The club's first digital competition was held on Oct. 21, with a theme of "Nature". Roughly half of the club's members submitted entries in the Wildlife and Landscape categories. The competition was judged by Robert Singer, from the Cape Cod Art Center. Congratulations to all of the winners listed below:

Landscape Category
Basic:
1st Place: Scott Henderson; "Still Life"
2nd Place: Sarah Pinheiro; "Buttercups"
3rd Place: Debbie Bowers; "Forge Pond Frozen in Time"
Honorable Mention: Carole Mahaney; "Cliffs of Moher"

Intermediate:
1st Place: Hugh Fanning; "Morning Marsh Grasses"
2nd Place: Jim Mahaney; "Driftwood"
3rd Place: Jerry Lamothe; "Among the Dunes"
Honorable Mention: Christine Rosperich; "Solitude"
Honorable Mention: Margie Joseph; "Jack's Cove"
Honorable Mention: Paula Xavier; "The Gazebo"

Wildlife Category
Basic:
1st Place: Scott Henderson; "Grace & Balance"
2nd Place: Janine Simmons; "Racoon Mom"
Honorable Mention: Keri Deptula; "Sunbathing"

Intermediate:
1st Place: Pat Bithel; "Cackling Blackbirds"
2nd Place: Jerry Lamothe; "Snack Time"
3rd Place: Christine Rosperich; "Catch of the Day"
Honorable Mention: Hugh Fanning; "Green Heron"
Honorable Mention: Norm Buck; "Snipeshot"

First Zoom Meeting: September 2, 2020
The Whaling City Camera Club kicks off the 2020-21 club year with a Zoom meeting on September 2. A full calendar of activities is planned, including:

• Regular (online) club meetings on the first and third Wednesdays of each month
  
• Nine scheduled workshops/speaker presentations to help members refine their skills
  
• Six member competitions, with a variety of themes; outside judges will rank and offer critiques for each of the entries submitted
  
• Regular field trips and MeetUp events to offer members plenty of opportunities to learn from each other
  

Member surveys fielded earlier this year helped determine the types of speakers and educational topics that will be featured in this year's calendar of events. Highlights for the next few meetings:

• Sept. 16 - Nature Photography: Presentations by two of the club's accomplished photographers (Christine Rosperich and Jim Mahaney) will focus on how to get the most out of wildlife and landscape photography.
  
• October 7 - Education Night: Brian Santerre will offer tips on how to master the "exposure triangle", and discuss when (and how) to use different modes of shooting on your camera.
  
• October 21 - First Club Competition: Our first digital competition of the new year will be based on the Nature theme; members can submit entries in Wildlife and Landscape categories.
  

The club's third annual photojournalism competition was held on May 20 in our first Zoom competition. Peter Perreira judged the event, offering his critique of each image, along with suggestions on ways to potentially improve results through set-up, composition or post-processing. Making good use of the digital format of the online event, Peter frequently demonstrated alternate ways to crop and edit photos to increase the impact of the story told.

Members could submit up to two images (color or Black and White) in either the Basic or Intermediate categories. A complete list of the winning images is shown below; also see the gallery of winning images on the home page.

Basic Category Winners:

• 1st Place: "Little Red Car"; Scott Henderson
  
• 2nd Place: "Young Patriots"; Janine Simmons
  
• 3rd Place: "Pumpkin Fun"; Joanne Humphrey
  
• Honorable Mention: "Mothers Day Choices"; Judy Buckley
  
• Honorable Mention: "Pier 3 Testing Station"; Nina Mach
  
• Honorable Mention: "Sleeping in Seattle"; Elizabeth Antonelli
  

Intermediate Category Winners:

• 1st Place: "Coming Down"; Hugh Fanning
  
• 2nd Place: "Wall Repair"; Norm Buck
  
• 3rd Place: "Consoling a Loss"; Rita Eva Spier
  
• Honorable Mention: "Bourbon Street Wedding"; Margie Joseph
  
• Honorable Mention: "Determination"; Christine Rosperich
  
• Honorable Mention: "No Play Time"; Kelly Smith
  
• Honorable Mention: "The Cooperage"; Paula Xavier
  

Following the Club's March 6 Zoom meeting with Peter Perreira, a small group of members descended on downtown New Bedford on Friday, May 8 to practice their photojournalism and street photography. Wearing facemasks and maintaining safe social distancing (generally), the group walked around the downtown area in the late morning to capture images that reflected on how the current pandemic is affecting the city.

