New Westminster Photo Club - Upcoming Outings

What can I expect at an outing?

Outings are a chance to practice your photography while in the company of other photographers. It's a great opportunity to "pick the brains" of some of our more experienced members and also get ideas on composition from those around you while you're actually on site rather than after the fact at a meeting or on the web site.

Anyone can come on an outing, not just members. Sometimes a visitor to our meetings might want to come on an outing before committing to joining the club outright. It's a casual affair and a chance for friendly conversation as well. While we often arrive as a group on site, people with different interests often group together and we may separate so people can follow these ideas/interests. In such cases we specify a time and place for getting back together to make sure everyone gets their ride home in the car pools!

Outings may be everything from a few hours to most of a day depending on the nature of the outing. Reading the outing details will tell you this. Sometimes it's a local venue, sometimes it's someplace out of town (getting there is half the fun sometimes, people will take photos along the way). Some outings have a particular format (e.g. a photographic scavenger hunt or relay race, team events with secret destinations, etc. All in the name of having some fun while practicing the art of photography.

When you read about an upcoming outing there are several sections:

Title bar: this shows the title of the outing but also has the date of the outing.
Subjects: is the outing coordinator's thoughts on the kinds of photo opportunities the outing may offer. (Of course your own imagination may find others!).
Logistics: will tell you where and when we will meet and anything special about what you might need in "getting there", where we might eat a meal if someone had a good suggestion (or telling you to pack a lunch if there are no food facilities).
Details: this will give you some background information (e.g. what is interesting or significant about the location) as well as any particulars about the actual outing itself (e.g. recommended clothing, length of time involved, enviromental conditions, equipment recommendations, etc.)

If you are a non-member who wants to attend but need a ride to the site, you might want to email outings@nwphoto.org just to let us know you are coming so we can be sure of our car-pooling when necessary. We try to depart from our initial meeting place on time, so letting us know you're coming also helps you avoid being left behind!

Outings are a chance to practice our photography (and have some fun). Not a member? No problem! Anyone may come on an outing.

Have a suggestion for an outing? Contact the outings coordinator: outings@nwphoto.org

Check out the member photographs from our past outings.

Upcoming outings:

Nitobe Memorial Garden

Apr 17, 2010

Subjects:

The flowers, plants and landscape of this unique garden.

Cynthia is arranging for a model dressed in traditional Japanese attire for us to photograph in the gardens.

Logistics:

The gardens open at 9:30AM and we have a free guided tour scheduled at that time to show us the many features of the gardens and discuss its history. While I know that we would like to try to get the early morning light, this is the earliest time that we can enter the gardens. But this is okay, as I have been assured that the weather forecast is for morning overcast skies and muted light. As well,

I suggest that we meet at the school in New Westminster to car pool at about 8:30AM and proceed to the gardens. For those coming on their own, we will meet you at the front gate of the gardens at 9:20AM. There is a fee of $3.00 per person to enter the gardens, so please be sure to be on time so that we all receive the group rate.

We have agreed that we will provide the model with copies of photographs that we take that would be suitable for her portfolio.

Details:

For more information, see the garden's website.

The Nitobe Memorial Garden is a 2 1/2 acre (one hectare) traditional Japanese garden located at the University of British Columbia, just outside the city limits of Vancouver. It is part of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research.

One of the most authentic Japanese gardens in North America[1], it honours Japanese author, educator, diplomat, and politician Nitobe Inazō (1862-1933), who died in Victoria, British Columbia (now the sister city of Nitobe's home town Morioka), and whose goal was "to become a bridge across the Pacific."

The garden has been the subject of more than fifteen years' study by a UBC professor, who believes that its construction hides a number of impressive features, including references to Japanese philosophy and mythology, shadow bridges visible only at certain times of year, and positioning of a lantern that is filled with light at the exact date and time of Nitobe's death each year. The garden is behind the university's Asian Centre, which is built from steel girders from Japan's exhibit at Osaka Expo[1].

Google Map directions to the garden, starting from our usual carpooling location:

View Larger Map

New Westminster Photography Club

What can I expect at an outing?

Upcoming outings: