Creative Shots Photo Club

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Mackay, QLD
Creative Shots Photo Club

Mackay's fun & enthusiastic Photo Club meets the 3rd Wed of each month (except Dec) at 6:45pm at the Jubilee Community Centre, "Sarina" Meeting Room.

Mackay's fun & enthusiastic Photo Club meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month (except Dec) at 6:45pm for a 7 pm start at the Jubilee Community Centre, "Sarina" Meeting Room, Mackay Regional Council Building, Cnr Gordon & Wellington Sts.

14/10/2026

📸 WHY PRINT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS?

We take thousands of photographs.

We edit them, share them on Facebook and Instagram, enter them in competitions… and then, quite often, they disappear onto a hard drive somewhere.

But there is something very different about seeing your photograph in print.

A printed photograph becomes something you can hold. You notice the detail, the colour, the texture and the little things you may have overlooked on a screen.

And there’s something rather special about seeing one of YOUR photographs framed on a wall and thinking…

“I made that.” ❤️

Printing can also teach us a lot about our photography. Things like exposure, sharpness, colour and composition can suddenly look very different when they're sitting in front of us rather than glowing on a screen.

So here's a little challenge from Creative Shots Photo Club:

🖼️ Choose ONE photograph you really love and print it.

It doesn't have to be huge.
It doesn't have to be expensive.
It doesn't even have to go on the wall.

Just give one of your photographs a life outside the computer.

📷 When was the last time you printed one of your photos?

Photographs in this post are by Tracey and Mitch Galletly

13/10/2026

📸 WHAT’S IN YOUR CAMERA BAG? 🐸

Every photographer has that ONE thing they hate leaving home without!

Maybe it’s your favourite lens, a spare battery, tripod, filters, reflector, cleaning cloth… or perhaps the most important piece of photography equipment of all — SNACKS! 😂

We all photograph differently, so we’d love to know what earns a permanent place in your camera bag.

Here’s the challenge…

📷 You can take your camera PLUS just ONE extra piece of photography gear on an outing.

What are you taking?

Tell us in the comments! 👇

And if your answer is “another camera”… we’re not judging. 😂

12/10/2026

📸 PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON – GETTING CLOSER WITH A MACRO LENS

Macro photography opens up a fascinating little world that we often don't notice with the naked eye. Flowers, insects, water droplets and everyday objects can reveal incredible detail when viewed up close.

Here are a few simple things to remember when using a macro lens:

🌸 Depth of Field Gets Very Shallow: The closer you get to your subject, the less of it will appear sharp. Try an aperture around f/8 to f/11 as a starting point when you'd like more detail in focus.

🎯 Focus Carefully: With macro photography, even a tiny change in focus can make a big difference. Magnifying the image on your camera screen can help you check exactly where your sharpest detail lies.

📷 Manual or Autofocus? Both can work. For a completely still subject, manual focus can give you excellent control. For insects or flowers moving in the breeze, autofocus may be much easier.

🔍 Choose Your Macro Lens: A longer macro lens, such as a 90mm or 100mm, gives you more working distance between the camera and your subject. This can be particularly useful when photographing insects.

📐 What Does 1:1 Mean? A true 1:1 macro lens can reproduce a subject at life-size on the camera sensor. That means something tiny can fill a surprisingly large part of your photograph.

💡 PHOTO TIP: Don't automatically reach for the smallest aperture possible. Very small apertures can soften fine detail through diffraction. Try a few different apertures and decide how much of your subject you really need sharp.

Macro photography is a wonderful reminder that you don't always need to travel somewhere spectacular to find a great photograph. Sometimes you just need to look a little closer. 🌸🐝📸

11/10/2026

📷 PHOTO HISTORY TRIVIA – DON McCULLIN

Some photographers are remembered not just for the images they created, but for the history they were prepared to witness.

British photographer Don McCullin, born in 1935, became one of the most respected photojournalists of his generation. He is best known for his powerful war photography, although his career has covered much more than conflict.

His photographic journey began in the late 1950s when he photographed a North London gang known as The Guv'nors. When one of his photographs was published in The Observer, it helped launch his professional career.

McCullin later photographed conflicts in Cyprus, Vietnam, Cambodia and other parts of the world, often working extremely close to the fighting. Rather than concentrating only on soldiers and battles, his photographs frequently showed the impact of war on ordinary people.

📷 PHOTO HISTORY FACT:
While covering the war in Cambodia in 1970, McCullin was carrying a Nikon F camera when it was struck by a bullet. The camera absorbed the impact — an extraordinary reminder of just how close to danger he was working.

His photography did not stop with war. McCullin has documented poverty, homelessness and humanitarian crises, and later became known for his beautifully dark and dramatic black-and-white landscapes of the English countryside.

His work is often technically beautiful, but the subjects can be extremely difficult. McCullin has spoken throughout his career about the responsibility of photographing suffering and the emotional cost of repeatedly witnessing it.

At 91 years old in 2026, Don McCullin remains one of the important figures in the history of documentary and photojournalistic photography.

His career is a powerful reminder that photography can do far more than create beautiful pictures — it can bear witness, preserve history and show us realities we might otherwise never see.

10/10/2026

“The camera is an excuse to be someplace you otherwise don’t belong. It gives me both a point of connection and a point of separation.”

— Susan Meiselas

09/10/2026

📸 YOU KNOW YOU’RE A PHOTOGRAPHER WHEN… 😂

There are certain things only photographers understand!

You know you’re a photographer when…

📷 You get more excited about beautiful light than the actual view.

