January – Leading Lines. Create an interesting composition that has elements that work as a visual path to guide the viewer to the main subject.

February – Old Buildings. Be creative -interiors, exteriors, architectural details, etc.

March – Nightscapes. Photograph an interesting landscape or cityscape at night.

April – Places of Worship. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a building, it can be a spiritual or holy locale. Make sure your photograph informs the viewer in some way that the subject is a place of worship. It should not require additional explanation to make the connection.

May – Flowing Water. Show an interesting scene that creatively uses flowing water as the primary subject. Be creative, remember that flowing water exists in many places other than in nature.

June – Long Exposure. Make an exposure 1/2 second or longer in such a way that that length of the exposure contributes substantially to the appearance of the subject.

July – Reflections. Submit an image in which the subject is shown creatively in a reflective surface. For example but not limited to water, glass, mirror, metal, etc.

August – Double Exposure. Present an interesting image that is obviously combined from two distinct and separate original images. This may be done in camera or via software. Since this process is altered reality by it’s very nature you will not be required to label your submission as such.

September – Rainy Day. Create an image that is obviously created in rainy conditions and in which those conditions contribute substantially to the story you are visually telling your viewer.

October – Capture Motion. Create an image in which the motion itself becomes the subject. Freeze-frame, blur, timelapse composite, etc.

November – Automobile/Truck/Motorcycle. Make an interesting photo of any of these three modes of transportation. Be creative – think about static beauty shots, action shots, detail shots etc. If including people remember that for this assignment the vehicle must obviously be visually more important as a subject than a driver, rider, etc. For example if you submit a photo of a motorcycle with a rider you must be creative enough to ensure that the motorcycle is obviously more important visually than the combination of the rider paired with the motorcycle in your composition.

Note: All available overnight camping spots have been filled and we are no longer accepting registrations for overnight camping. Anyone is still welcome to come out on Saturday and spend the day.

Please read everything below carefully to know what we are doing, how we are doing it, what the rules are, and what to expect:

Tampa Bay Camera Club is hosting another Photo Camp event. It will be a fun time to enjoy the camaraderie of your fellow photographers while camping in the Citrus Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest. The event will take place January 29-31, 2021. The location is the Tillis Hill Recreation Area. We have a block of 5 campsites reserved for the event. Each campsite has water, electricity, a picnic table, and a fire ring. The campground has multiple restrooms with shower facilities. There are a limited number of tents and hammocks that can deployed per site and a limited number of vehicles and people allowed per site so it is important that you fill out the form below accurately so that our organizers can calculate the logistics as the event fills up. There is no limit to the number of attendees that can come for the events on Saturday. Overnight camping will be limited to the first 30 people who sign up as overnight campers for the event. Each campsite has water and electricity.

We have lots of activities planned for attendees. This is the currently planned itinerary however be aware that any of it is subject to change at any time up until and during the event: Please try to arrive no later than 9:00 on Saturday morning to join in, earlier is better. For early arrivals there will be a morning photo hike in the forest area surrounding the campsite. Later, around mid-morning anyone who is interested can carpool to the area where a group of limestone caves and sinks exists in the forest for exploration and photography. When we return TBCC will host a lunch for attendees in the campsite. All food and drinks for lunch will be provided by the club. Donations of snacks and/or additional drinks will be appreciated however. Please bring your own food if you have special dietary needs. After lunch there will be time for campers to set up their camping gear on the campsites or explore the forest on their own for a while. Before sunset everyone can gather at our central campfire for a potluck dinner. Everyone that is staying for dinner should bring a food item to share with the group. TBCC will provide paper plates, cups, and plastic utensils for the pot luck dinner. There will be options to cook food on the fire or on camp stoves. After dinner Jim will lead any interested attendees in a night photography event provided that clouds don’t interfere. For the remainder of the night we will enjoy time at the campfire as late as anyone wants to stay up. Sunday morning everyone will pack equipment and leave by checkout time (1:00 pm).

Getting there: The correct location is 9231 South Trail 13, Inverness, FL 34452

GPS Coordinates: 82º 24.882’ W 28º 43.700’ N

Do not use any other address that you may find online. Make absolutely certain that you plan to access the site via Stage Coach Rd. and Trail 13. If you have a map or GPS directions that tell you otherwise do not follow them. Trail 13 is the main route and it is a maintained gravel/shell road. There are some minor potholes but any vehicle can traverse it fairly easily. You are at your own risk if you attempt to drive through the forest on any other route without a high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle. Travel north on Trail 13 from Stage Coach Rd. When you reach the paved fork in the road, take the right fork and drive up the hill to the site.

There is a limit of 2 vehicles per campsite. The first 10 vehicles that arrive will be allowed to park on our reserved campsites. Any vehicles arriving after that will be required to park in the day use parking field at the top of the hill on the right just before the campsite entrance gate. Please note that there is a $2 fee to park there each day. Payment instructions are posted on the sign in the parking area.

There is a limit to the number of people and tents per site. This means that some campers may be expected to be sharing sleeping accommodations with others. We will have to work out the specific details on the fly depending on how many tents get brought and how many people each tent will sleep. There are some options for setting up hammocks on our sites independently from any tents. If you have a camping hammock be sure to bring it as it may help. Jim will sleep in a hammock and will have an extra hammock available as well. Jim also has a spare tent available for others to make use of (sleeps 3 comfortably or 4 people who don’t mind being really cozy).

