New Members’ Guide
Welcome to Bracknell Camera Club. It is great to have you on board. Joining a new Club can be quite daunting when you are trying to get to grips with how everything works. This note will give you some guidance and point you in the right direction.
Club Nights
We meet on Monday evenings between September and July except for Bank Holidays.
Meetings are held in the OLC (Open Learning Centre in Bracknell, Rectory Lane, RG12 7GR) open at 7:30pm if you want time to mix and mingle before the meeting starts at 8:00pm. There will be a tea break half way through the evening around 9pm. We would normally ask for a donation of 50p for a hot drink and a biscuit however, on account of Covid restrictions this may vary.
Meetings should close at 10pm. Before you leave, we would ask that you help stack chairs to the side of the hall and return cups to the kitchen dishwasher at the end of the evening. We have a rota for the serving of teas and coffees and we would hope that you would volunteer to help at some point during the season. It is a great way to get to know members.
If you are joining us via Zoom you will generally be let into a Zoom call at 7:30. Sometimes you will be held in ‘the waiting room’, until the technicalities have been sorted. The Zoom link is normally in the Parish Notes (see below) which are emailed out the week before the meeting.
On Club nights you will either have the chance to hear from a guest speaker, watch or participate in a Club competition, or it may be a members’ night when members will speak or other activities will be held in the OLC.
You can find out more about our programme under the Our Programmes tab above.
Every Monday evening we hold a raffle for a bottle of wine. If you wish to participate you can purchase raffle ticket at the desk inside the hall. Tickets will be drawn before the end of the evening.
Special Interest Group (SIGs)
We have a choice of Special Interest Group which meet on different nights. Some of these groups organise theory sessions, field trips and review sessions. For more information follow the links below.
https://bracknell-camera-club.co.uk/sigs/
BCC Extra
This group caters for new and recent members who want to meet like-minded members and build friendships within the club.
DarKnights
This group specialises in night photography.
Macro Group
This group is for those interested in macro photography.
Monoists
This group is for those with a special interest in black and white or monochrome photography, in print or digital form.
Scapers
For those members interest in landscapes who want to walk together.
Critique Group
This group provides help and advice to images submitted by members of the group. This is because all of us sometimes are unsure at just what needs adjusting on our own image
Smartphone SIG
This group promotes the use of Smartphones with the Club and will meet from time to time to practice and discuss their use
Portrait SIG
The Portrait Group is for members who want to explore their interest in portraiture of all sorts.
Getting to Know the Other Members
The membership secretary will have provided you with a membership badge on a lanyard. It would be really helpful if you would wear this at meetings so we can identify you as a member. We have ‘buddies’ (or mentors) in the Club who will help you settle in, introduce you and answer any of your questions . You can also speak to any of our committee members: https://bracknell-camera-club.co.uk/bcc-committee/
Please do mix and mingle as much as possible before the meetings and at the tea breaks. You will have even more opportunity to get to know other members if you join a Special Interest Group (detailed above). We also have our very own social secretary and they will be organising events for us. Announcements will be made on Club nights and in the Parish Notes.
You may also communicate with us via our Facebook Group – this group is only available to current members
BCC – Discuss anything Photography.
The Club also has a Facebook Page where we post items of general interest to photographers and advertise the Club’s Programme and website. Please do Follow us on Facebook and Like and even share our content – it all helps the Club’s presence on the Internet.
Once you have joined the Special Interest Groups you will be provided with information on other private Facebook pages and Flickr Groups specific to the SIG.
Competitions
When you joined the club you will have been asked if you will be participating in our league competitions. One of the Club judges will then work with you to decide which of our league division would be best suited for you. We try to make sure that you are placed in a division with members of similar experience.
We have a Digital Image League and a Print League. You can submit images for each round of the competitions and you will receive marks up to 10 from the judge along with constructive comments. You will be awarded a certificate for any images achieving a 10. These will be distributed the following week. Checkout the Programme of events to find out the dates.
It is important that you read the Competition Rules to understand the requirements around submission, deadlines, image sizes, mount sizes for prints. These may be found under the Competitions tab above
In addition to the League competitions we also have a number of other external competitions throughout the year which you can read about under the Competitions tab above.
Communications to members
As well as the Facebook Group mentioned above, the Club Chairman sends an email mid week (this is the Parish Notes referred to above) that updates members on Club news, upcoming meetings, and events happening outside of the Club.
The Club website has a members only area. Using the email that you gave the membership secretary you can register and gain access to this area. In this part of the website you can access the league tables to see where you are on the leagues, discover how the Club is doing in the external leagues, discover our list of mentors (or buddies) who can advise on a wide number of topics, a complete list of Flicker and private Facebook Groups for the SIGs and gain access to videos that only Club members have access to.