Prince George Photographic Society

General Announcements

The Prince George Photographic Society meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, from September through June, at the First Baptist Church, on the corner of 5th and Harper (next to PGI Foods). Meetings start at 7:00 PM, and they usually last 2 hours. Visitors are welcome. Please check the PGPS Events and Meetings section below to see if there are any exceptions to the schedule; sometimes we might go on a field trip instead of holding a regular meeting. No meetings are held in July and August.

June 12, 2008: Star Weiss, a professional photographer and teacher at the Western Academy of Photography, will be appearing at Books & Company at 7:00 pm for the release of her new book entitled Havens in a Hectic World: Finding Sacred Places. One of the photos in this book is by Meghan Blanchard, who is a PGPS member and a local professional photographer. (Our congratulations to Meghan.) For more information about the book, Click Here to visit Starr Weiss's web site.

PGPS Events and Meetings

June 5-7, 2008: Annual Forest and Resources Expo at CN Centre & surrounding grounds. This is not an official field trip, just come down and take pictures if you feel like it. Opportunity to photograph large trucks & heavy equipment. A Big Rig Show & Shine will take place June 6th & 7th, with prize awards June 7th at 4pm. Chain saw carving demo daily. For more information visit the web site : http://www.forestandresources.org
June 10, 2008: Regular meeting. Judging for Photo of the Month, Bent Light. Due to our summer break, selection of the next Photo of the Month topic will be done in September. Slideshow presentation by Vic Bopp. Bring & Brag your own photos.
June 15, 2008: Annual Show n Shine car show in downtown Prince George. This is not an official field trip, just come down and take pictures if you feel like it.
June 24, 2008: Regular meeting. Slideshow presentation by Doug Lamb. Demonstration of "Dreamscape" technique in Photoshop. This is our last meeting before our summer break. Regular meetings will resume in September.
July 1, 2008: Canada Day celebrations at Fort George Park. The Multicultural Society is seeking 5 volunteers to be official photographers. Other members are welcome to take photos as well.
July 15, 2008: Executive committee meeting (This is a tentative date -- not confirmed yet.) Location TBD.
July thru August, 2008: Our 2nd annual Cheap Camera Challenge. All members are eligible to participate. If you wish to participate, you must buy a Fuji single-use camera loaded with Superia X-TRA 800 ISO film. (Do not buy any other ISO speed, and do not buy any other brand of camera except Fuji.) Use the camera to take any pictures you like over the summer. Cameras will be collected by the PGPS Executive during the last week in August, and all the film will be processed & printed at the club's expense. Winning photos will be selected at our first meeting in September. Click Here to see a list of all Fuji single-use cameras currently available in Canada. Note: These cameras are sold at a wide variety of locations (grocery stores, drugstores, convenience stores, etc.), however not all models are available at all stores.

PGPS Events and Meetings -- Google Calendar

The following is an interactive calendar which shows all the PGPS events and meetings listed above, plus other events which may be of interest to our members. Some tips on Google Calendar usage:

Use the arrow keys to navigate back and forth through the months.
Click on the Agenda button to see events and meetings in list form.
Click on any of the meetings or events to see more details.

Photo Of The Month Contest

This month's topic is Bent Light.
As a general rule, you're free to interpret each month's topic in any way you like, including unusual and creative interpretations. However, if your photo has no relevance at all to the topic, then it will not be accepted for judging.
Photos for this topic will be judged at our first meeting in June.
Note: This month's contest is for digital images only, not prints. All submissions must be digital JPEG images. Members can submit their entries by e-mail or by bringing images to the meeting on a CD or DVD or a USB drive. You may want to use a rewritable CD or DVD in order to avoid wasting a write-once disk.
Members are only allowed to submit one new photo which was shot specifically for this contest. Old photos are not eligible.

TV Guide

Photography-related programming is occasionally shown on TV. We will try to post information about such programs, if and when any come up.

Buy & Sell

Members may list photography equipment for sale or requests for items to buy. Please contact the member directly for further information.

has the following item for sale:

Generic Battery Grip with AA adapter and two (2) NB-2LH equivalent batteries. For Canon Rebel XT, XTI, 350D, and 400D and other similar cameras (using the NB-2LH Battery). Brand New, in packaging.(unopened, unused). Asking $70 OBO

Local pro photographer Michael Rawluk is selling off a collection of photography books. To see a list of available books & prices, vist his blog at http://ekimages.ca/Blog/ and click on the "books" link. There's an e-mail link on the Books page if you want to contact him.

Past Events

This is a list of past events and field trips that we have participated in. If you're thinking of joining our Society, you might want to review this list to give you an idea of the kinds of things we like to do.

