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VAPS Newsbrief
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Victorian Association of Photographic Societies Inc.
November 2021. Vol. 48, No 10.


Web: www.vaps.org.au
Email: editor@vaps.org.au

Subscribe here: http://vaps.org.au/index.php/news

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NEWSBRIEF 
Contents

Contents
Message from the President
Message from the Newsbrief Editor
VAPS Information
VAPS Convention
Judging Information
Advertising
APJA
From Clubs/Societies and Others
Exhibitions and What’s On
Competitions
APS Information

President Message
PRESIDENTS REPORT      
OCTOBER 2021    
VAPS AGM
 
The last 12 months for most of us has been very challenging. The world is still in the throes of handling a deadly virus and we as Victorians and Melbournians are only too familiar with Lockdowns, curfews, and the worry about ourselves and our families and our loved ones.

Every single one of us has had to cope with varying degrees of stress and changes to the fabric of our lives and intricate social structures.

With regard to our photographic endeavours, these may have had to be curtailed quite significantly and club activities changed and even suspended.

All these changes thrust upon all of us, have at times been quite hard to deal with.
Zoom has been a life saver, but not with-out its negative side. Some of us haven’t been able to deal with this technology, while others have quite enjoyed the different approach to keeping in touch and participating in the scheduled club meetings.

The committee at VAPS have had to contend with quite a few issues in the past year and they have been handled with extreme care and sensitivity.

If there is a problem in any club, it usually comes to the attention of the VAPS committee and is always dealt with to the best of our ability.

Insurance and governance matters are also a huge item that recently has been investigated and new policies sought, approved and implemented.

VAPS is currently reviewing its policy and guidelines documents, to keep abreast of the latest updates and changes from various Govt depts and Govt regulations. In the past year the committee has also had to work on a Covid safe plan, the Victorian Judges directory and zoom practices guidelines for safe and effective use of this program.
 
VAPS continues to support all clubs in various ways. From Badges and awards right through to Donations for exhibitions and Salons and continued support of the APJA.

A highlight of our committee year was to organize and run a virtual one-day convention. VAPS was committed to holding this and sought to book the highest level of speakers we could. From the feedback the VAPS committee received, it was a positive and well received event.

We are as a committee, acutely aware that we have not been able to run a proper convention for two years now. We aim to rectify this in 2022, if Government regulations allow. We can only stay positive about this and aim to prepare for this event happening. Plans are well underway for all arrangements including speakers, workshops and social gatherings. All being well our wonderful team up there in the Wangaratta Camera Club will be able to welcome delegates in a safe environment, with all of us more than ready to enjoy a well-deserved  and long-awaited convention.

The team here on the VAPS committee have been marvelous during this extensive covid lockdown.

My sincere thanks goes to Tony Harding our secretary, who tirelessly collated all ingoing and outgoing correspondence and sorted through all that and got the team on board when needed. The handling of information to about 75 clubs is no mean feat and I am so grateful we have such a good secretary on board.

To Joseph Maher our treasurer, a big thanks for the clear and concise spreadsheets and prompt payment of all our invoices and expenses. Joseph is also handling other important committee items currently and is such a valuable member of our team.

A big thankyou to Alfred Zommers, one of our Vice Presidents and our Interclub director, who often has an unenviable task of collating the club entries, and along with that massive workload, Alfred also keeps our great looking website up to scratch and working well.

Thankyou Margaret Zommers, for your wonderful work in collating all the Victorian clubs Badges and Honours, and your invaluable imput into some delicate club matters that we have sorted in the past year especially.

A big thankyou to Danielle Le Gassick, our digital Newsbrief still continues to be up to date, and informative, and Danielle works behind the scenes sourcing information from clubs to be inserted into the monthly magazine.

An appreciation of thanks to our great History and Club Archives buff, Alan Wilson, who is continuously hardworking behind the scenes and always has some amazing information to tell us, and for his excellent record keeping.

Thanks to Boris Struk, who is a valued committee member, also in the Role as a Vice President and has some very informative and instructional advice to offer when needed.