There weren't many people on the streets, but we captured multiple images of those who came within our range. Expect to see some of these images at the Club's May 20 competition on photojournalism.

The March 4 meeting featured a digital competition for WCCC members. Entries were submitted in the Nature and Pictorial categories, and the event was judged by Scott D'Amato of the Cape Cod Camera Club. A complete list of winners is listed below:

Nature Category: Basic

• 1st Place: Janine Simmons; "Lace"
  
• 2nd Place: Deborah Dewolfe; "Crane at Sunset"
  
• Honorable Mention: Scott Henderson; "Fire & Ice"
  

Nature Category: Intermediate:

• 1st Place: Pat Bithel; "Basking in the Sun"
  
• 2nd Place: Robert Kowalczyk; "Red Shouldered Hawk"
  
• 3rd Place: Marjorie Joseph; "Sassy Osprey"
  
• Honorable Mention: Hugh Fanning; "Spotted Gull"
  

Pictorial Category: Basic:

• 1st Place: Deborah Dewolfe; "Seagull Shell Water Drops"
  
• 2nd Place: Elizabeth Antonelli: "Forged"
  
• 3rd Place: Kerri Deptula; "Summer Daze"
  
• Honorable Mention: Scott Henderson; "Aurora Over Rekjavik"
  

Pictorial Category: Intermediate:

• 1st Place: Richard Castenson; "Yum"
  
• 2nd Place: Robert Kowalczyk; "Surfer"
  
• 3rd Place: Brian Santerre; "I'm Hungry"
  
• Honorable Mention: Christine Rosperich; "Beach Path"
  
• Honorable Mention: Pat Bithel; "Bold and Beautiful"
  

My dedication to photography began in the late 1970s when I began working as a labor photojournalist at the Distributive Worker, the newspaper of District 65, UAW. I was handed a camera and a 50mm lens by the editor and instructed to write articles and document the struggles of the members of the union, their shops and communities. With the help of some photographer friends I began to learn how to use this new tool. I entered a whole new world!

















Photography became a medium to express my dedication to the struggle for social and economic justice. New doors were opened to me. I wrote articles and made photos for Claridad the newspaper of the Puerto Rican Nation. I also worked for the Communication Workers of America newspaper in New Jersey – the State Worker.

No matter where I worked, the camera became my tool to tell the stories I saw and lived whether it was in the peace movement, the anti-apartheid struggle in the US and abroad, the workers fight for better working and living conditions and many other causes.
My vision has always been to promote the struggle for social and economic justice for workers, women, youth and all people of color through my images. I attempt to capture the majestic beauty of the environment to preserve it and combat those who would continue to destroy the future of our youth.
I am not just a documentarian of struggle, of the beauty and the fortitude of working people and people of color, but also a part of that struggle for equality and liberation. I work day to day to get better at my craft so that I can get better at telling this story.

The Whaling City Camera Club opened a special exhibit, entitled "Botanicals and the Bugs Who love them", at the Westport Library on November 7. More than thirty prints from the club's members were on display. Dedee Shattuck, of Westport's Dedee Shattuck Gallery, acted as a judge for the competition, and selected the following winners:

• Honorable Mention: "Bouquet of Music" - Susan McDonald
• 3rd Place: "Busy Bumble Bee" - Jim Mahaney
• 2nd Place: "Monarch" - Richard Castenson
• 1st Place: "Cairns Birdwing Butterfly" - Joan-Marie Proulx

The exhibit runs through December 30, 2019 at the Westport Public Library.

The first print competition for the 2019-20 NECCC season was hosted by the Whaling City Camera Club on November 6, at our new North Dartmouth Library home. The interclub competition featured entries submitted from nineteen NECCC camera clubs, in open categories for Color or Black and White prints. In addition to the competition, Hunt's Photo set up a booth featuring a number of items at special discount prices for attendees.

Winners will be announced by NECCC later this month.

The first Whaling City Camera Club competition for the season was held on October 16, and it demonstrated the constantly improving skills of the club's membership. With the scheduled judge sidelined by a sudden illness, winners were selected by votes from all the members present at the competition.  The winners for each category are listed below: