As a community focused group, in February it was suggested to us by George Steele that our Club should apply for a Grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund. With considerable assistance from the RSL Executive we prepared and submitted an application and we were successful in obtaining a grant for $14,828 at the end of June.

Due to the age of some of our equipment it was not suitable to cope satisfactorily with the demands placed upon it by the ‘Digital Age’ and as Digital Projected Images are now a major part of our monthly competitions it was necessary to upgrade this equipment. The membership has more than doubled since our association with the RSL and participation in the monthly competitions, to the point that we are now receiving about 150 DPI entries at each meeting compared to about 40 prints. Displaying of DPI’s with the old equipment was of a very low standard and comments from visiting judges regarding inaccurate colours etc. were common.

Dwyers Retravision supplied us with the necessary equipment including an Epson EH-TW 3000 projector, Portable Screen, Toshiba Laptop Computer, and all the relevant software, cables and fittings required to update to today’s standards. This equipment will be a great boon to the display of digital images, plus an asset at the workshops that are run by the Club from time to time. As well as the equipment that we have been able to purchase, there is the Beach to Mountain workshop run by Trekabout Photography in November and the grant will cover most of the fees for several of our members to attend. This will be very educational for those photographers whose main interests lie in Landscape and Nature subjects. These workshops are of benefit to all members, as those who participate bring back the knowledge gained and pass it on.

The benefits that the group acquire from the allocation of this grant will be felt by all members for some years to come.

We would like to acknowledge both the Caloundra RSL and the Gambling Communtity Benefit Fund for their assistance.

For more information on available grants visit - www.olgr.gov.au/grants.

Take a look through our web page - Caloundra Camera Group