Clondalkin Camera Club
Established Jan 1988 - our 36th year!!

Photography is our passion

IMPORTANT MESSAGE – NO MEETING IN ARAS CHRONAIN TONIGHT TUESDAY 08/10/24.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE – NO MEETING IN ARAS CHRONAIN TONIGHT TUESDAY 08/10/24.

Due to an unforeseen problem there will be no meeting in Aras Chronain on Tuesday 08/10/24.

Instead we will have an outing doing Night Photography around the village.

We will meet at 8.00 p.m. (20h00) at Clondalkin Library, Monastery Road, Clondalkin Eircode is D22 XP03. We suggest parking at The Mills centre as we will probably end up at the Round Tower.

Dress for the weather, and bring your tripod (if you have one, if you don’t we will have some spares we can loan you). Also it’s a good idea to bring a small torch so you can see the setting on your camera.

Normal service will resume next week (15/10/24) at Aras Chronain, with the hand in for the Mono Print Competition and the Projected Images Competition which will take place on 22/10/24.

Check the website for the Calendar. Apologies for the short notice and any inconvenience.

Website last updated on.... 08 October 2024

Following our Annual Summer Break, our weekly meetings in Aras Chronain D22 X856 resumed on 

Tuesday 3rd September, and the draft calendar for the new season is below.
New Members welcome - we cater for all levels of experience.
The new Committee is working on the Calendar of Events from September – keep checking back for updates.

The Annual Membership Fee is only €90.00 which includes:-

weekly meetings in Aras Chronain, workshops, guest speakers, monthly photo competitions, monthly outings to places of photographic interest (with a good coffee shop where you can treat yourself to a coffee and sticky bun!), Zoom training meetings as necessary, twice yearly ‘Basics of Photography’ weekends, (aka Beginners Classes).

Also Members have the opportunity to ask the other Members ‘What does this button do?’, ‘How did you get that effect?’ and to link up with other Members who share your interests such as Portraiture, Landscapes, Nature, Sports, Still Life….. etcetera.

You can also join our Members WhatsApp group to ask questions and share information re cameras, events and so on.


Draft Calendar

The Draft Calendar is shown on the table on the left.

Members - what would you like to see covered?

About Us...

Clondalkin Camera Club was formed in 1988 (Millennium Year) when a small group of like-minded people with an interest in photography got together, at the suggestion of Mr. Finbarr Brady, then Principal of St Joseph's Boys School on the Boot Road, Clondalkin. Finbarr's enthusiasm was matched by his actions as he provided us with a meeting place and a room to be set up as a darkroom.

36 years later and the Club has gone from strength to strength and now has around 40 members.

The Club is made up of photographers of all levels of experience from the complete beginner to professional. The Club is also affiliated to  The Irish Photographic Federation (IPF), which is the governing body for Camera Clubs and Photographic Societies in the Republic of Ireland.

 As we are a smaller Club there is a friendly and welcoming atmosphere where members can meet together to discuss and develop their photography skills.

 Our Members will be only too happy to help you by sharing their knowledge and information and answer any questions you may have.

 Our Sunday Morning Outings - are normally  held on the third Sunday of the month  - are a great way to gather information and ask questions “in the field”.

We would love to see you there. Check our Events page for the date of the next Sunday Morning Outing.

Our Introduction to Photography weekend will run from Friday 27/09 to Sunday 29/09.  See details and timetable on our Home Page. These classes are constantly being updated and refined to reflect current developments and members needs.  If you're interested in attending please send an e-mail to clondalkincameraclub@gmail.com.

From the beginning of September until the end of May, club meetings are held once a week on a ​​Tuesday evening at 19:30 in Aras Chronain, Watery Lane, Clondalkin, Eircode is D22 X856. Check our events page for details.

There are a wide range of activities which takes place during the season. These include workshops, guest speakers, presentations, competitions (at club, Regional, National and International levels).  See our Events page for more details.


Irish Photographic Federation (IPF)

The Irish Photographic Federation – (IPF) is the umbrella body for Photographic Societies and Camera Clubs in the Republic of Ireland, to which we are affiliated.

The National AV Championships will be held on 19th and 20th October in Aras Chronain, Clondalkin.

The IPF National Shield is an inter-club competition, open only to non-advanced photographers from affiliated clubs / Societies in good standing with the Irish Photographic Federation.

This year The National Shield will be held in The Barbican Centre, Drogheda, Co Louth on Saturday November 9th. Further information will be posted on the Website – here’s the link - https://irishphoto.ie/national-shield-2024/

IPF Distinctions -

One of the key services provided by the federation is the IPF Distinctions service.

Individual photographers present their work before the distinctions judges, who assess whether the applicant should be awarded the relevant distinction applied for.

There are three levels of Distinction – each with their own section on the website. We have provided handbooks for each level of distinction and strongly recommend that all applicants take the time to study the relevant handbook for their level carefully. Handbooks are included in the page for each level.

  • Licentiateship

  • Associateship

  • Fellowship

Distinctions sittings are currently held four times a year, and the next one is planned for 23 November 2024 in Thurles. Applications are open from 01st to 22nd October 2024.

IPF National Club Championships 2024

The IPF National Club Championships took place over the weekend of 18 and 19 May 2024 in Mullingar.

We finished 15th out of 25 Camera Clubs and photographic Societies who entered.

See the External Competitions for more details.

The Maureen Dunne Natural World Competition

On Tuesday, 21 May we held the 2024 Maureen Dunne Natural World Competition, an annual Competition held in memory of a Nature Lover who was member of our Club and passed away suddenly, and who's family presented us with a cup with a request that she be remembered by the Club Members.  More details can be found on the Maureen Dunne page of this website.

This year there was a huge entry and the winners in the grades were as follows - 


Novice = Enid Conaghan with her digital image of Geothermal Pool, 
Intermediate = Gabrielle McGrath with her Mono Print of Piney Island at Derrynane lake entitled "Calm", and 
Advanced = Louise Skelly with her Colour print entitled "Go Get Them" of a working sheepdog.

Judge Philip Duke decided that, despite very close competition, 
the winner of the The Maureen Dunne Natural World Competition for 2024 is Louise Skelly.

Philip commented on the very high standard of images across all the 3 grades.

Well done to all who entered and images will follow on the Maureen Dunne page of this website.

Club Holiday Connemara 05/24

Have a look at our Outings page for details of our weekend away in Connemara.

Outing to Birds of Prey Centre Russborough

On Sunday 21 April 2024, some 14 of our Members went to the Birds of Prey Workshop run by the National Bird of Prey Centre at Russborough House in Co. Wicklow.

We were blessed with the weather and the staff were more than helpful.  It was the second time some of our Members visited which speaks volumes about the event.

More details and images to follow on the Outings Page.

Outing to The Burren May 2023

On Wednesday 10 May 10 of our Members made a trip to visit the Burren in County Clare.  Special thanks to Gabrielle McGrath and Dominic Gaffney who booked our accommodation and researched places to visit.
Go to the Outings Page for more details and some images from the trip.

Thank You!!

The Committee and Members of Clondalkin Camera Club would like to acknowledge and thank South Dublin County Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Local Community Development Committee 
for their financial support received in 2022.
 It was of great benefit to the club.


Colour Print Competition 01/23

The results of the January 2023 Colour Print Competition are in.

Go to the Monthly Competitions Page for details and the winning images.


Inter Club Competition 04/10/22.

Report on Inter Club Competition with Tallaght Photographic Society - see the External Competitions page.

League 2021/22 Results

The results of the 2021/2022 League are in.  Many thanks to all who submitted images, to the Outgoing Competition Secretary Paul Keegan, and to Louise Skelly who sets up the Google Drive for submission of images. Also to the judges who were very helpful in their comments and suggestions. And to the Members who tuned in to see and hear the judges comments, and offer their own critique on the mages.Here are the results based on the top scoring 6 images from each photographer and you can see just how close some of the results were.

AdvancedIntermediateNovice
Photographer of the Year1Liz O'Neill3381Louise Skelly3291Andrea Acosta335
2Paul Keegan3182Dominic Gaffney3282Darren Hanlon331
3John Turner3143Mick Clemenger3203Gay McGrath313
3Brendan Kneafsey314
Colour Prints1Liz O'Neill1111Louise Skelly1131Darren Hanlon116
2Brian McKeown1101Mick Clemenger1132Andrea Acosta108
3Brendan Kneafsey1072Dominic Gaffney1103Gay McGrath104
3Ruth McConigly107
Monochrome Prints1Liz O'Neill1121Louise Skelly1151Andrea Acosta115
2Paul Keegan1102Dominic Gaffney1092Darren Hanlon106
3John Turner1043Ruth McConigly993Gay McGrath103
Projected Images1Liz O'Neill1151Mick Clemenger1111Andrea Acosta112
2Paul Keegan1072Dominic Gaffney1092Darren Hanlon109
3Brendan Kneafsey1063Ruth McConigly1013Gay McGrath106
3John Turner1063Louise Skelly101

Maureen Dunne Natural World Competition 2022

The winner of the 2022 Maureen Dunne Natural World Competition is Dominic Gaffney with his image entitled Snow Owl. Well done Dominic!!!
There were 60 images by 16 photographers entered into this year's Competition and the first, second and third placed images can be seen on the Maureen Dunne page of the website.
Dominic's winning image is shown on the right - > -> ->

Maurice Tuffin Memorial Lecture

The Maurice Tuffin Memorial Lecture was held on Tuesday 22 March, and was attended by over 50 participants, as we had invited Tallaght Photographic Society, Palmerstown Camera Club, and SatSun (Ballyfermot) to join us as guests.  We also invited family and friends of Maurice, and Nora Sleator presented a lovely homage to Maurice, and shared her memories of our dear friend who was the epitome of being a good Club Member, always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience with us 'young uns', which earned him Honorary Membership of our Club. Maurice was an early convert to digital and took to Photoshop like the proverbial duck to water. Brian McKeown then presented a slide show of Maurice's own pictures from his childhood to his membership of the Club, and then some images of Maurice taken by other Club Members down through the years. Great memories indeed and special thanks to Nora and Brian for their presentations. Our guest speakers were Rob and Sharon Prenton Jones from Wales who spoke about The Art of Composite Photography, (a subject close to Maurice's heart) and a very interesting talk it was too.  Make sure to visit their website for more information, hints and tips, from these enthusiastic photographers, here's the link - https://www.prentonjonesphotography.co.uk 

"Memories of Maurice" by Nora Sleator

Maurice Tuffin

Maurice Tuffin one of our Honorary members and great friend passed away on the morning of July 10th 2020. 


Maurice was born in Edmonton, North London on January 1st 1930. Although from an early age he had an interest in photography he did not immediately go into the profession, first training and then working as a toolmaker. He pursued photography as a hobby, becoming a member of Edmonton Camera Club, and was awarded a Fellowship of the RPS in 1968. Some images from his successful panel can be seen in the AV presentation. He only made the change to professional when he came to live in Ireland with his wife Ettie. They first lived in Newport Co. Mayo in the early 70’s, where his love for the west of Ireland grew and many of his images reflect that affection.

They moved to Clondalkin in about 1974 and Maurice became much in demand as a wedding and portrait photographer, frequently called on in later years by clients whose parents' wedding he had also photographed.

In many cases, when photographers make the move to professional, they lose interest in amateur photography but not so with Maurice. He joined Palmerstown Photographic Society and was made an Honorary member in 1984, staying in the Club until it closed in the mid 90’s. While he joined Clondalkin CC in 1993, before Palmerstown closed, he made it very clear that he would remain loyal to Palmerstown with regard to the use of his images in competitions etc.

Maurice began manipulating images long before digital photography and Photoshop were ever heard of. His use of painting over prints with photographic dyes to improve images was superb. On one occasion he described changing the colour of dozens of tiny flowers growing among the grass a bride was standing on, because he didn’t think the colour went with her dress. While taking photos in St Stephen’s Green people lying out on the grass in the background were hard to avoid so Maurice simply changed them into bushes when the images were printed. As well as being a Fellow of the RPS he was awarded an Associateship of the IPPA and won many medals in the IPPA, with some of the images you can see in the accompanying AV.

As a camera club member his generosity in sharing his expertise knew no bounds, frequently leading workshops, particularly on portraiture, and always helpful with advice on outings which he thoroughly enjoyed, especially the coffee and chat which invariably followed.

When the digital age arrived he embraced the new technology both by scanning negatives and working on them digitally and he also bought an early Fugi digital camera. He spent many hours learning and practicing his skills on the computer and when he was getting images printed would often supervise that stage as well retaining total control over his images.

Maurice was in great demand and equally generous with his time in supporting other clubs both as a guest speaker and competition judge.

Possibly the cruelest twist of fate came when Maurice’s eyesight deteriorated and he was left virtually blind. Yet he could still talk about an image, how he created it, and remember every detail as if he could still see it in front of him.

His creativity and devotion to improving his skills at his art will long be remembered by all of us who knew him. His good humour and friendship will be greatly missed.


Colour Images Competition 0322

Colour Images Competition March 2022 results.

There was a total of 51 Images from 13 authors in this Colour Images Competition.

There were 16 images in the Novice section, from 4 authors.

There were 11 images in the Intermediate section, from 3 authors.

There were 24 images in the Advanced section, from 6 authors.

Details of the winning images titles and authors have been uploaded to the Monthly Competitions page.

The judge was Terry Conroy from Portlaoise Camera Club, whose work can be seen on the Portlaoise Camera Club website – here's the link - https://portlaoisecameraclub.weebly.com/terry-conroy.html

My Greatest Shot - and why

Tuesday 01 February 2022.

Tonight at the Club some of our Members shared their images, as the theme for the night was “My Greatest Shot – and why”.

Tim O'Brien went first and showed an Image of a Fulmar in flight which was made in April 2003, and which needed cleaning up so it could be printed and framed to match another maritime related picture he had. He has detailed the steps in his blog – here's the link - http://tim-timsfotos.blogspot.com/2021/12/head-on-fulmar-in-flight.html

John Turner has a selection of 7 images, all monochrome, which were his favourites. The first image was a 30 year old portrait of his son, posing with a guitar, and lit with natural light. A timeless image. John also showed a portrait he had made at a workshop of one of the other participants, as well as some images from his travels, a monk, a woman standing in a doorway and a lovely image of some dusty bottles. Some of these images are in his Members Gallery on the website entitles “The Monk” and “Taking a Breather”. Here's the link - https://clondalkincameraclub.com/members-galleries

Brian McKeown showed an image of yellow and blue flowers, which he had transformed into a Monet like image. Brian showed us the steps he had taken in Photoshop to get the final image which won joint 1st place in the Advanced section of the January 2022 Colour Images Competition, where it's title is “All Together Now” in Monthly Competitions section of the website.

Nora Sleator showed us 2 images, the first being an orange lily up close, showing the beautiful curves and colour of the plant. This image is entitled “Lily” on her Members Gallery. The second image was a lovely monochrome portrait of her daughters.

Joe Joyce showed us 2 sunset images from the boathouse at Carton Estate taken 1 day apart and showing the dramatic changes in 24 hours. He also had a lovely panned shot of a motorcyclist at Mondello Park. “Carton Boathouse Sunset” is the title of one of the sunsets on the members Gallery.

Ruth McConigny showed us 2 images taken in the Far East. One was of Palm Trees emerging from the early morning mist, and the other was of the same area after the mist had burned off. A dramatic change in just a few hours. More of Ruth's images will be on her Members Gallery shortly.