What to bring:

Sleeping bag, blanket, pillow, towel, etc

Folding camp chair or stool

Camera equipment including tripod if you plan on doing night photography

Flashlight or headlamp. Must have red light option if you plan doing night photography

Food to share at the potluck campfire dinner

Personal snacks and drinks

Firewood for your own campfire if desired. TBCC will provide for the group campfire

Attendees are expected to familiarize themselves with and abide by the rules of the State Forest and the recreation area while attending. Information may be found at the following link. Please be aware that the rules of the State Forest allow leashed pets however pets are prohibited within the boundaries of the recreation area itself.

https://www.fdacs.gov/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Recreation/Fees-and-Information#rules

There is a new page on our website that will contain the archived video meetings. If you miss a meeting in real-time you can watch later here:

Archived Video Meetings

The April 17, 2020 meeting is now available for viewing.

Hi everyone,

Here is the info for the upcoming competition meeting to be held online on 04/17/2020 at 7:00 pm:

The competition subject is “The Unknown”. Present an image that engages the viewer in a mystery. Ideally your image should tell a story or part of a story that leaves the viewer with some question(s) in mind. Just to be clear, this is quite different from an abstract photo. An abstract photo can stand on it’s own as a pleasing visual arrangement of colors and/or patterns without necessarily telling a story or leaving questions in the viewers mind.

Please observe the submission deadline of midnight, Wednesday April 15th so that we have time to prepare everything in advance for the meeting on Friday.

For technical details on using the Zoom video platform or submitting images click here.

We are making a few improvements to our virtual meetings for members. First, we are increasing the number of submissions that you can make. You are now allowed to enter up to a maximum of 3 digital entries. Here is how that breaks down: If you enter only one image it may either assigned or general. If you enter two images they may both be assigned, or they may both be general, or they can be split as one assigned and one general. If you enter three images they must be split as either two assigned and one general, or two general and one assigned.

Second, since no one needs to drive home from the meeting we are extending our targeted ending time to 9:30 to accommodate the additional entries. Anyone is welcome to exit the meeting at any time they wish as this will not pose a distraction or cause an interruption to the proceedings. We don’t want to rush through the critiques.

Third, board members are being given moderator privileges during the meeting. Please observe our typical meeting etiquette. You are always free to comment and participate but please keep it on topic if possible and avoid creating visual video distractions or unnecessary audio distractions if possible. Please be aware that we can all hear extraneous noise in your environment such as other people, nearby televisions, you typing on your keyboard etc. Any board member can now anonymously mute your audio or blank your video temporarily if they deem it necessary to maintain the flow of the meeting.

Lynn recommends the following short video from Larry Becker for anyone that is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeJ17CX_wbg

Looking forward to seeing everyone online! – Jim Sykes

Hello Everyone,
Thanks to all that attended last Friday night’s video meeting. We will have a video meeting this Friday night as a makeup for the missed competition night of March. It will also serve as our first test of a video conference competition night. If you did not attend the last video meeting and are unfamiliar with the technology we are using then please go to the newly published page on our website that has some instructions and links to some tutorials. It’s actually very easy to use.

Because this will be our first test of a video competition meeting please understand that in order to accommodate the fact that it may take extra time to accomplish some tasks and deal with any technical issues that arise we will be limiting the entries. As we smooth out the process we expect to increase the number of entries allowed at future meetings.

Participation will be simple. Join the meeting by simply clicking the invitation link at the bottom of this message. You can attend the meeting from a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. It’s best to use a device that has a camera and microphone. Refer to our website page for detailed information. All scheduled video meetings will also be posted in advance on the home page of our website and you can join the meeting from there if you wish. During this meeting Jim, Robert, and Lynn will be the judges. If you need technical assistance during the meeting you may use the chat function in the Zoom interface to privately contact Bryan S for help.

If you wish to submit image files for competition the detailed instructions follow. For this particular meeting 2 digital entries will be allowed per member. One assigned entry and one general entry.

Images must be submitted via email to mytbcc@gmail. Image file attachments should be a maximum size of 10 MB per file to accommodate the email submission process. Depending on your service provider you may be able attach 2 files to a single message or you may need to send them in separate messages. There is an image at the bottom of this message that shows exactly what to do in Lightroom to prepare your image files appropriately for submission. In the body of your email please follow this format to ensure that we have the necessary information from you:

Your name (This is important because your email address may be different from your name and we need to make sure we can you can give you your score.)

Image One – Assigned or General

Image One – Title (Make absolutely sure the digital file is named identically – this is very important.)

Image Two – Assigned or General

Image Two – Title (Make absolutely sure the digital file is named identically – this is very important.)

Please note that if you do not do this part correctly we may not have time to contact you for corrections in order to be able to include your submission(s) in the meeting.

There is currently a deadline for submissions for all competition meetings of Thursday midnight prior to the day of competition. This is because we have to setup some special scoring systems to accommodate the new meeting format and we need plenty of time on Friday in advance of the meeting to have everything prepared.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the meeting on Friday night. Here is the invitation information for the meeting:

Topic: TBCC Competition April 3, 2020
Time: Apr 3, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
(Please sign in a little early if possible)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/299573075

Meeting ID: 299 573 075

Recommended Lightroom settings for digital image file submissions:

Hello,