About Western Valley Camera Club On this page you should find all you need to know about Western Valley Camera Club. If you need to know more about the club please don’t hesitate to contact us using the links on the “Contact Us” Page
	History
	• The Club was founded in 1954 and has been based in the Cross Keys area since then. The club name comes from the old name for the area which is the Western Valleys, referring to the Western Valleys of the old County of Monmouthshire (confusing as the Valleys are actually in the east of the South Wales Valleys!!). The local area of the club is regarded as the Ebbw Valley heading down through Risca to the outskirts of Newport, the Ebbw Valley heading north towards Ebbw Vale & Abertillery and the Sirhowy Valley heading north towards Blackwood & Tredegar.
	Meetings
	• We hold our meetings every Thursday evening throughout the year in the Dudley Suite of Cross Keys Rugby Club. The meetings commence at 19:30 and finish by 22:00 • The address of the Rugby Club is Pandy Park, Woodward Avenue, Cross Keys, NP11 7BS. The location of the club is shown on the links below. Google Maps UK StreetMap Note: If using a Sat Nav to find us, some might try to take you to the club straight off the A467. There is no turning off the A467 and you will need to enter Cross Keys itself to reach us. There are now signposts to help you find the Rugby Club now placed on the main roads around Cross Keys.
	What We Do
	• The club holds meetings throughout the year on a variety of topics, (Note: Unlike most clubs we do not break for the summer, we entertain all year around). The club aims to provide a varied programme of evening meetings which feature the following broad topic areas - Competitions, Practical Sessions, Demonstrations, Talks and Presentations from members and quality external Speakers. More detail is provided below.
	• The club organises regular internal competitions amongst the members. The clubs internal competitions feature the following subjects during the year, Architecture, Landscape/Seascape, Still Life/Table Top, Portraiture, Open and Themed Competitions. Each competition subject take place on two evenings during a month, one for Prints and one for Digital Images. • Unlike a lot of clubs we judge our own competitions with all members having the opportunity to mark the images. During a competition evening all the images are first viewed by the members and then following judging each image is reviewed and critiqued by the members of the club. This has the advantage of getting multiple opinions’ on an image rather than the view of a single judge. Shown in the picture on the right is the clubs presentation wall where Prints are placed for judging.					A selection of members prints are displayed on the display gallery wall ready for judging.
	• Competitions against other local Camera Clubs are held regularly throughout the year as part of our programme. These take place at our club or are hosted at the opposition club’s premises. · The Club also regularly submits entries into various National competitions held in Wales and other parts of the UK. Help and advice is also given as required in assisting members to submit their own entries into various Photographic Salons held throughout the World.
	• We arrange regular practical evenings through out the year that give members the opportunity to try different aspects of photography. More senior/experienced members of the club are on hand to assist and instruct other members. These evenings are great fun and give members the opportunity to attempt something they wouldn’t normally try in an informal atmosphere. • Below is shown a selection of activities that have occur at the club during recent practical evenings.
	Left - Two members demonstrate how to set up the lighting and exposure for a Still Life/Table Top shot Middle - A member photographs a model at a Lighting Demonstration evening arranged by Walters Photographic of Merthyr Tydfil Right - A member pours the wine while another member tries to capture the classic wine in the glass shot
	• Another aspect of the Practical sessions is during the Summer we arrange a couple of Out & About visits (Weather Permitting) to local locations, the emphasis is on photographs at the location and encouraging photographers to try something different. An annual day trip is also arranged to a location of suitable interest, previous years have visited Oxford, Blists Hill & Ironbridge, Kew Gardens and Beaulieu Motor Museum.				Members are seen reviewing a shot on a recent annual trip
	Membership
	• Membership fees are payable on an annual basis commencing in January. Our membership fee also includes an affiliation fee to the Welsh Photographic Federation (WPF). We also charge a small entry fee per meeting (with the chance to win it back plus more in a raffle) to cover the costs of our room hire. Our fees for the year ending December 2014 are as follows:-
	Ordinary Member		£40
	• From 2014 to keep our membership fees simple we do not do offer any concessions as our membership fee is relatively low compared to other clubs and the difference between an ordinary member and concession rate was an insignificant amount. · New members have a 3 week free trial before deciding to join and will pay a pro rata fee according to the month they join in. The following is a guide for an Ordinary Member.
	January, February or March		= £40 (100%)
	April, May or June		= £30 (75%)
	July, August or September		= £20 (50%)
	October, November or December		= £10 (25%)
	• To apply for membership you will need to complete an Application Form , a copy of which can be downloaded here. If you need to read a copy of the clubs Data Protection Policy then it can be downloaded from here
	Affiliations
	The club is affiliated to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) via the Welsh Photographic Federation (WPF) which features clubs from all of South Wales and part of Mid Wales. More details about these organisations can be found by visiting their websites which you can find on our links page