Billings Camera Club

Billings, MT
61 Members


Club Admins:

Bob Ruble

Fran Nunn

Patrick McDonald

Robyn Mehmke

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The Billings Camera Club is the oldest club of its kind in Yellowstone County. Since 1947 the BCC has supported amateur and professional photographers in their quest to create art through the capture of light.

Our goal is to build skills through education, workshops, field trips, and competitions, to create incentives to shoot subjects new to you, and to foster new friendships.

We meet monthly at 6pm on the first Tuesday of the month, from September to June, in the Billings Public Library Community Room. During the pandemic, we switched to virtual meetings using the Zoom platform. We are currently meeting in person again, but have continued to stream meetings for members unable to attend in person.  

INTERESTED?   Great!  Come to our next meeting and check it out. You can sign up for free as a guest for limited access to this website. (Click 'Join' at the top right of this screen.) Everyone is welcome--introduce yourself! Our meetings might include informative discussions by guest lecturers or fellow club members on subjects ranging from equipment, framing, lighting, and composition, to mastering post-processing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom, digital printing and more. Or see the results of in-club and national competitions, or enjoy evenings of show and tell.  

Competitions  Our club competes with other clubs around the nation and the world in the Photographic Society of America's interclub competitions 3 times per year. Challenge yourself by submitting images to be chosen as part of our club entry. We also have intra-club competitions 4 times a year with topics picked to motivate you to broaden your range of photographic subjects. Our topics this year are

  • Aged
  • Composition alternatives to “rule of thirds”
  • Motion blur effect
  • Doors

DUES  this year are $15 per person

Click HERE  to pay online


                                              



Club Gallery: February 2024

Tree Abstract

Fran Nunn

Blue Sky and Hay Bales

Fran Nunn

Flyby

Fran Nunn

Latex Landscape

Fran Nunn

Through the Window

Fran Nunn

Youngster growing up

Diane Erhart

Valentine's Day Moon 2/14/2024

Steve Hubbard

Tucson Flamingo

Jerry Jacobs

Old Maverick Firehouse

Greg Sullivan

The Naked City

Greg Sullivan

Nightrider

Greg Sullivan

Pryor mountains from the Beartooths.

Todd Miller

New Snow

Todd Miller

Late Afternoon at Benbow

Todd Miller

Sharon Christensen

Icy Tree

Carole Boerner

Cathedral Morning

Drew MacLeod

Ducks in the Snow

Patrick McDonald

Cold Duck

Patrick McDonald

Foggy morning at Swords Park

Patrick McDonald

More fog at Swords Park

Patrick McDonald

Top of Pine Tree

Carole Boerner



Club Gallery: February Foto Shoot-out

raindrops on flowers

Carolyn jones

dreamy flowers 2

Carolyn jones

dreamy flowers 1

Carolyn jones

Diane Erhart

Diane Erhart

Diane Erhart

Diane Erhart

Diane Erhart

Wired Lariat

Diane Erhart

Diane Erhart

Diane Erhart



Contest topics for 2023-2024

Competitions for

2023-24

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Aged - Due Oct 1
  • PSA 2023-24 Round 1 -- Due Nov 1
  • Motion Blur Effect - Due Dec 1
  • PSA 2023-24 Round 2 -- Due Jan 1
  • Doors - Due Feb 1
  • PSA 2023-24 Round 3 -- Due Mar 1
  • Composition Alternatives to Rule of Thirds - Due Apr 1

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Intra-Club competitions:

Each of the intra-club competitions will be judged in three categories: Intermediate, Advanced, and Critique Only. Your choice. 

 A member can enter 1 or 2 images in either Advanced or Intermediate. In addition, you can enter 1 or 2 images in Critique Only by itself or in addition to one of the other divisions. So it is possible to have 4 photos in the intra-club contests. Critique Only will be judged by the same judge as the Intermediate and Advanced divisions. Images in Critique Only should fit the same topic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PSA PID Competitions:

The Photographic Society of America Projected Image Division inter-club competition, Open. Any subject, any processing or editing. 