We also thank Lisa Law for being on the committee and although has many other commitments has been able to attend when she can.

I cannot thank the committee enough for their hard work and dedication to these time-consuming roles. They all give their valuable time freely to help the Photographic Club community, and without them there would be no VAPS, there would be no peak state photographic body to coordinate the 75 odd clubs.

VAPS is in a sound financial position and so can offer to forego the members fees for all clubs going into the next year. We hope that this really helps in some way for the clubs to establish themselves again post covid restrictions when face to face meetings and outings become the norm again. No-one wants an organization that is not financial or is able to help its members.

As a committee we will look at sponsoring some different events and financing even more of the quality programs that many now accept as normal at our conventions. We always consider all requests for financial help, so please ask as we try to help in some way for the photographic advancement here in our State.

If anyone in our Victorian club community, which consists of nearly four thousand individuals, would like to consider joining the committee, we would really love to hear from you. There has not been any new blood on the committee for quite some time. It seems to be left to the few who are current members.

Some comments from the clubs have been vocal in an aspect of what the committee does or does not do, and quite frankly, it is not really helpful or conducive to positive advancement. If you want to be part of improvements and critique and want to make VAPS work even better, join us on the committee, and let’s work together for the importance of our wonderful photographic community.
 
Warm regards to every member in all our Victorian clubs and societies
 
Ian Rolfe
President VAPS
 
Don't forget that you can zoom in to read the detail on any image in the Newsbrief.
Message from the Newsbrief Editor
Hi all,

Now restrictions are easying.

If you an event running at your club and would like to share anything your clubs has been doing or is doing please send it through to share with everyone.

We all need inspirations now.

Happy Photographing.
 
Regards

 
Danielle Le Gassick
(Pakenham Camera Club)
 
VAPS Information
VAPS AGM

AFFILATION FEES AND YEAR BARS CHARGE FOR 2022

I am pleased to advise that at the Annual General Meeting on 24 October the Delegates attending voted in accordance with the Committee’s recommendation that the affiliation portion of the annual fee be reduced to zero for the 2022 year.

The insurance portion of $4.00 per club member remains.

The Committee indicated that a recommendation, of zero affiliation fee, is expected to be put to next year’s Annual General Meeting.

Also, the Committee has agreed not to charge for Year Bars applied for in the foreseeable future.

This is in recognition of VAPS’s strong financial position and that many clubs have suffered financially because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

Joseph Maher
Treasurer
 

Return to Contents

VAPS Website
Insurance and Governance Information on the VAPS website
 
Insurance and Governance Information has been added to the VAPS website.  This information relates to insurance coverage and other governance matters such as managing an Incorporated Association (Consumer Affairs Victoria), scamwatch (Australian Government) and other resources like a Secretary’s Satchel. Other material will be added to this information portal progressively.

This information has been aggregated and published by VAPS to assist your club’s Committee in overseeing club operations and other requirements like submitting an Annual Financial Return to Consumer Affairs Victoria through MyCAV https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/mycav/sign-in.

The link to the Insurance and Governance Information for clubs is https://www.vaps.org.au/4/download-docs/insurance-and-governance.html.

  
Regards
 
Tony Harding
Secretary VAPS
Insurance Matters – Attendance Registers

From time to time the VAPS Secretary is contacted by member clubs requesting clarification of what the VAPS arranged Insurance covers. There is a section on the VAPS website outlining the policy however it is understood that specific situations may not be fully explained. These questions are invariably passed to our Insurance Brokers.

One such question recently received “Could you please clarify if the insurer requires club members to sign in at meetings and outings”.

Our Broker responded
“In relation to members / visitors signing in – insurance does have a specific requirement but in the event of a claim details of signing in/out will come in handy to verify the claim. Also, with current COVID situation it is important that everyone is either manually signing in/out or the QR codes are being used.

Reviewing the document it is recommended that members/visitors sign in but it is not a requirement and it will not affect the policy if a club does not require members to sign in.”

