News Letter To CPC Jan 2026
CHEROKEE PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB
Greetings and Happy New Year ! Here’s to wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2026 and beyond. This is a good time to also thank all of you for your membership, participation, and support for our Cherokee Photography Club. You continue to make this an awesome group of extremely talented and dedicated photographers and artists. And your fellowship and friendship means more than anything Thank You All !!!
Year 2025 brought progress and continued optimism for the CPC. We have seen an increase in Competition participation, an increase in New Memberships, Greater Meeting Attendance, a Continuing Incredible Meeting Space, a new relevant Website, and the most Solid Leadership Group in many years……. Secretary Chastaine Kendrick, Treasurer Cathy den Boer, Vice President Peter den Boer, Webmaster Martin Longstaff, Competition Team Leaders Eillene Kirk, Karen Beedle, John Quinn, Ron Seiberling, and Bill Bradford. We have contributed to our community with “Toy For Tots " once again, and have enjoyed wonderful Potluck and Awards / Holiday Events. Thank you Lynn Lawson for always bringing more fun and Holiday Cheer to our Events . We've been extremely fortunate to have enjoyed the inspirational, educational, and motivational expertise of numerous Competition Judges and Speakers ( including our own Frank Niemeir and Martin Longstaff ). We continue to perform at an exemplary level in the NG3C Shootout, finishing 2nd amongst 10 teams on November 1st. I think we can safely say that we are in many ways the envy of many of our area camera club groups. I believe many of our guests and visitors would confirm that !
We’ve been able to enjoy several excellent Group Field Trips as well, including an incredible excursion to Scotland that was led by Martin Longstaff to his native land, as well as several local trips. We have many other ideas for 2026 trips , and have on the calendar a coastal journey to Cumberland and Jekyll Islands in March this year. Awesome Field Trips have been a signature benefit of Club Membership from the beginning.
We have a lot to be proud of and thankful for. Of course, there is always room for improvement and our Leadership Group continues their commitment to service with that in mind. And, although we’ve done many things successfully for over 20 years, your suggestions and ideas are always welcome. From the beginning we have stressed the notion that this club belongs to the Members, and the Community.
Concerning our Monthly Competitions…. PLEASE be sure to take the time to review the rules ( Guidelines for submitting images ) available at the bottom of the home page on the CPC Website ( cherokeepc.org ). They are implemented for specific reasons, primarily to even the “playing field “, making sure everyone has the same opportunity for recognition for their efforts, and protecting the prints that are submitted from any potential damage. What we DON’T want is the expectation that our Competition Team have to be responsible for disqualifying anyone for any number of “ Rules Violations “!
PLEASE… be considerate of this! SPECIFICALLY, please remember a couple of these things:
- Regarding Digitally Submitted Images… Deadline for submission is 6:00 pm Sunday Evening the day before Competition.
- For PRINTED IMAGE Submission…… One BIG Change….We are moving deadline for Printed Submissions from 6:55 to 6:45. This will allow for less confusion, and last minute chaos, that can be extremely stressful in completing the submission process for everyone! We’ll try to be forgiving for the January Competition, but again, please be aware that this will be the expectation going forward.
- ALSO, Double Mats are not permitted ( although prints don’t have to be matted ) but MUST have a backer board for all prints. This protects your print and the others that come in contact with them. Make Sure there isn’t any exposed adhesive ( Tape, Sticker, Label, etc ) on the back of your prints backer board. Prints contacted can easily be damaged…
- One more thing about the Backer Board…Please be sure to label the back with your name, title of the print, and arrow pointing to the top of the image, preferably with a sharpie (not a sticky label … as previously mentioned)
- PLEASE, Do Not Handle Other Peoples’ Prints, whether on the Competition table, or when you have the opportunity to view the images on the table before they are judged….. Please LOOK but Do Not Touch!
- PLEASE …Turn The Volume on your phone off, and refrain from speaking ( or answering judges ) during critiquing!
Once again, PLEASE Take a minute to review the Completion Rules on the Website. If You Have Questions….Call me or contact me and I will be Happy to help! Remember, we have to have these Guidelines and Rules in place to avoid confusion and maintain consistency…….., and most Competition Submission Rules in other judged competitions are much more stringent. We all want this to be an enjoyable and rewarding experience!!!!……and PLEASE Participate…It’s Helpful for everyone!
As mentioned earlier, I am extremely proud of what we do, and have done, as individuals and as an organization. All of our Members should be also. Let’s work together to make 2026 our best year yet!
I Thank you all!
Kim
770-617-7595