May 13, 2008: Model fashion shoot at the church.
April 27, 2008: Field Trip - Pinhole camera Photography. Cameron St. Bridge
March 12, 2008 Special presentation by professional photographer Chris Harris.
February 29 - March 1, 2008: Photogenesis - Our public show at Artspace.
February 16, 2008: Field trip to Two Rivers Gallery to photograph the Lion Dancers (Chinese).
January 9, 2008: Field trip to Northern Lights Festival, Connaught Hill Park.
December 1, 2007: Field Trip - Festival of Trees - Civic Centre.
November 29, 2007: Volunteer photo shoot - Northern Lights Festival - Connaught Hill Park
October 30, 2007: Evening fireworks photography shoot at Bob. S.'s home.
October 16, 2007: Evening field trip to Cottonwood Island Park to do night photography (light painting).
Sep 15, 2007: Field trip to the Ancient Forest Trail (interior rainforest, located 113 km east of Prince George).
July 25, 2007: Field trip to Ft. George Park to try infrafed photography.
January 28, 2007: Field trip to Huble Homestead (deep snow, required snowshoes to walk in from the parking lot).
December 12, 2006: Christmas Social.
December 2, 2006: Field trip to Festival of Trees, indoors at the Civic Centre.
November 18, 2006: Field trip to UNBC to photograph architecture.
October 21, 2006: UNBC Photo Club trip to Teapot Mountain.
October 15, 2006 : Field trip to Noah's Ark Petting Zoo (Only a few people attended due to rain, we might reschedule for winter or spring.) Location: 7291 Swanson Rd., off of Cranbrook Hill Road South.
September 15 - 17, 2006: 3-day field trip to the Chilcotin region. "Base Camp" was the the Chilcotin Lodge in Riske Creek. Some good photos were obtained in the surrounding area, especially Farwell Canyon. Along Highway 20 west, some good photos were obtained in marshlands and the Redstone native cemetery. Also, some good photos were obtained at Scout Island in Williams Lake.
August 27, 2006: Summer BBQ & outdoor photo shoot at a member's home.
July 15th, 2006: Day trip to Fort George Canyon (4.6 km trail, nice scenery but fairly strenuous for non-regular hikers).
June 20th, 2006: Evening field trip to Hudson's Bay Slough.
May 28-29, 2006: The Professional Photographers Association of BC -- mini-seminar and print salon, at the Pumphouse Pub Banquet Room. Judging for the print competition was free of charge, and very educational.
May 27th, 2006: Field trip to Hart Highway Auto Wreckers. There were a number of interesting subjects, such as: weeds growing among the wrecks; damaged & rusted surfaces; broken glass.
May 5th, 2006: An evening field trip to do light painting at West Lake.
April 25th, 2006: "Evening With The Pros" at Focal Point Studios.
April 8-9, 2006: Photogenesis display at Artspace. Nine members displayed prints, two members prepared a digital slideshow, one member prepared a film slideshow. A small but steady stream of visitors attended on both days. The show was much appreciated by those who attended.
February 26, 2006: Field trip to photograph swans and mallards on the Nechako River on Kenny Dam Road outside of Vanderhoof.
January 17, 2006: Field Trip - Indoor photo shoot at the church (still lifes / macro photography).
December 27, 2005: Field Trip - Candy Cane Lane - to photograph Christmas lights & displays.
December 13, 2005: Christmas social. Potluck snacks, slideshows, socializing. (A big thank-you to Cheryl and her employer for allowing us to use their meeting room and digital projector.)
November 26, 2005: Field Trip - Festival of Trees - Civic Centre. Indoor photography of elaborate Christmas trees & decorations.
November 22, 2005: Regular meeting - A CAPA educational slideshow on Macro Photography was presented.
October 22, 2005: Field Trip - Prince George Astronomical Society, at the Observatory on Tedford Road (out towards West Lake). Unfortunately the skies were overcast, but we may go back to one of their Open House sessions if the weather improves.
September 4, 2005: Field Trip -- Livingstone Springs, located in Crooked Lake Provincial Park, about 1 hour north of town. A pleasant hike, and a good trail for nature photography. Also, we got some good fog & sunrise shots on the way up.
August 23, 2005: Field Trip -- Forests For The World. (Not quite enough light at 7pm this time of year.)
August 11-14, 2005: PGPS display at the PGX.
August 13, 2005: Field Trip -- Fort St James Museum. (Cancelled, due to the PGX and other commitments.)
July 23, 2005: Field Trip -- Barkerville (cancelled, everyone had other plans for the weekend).
July 12, 2005: Field Trip -- Connaught Hill Park. Main attracions are scenic views of the city and flower beds.
June 7, 2005: Field Trip -- BCR Industrial Site. Lots of interesting junk and old freight cars.
June 5, 2005: Berman Lake picnic and photo shoot. Some nice hiking trails, but lots of mosquitoes. Unfortunately our picnic got rained on.
May 5, 2005: Field trip to Art Knapp's West Store, 4411 Kimball Road (off Hwy. 16 south). Lots of pretty flowers.
April 5, 2005: UNBC - architecture, tail lights & city lights.
February/March 2005 (cancelled): We were hoping to do some Northern Lights photography, but no Northern Lights were observed. Maybe next year.
March 1, 2005: Field trip -- We didn't have a prearranged subject, so we made a quick decision to go to the Yellowhead Bridge to take evening pictures of traffic (light trails).
February 20, 2005: Field trip to the Nautley River to take pictures of swans. This time the trip was a success, thanks to good weather and good road conditions.
January 30, 2005 (Cancelled due to rain): Field trip to the Fraser Lake/Nautley River area to take pictures of swans.
January 25, 2005: We hosted a 2 hour presentation entitled Introduction to Digital, by Rob Ksyniuk. It was a good introduction for newcomers to digital, and also a good refresher course for experienced digital photographers.
January 2, 2005 (cancelled due to cold weather): Winter photography at Huble Homestead.
December 14, 2004: Social Night instead of a regular meeting, with "pot luck" snacks & treats.
November 20, 2004: Photogenesis: A public exhibition of the Society's work, displayed at Artspace. We managed to fill the walls with prints, and we also put on a film slideshow and a digital slideshow. Congratulations to everyone - we did a great job, and we showed tons of talent.
September 25, 2004: Day trip to War Falls.
September 14, 2004: Field trip to UNBC to take a group photograph of ourselves.
September 11, 2004: A return trip to the Huble Homestead. This trip was for late night and early morning shots.
September 7, 2004: "How-To": Black and white nature photography. Also, discuss preparations for autumn photo shoots.
August 24, 2004: Instead of a regular meeting, we went out to photograph the old Grand Trunk Pacific railway bridge.
August 21, 2004: Evening/night trip to Huble Homestead. Sunset photography, star trails, "painting" with flashlights and glow sticks. We had a lot of fun being both creative and silly in our "painting" experiments.
August 15, 2004: Afternoon trip to the railway museum. The museum has many interesting subjects to photograph, both large and small.
August 12-15, 2004: PGX (Prince George Exhibition). In addition to taking pictures, some of us entered various categories of the PGX photo contest.
August 3, 2004: Evening trip to a farmer's field near the airport, to do double/multiple exposures of flowers and grass.
August 1, 2004: The Snowbirds air show at the Prince George airport. Fast-moving jets were a real challenge to photograph. Best action shots were obtained by Chris using a 100-400 mm zoom lens.
July 18, 2004: All-day hiking trip to Raven Lake. The trail is relatively short, but it's a very steep uphill climb. Some of us who don't hike on a regular basis didn't make it all the way up. The scenery is quite beautiful, ranging from rainforest at the bottom of the trail to alpine meadows at the top. Raven Lake itself is a small, pretty lake, well worth the effort to visit.

