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About
Western Valley Camera Club On this page you should find all you need to know about
Western Valley Camera Club. If you need to know more about the club please
don’t hesitate to contact us using the links on the “Contact Us” Page |
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History |
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• The Club was
founded in 1954 and has been based in the Cross Keys area since then. The
club name comes from the old name for the area which is the Western Valleys,
referring to the Western Valleys of the old County of Monmouthshire
(confusing as the Valleys are actually in the east of the South Wales
Valleys!!). The local area of the club is regarded as the Ebbw Valley heading
down through Risca to the outskirts of Newport, the
Ebbw Valley heading north towards Ebbw Vale & Abertillery
and the Sirhowy Valley heading north towards
Blackwood & Tredegar. |
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Meetings |
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• We hold our meetings every Thursday evening throughout the year in the
Dudley Suite of Cross Keys Rugby Club. The meetings commence at 19:30
and finish by 22:00 • The address of the Rugby Club is Pandy Park, Woodward Avenue, Cross Keys, NP11 7BS. The location of the club is shown
on the links below. Note: If using a Sat Nav to find
us, some might try to take you to the club straight off the A467. There is no
turning off the A467 and you will need to enter Cross Keys itself to reach
us. There are now signposts to help
you find the Rugby Club now placed on the main roads around Cross Keys. |
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What We Do |
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• The club holds meetings throughout the year on a variety of topics,
(Note: Unlike most clubs we do not break for the summer, we entertain all
year around). The club aims to provide
a varied programme of evening meetings which
feature the following broad topic areas - Competitions, Practical Sessions, Demonstrations, Talks and
Presentations from members and quality external Speakers. More detail is
provided below. |
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• The club organises regular internal competitions amongst the members. The
clubs internal competitions feature the following subjects during the year,
Architecture, Landscape/Seascape, Still Life/Table Top, Portraiture, Open and
Themed Competitions. Each competition subject take place on two evenings
during a month, one for Prints and one for Digital Images. • Unlike a lot of clubs we judge our own competitions with all members
having the opportunity to mark the images. During a competition evening all
the images are first viewed by the members and then following judging each
image is reviewed and critiqued by the members of the club. This has the
advantage of getting multiple opinions’ on an image rather than the view of a
single judge. Shown in the picture on the right is the clubs presentation
wall where Prints are placed for judging. |
A selection of members prints are displayed on the display
gallery wall ready for judging. |
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• Competitions against other local Camera Clubs are held regularly
throughout the year as part of our programme. These take place at our club or
are hosted at the opposition club’s premises. · The Club also regularly submits entries into various National
competitions held in Wales and other parts of the UK. Help and advice is also
given as required in assisting members to submit their own entries into
various Photographic Salons held throughout the World. |
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• We arrange regular practical
evenings through out the year that give members the opportunity to try different
aspects of photography. More senior/experienced members of the club are on
hand to assist and instruct other members.
These evenings are great fun and give members the opportunity to
attempt something they wouldn’t normally try in an informal atmosphere. • Below is shown a selection
of activities that have occur at the club during recent practical evenings. |
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Left - Two members demonstrate how to set up the lighting
and exposure for a Still Life/Table
Top shot Middle - A member photographs a model at a Lighting
Demonstration evening arranged by Walters Photographic of Merthyr Tydfil Right - A member pours the wine while another member tries
to capture the classic wine in the glass shot |
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• Another aspect of the
Practical sessions is during the Summer we arrange a couple of Out &
About visits (Weather Permitting) to local locations, the emphasis is on
photographs at the location and encouraging photographers to try something
different. An annual day trip is also arranged to a location of suitable
interest, previous years have visited Oxford, Blists Hill & Ironbridge,
Kew Gardens and Beaulieu Motor Museum. |
Members are seen reviewing a shot on a recent annual trip |
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Membership |
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• Membership fees are payable on an annual basis commencing in January.
Our membership fee also includes an affiliation fee to the Welsh Photographic
Federation (WPF). We also charge a small entry fee per meeting (with the
chance to win it back plus more in a raffle) to cover the costs of our room
hire. Our fees for the year ending December 2014 are as follows:- |
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Ordinary
Member |
£40 |
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• From 2014 to
keep our membership fees simple we do not do offer any concessions as our
membership fee is relatively low compared to other clubs and the difference
between an ordinary member and concession rate was an insignificant amount. ·
New members have a 3 week free
trial before deciding to join and will pay a pro rata fee according to the
month they join in. The following is a guide for an Ordinary Member. |
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January,
February or March |
= £40 (100%) |
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April,
May or June |
= £30 (75%) |
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July, August
or September |
= £20 (50%) |
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October,
November or December |
= £10 (25%) |
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• To apply for
membership you will need to complete an Application Form ,
a copy of which can be downloaded here. If you need to read a copy of the clubs Data Protection Policy then it
can be downloaded from here |
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Affiliations |
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The club is affiliated to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain
(PAGB) via the Welsh Photographic Federation (WPF) which features clubs from
all of South Wales and part of Mid Wales. More details about these organisations
can be found by visiting their websites which you can find on our links page |
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