🌅 You’ll happily get out of bed at 4:30am for a sunrise… but complain bitterly about getting up at 7am any other day.

🚗 “STOP THE CAR!” is a perfectly normal photography instruction.

🌸 You can spend 20 minutes photographing one flower from 47 different angles.

☁️ Everyone else sees bad weather. You see “interesting skies”.

🐦 You buy a longer lens to photograph birds… and immediately decide you need an even longer lens.

💻 You say, “I’ll just edit a couple of photos” and suddenly three hours have disappeared.

📸 You take a camera bag containing enough equipment for a National Geographic expedition… to a local park.

😂 And you definitely know you’re a photographer when you have thousands of photographs of everyone else — but hardly any photographs of yourself!

Now it’s YOUR turn…

Finish this sentence:

👉 “You know you’re a photographer when…”

Give us your best one in the comments! We have a feeling there might be some very relatable answers. 😂📸

08/10/2026

📸 **PHOTO DICTIONARY – ABERRATION**

**Aberration** is an optical imperfection that occurs when a camera lens doesn’t focus light perfectly onto the camera sensor.

Instead of producing a completely sharp and accurate image, aberrations can cause things like **softness, distortion, coloured edges or unusual shapes**, particularly around the edges of a photograph.

There are several types of aberration. One of the most commonly noticed is **chromatic aberration**, which can appear as purple, green, red or blue fringes around high-contrast edges.

You’re more likely to notice aberrations when:
📷 Shooting with your lens wide open
☀️ Photographing strong contrast or backlighting
🔍 Looking closely around the edges of an image
📐 Using some lenses at their widest or longest focal lengths

The good news? Modern lenses are designed to minimise aberrations, and many can also be corrected quite easily during editing.

**In simple terms:**
Aberration = when light doesn’t behave quite perfectly as it travels through your lens.

📖 Another little photography term for your Photo Dictionary!

07/10/2026

📸 **LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY? COME AND JOIN US!**

Do you love taking photos but sometimes wish you had more opportunities to get out with your camera?

Perhaps you'd like to learn something new, challenge yourself, meet other photographers — or simply spend more time doing something you enjoy.

**Creative Shots Photo Club Mackay welcomes photographers of all ages, interests and skill levels.**

You certainly don't need to be an expert, have the latest equipment or enter competitions. You just need an interest in photography and a willingness to join in!

As a member, you can enjoy:

📷 Monthly photography outings and casual get-togethers
🎓 Workshops, demonstrations and opportunities to learn new skills
🏆 Bi-monthly club competitions with feedback from external judges
🖼️ Opportunities to exhibit your photography and participate in other photographic events
💡 Sharing ideas, knowledge and inspiration with other photographers
☕ And, of course, plenty of friendly conversation, laughter and the occasional cuppa!

Our regular club meetings are held on the **third Wednesday of each month (excluding December)** at the Jubilee Community Centre in Mackay.

One of the nicest things about belonging to a photography club is that it gives you a reason to **pick up the camera, get out of the house and keep photographing.**

Whether you've just bought your first camera or photography has been part of your life for years, there's always something new to learn — and it's much more fun learning alongside others.

📸 **Come and discover Creative Shots Photo Club Mackay.**

New members are always welcome, and we'd love to have you join us!

06/10/2026

☕🍰 Serious Club Business in Progress… 📸

Five of our Creative Shots committee members hard at work making plans for the club…

Well, that’s our story anyway! 😂

Apparently, the best ideas for outings, workshops, competitions and club activities require plenty of discussion — and a very important supply of tea and cake!

There’s always lots happening behind the scenes to keep our club active, social and full of opportunities to get out with our cameras.

Thanks to our committee members who give their time to help make it all happen. 💛📸

Now… back to the cake. 🍰😂

05/10/2026

📸 PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON – GETTING CREATIVE WITH WIDE-ANGLE LENSES

Wide-angle lenses are wonderful for landscapes, architecture and any scene where you want to capture a broad view. But simply fitting a wide-angle lens doesn’t automatically make a great photograph — composition becomes even more important.

Here are a few simple things to think about:

📷 Get Close to Something: Wide-angle lenses can make distant objects appear even smaller. Look for a strong foreground subject such as rocks, flowers, a pathway, jetty or interesting texture and get reasonably close to it.

➡️ Use Leading Lines: Roads, fences, paths, rivers and jetties can become powerful leading lines, taking the viewer from the foreground right through your photograph.

🔍 Think Foreground, Middle & Background: Including something interesting at different distances can give your landscape a wonderful feeling of depth.

📐 Aperture: For landscapes where you want plenty of the scene sharp, f/8 to f/11 is often a good starting point.

🎯 Where to Focus: As a simple starting point, try focusing roughly a third of the way into the scene rather than automatically focusing on the distant horizon.

⚠️ Watch for Distortion: Objects close to the edges of a wide-angle frame can become stretched or distorted. This can be distracting — or you can deliberately use it for creative effect!

💡 PHOTO TIP: When using an ultra-wide lens with a polarising filter, watch the sky carefully. Because the lens captures such a broad area, the polarising effect can be uneven, leaving some parts of a blue sky much darker than others.

Next time you reach for your wide-angle lens, don't just think "How much can I fit in?" Instead ask yourself, "What can I put in the foreground to lead the viewer into my photograph?" 📸

Address

Mackay, QLD
4740

Telephone

+61429343762

Website

http://www.csmackay.myphotoclub.com.au/

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