Continued from home page. . .
Robert Thompson took the helm of leadership in January 1971 with club membership at an all-time high of 100. The meeting, held at Gause-Ware 1879 Room, began promptly as scheduled: 7:45 p.m. The program showed members how to improve their black and white prints through effective mounting, drying, spotting, and etching.
In January 1975, the Club meeting time was changed from the second and fourth Tuesday of each month to the first and third Wednesday. The place was also changed from University Bank to Trinity Episcopal Church. Dues were collected—Singles $10, couples $15 and students $5. The program that month was devoted to black and white film processing and testing. Everyone was encouraged to bring his or her test strips to this meeting for evaluation on a densitometer (Huh? Even Microsoft Word’s dictionary doesn’t know this one!). One of the speakers was Dr. Dilit Raval, a student of Ansel Adams.
Other tidbits from 1975:
Photographers encouraged not to leave camera shutters cocked, as this wears out the spring quicker.
Members were encouraged to contribute a quarter towards meeting refreshments instead of the usual nickel or dime.
Members were informed that the September issue was coming to them by way of Xerox, as the printing company had taken an unannounced long weekend holiday.
The annual Christmas party was held in December at the Colonial Country Club Ball Room. Tickets were $8.50 per person. (Hasn’t gone up that much, has it?)
Meeting dates were hastily rearranged in 1976 due to problems with meeting locations. Bill Hunn took over as president. Members were encouraged to shop at businesses that had donated door prizes for the Christmas party: The Camera Shop, Monnig’s, Seymour’s, and the Westcliff Camera Shop.
Other tidbits from 1976:
The Photographic Society of America Journal ran a series of articles on the role of women in photography, one of which was “The Click Chicks of Southern California.” Hmmmm…
Members were encouraged to enter more prints in the monthly contests with the additional change stating “you can now let someone else do the printing if you wish.”
The first meeting in October was cancelled due to a scheduled presidential debate.
Along with other new officers, the Club ushered in a new president and two new Viewfinder editors in 1977. The meeting place remained the same, but the meeting times moved to the first and third Thursday of each month. Everyone was encouraged to “give your name to Mary Dunham – our new secretary – so that you may be properly recorded as present.”
Other tidbits from 1977:
The June program covered useful skills for improving slides—Cropping and Multi-masking.
The May 19 meeting had a record 30 members present.
The Dallas Camera Club hosted an all day Photographic Seminar in September—cost $1 per person.
Terry Vitt—Named Runner Up as Photographer of the Year in Class B slides and was consequently promoted to Class A.
A new slate of officers took the lead in January of 1978. Club dues were collected, still the same price as in 1975. The themes for closed slide contests (prints were always open) included: Architecture, Wildflowers, Windows of the World, Communicating, and Market to Market.
Other tidbits from 1978:
At the first Board meeting of the year, a decision was made to purchase a Panasonic cassette recorder for the Club’s use for $59.95.
Club members went on a field trip to Eastman Kodak Processing Laboratory in Dallas instead of their first meeting in June.
President Lee Hawthorne arranged a field trip to downtown Ft. Worth to photograph the destruction of a building. “There he was, however, with garbage bag (for camera and equipment protection) and face mask, apparently the only club member present.”
We are missing Viewfinders from the following months/years in the 70s:
All of 1970
All but July of 1971
All of 1972, 1973, &1974
December of 1976 & 1977
February of 1978
All of 1979
If you have any of these missing copies we can put into our archives, please contact Cher Ptacek at: cherptacek@sbcglobal.net