Welcome to the Crystal Lake Camera Club

The Crystal Lake Camera Club, located in Crystal Lake, Illinois, was started about 1980 to provide our members with the opportunity to enjoy the hobby of photography and improve their photographic abilities.

The Crystal Lake Camera Club’s mission is to welcome photographers of all skill levels and interests and to help them grow through a nurturing environment, which provides and promotes good techniques and practices, educational workshops, photographic opportunities, challenging competitions, and open discussion set in a fun and friendly atmosphere.

Our club is a member of The Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association (CACCA), an active group of about 40 clubs. Winning prints in our competitions are entered in their monthly competitions.

Our meetings:

-- Second Tuesday of each month
-- 7:00 P.M
-- NEW IN-PERSON MEETING LOCATION:
Algonquin Township Building
3702 Northwest Hwy
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

We cordially invite you to join our group, whether you are a novice or a professional photographer, and visitors are always welcome. Membership is open to all who have an interest in photography as a hobby. Members may elect not to compete and still enjoy all the other activities of the club.

To join the Crystal lake Camera club, please print the application form found at the link below and bring the completed form to the next meeting. Annual dues are $25 to be paid by January each year.

Directions to the Meetings:

Google Map

 

Crystal Lake Camera Club Membership Application Form


Competition Entry Forms

 

For the new sizing rules for DPI competition, click on the Competition Guidelines tab above

 


http://www.crystallakecameraclub.com

Calendar of Meetings/Programs

 

The 4th Friday Art Events At The Dole. Returned in-person on April 22. There is an In-person+Virtual juried photo exhibit and a Virtual Only juried photo exhibit. Details for each of these exhibits are here. There is a $35 fee for up to 5 entries for the In-Person+Virtual exhibit, and $25 for up to 5 entries for the Virtual Only exhibit.

This is a chance to get some the great work our club members do in the public eye. These events have had 400 - 1000 attendees in the past!

 

IN-PERSON MEETING LOCATION:
Algonquin Township Building
3702 Northwest Hwy
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

 

It’s time to pay CLCC dues for 2024. Dues are $25.00 for the year. Please give a check to our treasurer, Gail Schulz, or mail it to:

Crystal Lake Camera Club
PO Box 2193
Crystal Lake, IL 60039-2193

Tueaday, March 12, 2024--7pm. Special guest speaker: Willard Clay

From the January, 2024 CLCC Newsletter:

A former Professor of Botany, Willard Clay has been a full-time photographer since 1982, specializing in large format photography. He has been the primary photographer for nine coffee table books and has been published in a myriad of calendars, magazines, books, and advertising agencies. His portfolio consists of large format film and high-resolution digital files ready for publication. You can view his images at http://willardclayphotography.com.

Several club members receive Therapy Photos, a regular email that Will sends to former students and camera club members. He says: “I started writing the letters in 2020 during the pandemic to keep my newsletter readers communicating with each other because we were sheltering in place. They touched people in ways I could never have predicted and my readers did not want them stopped, so here we are 3 years and 230+ letters later.”

Saturday, February 24, 2024--8:30 am. Morning Breakfast Meeting – Everyone invited! Please join your CLCC friends for the casual, monthly Saturday morning breakfast meeting. Lively discussions, good food!, Buttered Toast Restaurant, 2520 Bunker Hill Dr, Algonquin.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024--7pm. Competition. Show & Tell, Before & After. “Show & Tell and Before & After have provided some lively, informative conversations for CLCC attendees. Great suggestions for outings and club offerings have come from these activities.”—Steve Szalaj

 

For Show & Tell: submit 3-4 JPG images to Rich Bickham (richbickham@comcast.net) on the Sunday
before the meeting date.

For Before & After: submit pairs of JPG images to Rich Bickham (richbickham@comcast.net) on the Sunday before the meeting date. The pairs would include the image as it came out of the camera and the image after post-processing. Be prepared to tell (and even show) the changes that were made.

 

Join the
Crystal Lake Camera Club group chat
on Facebook


 

November 2023 Newsletter

December 2023 Newsletter

January 2024 Newsletter

February 2024 Newsletter

March 2024 Newsletter