I believe the club had a strong year in 2019 with membership standing at 115. We have a good number of new members. Thanks to Dave Sumner for stepping into the membership co-ordinator role and also running the mentoring sessions.

We made a few changes in response to the survey we ran last year and introduced a 3 level competition structure. We are still monitoring the use of the new “Enthusiast” level. The additional training that has been requested had a good uptake- the workshop run by Mark Galer was very well received and there are 2 more intermediate/advanced workshops coming, one with Heather Prince on Intermediate photoshop. In November Bill Bachman will be teaching us to critique our own images in a hands on workshop. Also in response to the survey the menu system on the website has been improved, comments welcome!

The monthly competition nights have been well attended and there has been a good vibe in the room during the break, nice to see. And not too many complaints about the judges, which is also good! A special mention to Rosie for coordinating the prints and Stephen for coordinating the digital entries and keeping the score sheets! Also thanks to Geoff and Jill who have been instrumental in making sure the door is open and chairs are out when the members arrive!

While on competitions, we did very well at Interclubs this year, which is a credit to all our members and the group who get together to chose the images. Well done Marlene for taking this on!
Our monthly workshops have been a mix of hands on and training. We started 2019 with a visit to Epson. In conjunction with Danielle from Starleaton we were treated to a print workshop- we now have a few more members printing, which is great. Other visitors have included Kayell with a lighting demonstration, Ian van der Wolde to teach us how to do better mono images (and didn’t we do well at the recent mono Interclub!) We have learned how cameras works and what can go wrong, learned about Lake Tyrell as a travel destination and had Ewen Bell demonstrate food photography. Tonight is a hands on Macro session with Karl Ludik and next month is another Gear night and swap meet.

Monthly outings have been ably coordinated by Helen Warnod, with help from others (thanks to Ross for stepping in when needed). Outings this year have been to the Blue Lotus water garden, the “Iconic women exhibition and Fed in French” day out, a visit to Alfred Nicholas gardens in Autumn, St Kilda in June, Bastille day in the city in July and Dogs Rocks and Buckley falls more recently. There have also been some adhoc outings with those who have enrolled in the WhatsApp group heading off at short notice. Thanks to Anthony for setting this up and adding the new members as requested.

Our yearly outing was coastal this year – we went to Warrnambool, which didn’t exactly turn on the good weather! Some highlights for me were our involvement with the RSL where we met a lot of veterans with great stories to tell and provided portraits for them. We did a number of coastal shoots, including a side trip to Port Fairy. Next year will be inland- Eildon. Do come along!

Our special interest groups have also been very busy! The Creative group has had some excellent speakers such as Ricardo da Cunha, Karen Alsop and Adrian Donohue, as well as hands on development of creative work. Many thanks to Paul for this value added SIG! The honours group meets intermittently but we have a significant number of members who are using external competitions to improve their photography and who have gained APS honours. In 2018/2019 Rosie, Felix and Geoff, achieved their AAPS. – Dave, Trace, Anthony, Marlene and Russell moved onto the next level with FAPS. I managed EFIAP/p and GMPSA. Well done team!

In closing it has been an unexpected privilege to serve as the President of the WCC. It would not have been possible without a strong committee. I’ve mentioned most of the committee, but would be remiss not to acknowledge the valuable work done by Tim as Secretary and Ken as Treasurer. Both have done a lot in their respective roles to make the club look as though it runs without effort! Many thanks to them and the committee for supporting me, and to the members for listening to me on competition nights for the last two years.

Vicki Moritz
WCC President
19th August 2019