The Victoria Camera Club gathered recently to celebrate another remarkable year of photography, friendship, learning, and creative achievement.
The evening brought our members together to recognize competition winners, distinguished photographers, volunteers, and the many people who help make our club such an active and welcoming creative community.
A Room Filled with Images and Conversation
Before the awards began, members gathered around the print displays, catching up with friends and admiring the incredible range of work created throughout the year.
Print displays showed the diversity of interests and talents within the club. From nature photography to abstract and creative compositions…
We got a taste of the range of talent in our club.
The Main Show was about to begin!.
An Overview of the Evening
This short video offers a glimpse into the evening — the atmosphere, the displays, the conversations, and the community that makes the VCC such a great place to learn and share photography together.
Recognizing Service Behind the Scenes
The President’s Award was presented to Greg Blaney in recognition of his many contributions to the Victoria Camera Club over the years, particularly his work helping support and develop the club’s website.
In a characteristically humble acceptance, Greg shared the credit with fellow contributors Richard Letoureau and Lori Moilanen, describing the website as a collaborative effort built through teamwork and volunteer dedication.
The moment served as a reminder that behind every active club is a community of members quietly contributing their time, skills, and energy to help it thrive.
Beyond the Scores: VCC Successes and Lessons from External Competition Judging
The evening also featured a presentation by our External Competition Chair, Jim Fowler.
In the Capital Colour Inspiration competition, VCC placed 32nd out of 56 clubs across five creative themes, including close-up, cultural events, and action in motion.
We had stronger results in the North Shore Photographic Society Challenge: a third-place overall finish among 26 Pacific Zone clubs. We were only fractions of a point behind the top two clubs!!!
Several members received Honourable Mentions, including Kim Passmore for Night Moves in the City and Catherine Delaney for Dancing with Light.
Beyond simply announcing scores and placements, Jim’s commentary offered us insights into how judges evaluate images and how small compositional changes can change your photo – sometimes dramatically!!
For example, he talked about how removing a distracting element from an otherwise strong image could potentially raise its score. Another image might have benefited from a clearer focal point or perhaps slightly different framing. We had a good opportunity to better understand artistic and technical considerations behind competition judging.
Jim concluded his presentation by recognizing the creativity – and courage – it takes to submit work for external judging as well as appreciating the many members contributing to VCC’s continued success in competition.
Distinguished Photographers Honoured
The club also recognized members who achieved Distinguished Photographer status — an accomplishment reflecting sustained excellence and dedication to the craft of photography.
These honours represent not only technical skill, but also years of creative growth, participation, and contribution to the club community.
Our Distinguished Photographers
Internal Competition Awards: Recognizing Excellence In Photography
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of awards recognizing outstanding achievement across multiple competition categories.
As members came forward to the front of the room to receive their ribbons, there were plenty of smiles, applause, and congratulations.
Some of Our Award Recipients!
Congratulations to all of our award recipients!!! Here are just a few of our winners with their ribbons.
Complete Internal Competition Results
The annual year-end competition comprises the images that placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Honourable Mention in each of the VCC’s six monthly competitions at the three skill levels: Novice, Intermediate and Advanced.
You can view all of the competition photos submitted via this link: VCC Internal Competition Results
Until Next Year!
As another wonderful Victoria Camera Club season comes to a close, we’d like to congratulate all of this year’s award recipients! Thank you to everyone who helped make the club such an active and supportive creative community.
Wishing everyone a wonderful summer… filled with photography, exploration, creativity, and light.