Aoife Finnegan had a lovely image of a small girl resting in a hammock taken during a trip to Vietnam. While viewing the image some of the other members suggested cropping the image, which changed the image and enhanced it, demonstrating what a very simple action, like cropping, can make to an image.

Unfortunately some members had difficulty sharing their screens on the Zoom meeting, so maybe we can look at these images at a later date, possibly before the start of the main meeting.

Hopefully I haven't missed anyone out. If so, please contact me on Whatsapp.

Next Tuesday 8th February is the hand in date for Mono Images Competition and the Projected Images Competition on 15th

Our guest speaker next Tuesday is Anne Sophie Gigan from Dublin Camera Club.


Anne-Sophie Gigan, LIPF

Tuesday 08 February 2022.

Tonight our guest speaker was Anne-Sophie Gigan, LIPF, a member of Dublin Camera Club.

Sophie's main interest is Dance, and she showed us a selection of her images of dancers, all taken outdoors using natural light, can be seen in her book “Dublin Dancers & Dreams”, which portrays a variety of dance styles while using Dublin city's most iconic landmarks. It's ISBN reference is 978-1527280106.

She also showed us her LIPF panel, and her work can be seen on her website – here's the link - https://annesophiegigan.com

Happy Birthday to us!

On 18 January 1988, Millennium Year, the first meeting of Clondalkin Camera Club was held.

So this year is our 34th year! Some of us were there from the early days, which proves there's no getting rid of some folk!!!


Monochrome Images Talk.

Thanks to Joe Doyle AIPF, ARPS, EFIAP Platinum, from Malahide Camera Club for a most entertaining and informative talk last Tuesday 11th January on Monochrome Image development.  Joe demonstrated the steps and programs he uses to develop his monochrome images to get the very best from them. His work can be seen on his website - here's the link - https://joedoylephotography.com

Colour Images Competition 0122

Colour Images Competition January 2022 results.

There were 59 Images from 15 authors in this Colour Images Competition.

There were 20 images in the Novice section, from 5 authors.

1st place – 20 points – Bog Walk by Darren Hanlon,

2nd place – 19 points – Smile by Andrew Hennessy Behan,

3rd place – 18 points – Ford Mustang GT by Andrea Acosta.

There were 16 images in the Intermediate section, from 4 authors.

1st place – 20 points – Lonesome Boatman by Mick Clemenger,

2nd place – 19 points – Red Kite by Dominic Gaffney,

3rd place – 18 points – January Dawn by Dominic Gaffney.

There were 23 images in the Advanced section, from 6 authors.

Joint 1st place – 20 points – Tulip in Vase by Liz O'Neill, and All Together Now by Brian McKeown,

2nd place – 19 points – Over the Edge by Brendan Kneafsey,

3rd place – 18 points – Wood Blewit by Brendan Kneafsey.

The judge was Gerry Kerr FIPF, ARPS, EFIAP/g from Celbridge Camera Club, whose work can be seen on his website – here's the link - https://www.gerrykerr.com Gerry's interests include travel, people, nature/wildlife, and more recently, creative images made with composite components.

Thanks to Gerry for his helpful and constructive comments on the entries, especially useful for the Novices, and no harm for the other grades either. It is always a good thing to have someone constructively comment on your images.

The First, Second and Third placed Images in all grades are now on the Monthly Competitions page.

===========

The next Competition will be Mono Images Competition and Projected Images Competition will be held on February 15th with the hand in a week earlier on 8h February. Watch the website and Facebook page for updates.


Wanted

Wanted - your images for our Members Gallery. 
Please submit 15-20 of you best or favourite images for us to upload to our new website.  Check our www.clondalkincameraclub.com and go to the Members Galleries tab. 

You can send your images to timsfotos@gmail.com and we will do the rest - resize, add a copyright mark etc.

Contact us

You can contact us by email to clondalkincameraclub@gmail.com.  We also have a Facebook page which our Members can access.

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