Joining a camera club is a rewarding experience—and even more so when you understand how it all works. Like any community, a club has its own rhythms, traditions, and ways of doing things, which can feel a little overwhelming at first. This guide will help you get to know the club and its unique patterns, so you can settle in quickly and start enjoying your photography sooner.

Club information

Queensland Camera Group has been in operation since 1956. The club aims to provide a fun, friendly and supportive outlet for photographers of all standards seeking to develop their skills.

QCG websites

Queensland Camera Group (QCG) has two websites:

  • a club website (the one you are on now). The club’s website is the place to go for up-to-date information about club activities, galleries of members’ images, and copies of the QCG monthly newsletter, Prism.

  • a competition website called MyPhotoClub (or MPC for short). This is available to all full members and is where grading and entry to many of the club’s competitions occurs.

Meetings and special interest groups

The club generally meets from February to early December. Meetings are held at SPACE in Kenmore Hills (Cnr Branton Street & Paley Street), unless otherwise noted.

Most of our events are held face to face, and being there really matters. Turning up shows respect for the time and effort our guest speakers, judges, and presenters put into supporting the club. Just as importantly, attending meetings is a big part of the social side of belonging to a club — it’s how we connect, share ideas, and build a sense of community. We strongly encourage members to come along whenever they can and be part of these shared experiences.

That said, to allow us to adapt to circumstances, events may be face-to-face or via Zoom. In winter, the club will lean towards Zoomed events so that we can stay warm!

Always check the Calendar section of the club website for details of times and venues, as these may change. And crucially, watch your email!

Immediate past president, Martin Riley MCs a QCG event.

Meeting times are typically:

·       First Thursday of the month: Focus Group

·       Second Thursday of the month: Speaker Night

·       Fourth Thursday of the month: Competition Judging Night

·       Third Saturday of the month: Portrait Group

·       Last Sunday of the month (quite variable): Photoshoot Outing

Speaker Night

A speaker from the photography world shares their knowledge with the club. Visitors are welcome.

Competition Judging Night

All images entered in the month’s competitions are presented, by grade and topic, with feedback from a judge. Visitors are welcome. Usually held at SPACE, our clubhouse in Kenmore.

Focus Group

Demonstrations and talks by experienced club members and external photographers provide all grade levels of members with information designed to improve their photographic and processing skills. Members only. Usually held at the Kenmore Library.

Portrait Group

This group is designed to help all members to learn about studio lighting equipment and its use, as well as other styles of portrait (including natural light). Volunteer portrait models are always welcomed (family and friends). Members only. Portrait Group is usually held at the Centenary Community Hub.

Photoshoot Outings

This is your chance to get out and about, exploring new places with your camera in the company of fellow club members.

Annual Weekend Away

Every year, QCG organises a weekend away. The aim of the weekend is to get to know your fellow members better. Details are usually provided in the first half of the year for a weekend away usually held in the second part of the year.

Name badge

An official club name badge can be ordered when you pay your initial membership fee. Members are encouraged to wear their badge at club meetings, photoshoot outings and interclub activities.

Management Committee

The QCG Management Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting in September. Nominations are called for prior to each AGM. The new committee begins its term in the next calendar year, holding office for the remainder of that calendar year. Committee members are listed on the QCG website. The committee meets monthly.

Mentoring

The Shutter Buddy program offers new members the chance to be paired up with an experienced member with similar photographic interests or equipment. You will be asked if you want to participate in this program when you join. A Shutter Buddy can really help you become comfortable navigating the club’s processes, well as being a photographic sounding board.

Club Spirit Award

Each year the Committee considers the presentation of the QCG Club Spirit Award to any member, not currently a member of the Committee, who has given highly meritorious contribution or service to the Club for that year.

Social media

Queensland Camera Group has social media accounts on Facebook (one open group and one closed group for members only, the link to which is pinned at the top of the open group) and Instagram.

The purpose of these accounts is to give the club a digital presence and to share information about our club, its events, its achievements, and the successes of its members. Please drop by our Facebook and Instagram pages and hit ‘Follow’ and apply to join the closed the group (all members welcome).