It is VAPS Committee’s strong recommendation that all clubs should have attendance records for all meetings and outings. This is in addition to QR code check in requirement as that information is not readily available to the club.

Attendance Registers can be pre-printed with members names and the members just initial.
A Visitor’s Register with phone number and email address can be useful for follow up re possible membership.

Attendance Registers can also be used as a check list in the event of an emergency evacuation of the meeting place, something some meeting place owners may require.

Also, something to consider is that the Club Secretary has a list of members’ next of kin and their contact details for the event when an attending member becomes unwell and is unconscious/unable to communicate. Similarly, the Outing Coordinator should have a next of kin list in relation to those participating.
 Judging Information
Over the last 12 months many clubs have had to change their club meetings to online via Zoom or other software.

Now that we are getting close to getting vaccinated and hopefully returning to a life with less risk of catching the COVID 19 virus many clubs have started to organise face to face meetings instead of online.

Hybrid meetings are another option being looked at or implemented by some clubs whereby a Zoom access option is also provided to the face-to-face meeting.
 
For clubs who are starting some form of face to face meetings everyone should ask themselves whether the risk is less, than what it was in the middle of last year or even just 3 months ago, and whether they are willing to accept that risk.
 
Things for clubs and judges to consider:
Is adequate social distancing possible?
Do the club rooms have plenty of space and plenty of ventilation (open windows)?

For handling prints clubs and judges should make themselves aware of the article written by a microbiologist in the March copy of Newsbrief.

Also another aspect is the hall or meeting place may first require a COVID Safety plan – a template is available at https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/covidsafe-plan

Alfred
 
Judges Honorarium
 
It has come to VAPS notice that there is some misinformation about the judging honorarium. The amount of the Judging honorarium is a recommended guideline to clubs and the article can be found here:
https://www.vaps.org.au/judging-honorarium.html.

VAPS nor the APJA sets any fee amounts that judges are expected to be paid by clubs to cover any travel expenses or extra work involved in preparing audio recordings or detailed notes for remote judging.

The APJA was set up by several judges wanting to improve the standard of judging in Victoria and eventually in other Australian states. Apart from training, the APJA mentors novice judges and also provides accreditation to judges who have completed additional tasks in addition to the training courses.

The APJA started with a handful of members and since 2014 has grown to 130. Most of these are active judges and the remaining members are those interested in learning and also improving the standard of judging.

VAPS wholeheartedly supports the efforts and achievements of the APJA.
 
Judging Club Competitions/image evaluations
 
To all Club Committees.

Please pass the following information on to any committee members involved in the selection of judges for your club competitions/image evaluations as well as other members who are judges and may be interested in becoming judges.
 
Victorian Judges pages on the website have lots of information, not only for Judges but also club committees and anyone interested in being a judge. https://www.vaps.org.au/index.php/camera-clubs/victorian-judges-new
 
  • Victorian Judges – An introductory page about judging.
  • Becoming a Judge – Criteria to be added to the judges directory.
  • Victorian Judges Application – Application form for anyone interested in being a judge.
  • Guidelines for Hosting Judges – Guidelines on what Clubs should consider when hosting a judge.
  • Stewards and Judges Manual – Detailed manual for club competition stewards and Judges.
  • Judging Honorarium – Outline of compensation for expenses incurred by the judge as well as honorarium for the extra work involved in preparing image critiques when unable to attend in person.
  • Judges Directory  - Available to be viewed by all club members. Note a login in not required.
  • Club Panel Judges – List of clubs that offer a panel of judges.
 
Regards,
Alfred
 
Advertising
APJA - Judges Association
Newsbrief November. 2021
 
Great that we have good enrolments in the Level 6 class. (Friday 5, 12, 19th November)
 
APJA will be having its last meeting for 2021 (Online) on Sunday 14th November. There will be a committee meeting first, followed by a general meeting, followed by a presentation by Richard Tatti. 

Richard has kindly agreed to present on the topic of Astrophotography for which he has a National and International reputation for the quality of his work in this field.  APJA members will get the zoom link a day or so before this date.