There are two divisions: Color and Monochrome. You may enter the same photo in both divisions (i.e., one in color and a duplicate edited to monochrome), but they need to have the same title/file name.

In order to compete, you must have a permission form on file with the PSA. See message from Fran Nunn, Secretary.

This is a competition between PSA member clubs from around the US and the world. We will vote to choose 6 images to send as our club's entry. PSA will give each image a numerical score, and each club's total score is tabulated over the year to assign its relative place within its group. 

Member clubs are divided into 6 groups, A through F, according to their cumulative score over the year. Currently we are in Group B, next to highest, in 18th place out of 25.

BCC meeting minutes October 2023

Billings Camera Club Meeting Minutes- January 2, 2024


  • Meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Diane Erhart.  The meeting was attended by 15 members in person at the Billings Public Library and 5 members online via Zoom. 
  • Attendees introduced themselves- name/ camera system/ what they like to photograph. 
  • Announcements:
  • Jerry Jacobs shares information on items being sold by Linda Weeks- antique cameras, vintage microscopes and others. If you are interested, look at photos and contact Jerry.
  • A new gallery has been posted- My Favorite Photos of 2023. Each member is encouraged to submit 3 images.
  • Larry Bean will speak in February about the Golden Spiral in preparation for the next Club Contest- “Composition Alternatives to the Rule of Thirds”.
  • Judges are needed for our club to judge another club for PSA Monochrome Round 2. Diane will contact members for this opportunity.
  • PSA Color Round 1 scores are back and posted in the Gallery.
  • Program:
  • Kathy Eyster from Missoula was the judge for the Club contest- “Blur Effect”.  She reviewed her results and then went through her comments on every image that had been submitted. Her approach was most encouraging to members and she presented a lot of information and answered questions.  This was a great sharing experience.  All results and comments can be seen on the website Contest site.
  • One tidbit that she shared was “Clarity and Texture are your friends to pop details in motion blur images.”
  • The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for February 6 at the Billings Public Library.
  • Submitted by Fran Nunn Sec/Treas


BCC meeting minutes November2023

Billings Camera Club Meeting Minutes- February 6, 2024


  • Meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Diane Erhart.  The meeting was attended by 15 members in person at the Billings Public Library and 8 members online via Zoom. 
  • Announcements:
  • PSA Inter club Round 3 images are due March 1
  • April 1- images for inner club contest “Composition Alternatives to the Rule of Thirds”
  • Available resources online: Out of Chicago Conference this weekend; Phlorography 24- a yearlong course flower photography; Santa Fe Workshops- photography, writing, quilting and other topics
  • Colorado Professional Photography offers critique reviews on YouTube
  • Magazines on the table available to take – PSA Journal and Professional Photographer
  • Tomorrow there is an online YouTube video on PhotoPills at 11 am. See link on BCC message
  • February 24- Photo Shootout from 10-2 for members in Laurel. There will be several stations set up to try different techniques and subjects. (Wood’s Power Grip, 908 Main Street)
  • YAM Art Auction (Yellowstone Art Museum) is in progress- good place to see other artists’ work and perhaps by someone you know
  • Barnes and Noble exhibit- date is still to be determined
  • 10 topics have been chosen by the Board for next year’s contests- members will be asked to vote for 4 to determine our 4 contest categories.
  • Program:
  • LeeAnn Wood did a presentation on Focus stacking and how she uses it in her product photography
  • Larry Bean did a presentation on the Golden Spiral and golden ratio (1 : 0.618) that is seen in art. He showed paintings and photographs that illustrated the use of this idea.  This is in anticipation of the next contest regarding Composition Alternatives to the Rule of Thirds.
  • The meeting was adjourned at 7:16 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for March 5 at the Billings Public Library.
  • Submitted by Fran Nunn Sec/Treas