Creative Shots Photo Club

☕🍰 Serious Club Business in Progress… 📸

Five of our Creative Shots committee members hard at work making plans for the club…

Well, that’s our story anyway! 😂

Apparently, the best ideas for outings, workshops, competitions and club activities require plenty of discussion — and a very important supply of tea and cake!

There’s always lots happening behind the scenes to keep our club active, social and full of opportunities to get out with our cameras.

Thanks to our committee members who give their time to help make it all happen. 💛📸

Now… back to the cake. 🍰😂

📸 PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON – GETTING CREATIVE WITH WIDE-ANGLE LENSES

Wide-angle lenses are wonderful for landscapes, architecture and any scene where you want to capture a broad view. But simply fitting a wide-angle lens doesn’t automatically make a great photograph — composition becomes even more important.

Here are a few simple things to think about:

📷 Get Close to Something: Wide-angle lenses can make distant objects appear even smaller. Look for a strong foreground subject such as rocks, flowers, a pathway, jetty or interesting texture and get reasonably close to it.

➡️ Use Leading Lines: Roads, fences, paths, rivers and jetties can become powerful leading lines, taking the viewer from the foreground right through your photograph.

🔍 Think Foreground, Middle & Background: Including something interesting at different distances can give your landscape a wonderful feeling of depth.

📐 Aperture: For landscapes where you want plenty of the scene sharp, f/8 to f/11 is often a good starting point.

🎯 Where to Focus: As a simple starting point, try focusing roughly a third of the way into the scene rather than automatically focusing on the distant horizon.

⚠️ Watch for Distortion: Objects close to the edges of a wide-angle frame can become stretched or distorted. This can be distracting — or you can deliberately use it for creative effect!

💡 PHOTO TIP: When using an ultra-wide lens with a polarising filter, watch the sky carefully. Because the lens captures such a broad area, the polarising effect can be uneven, leaving some parts of a blue sky much darker than others.

Next time you reach for your wide-angle lens, don't just think "How much can I fit in?" Instead ask yourself, "What can I put in the foreground to lead the viewer into my photograph?" 📸

📷 PHOTO HISTORY TRIVIA – ANSEL ADAMS

If you love landscape photography, chances are you have heard the name Ansel Adams.

Born in 1902, Adams became one of the most influential landscape photographers of the 20th century, famous for his spectacular black-and-white photographs of the American wilderness.

His love of the landscape began early. At just 14 years old, he visited Yosemite National Park with his family, taking photographs with a simple Kodak Box Brownie. Yosemite would go on to become one of the great inspirations of his photographic life.

By the late 1920s, Adams had moved towards large-format photography and a style that celebrated incredible sharpness, detail and tonal range.

📷 PHOTO HISTORY FACT:
In the early 1940s, Adams and photographer Fred Archer developed the Zone System — a method of controlling exposure and development to help photographers predict how different tones in a scene would appear in the final photograph.

It became enormously influential and is still taught and discussed by photographers today.

Adams was also a master in the darkroom. He didn't simply photograph a scene and accept whatever the camera produced. He carefully interpreted his negatives when making prints, using techniques such as dodging and burning to create the mood, contrast and tonal balance he wanted.

His famous photograph Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico is a wonderful example. Adams later worked extensively on the print in the darkroom, particularly darkening the sky to achieve the dramatic result he envisioned.

Perhaps that's one of the most interesting lessons from Ansel Adams for today's photographers:

Image editing didn't begin with Photoshop! 😄

Photographers have been interpreting, adjusting and refining their images for generations. The tools may have changed, but the creative decisions behind them haven't.

“All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.”

— Richard Avedon

🌍📸 **There’s Nothing Quite Like a Printed Photograph**

After our recent CCC outing, our club members were treated to something very special — an invitation to visit **Mitch and Tracey Galletly’s gallery** and experience their incredible display of printed and beautifully framed photographs from their six-week African adventure.

And WOW! 🤩

There really is **nothing quite like seeing a photograph in print**. Seeing these images beautifully printed, framed and displayed gave them a presence that simply can’t be replicated on a screen.

What an adventure we were taken on!

From the beautiful people and their stories, to sweeping African landscapes, incredible wildlife and, of course, some magnificent birds — every part of the display gave us another glimpse into Mitch and Tracey’s travels. 🌍🦁🦒🦅📷

It was also a wonderful reminder of why we take photographs in the first place. Our images deserve to come off our computers and phones occasionally and become something tangible — something we can stand in front of, appreciate and enjoy.

⭐ **Mitch and Tracey, your gallery display is absolutely five stars!**

Congratulations on putting together such an impressive collection, and a huge **thank you for inviting Creative Shots Photo Club members into your gallery and allowing us to share in your African adventure through your photographs.**

What a wonderful way to finish our CCC morning! ❤️📸

☕📸 **CCC RECAP – Wildlife of All Kinds!**

Our August **Coffee, Camera & Conversation** outing took us exploring the wetland behind Discovery Parks on Harbour Road — and we found **all sorts of wildlife!** 🦜🦋🐸📷

Of course, some of the most entertaining subjects of the morning turned out to be **the photographers themselves!** 😂

There was plenty of photographing the photographers, cameras being pointed in both directions, a little posing and quite a few laughs along the way. Sometimes the photos that capture the fun behind the scenes are every bit as enjoyable as the ones we set out to take!

That’s what our CCC mornings are all about — getting the cameras out, exploring somewhere together, sharing ideas and knowledge, and most importantly, enjoying the wonderful camaraderie that comes with being part of a photography club.

📸 **Judging by these photos, our photographers were definitely the most cooperative wildlife of the morning!** 😄

Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable morning. ☕📸💛

📚 FROM PHOTOGRAPHS TO HANDMADE PHOTOBOOKS

Something very creative is coming up at Creative Shots Photo Club!

On Monday 5 October at 7pm, our members who are participating in the upcoming Handmade Photobook Workshop will join award-winning photographer and photobook artist Anne Pappalardo for a special information Zoom session.

Anne will introduce us to the books we’ll be creating and help everyone prepare for the workshop, including:

📖 The styles of handmade books we’ll be making
✂️ Materials and tools we’ll need
📷 How to select and prepare our photographs
🖼️ Image sizes, orientation and printing
💡 How to start thinking about sequencing our images to tell a story

The Zoom is all part of the preparation for our hands-on workshop weekend:

📅 Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 November 2026
⏰ 8:30am
📍 Sarina Room, Jubilee Community Centre, Mackay

This workshop is for Creative Shots Photo Club members only and places are limited.

If you’re already a member and would like to participate, please make sure you update your attendance on the event in our private members’ Facebook group.

And if you’re not a member but this sounds like the sort of photography experience you’d love to be part of, perhaps it’s time to join us!

Creative Shots isn’t just about taking photographs. Throughout the year our members enjoy workshops, outings, competitions and opportunities to explore different ways of creating and presenting their photography.

We welcome photographers of all experience levels — from beginners finding their way around their camera to experienced photographers looking for new inspiration.

📸 Come and get creative with us!

🏆📸 WHAT A RESULT FOR CREATIVE SHOTS! 📸🏆

The official results are in for the 2026 River City Print Interclub Competition, and we couldn’t be prouder!

🥈 Creative Shots Photo Club placed 2nd OVERALL in the club rankings!

And to make this achievement even more special — this was our very first year entering the competition!

We are absolutely thrilled to congratulate three of our members who received individual awards:

🏆 1st Place – Open Monochrome
Lynnie Hutchins – Grace and Grit

🥉 3rd Place – Animals
Helen Senyard – Beauty Amongst the Blooms

🥉 3rd Place – Open Colour
Cheryl Eagers – Where Colour Lingers

Three beautiful photographs and wonderful recognition in a very competitive interclub event. Congratulations Lynnie, Helen and Cheryl! 👏👏👏

But there’s another result we’re particularly proud of…

🎉 ALL 20 of our club’s submitted prints were ACCEPTED! 🎉

That is a fantastic reflection of the quality and diversity of photography being produced by our members.

The organising committee specifically congratulated Creative Shots on achieving 2nd place as a relatively small club, which makes the result even more exciting for us.

A huge thank you and congratulations to every member who submitted prints, everyone who participated in our club selection evening, and those who helped organise, prepare and send our final 20-print entry.

This really was a whole-club effort.

First time entering.
20 prints accepted.
Three individual awards.
And 2nd place overall! 🥈🏆📸

What an incredible way to introduce Creative Shots Photo Club to the River City Print Interclub Competition!

Congratulations everyone — we have a lot to celebrate! 🥂📸

Full results, individual scores and accepted images can be viewed on our Creative Shots Photo Club website:
https://csmackay.myphotoclub.com.au/2026-river-city-print-competition-cspc-results/

📸☀️ AND AFTER THE CAPTURING… TIME TO COOL DOWN!

Photography outings aren’t just about the photos — they’re also about getting out, having some fun and enjoying the company of other photographers.

After spending the morning travelling around Mackay hunting down photographs for our Clue & Capture challenge, it was definitely time to put the cameras down and enjoy a well-earned cold drink together! 🥤📷

We finished our adventure at Red Dog Brewery, where there was plenty of conversation about where everyone had been, what they had found and how they had interpreted those mysterious 12 clues.

This photo sums up one of the things we love about Creative Shots Photo Club — photography brings us together, but the friendships and social side are every bit as important.

A great morning, lots of laughs, some very creative photographs and a lovely way to finish the outing. ❤️📸

Thanks to everyone who came along!

📸 PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON – EFFECTIVE GROUP PHOTOS

Photographing a group can sometimes be trickier than photographing one person. You need to think about where everyone stands, where you focus and how much depth of field you need to keep everyone looking sharp.

Here are a few simple tips:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Arrange Your Group: Rather than simply lining everyone up, try varying heights and positions. Sitting, standing, leaning or using steps can create a much more interesting composition.

📷 Aperture: If people are standing in more than one row, you’ll need enough depth of field to keep everyone sharp. f/8 to f/11 can be a good starting point, but this will depend on how many rows you have and how far you are from the group.

🎯 Where to Focus: With several rows of people, avoid focusing on the person closest to you. Focus roughly a third of the way into the group to help maximise the area that appears sharp.

👀 Check Those Faces: Before pressing the shutter, quickly scan the group. Can you see everyone’s face? Is anyone hidden behind someone else?

🌳 Watch the Background: Look for poles, trees or other distracting objects appearing to grow out of people’s heads! Sometimes moving yourself or the group just a little can make a big difference.

📐 Try a Different Viewpoint: Photographing from slightly higher or lower than usual can turn a fairly ordinary group photograph into something much more interesting.

💡 PHOTO TIP: Take several photographs. With a group, there’s nearly always someone blinking, looking away or changing expression. A few extra frames give you a much better chance of getting one where everyone looks great.

And don’t forget – talk to your group! A relaxed group usually makes for a much more natural and enjoyable photograph. 📸