Maude Svensson, Rowing-Boat

Silver Spring Camera Club

Edited by Tanya Riseman

Andrew Rein

Welcome to the Silver Spring Camera Club – we strive to be the friendliest photography club in Maryland. Developing Great Photographers Since 1950.

Visitors and new members are invited to our public meetings, which take place the first three Thursdays of every month, September through May. Meetings are either virtual on Zoom or at Northwood Presbyterian Church, 1200 University Boulevard West, Silver Spring, MD. We also welcome you to our field trips. Meeting and field trip signups are through Meetup.

Click on the headings for complete information for each section.

Calendar

pexels-jessbaileydesign-1558691.jpg

Jeff Donahoe

Contact Us

For general information about the club, email us at: info@ssccphotography.org

Meeting Location

Meetings on the second Thursday of the month will be held at Northwood Presbyterian Church, 1200 University Boulevard, Silver Spring, MD. Meetings on other Thursdays are online.

Welcome

SSCC truly offers something for everyone. Whether you are interested in the competition experience, or just attending and learning about the process, we have some gifted photographers and great judges who offer constructive feedback in a very supportive and fun environment. Competition Night has made me a better photographer. The Club also offers a wealth of learning and fellowship opportunities, including insightful speakers, field trips, and a monthly meeting called Photo Forum which offers members a chance to receive feedback on their photography from their fellow members in a non-judging environment.

Catherine Honigsberg, President

Overview and History

The Silver Spring Camera Club began in the fall of 1950 when about 50 people attended an open meeting for anyone interested in forming a Camera Club.

Proud Member of National and State Organizations
Photography Society of America (PSA)
Maryland Photography Alliance (MPA)

Join Us

SSCC welcomes the membership of all those interested in photography, regardless of skill level. Current yearly membership dues are $50 for individuals, $35 for students, and $80 for a family. Payment of dues (and filling out the Membership Form) can be done online now.  Please go to Online Membership Form. For more information, contact Lisa or Marc Auerbach at membership@ssccphotography.org.

Officers, Committees and Chairs 2024-2025

Contains the up-to-date names and contact information for officers, directors, and committees. Still not sure who to connect with? Contact info@ssccphotography.org or membership@ssccphotography.org.

Information for Presenters

We encourage presenters to use the Club’s laptop and projector, bringing their presentation on a USB device. More details are included in the link above.

David Terao, Tree Removal

Everyone is welcomed to attend our regular activities (Speaker, Competition, Photo Forum and Field Trips) – you don’t have to be a member! However, only members may enter images in competitions. See the Cable Release Newsletter for the latest details and descriptions. Register at “Silver Spring Camera Club” on Meetup for Zoom links and locations.

Monthly Workflow

Can’t remember the order of club activities or when to submit competition images?

• First Thursday – Speaker Night – Virtual. Submit Projected Competition entries by the midnight deadline
• Second Thursday – Competition – In-person. Bring prints.
• Third Thursday – Photo Forum – Virtual
• Fourth Thursday – Board Meeting – Virtual. The agenda is circulated before the meeting, and all members are welcome to attend and contribute.
• Field Trip(s)
• End of the Month. Submit your article for the Cable Release to cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org by the 24th.

About Monthly Speakers – See Calendar!

Our Programs chair schedules monthly talks by outstanding professional and amateur photographers from businesses, the media, and camera clubs – both local and nation-wide. Additional talks are available through the Maryland Photography Alliance, which are available to both club members and the public for free.

Photography Competitions – See Below!

About Photo Forum

The Photo Forum is an interactive meeting which is an informal and relaxed opportunity to enjoy discussions with other photographers. Each meeting provides useful information for every level of photographic expertise, from beginner to advanced. The atmosphere is accepting and supportive of all attendees. What topics would you like to explore? Topics can be wide-ranging, and include, for example, photo book reviews, an aspect of your own photography that you’d like to share, discussion of shows, workshops, trips, photo gear, software, and your questions. SSCC members can also share images and receive feedback and suggestions by fellow and advanced members.

Write-ups and slides from some Photo Forum presentations are available at the Educational Resources archive.

About Field Trips

Our monthly field trips are a great opportunity to learn from other members and shake yourself out of a photographic rut, a no-pressure opportunity to experiment with your photography and enjoy the company of fellow club members. When possible, field trips end with a group lunch. Please check our Cable Release newsletter, our website (https://www.ssccphotography.org) , sign up for Meetup announcements and registration, or contact the trip leader.

SSCC publishes a monthly newsletter, the Cable Release, from September to May and mid-summer each year. This publication keeps members informed about all planned activities, speakers, judges, field trips, articles, and more.  Each Cable Release issue also features winners from the previous month’s photo competition. The submission deadline is the 24th of the month.

Social Media and Event Sign-ups

We have an Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/groups/Silver-Spring-Camera-Club) – if you have any questions, please send an email to gerrywoodsdc@gmail.com. We have a Google group forum, which you can join by contacting web@ssccphotography.org. You can find us on Meetup – the quickest way to receive invitations to our virtual and in-person events and field trips. Of course, the best way to connect is to attend one of our meetings or field trips!

Community Service

The purpose of the Community Service Project Fund is to financially support a photography project that advances a community-related cause. A project may be proposed by a Club member, by another photographer sponsored by a Club member, or by a community organization sponsored by a Club member.

Andrew Rein

NOTE: Only paying members may submit entries to competitions. Other people may attend and observe on competition night.

Competition Calendar 2024 – 2025

• September 12 – Open
• October 17 – Nature Photography
• November 14 – Open
• December 12 – Humorous
• January 9 – Open
• February 13 – Found Abstract
• March 13 – Open
• April 17 – Abandoned
• May 8 – Monochrome Photography
• June 12– End of Year Competition (special rules apply)

Competition Theme Definitions 2024 – 2025

Please read the theme definitions so that you understand the scope of each theme.

Digital Entry Specifications

• Format:  JPEG File
• Size: 1000 KB (max).
• Recommended approximate dimensions of 1920 x 1440 pixels, reflecting the resolution of our projector
• File Name: Class~Maker’s Name~Image Title.jpg

Print Entry Specifications

Note that the following information is required on the back of prints: name, title, your level (Beginner, Novice, or Advanced), the date of the competition, and an arrow indicating the top of the print. The template is provided on the SSCC website https://www.ssccphotography.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PrintCompetitionLabels-8-24.pdf .

Competition Rules and Awards (Revised August 2024)

You earn 6, 4, 2, and 1 points for placing First, Second, Third, and Honorable Mention, respectively. If you particulate in an inter-club competition, such as MPA, you earn an extra point. That is 1st – 7, 2nd – 5, 3rd – 3, HM – 2 and Runner-up is awarded 1 point. 

Introducing a New Competition Class: Intermediate

Starting in September, 2024, the club now has three competition classes, for both the Print and Projected categories.

• NOVICE for those with fewer than 25 points in that category
• INTERMEDIATE for those with between 25 and 69 points in that category
• ADVANCED for those with 70 or more points in that category

You might be in different competition classes for Print and Projected. You will be assigned appropriate classes to begin with in September, 2024. You might be “demoted” from the old Advanced to Intermediate – that’s OK. At any time, you may elect to go up a category or two in competition, but once you do so, you may not go back down. If you are intermediate, remember to use that in your file naming convention, i.e., Intermediate~First Last name~title.jpg.

Competition Chair Discretion Statement, August 2024

In the spirit of the Silver Spring Camera Club’s Constitution and By-Laws, the Competition Chair has the discretion to reject entries that are deemed unfit for display.  If the entrant objects, they may appeal to the Executive Council for the privilege of resubmitting the entry at a subsequent competition.  Related sections are Article IV and Article X section 3.

For example, topics that might be areas of concern are nudity, politics, and religion, among others. It could be politically offensive content that is not documentary in nature; i.e. the image is meant to disparage or offend candidates or parties. The same with religious or cultural content – for example, anti-Jewish or anti-Palestinian content.

AI Policy

Please be mindful of the Competition Rules and Awards. The pertinent rules can be summarized as

1. The photograph originates from a light sensitive device (such as film or digital
   camera, as well as scanned film, enlarger, copier, or flatbed scanner, etc), (Section 1)
2. The photograph is made by the entrant and any image editing, retouching, or manipulation of images must be done by the entrant. (Section IV)
3. Respects others’ copyright. (Section 1)

For an in-depth discussion of the implications of AI for our club – the white, the black, and the gray cases as of December 2023 – read David Terao’s article Are We Ready for Artificial Intelligence in SSCC Competitions?

End of Year Competition 2024 – 2025

Remember, this competition is not about selecting the best entries for a single month, but rather selecting the best entries from the monthly competitions for the entire club year (September through May). This is an informal competition – the results are not included in the club records. Note that details may change closer to the event. Here are the critical dates:

September 2024 – May 2025	Eligible entries – up to 5 in Projected and 5 in Print categories which were previously entered in competitions this club year.
Thursday, May 8, 2025	Deadline for submission of the original printed images, submitted at the final competition night in-person.
Friday, May 9, 2025	Deadline for submission of original projected images – send a list of titles (not JPGs) to competition@ssccphotography.org
Thursday, June 12, 2025 (Tentative date)	Results are announced at the End of Year Celebration. Prints returned.
Summer, 2025	Results are announced in the next Cable Release newsletter, and on the Club’s home page.

Competition Results

Monthly and End-of-Year results can be found in the next edition of the Cable Release Newsletter and on the Club’s home page. A compete archive of monthly results dating back to 2013 can be found in the Competition Galleries.

Maude Svensson, Feel the Baltic Sea

How to Format your Images Correctly

Here we remind you how to size and name your files:

USING LIGHTROOM TO EXPORT IMAGES FOR DIGITAL COMPETITION by David Mullen

Changing the File Size and File Name for SSCC Competitions – PC Version http://www.ssccphotography.org/changing-the-file-size-and-file-name-for-sscc-competitions-by-david-terao/

Changing the File Size and File Name for SSCC Competitions – Mac Version http://www.ssccphotography.org/resizing-and-renaming-projected-images-for-competitions-using-a-mac-by-david-terao/

Common Sense Guide

The purpose of a competition is primarily to see if your photography is improving, to learn how the judge thinks you can improve your particular photograph and to observe and learn from the comments he or she gives fellow photographers in the competition.

Here are some things to look for in your photographic entries: Impact, Creativity, Center of Interest, Lighting, Techniques, Subject Matter, and Presentation.

Ask the Rules Guru

Members are invited to email any questions about the rules to the Cable Release editor (cablereleaseeditor@ssccphotography.org) who will forward them to the “Rules Guru” Questions. Answers appear in the newsletter for the edification of all members and on the link above.

Andrew Rein

Competition Archives

Field Trip Photos

Member Websites and Social Media

Kay Carkhuff, Quiet Moment.

Educational Resources

Presentation slides, presentation articles, and handouts by club members and invited speakers.

Educational Materials and Resources from Club Programs

Cable Release Archives

Articles 2005 – 2015

Board Minutes

Club Constitution