Minutes of the St Leonard’s Camera Club AGM

St Leonard’s Camera Club - Minutes of the AGM held on 11 May 2010


1 Apologies for absence: Tony Winfield

2 The Minutes of the last AGM held on 5 May 2009 were accepted as a correct record

3 Matters arising - none

4 Chairman’s Report ( Andy Bridge)

The Chairman reported another successful year for the club, with new members joining the Club and a good retention of existing members.

The Chairman expressed thanks to the Programme Secretary (Graham Argent) who had put together an excellent Programme with new speakers to complement high quality returning speakers. The chairman said he was sorry to see Graham leaving the Programme Secretary role

Thanks were also extended to Tony, Dave and Roy for taking the time to put together their presentations that were enjoyed by everyone. The joint meetings with Acton Trussell and Penkridge PS, had proven successful and had been well attended by both sets of Club members.

Thanks were also extended to Alan Preston for arranging the Club’s Annual Photographic Exhibition that took place last summer and are again underway this year. This Exhibition showcases our Club’s work in libraries around the town, adding to the publicity that is always necessary to keep the club thriving.

The Chairman also thanked the remaining committee members who have made his job as Chairman so easy. In particular, he thanked Radu for managing the finances and helping him with the competitions, He thanked Tony Winfield for being the Club Secretary yet again and for collecting the Fees on Club nights. Finally, he thanked Dave Batho and Geoff Cattley for their help on the Committee. The Chairman said without a strong and effective committee, the Club would not be as good as he believes it to be.

5 Competition Secretary’s Report (Andy Bridge)

The Competition Secretary’s was pleased to report on another competitive year of photography, with a growing number of entries. He said that the Intermediate class has been a real success this year with many new members taking part, with a great deal of success. Of particular note was the increase in the number of Monochrome prints being produced, reflecting the improvements in digital printing of Monochrome. The club had seen an increase in the number and standard of entries into Club competitions. Of particular note was the quality of the work being produced in our Intermediates classes.

Colour Print Challenge

The number of entries at 107 has exceeded the level in recent years, continuing the upward trend.
Thanks to all the members taking part we have had an excellent number of entries.

2008/09 41 advanced entries by 5 different members and 58 Intermediates by 10 different members
2009/10 51 advanced entries by 7 different members and 56 Intermediates by 8 different members

Monochrome Challenge

2008/09 28 advanced entries by 4 different members and 5 Intermediate by 3 different members
2009/10 45 advanced entries by 5 different members and 10 Intermediate by 4 different members

Digital Projected Image (DPI) Challenge

2008/09 46 advanced entries by 6 different members + 21 Intermediate by 4 members
2009/10 64 advanced entries by 6 different members + 44 Intermediate by 5 members

The Competition Secretary reported that the increase in DPI entries had justified the dropping of slides this year and the move to digital projected images. Thanks were extended to Radu for helping to put the entries together for these competitions.

Themed Competitions and 3 of a Kind Competitions

Each competition had also included a Theme competition and a 3 of a Kind competition. The themes have been Blue, Architecture and humour. The Competition Secretary had been pleased to see a good standard of entry to these competitions, adding to the interest on the night. Three of a Kind had been better supported this year with Tony having some competition!

Annual Print and DPI Competition was well supported with 108 pieces of work entered for John Cartlidge to judge.

Rowland Mottershead Memorial Trophy Competition

63 entries were well judged by Terry Bickley with Robin Clode being awarded 1st place.

The enprint competition was also judged with a bumper entry of 57 pieces of work, thereby ensuring the ongoing support of the company ( Areva).

8 Way Competitions and Battles

We entered both Lea Hall battles coming second from bottom in the digital images. However the print event was more successful with us achieving 6 out of 8, even beating Burton, a previous winner of the 8 way battle.

Inter Club Competition In the recent battle at Acton Trussell & Penkridge PS, we won both prints and digital images by a handsome overall margin of 19 points.

Circulating Portfolio - Six entries were received this year and the outcome will follow after the AGM.

External Exhibitions

Midphot - This was not a good year for us at Midphot with only Tony having acceptances.

MCPF Portfolio On a more successful note Tony and Graham had acceptances, both featuring in the MCPF travelling portfolio

6 Treasurers Report ( Radu Handoca)

The Treasurer presented the Clubs Accounts for year ending 10 May 2010 and reported that the Club had achieved a surplus of £29.94.

Income £ 1,253.96
Expenditure £ 1,229.05
Balance £ 29.94

The Club had purchased a Digital Projector (£461 inc vat) and a new speaker system (£23.05 inc vat). Other expenses included Speaker Fees, Judges Fees, MCPF fees, website, Secretary’s expenses, Programme Secretary’s expenses. Exhibition expenses, postage etc.


Members unanimously approved the Subscription Fees for the 2010/11 season as follows:

£12 for membership of St Leonards Sports & Social Club
£10 for membership of St Leonards Camera Club

£1 door fee for Members
£2 door fee for non members


7 Election of Committee Members

The following appointments were approved for the 2010/11 Season

Chairman : Andy Bridge
Vice Chairman / Treasurer: Radu Handoca.
Club Secretary and Assistant Treasurer; Tony Winfield
Joint Competition Secretaries: Radu Handoca and Graham Argent
Programme Secretary and Social Secretary: Andy Bridge
Exhibition Secretary: Alan Preston
Portfolio Secretary/ Equipment Officer/ Web Manager : Geoff Cattley
Publicity Officer: Dave Batho
Committee member: Francis Colella.

8 Annual Competition – one or two classes

Members discussed the potential of having an Intermediate and a separate Advanced Class in the Annual Competition. The consensus view was that the over-critical remarks of the Judge of work was probably due to the tiredness of the Judge and was not a typical reflection on the objective nature of Judging experienced in previous years. Following a vote, the motion for there to continue to be one class only in the Annual Competition, was supported by the vast majority of Members.

9 Judges List

Following the critical remarks of several members after the Annual Competition, the Chairman refereed to discussion at a recent Committee meeting to create an Approved List of Judges. It had been agreed that if, in the opinion of the Committee a Judge had been identified as unsuitable he / she would not be invited back to Judge future competitions

10 Theme Competitions

Following suggestions from members and a show-of-hands voting the following themes were selected for the 2010/11 season

Competition 1 Coastal Competition 2 Reflections Competition 3 Transport Portfolio theme: Animals

11 Club Trips

A member (Dave Appleby) asked about the organisation of future Club Trips. The Chairman indicated that attendance at Club Trips had often been disappointing. However, the Chairman invited a Club Member to offer to take on the role of Club Trip Organiser. No volunteers were forthcoming.

Radu Handoca offered to enquire about a weekend Club Trip – possibly to the Lake District in the Autumn. Members supported this suggestion

12 New Members

As part of the drive to attract further Members, the Club had purchased 250 Business Cards to be given to potential new Members. It was agreed that if Members bring a new Member along to the Club, they will be entitled to exemption on the Door Fee that Evening

13 Club Programme – 20010/11 –

Graham Argent highlighted the key features in next Season’s Programme and indicated that he was confident that Members would enjoy the range of Speakers, both new and returning, together with the mix of tutorial, competition and lecture nights

The Chairman closed the AGM and wished members an enjoyable summer
and looked forward to seeing everyone again in September

Graham Argent, Acting Club Secretary (14.05.2010 )