Ideas for Future Field Trips

This is the list of ideas so far. If you have any additional ideas, please pass them along to the executive committee.

Railway Museum (possibly an evening trip for light painting).
Christmas lights - Connaught Hill Park, Candy Cane Lane.
Water gardens, botanical gardens.
Noah's Ark petting zoo.
UNBC - modern architecture.
Night light in the city (possibly on a rainy evening).
Old Talka Lake Forest Road (nature, aspen forest scenery).
Crooked River - scenery, swans, ducks.
Cameron Street Bridge (before it's renovated or torn down).
Eskers Park (Chief Lake).
Hudson Bay Slough.
Waterfalls -- War Falls, Hixon Falls, Willow River rest stop.
Portage Canyon on Bowron River (down from Vama Vama Road).
Bird Sanctuary - Vanderhoof.
Art Knapps.
Astronomical Society (Observatory).
Off-road club (Chris is a member).
Barkerville.
Sporting events.
Parades.
Pow-Wow (Cottonwood Island Park - June).
Green Lake - Diane's cottage.
PGARA Speedway - auto races.
Motocross races?
Kenny Dam Road in the fall - eagles, salmon.
Francois Lake - salmon.
Cottonwood Island Park - fall foliage.
Dog Agility Competition.
Horse Shows.
Bison Farm.
Public Events - Canada Day, PGX, Show n Shine, Remembrance Day, Festival of Trees, Candy Cane Lane, Forest Expo.
Ft. George Canyon (West Lake).
Richie Brothers heavy equipment auction - public viewing days.
Skateboarders at Rotary Skateboard park.
BMX bike races - Wednesdays at the BMX track near Massey Place Stadium.
Overseas trip, possibly to Greece. Maybe we can get a group travel discount if enough people are interested.
Group Road trip - possibly to Alberta, or Queen Charlottes, or Vancouver Island, or the USA?
Cheap Camera Challenge - A contest to see who can take the best photo with a cheap point & shoot camera.

Ideas for Future Educational Activities

This is the list of ideas from various sources. Educational sessions will be offered at future meetings, depending on priorities and the availability of presenters. We strongly encourage members who have expertise in any aspect of photography to share their knowledge with the rest of the club.

Composition.
How to Tame Photoshop (beginner and advanced).
Photoshop Elements (beginner and advanced).
How to design a web site and upload it to Telus or Shaw.
Matting and Framing Techniques.
Colour Calibration & Colour Management.
Exposure and Lighting.
Serious Critiquing.
How to sell photographs - marketing, copyright, model release.
Digital photo file types (raw, tiff, jpeg, gif, bmp).
Pinhole camera - construction and usage.
Travel photography tips.
Workflow for digital imaging.
Cataloging.
Infrared photography.
Studio photography.