Your images on the web

QCG is a content-rich organisation and may share competition images and photographs of members taken at QCG events online. These images may be used across QCG platforms, including the club website (Gallery and MyPhotoClub), Facebook, Instagram, and the monthly newsletter Prism, as well as on the social media channels of affiliated industry organisations such as the Australian Photographic Society (APS) and the Photographic Society of Queensland (PSQ). Competition images may also be visible publicly in MyPhotoClub both in the results posts and the home page rotator. At all times, copyright remains with the maker and, where possible, appropriate attribution will be given.

How to be a helpful club member

The cornerstone of social clubs like ours is cohesion. This is achieved when members do what they can, when they can, for the benefit of their fellow member and for the benefit of their club.

It’s also important to remember that people join camera clubs for many different yet valid reasons. Most join to improve their photography, but people also join to connect with others socially, to reinvigorate their creativity, to show their work to others and to enjoy a wonderful pastime with like-minded individuals.

Fun and learning are at the forefront of what we do, and it’s easier to achieve those goals when we all (generally!!) follow the same path.

·       Be responsible for informing yourself. This means:

  • Read your emails carefully. Emails are the main way we will communicate with you. They are always drafted with great care and are only ever sent when the information is important to you.

  • If you still have questions, refer to the club’s website (or your buddy if you have one).

  • Email addresses for committee members are listed on the ‘About’ page.

·       Be punctual and proactive. Whether the meeting or catch up is in person or via Zoom, come a little bit early if you can. Notice if help is required (putting out chairs, washing up cups, selling raffle tickets). Your enthusiasm will be infectious and greatly appreciated.

·       Be polite – to our external guests (speakers, judges, workshop hosts) and to each other. Never criticise a judge’s opinion and be very mindful of what is written in Zoom chats as this can be seen by both the presenter/judge and your fellow members.

·       Be generous. Got a skill you can share? We’d love to hear about it.

What do all those initials mean?

When you first join the camera club, you may be baffled by the numerous abbreviations which are commonly used. It’s a lazy habit in some cases, but often also a term of endearment. ‘QCG’, for instance, is just ‘us’! ‘PSQ’ is an organisation comprising members of affiliated camera clubs from throughout the state. ‘BCG’ is the Brisbane Camera Group, another metropolitan club, as is ‘MGP’, Mt Gravatt Photographic Society, and so on. Sometimes we forget to explain to new members just what these initials mean! Here is a selection of those you will often hear mentioned.

PSQ

The Photographic Society of Queensland (PSQ) represents clubs and promotes photographic standards throughout the state. Part of your annual QCG membership fees go to PSQ to help provide public liability insurance for QCG members and access for the club to accredited judges for our competitions. In addition, the Annual PSQ Convention, offering competitions, lectures, displays and photo opportunities, is held on the May long weekend and is an opportunity for members of all camera clubs to get to know each other (it’s also one of our Photoshoot topics!).

The PSQ Council comprises a Management Committee (representatives of affiliated clubs) and the Judges Executive (subcommittee of PSQ accredited judges). Any club member can attend as a non-voting delegate at PSQ Council meetings. Club members are encouraged to nominate for positions on the PSQ Management Committee and/or be delegates at PSQ meetings.

APS

The Australian Photographic Society is the only national photographic group available to amateur photographers. It covers a variety of specialist divisions and groups including Contemporary, Nature, Audio Visual and Conceptual and provides the pathways to achieve national and international photographic honours. Individuals become members by subscription. The APS also hosts national interclub competitions including the fiercely contested Australian Cup (see also Interclub Competitions) and a national photo book competition.

SEQ

SEQ stands for Salon of Excellence Queensland and is a state competition held in conjunction with the Photographic Society of Queensland’s annual convention. Each year QCG encourages its members to participate (there is a small cost to participants). Members can have their images judged in the context of images from all over the state, vying for individual and club awards (see also Interclub Competitions). Check the PSQ website for information.

DPI (or PDI or EDI)

Short for Digital Projected Image, digital images are always judged in their own category (prints, sometimes considered the purest form of photographic image, are judged separately). Digital images are useful in that they are inexpensive to produce and easily allow images to be shared and judged across state lines and between countries. Some clubs also refer to digital competition entries as PDIs (Projected Digital Images) or EDIs (Electronic Digital Images).

MPC

The most common way to refer to MyPhotoClub, the competition software platform used by QCG, many other camera clubs. There is an overarching MPC website but you will mostly be interacting with QCG’s MPC site, https://qcgroup.myphotoclub.com.au/.