2022

As online has been so successful, especially for country folk we are planning: (all online)
Image Evaluation Practical work shop Fri 25th Feb / Fri 4th Mar
Level 1        Friday nights 7.30pm   6th,13th and 20th May
Level 3        Friday nights 7.30pm   5th,12th and 19th Aug

Image Evaluation Practical work shop Fri 2nd and ,9th September.
Level 5 Friday nights 4th,11th and 18th Nov.

(We chose Fridays; as from our checking, the least amount of  camera clubs meet on a Friday night)
General meetings (hopefully with guest presenters) Feb 13th, May 15th, Aug 14th, Sept 11th and Nov 20th.

For more information about courses and joining APJA go to apja.org.au
 
 
Rob Sloane (Marketing)

 
Considered being a Judge?

Clubs are asked to encourage members to consider being a photography judge. There are many benefits of being a judge. These include:
 
  • Exposure to a wide array of photographic work which contributes to one’s self development in photographic artistry
  • Greater confidence and experience in communication of the principles of photography
  • Receiving structured training in photographic judging including aesthetics, technical competency, photography and the law and many other aspects of photography
  • Helping others develop their skills and capabilities in the art of photography
  • Opportunities to participate in interclub and other photographic judging arenas
 
There are currently only 34 metropolitan members on the Victorian judges list and 18 in the country. We currently have 70 clubs and if every club has 10 competitions a year we would need all 52 judges to judge about 14 competitions a year.

That is too much of a load for any judge.  Many are only prepared to about 10 per year which means that we have a large shortage of judges.

VAPS therefore welcomes suggestions on how to approach the current and impending shortage of judges as increasingly judges will retire given the demographics.

We ask that your club contacts Tony Harding, Secretary VAPS (secretary@vaps.org.au) with any suggestions or ideas you may have in regard to increasing the number of active photography judges in Victorian clubs.

We also ask that club secretaries pass this information on to club committee and all members.
 
Alfred Zommers  Tony Harding

 
From Clubs/Societies and Others
Doncaster Camera Club History
The Doncaster Camera Club was formed on 11 November 1955
The circumstances are uncertain as to the lead-up to the calling of a public meeting on the above date except to say that Keith Petty, a well-established Doncaster businessman and orchardist, together with a couple of his friends, had previously visited the Melbourne Camera Club. After enjoying what they had seen and heard, they decided, with encouragement from Wilf Broadhead, to start a camera club in Doncaster.
 
Overview 1955 - 2020
On Friday 11th November 1955, a public meeting was convened at the Athenaeum Hall in Doncaster to discuss the formation of a Camera Club.  The first resolutions were that:
  • the club be called the Doncaster and District Camera Club
  • it affiliates with the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies (VAPS); and that
  • the annual subscriptions should be ten shillings ($1.00)
 
Locations
Meeting places over the years have been:
  • 1955 - 1958     Athenaeum Hall, Doncaster Road, Doncaster
  • 1958 - 1980     Lutheran Church Hall, Victoria Street, Doncaster
  • 1980 - 1994     Church of Christ Kindergarten, Doncaster Road, Doncaster
  • 1994 - 2018     Pilgrim Uniting Church Meeting Room, Westfield Drive, Doncaster
  • 2018 – now     East Doncaster Baptist Church, Tunstall Road, Doncaster East
 
Meetings
DCC meets monthly (the 3rd Friday) for a combined competition and presentation night.
The club is unique in that it alternately uses external judges and an internal members judging panel to adjudicate the club competitions.
The club’s very active Special Interest Groups include:
  • the Audio-Visual Group
  • the Mono (Black and White) Group
  • the SCENIC outdoors Group
  • the Themes and Series Group
In addition, DCC members offer small group mentoring across a range of subjects.
The club organises extended photographic outings and workshops.
 
Competitions
As well as the monthly image appraisal night, DCC awards annual trophies including:
  • Fred Schult Memorial Trophy - Open Print of the Year
  • Ralph Petty Memorial Trophy - Small Print of the Year
  • Denis Thompson Memorial Trophy - Projected Image of the Year
  • Ron Johnston Memorial Trophy - Landscape/Seascape Projected Image of the Year
  • Ed Conway Memorial Trophy - Landscape/Seascape print of the Year
The aggregate awards Include:
  • Fred Drakeford Memorial Trophy - Open Print Aggregate
  • Ralph Petty Memorial Trophy - Small Print Aggregate
  • Kevin and Kath McKay Memorial Trophy - Projected Image Aggregate
Each November the club awards the Kay Mack Perpetual Trophy for Monochrome.
 
Social Media
DCC has an extensive Social Media profile, including:
  • Facebook Group          doncaster camera club - Melbourne
  • Facebook Page            DCC
  • Instagram                    doncaster.camera.club
  • Website                       www.doncastercameraclub.org.au
  • Newsletter                  Monthly Newsletter available on the website
  • Email                           doncastercameraclub@gmail.com
  • Phone                          0408 808 870
 
Life members
The club is proud of its past and present life members
  • Fred Drakeford
  • Kath McKay
  • Fred Schult
  • Joan Williams
  • Ralph Petty
  • Lois Thompson            present
  • Kay Mack                     present
  • Arthur Lilley                present
 
Presidents
  • 1955 - 1957                 Mr Ross Miller
  • 1957 - 1959                 Mr Ron Jensz
  • 1959 - 1963                 Mr Fred Drakeford
  • 1963 - 1967                 Mr Denis Thompson
  • 1967 - 1968                 Mr Eric Olsson
  • 1968 - 1975                 Mr Fred Drakeford
  • 1975 - 1977                 Mr Denis Thompson
  • 1977 - 1979                 Mr Jim Hopson
  • 1979 - 1981                 Mr John Milne
  • 1981 - 1983                 Mrs Kay Mack
  • 1983 - 1985                 Mr Jim Hopson
  • 1985 - 1987                 Mr Bob Rendall
  • 1987 - 1990                 Mr Ralph Petty
  • 1990 (until Sep)           Mr Denis Thompson
  • Oct 1990 - 1994           Mr Bruce Millikan
  • 1994 - 1996                 Mr Alan Rash
  • 1996 - 1999                 Mrs Jan McKellar
  • 1999 - 2000                 Mr Bruce Millikan
  • 2000 - 2007                 Mr Arthur Lilley
  • 2007 – 2013                Mrs Valerie Armstrong
  • 2013 - 2019                 John Smith
  • 2019 – now                  Ean Caldwell
 
Exhibitions and What's On
Competitions

Closing the 19th November


The World Photographic Cup is a one of a kind international team competition created in 2001, celebrating photography in a way never dreamed of before. Sure, there are lots of other competitions but there is just one FIAP Club's World Cup.‍
 
The International Federation of Photographic Art invites Clubs to take part in the 16th FIAP  World Cup for Clubs. Given the international health situation due to the evolution of the Covid-19, this year the judging of 16th World Cup for Clubs 2021 will be on-line, in order to safeguard the health of our judges.
 
Each club, member of FIAP or not, can participate with 20 digital photos (Black and White and/or colour). Works accepted in previous World Cups cannot participate. Coherency between photos is not required. Registration and image upload only via Web-site: https://fiapworldcup.fotogenius.es/fiapworldcup/2021/index.php
APS Information
APS eNEWS is the monthly newsletter of the Australian Photographic Society and delivers news and updates about changes, distinctions and APS special interest groups as well as interesting and valuable information for APS Members.

