St. Louis Camera Club: My First Meeting

I went to my first Camera Club meeting last night. The St. Louis Camera Club is one of the oldest photography clubs anywhere, founded in 1914. I think there might be some original member still there- I was one of about 3 people under 60. They may be old, but they are incredible photographers. There's a competition each week. Last night's was Nature, which has very strict rules. I don't think the above picture would qualify because you can't use a picture of a domesticated or hybrid plant, which I think this Camellia must be. But how could I have a blog entry about photography without having at least one picture?

The first part of the club meeting is a lecture (last night focused on nature photography and its rules). Then they show all the photos submitted for that week's contest, with the judge commenting on each photo. The winning photos are then ranked. The process was very interesting to watch. The photographs were incredible. There were only a couple pictures where I thought "Well, I could take something like that," and they weren't in the running for anything. I do want to participate in the weekly contests, but it will hurt to hear the judge say "Pass," meaning your photo is cut from contention.

I do think a lot of the submitted pictures were taken at the Botanical Gardens. There were several pictures of lotus with dragonflies, and I think the Japanese Garden is the only place to find them. It seems in order to win you had to travel much farther. Check out these incredible photographs.