About the club
Hillend Camera Club meets every other Thursday throughout the whole year for a formal meeting that includes lectures, presentations and workshops. In between these meetings we arrange photoshoots that take place fortnightly on a Thursday evening. In winter months the photoshoots are often changed to a Sunday Afternoon.
The club is affiliated to the Scottish Photographic Federation and is involved in a number of competitions including at international level. The club also has regular internal competitions that are more informal.
The club was designed to accommodate a whole range of members from beginner to advanced and to offer something that is flexible and focused on its membership.
We normally meet at the Hillend Tavern near Dalgety Bay in Fife Scotland. We support beginners who can borrow equipment and be guided through photo-shop and gimp by our Technical Director. Throughout the year we will form a small group of beginners who will meet separately over a period of six weeks.
For the more advanced members we will use our membership of the Scottish Photographic Federation (SPF) to enter external competitions and will encourage the experts in our club to help with mentoring the rest. Through our affiliation, members can gain accreditations from the SPF,(Scotland) PAGP (UK) and FIAP (International).
During the Pandemic restrictions we asked our Technical Director Peter Stanford to develop an online programme using video and worksheets. We have continued to provide online support and videos to support our normal activities. The online section now called “Members Support” also has a number of links and presentations.
The club also supports where possible, our local schools and has recently acted for assessment to the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Photography. We regularly photograph community events and have provided a professional service for our local Gala Committee.
The current annual membership is £40 (Aug-end July) and children 12-16 can join for free if accompanied by a parent or guardian. The club runs all year round. (Aug-Aug) . We offer similar support to our disabled members whose carers can apply for free membership in order to support those that need help with getting to meetings or photo-shoots.
The syllabus is project based (meaning we all work towards an outcome) with tutorials, lectures and competitions slotted into the theme where appropriate over a 4-5 week cycle. This way of working is based on current research around peer learning and is thought to be the best for inclusion.
The syllabus is regularly updated from member suggestions and members receive a weekly update by email highlighting our supports.