before that, let’s recap the 2017 -2018 year and our members:

Completing our 63rd year as a club, started in 1955.
4 new members this year
51 members from 15 CT communities
Simsbury, West Simsbury, Weatogue, Canton, Barkhamsted, West Hartford, Avon, East Granby, Bloomfield, Farmington, New London, Windsor Locks, Windsor, Colbrook and South Windsor.

Fun Facts about the SCC in 2017 – 2018

1 Club Member honored-MNEC Recognition by NECCC
2 Field Trips (Around Simsbury, Waterfalls)
3 Number of Letters in shortest image title (Tux)
4 Outside Photo Competitions Entered (CAP, PSA, NECCC, Glennie)
5 Number of SCC Officers
6 Images in the Annual Bank Calendar
7.7 Average score per judge per image
8 Library Hallway monthly Featured Photographers
9 Library Speakers/Bring Your Camera Sessions
10 # of members who submitted the max 22 images
14 Winners in External Club competitions
17 Club members exhibiting their work – December Showcase at Simsbury Library
27 Members who volunteered during the year
31 Members submitted photographs (62% of membership)
62 Letters in longest image title (Black-backed Jackals Battle in Front of Attentive Seals- Skeleton Coast)
124 Facebook followers
278 Images received ribbons during the year
694 Images submitted in Monthly competitions

Recognition of Volunteers

Thank you to all volunteers who helped this year.

Monthly SCC Photo Competitions – Bill Payne
Judging, After the Break sessions, Handbook/Website Content – Frank Zaremba
Programs – Outside Speakers – Bill Latournes
Website – Vitali Zhulkovsky
Simsbury Bank Calendar – Ray Padron
Facebook, PR and Publicity – Lorraine Cosgrove
Annual Awards Dinner – Danielle D’Ermo
Outside Photo Competitions – Bill Latournesand John Straub
Library Displays/Refreshments/Meeting Reception Greeter – Nancy Schumann
Simsbury Airport Fly-In and Simsbury Celebrates – David Royce

Thank you to all volunteers who helped this year.

Judges –
John McGarry, John Straub, Donna Griffiths, Rene Dubois, Danielle D’Ermo, Bruce Metzger, Dick Clark, Chris Fisher, Bill Latournes, Lou Norton, Alene Galin, Jim Patrina, DolphFusco
Comment Takers –
Nancy Schumann, Danielle D’Ermo, Gary Gianni, Judy Rabinowitz, Mary Lou Lavoie
Meeting Setup –
Bill Payne, Frank Zaremba, Nancy Schumann, Judy Rabinowitz, Rob Sternschein
Library Setup –
BillLatournes, Nancy Schumann, Rob Sternschein

Officers

President – Donna Griffiths
VP – John Straub
Treasurer – Rob Sternschein
Secretary – Alene Galin
Past President – Bill Latournes

Thank you’s for tonight’s Banquet

Danielle D’Ermo – for planning and organizing our Banquet tonight
Rob Sternshein – for reviewing the contract and paying our bills
John Straub – for getting the trophies and award plaques
Bill Payne – for putting together the image slideshows/presentations

PSA May Competition Results

In Group E, we finished with 64 points, tying us for 7th out of 26 Clubs for May
For the year, we finished 7th out of 38 clubs
Two Honorable Mentions

Honorable Mention

Chelsie – Frank Zaremba

Honorable Mention

Maine Tidal Pool – William Payne

The Funnies!!

Humorous Images and Winners

13 images submitted
2 Winners with yellow ribbons

EOY Promotions

To be promoted, your average score must be higher than the average of the next highest class.
At least 14 images must be submitted during the SCC year to be considered for promotion to a higher class.

4 individuals from Class B to Class A

Aardarsh Gopalakrishna
Nancy Schumann
Lorraine Cosgrove
Sue Case

Eligibility for EOY Awards

To qualify for end of year awards, High Totals Points per class, High Average per class and Second High Average per class, a member must submit a minimum of two-thirds of the total images allowed for the year, which is 22 images.

Therefore, at least 14 images must be submitted during the SCC year to qualify for an award at year-end.

EOY Awards

Second High Average
Class B Aardarsh Gopalakrishna (23.59)
Class A Bill Latournes (23.409)
Class Salon Danielle D’Ermo (25.44)

High Average
Class B Sue Case (24.07)
Class A Alene Galin (23.412)
Class Salon Bill Payne (25.45)

High Total Points
Class B Aardarsh Gopalakrishna (519)
Class A Bill Latournes (515)
Class Salon Bill Payne (560)

EOY Image Pool and Judging

313 images in EOY Image Pool, includes:

All ribbon winning images (HM, 2nd and 1st ribbons)
All non ribbon winning images, receiving a score of 25 or above
Maker’s Choice images – each club member may edit and resubmit one image submitted in a monthly competition.
3 Maker’s Choice images were selected for Honorable Mention

The end of year judge, decides on the EOY trophy winning images, without regard to the competition class of the maker…except for alternate images.

Michael Goodman was this year’s EOY Judge.

EOY Honorable Mention Images

313 images submitted in the EOY Image Pool
71 images earned Honorable Mention
~ 20% of images (EOY Image Pool)
~ 10% of total images submitted for the year

EOY Trophies

Creative Image of the Year – Gutman Award

This trophy, new in 2015, is presented to the photograph that best represents creativity in image-making.

It is named in honor of Nathan Gutman, a long-time and very active member of SCC. He was one of the founders of the Simsbury Public Library photography lecture series, and coordinated that effort for several years.

Nathan delighted in using everyday items in new and often amazing ways to create unusual and striking images, and was always working on new techniques to try out then pass along to other club members.

A World War II Holocaust survivor, Nathan passed away in 2015.

Creative Image of the Year

Escape from the Daily Grind – John Straub

Alternate Travel Image of the Year

This second-place award is given to an outstanding travel image by a maker who is from a different competition class than that of the Travel Image of the Year.

Cuban Cowboy Smoking a Cigarette – Lorraine Cosgrove

Travel Image of the Year – Doherty Award

This award goes to the most outstanding image taken outside of Connecticut that successfully conveys the terrain, people, culture, and/or atmosphere of the locale photographed.

The gorgeous lighthouse trophy is named in honor of Patrick Doherty, a member of the club from the 1970s on. He held many offices within the club, and influenced and improved club contests by helping to define the competition classes we use today and by giving seminars for club judges to improve image evaluation.

He received many awards from international competitions, and loved to travel and photograph wherever he went. Pat passed away in 2005.

Inside St Vitus Cathedral Prague – Ben Skaught

Portrait Image of the Year – Kennedy Award

This trophy is awarded to the outstanding portrait image of those submitted for the year.

It is named in honor of John R. Kennedy, a member of the club from the 1990s on.

He was a World War II photographer and became a professional after the war. He specialized in both industrial/architectural and portrait photography. John passed away in 2008.

Courtney – John Parisi

Alternate Nature Image of the Year – Emmons Award

This second-place award is presented to an outstanding nature image by a maker who is from a different competition class than the maker of the Nature Image of the Year.

It is named in honor of Ed Emmons, a true master of nature photography. Along with SCC, he was a member of both PSA and Audubon, and delighted in photographing bugs of all kinds as well as birds and mammals.

Ed passed away in 2014. This trophy was donated by Jeff Feldman, Ed’s friend.

Black-backed Jackals Battle in Front of Attentive Seals- Skeleton Coast – Susan Case

Nature Image of the Year – Strindberg Award

The winner of this award is the most outstanding of the images in the Nature category. These images must adhere to the Photographic Society of America (PSA) definition for this type of photography, which are included in the SCC competition categories document.

The beautiful eagle trophy is named for Robert Strindberg, a longtime SCC member who was a well-known New England nature photographer.

He won many awards from PSA and the New England Camera Club Council (NECCC), and competed internationally. Robert passed away approximately 1982.

Coastal Brown Bear Eating Sedge Grass – Danielle D’Ermo

Alternate Image of the Year – Patrina/Metzger Award

This second-place award is given to an outstanding photo by a maker who is from a different competition class than the maker of the Image of the Year.

The trophy was renamed in 2006 to honor Jim Patrina and Bruce Metzger for their dedicated and innovative work in transitioning SCC from slides to digital images.

Both continue working to support digital technology advances for the club.

View of Manhattan from Brooklyn – William Payne