This brief history of the highlights of the Ridgewood Camera Club, starting from its first meeting on September 15, 1937.
CLUB COMPETITIONS THROUGH THE DECADES
Although color photography was introduced in 1942 the Club was mostly doing black and white prints until 1949 when we held our first color slide competition. The first Tri-Club event was held in 1960, with Teaneck, Englewood and Ridgewood competing (later changed to Teaneck, Tri County and Ridgewood.) In 1961 a new competition class, NATURE, was added to the calendar while ASSIGNED SUBJECT, yet another new competition class was added soon after. While interest in color slides increased, interest in prints among members waned, and print competitions were discontinued in 1968 for a decade, but were actively resumed in 1979. Each of these competition categories are still in use today with vigorous Club participation in all of them.
Initially Club members were divided into three categories based on expertise (Novice, Advanced, and Beginners.) In 1971 it was simplified to "Class A" advanced, and "Class B" beginners. The present scoring system for images and prints was adopted in 1978.
THE RIDGEWOOD INTERNATIONAL
AND OUTSIDE COMPETITIONS
In January 1984, Ridgewood held its first International Salon which attracted entries from several countries. Ara Chakarian, APSA, NJFCC, was chairman for the first event, and he continued in this role through 2011 - nearly thirty years - with the help and support of many members of the Club.
In 2007 digital images were first accepted in the International and by 2011 99% of the entries were digital with only seven people entering slides.
The Club participates in and hosts outside competitions such as NJFCC (New Jersey Federation of Camera Clubs), Tri-Club, PSA (Photographic Society of America) Inter-Club.
RIDGEWOOD GOES DIGITAL
The Club had its first exposure to Digital Imaging in 1991 through an exciting workshop presented by Vinnie Kempf and Keith Yagaloff. This was very much the early days of digital, and RCC was on the cutting edge of the new and promising technology. In 2004 we began holding digitally projected competitions as an adjunct to our slide (film) competitions and by 2008 slides were dropped from competition due to the overwhelming acceptance of digitally projected images. In 2010 we began to simultaneously project digital images during print competitions in order to give audience members a better view of the image while the judge evaluated the print.
The Club's website was launched in 2002 by Vinnie Kempf. The website has gone through several rewrites and upgrades including the latest developed by George Garbeck and Vinnie Kempf featuring integration of the Member database and on-line registration for workshops and field trips. The Club’s monthly newsletter, The Focal Plane, was retired in November 2009 as it became redundant since all relevant information, plus a whole lot more, was readily available on the Club’s website.
In 2025 a new website was launched which is mobile friendly built upon WordPress with input from the Executive Committee
The evolution to digital technology has generated a surge and renewed appreciation in photography, and local camera clubs have benefited from this trend.
RIDGEWOOD CAMERA CLUB VENUES
AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
After many years at the McFaul Environmental Center, in 1990 the Club moved to new meeting space in the Woman's Club of Wyckoff affording us more space for our growing membership. Membership continued to grow and in 2010 the meeting place was again changed, this time to the VFW Hall #5702 in Franklin Lakes. Currently meetings are held in the Franklin Lakes Methodist Church This venue allows for upwards of 100 members to participate in programs and competitions.
The Club has been active in many community affairs through the years with members volunteering their services by presenting slide shows in nursing homes, libraries, senior citizen meetings and other community organizations. We have sponsored many exhibits of our members’ work including the Wyckoff Family YMCA in 2009 and participated in "PHOTOFEST 97" which was presented jointly with Hacker Photo, the Bergen County Zoo, and RCC with the proceeds benefiting the Bergen County Zoo.
THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee represents the Club membership by providing compelling programs, informative workshops and exciting field trips that offer opportunities to learn, grow and hone their photography and post-processing skills. We also introduced the idea of a “critique night” to give less experienced members the opportunity to have their images evaluated and commented upon by more seasoned Club photographers. This activity has been received enthusiastically. The Executive Committee encourages Club members to participate in and be involved in Club activities as well as serving on the EC.
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