Southwestern Michigan Council of Camera Clubs (SWMCCC)

www.swmccc.org

The Fort Wayne Photographers Club is a member of the Southwestern Michigan Council of Camera Clubs which we joined in June, 1965.  The Council was organized in 1954 and is generally referred to as “Swimsee”.  It is composed of  18 camera clubs in Michigan and Indiana.  Your photography club dues automatically provide for membership in SWMCCC.

Two-day weekend Spring and Fall conferences are held each year as arranged by a host club.  Dates and locations of the meets are announced in the SWMCCC Counselor, with details also included in the club calendar.

PRINT ENTRIES.  Meet competitions allow entries in five print categories:  Nature, Pictorial Color, Pictorial Monochrome, Portrait, and Small.  Prints for all categories except small may be of any size and must be mounted on 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20 mount board.  Pictorial small prints shall be 5x7 to 8x12 and mounted on 8x10 or 11x14 mount board. 

SLIDE ENTRIES.  Only the title of the picture may appear on the front of the  mount in all categories.  Meet competition allow entries in three slide categories, Pictorial, Portrait, and Nature. 

DIGITAL ENTRIES.  Meet competitions allow entries in three digital categories:  Nature, Pictorial and Portrait.  Titled Images must be on a CD at 72 DPI with 768 pixels maximum height and 1024 pixels maximum width in a JPEG format. Makers name and club affiliation must be labeled on CD. 

ENTRY FEE'S.  Nominal charges of $3.00 for each set of slide entries (maximum four), for each set of prints (maximum four) and for each set of digital images (maximum four) are levied. 

These competition entries are judged by a panel of SWMCCC judges.  Each competition slide and/or print should include the member’s name, a brief title, the category in which entered and the member’s club name to facilitate return of the slides and prints.  The slides should be marked with your name at the bottom, “FWPHOTO” in the left margin for club affiliation and the SWMCCC category in the right margin (PI=pictorial, NA=Nature, PO=Portrait).  A slide title should be entered across the top of the slide.  A sample slide marked for SWMCCC is shown below:

SWMCCC bestows medals and awards according to the number of accumulated competition points earned at the various competition meets.  SWMCCC awards 1 point for each competition acceptance and 2 points for each competition honor.  A bronze medal is given for 20 competition points, silver medal for 50 competition and gold medal for 100 competition points.  Oscars are awarded at each meet to any competitor who wins four honors in any division.

A “SUMMER WEEKEND OF PHOTOGRAPHY” which is a series of workshops, lectures, demonstrations and field trips, is offered the last weekend in July in Holland, Michigan.  Check it out on the SWMCCC web site around April of each year.