Anyone can read eNEWS at this link eNEWS, check out the APS newsletters and catch up on information for photographers and APS Members.
APS


VAPS, Organisational member of Australian Photographic Society
a-p-s.org.au
Any members of an accredited Camera Club or Society interested in evaluating images or judging are invited to apply to join the Australian Photographic Judges Association.
You do not need to be an active judge to be a member.
The prime objective of the Association is to help develop the evaluation and judging skills of members.
Further information contact:
Rob Sloane: msec@optusnet.com.au   or 
Paul Robinson:  pr.artpics@gmail.com
RECEIVE YOUR FREE EMAIL COPY OF NEWSBRIEF DIRECT
 
SUBSCRIBE AT
http://vaps.org.au/index.php/news

or go to the VAPS Website at

www.vaps.org.au
 
Open the News tab and select Newsbrief newsletters.
There you can subscribe for a free email copy of Newsbrief.
Keep up with all of the announcements and news from the clubs.
Hard copy of Newsbrief are not available in 2021
VAPS Committee Listing and Support
President 
Ian Rolfe

president@vaps.org.au 

Vice President/Chair Judging
Sub-Committee/Interclub Director/Webmaster 

Alfred Zommers


Vice President
Boris Struk

Secretary/Webmaster 
Tony Harding

secretary@vaps.org.au 

Treasurer/Webmaster
Joseph Maher
treasurer@vaps.org.au 

Badges & Awards 
Margaret 
Zommers
Newsbrief Editor 
Danielle LeGassick
editor@vaps.org.au

History & Archives 
Alan Wilson

Committee Member 












 

Victorian Association
of Photographic Societies Inc.

General Enquiries:
PO Box 2172, Caulfield Junction Victoria 3161
www.vaps.org.au
Tony Harding: secretary@vaps.org.au
VAPS Objectives
  • To advance the art of photography.
  • To further the interests of affiliated bodies.
  • To draw up regulations governing exhibitions and inter-club competitions.
  • To arrange the exchange of guest lecturers and demonstrations on any subject relating to photography.
  • To arrange the exchange of prints between clubs.
  • To arrange periodical conventions for members of affiliated bodies and guests.
  • To arrange the publication of an official journal or news sheet .
     
A Brief History:
Camera clubs have existed in Melbourne since the 1890’s and an umbrella organisation called the Victorian Photographic Affiliation was formed in 1908. This guided amateur photography in Victoria for forty years. The Victorian Association of Photographic Societies was formed on 27 September 1952 and comprised of 12 clubs. This has grown to more than 70 clubs in Jan 2020. VAPS is a non-profit association that is entirely self-funded. The Association is run by an elected Committee of Management which is responsible for the operations of the Association, and for ensuring the Association fulfils the objectives.
Legal
Victorian Association of Photographic Societies welcomes contributions from interested parties, however, Victorian Association of Photographic Societies accepts no responsibility for the content of these contributions and the views contained therein are not necessarily those of Victorian Association of Photographic Societies. While every care is taken with solicited and unsolicited materials supplied, Victorian Association of Photographic Societies does not accept any liability for loss or damage however caused. Victorian Association of Photographic Societies takes no responsibility for the claims made by advertisers or transactions by. Does not endorse the products sold on the website/Newsbrief or enter into any of the exchanges. Nor is the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies responsible for any exchanging of information or monetary amounts. All transactions are solely the responsibility of the advertiser and purchaser.
 
Copyright
Material on the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies site or the Newsbrief may not be reproduced or published elsewhere without the written consent of the publisher, Victorian Association of Photographic Societies. All rights reserved. 
Advertising in Newsbrief
Would you like to contribute to Newsbrief? If you do, then it would be helpful if you use the following.
  • Reformatting of text will occur (fonts and size) to suit the email format. (Paragraph 14, Heading 16-18, San serif fonts)
  • Images can be submitted as jpegs or png up to 300 ppi.
Images will be reduced in size as appropriate for email. Text submissions preferred in Microsoft Word format. Images are preferred as JPEG.
PDF files can be accommodated for text only.
Costs: Ads of any size.
Commercial $100 per issue
Commercial (Member discount) $50 per issue
Affiliated Clubs and their members, free.

Contact the editor if you have questions.

 
Danielle LeGassick
editor@vaps.org.au
Next Issue - December 2021
Newsbrief publication deadline 26 November 
Newsbrief Editor:
Danielle LeGassick:
editor@vaps.org.au
Copyright © 2021 Victorian Association of Photographic Societies, All rights reserved.


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