About Us

The Coastal Virginia Photography Club was founded in September 2003.

It began when a group of people interested in photography were taking a two-day class given by Johnny Wilson at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in the summer of 2003. They felt that we would like to continue learning more, so they decided to form a club. Their first meeting took place in September 2003 in one of our member’s offices. Our Plank Owners included JoAnn Jemmott who became our first President, Anne Odell our Secretary and Kay Brown our Treasurer.

Today the Club has grown to nearly 100 members. Our members’ interest in photography varies, as does their level of expertise and knowledge.

We meet both in person and on Zoom. Many members like the Zoom meetings, so we alternate each month between the two. In both cases we open at 6:30 pm for an opportunity to meet the members of our club, share your photography work, talk shop about cameras and photographic techniques and discuss interests or photography questions you may have. Our educational program, begins at 7:00 p.m. with a short business meeting that follows.

In addition to our monthly meetings, we have several additional photography opportunities each month. We typically have multiple outings a month. On our web page, under Meetings and Events, is a partial list of our past outings. We have covered more locations with more photographic opportunities than I could possibly mention.

We also have conducted workshops on topics such as, Photoshop Fun, Setting Up and Using Lightroom, iPhone Photography, Outdoor Portraits, Still Life Photography, Awaken the Light with Mollie Isaacs, Macro Photography at Longwood Gardens, and more.

We have a monthly Zoom session called Artistic Editing where one member submits a photo for all the others to manipulate, modify, and edit that photo using tricks we have learned in previous sessions. It is amazing, as well as sometimes spooky and often funny where people’s imagination will take them. Then one of our very knowledgeable members shows us additional tricks and capabilities of Photoshop and other editing software.

Another Zoom session we do monthly is Beyond Basics. We discuss composition, the “rules” of photography, lighting, Proper exposure, Depth Of Field, Effects that varying focal lengths have on a photo, Lightroom and Photoshop updates, really, just about every aspect of photography.

Membership is open to anyone with an interest in photography. Our calendar year runs from August 1 through July 31. The annual dues for club membership are $25 for an individual and $45 for a family (in one household). The dues are paid in August of each year.

The Board is elected each year in July and takes office in August. Our officers consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Chair, Outings and Workshop Chair, Webmaster and f/64 Challenge Chair (a monthly intra-club photo contest). The club also has various committees, represented by Board members, to promote and maintain our program development. In addition, our committees also develop photography exhibits, educational materials, a Club Web site, and a Club Photo Gallery.

We have several focal points for information and activity about our club. You can check out our website (757project.org) or our Facebook page (Coastal Virginia Photography), both of which have club information. Communication to members is primarily done via email. Before each meeting you will receive an email about the club’s upcoming monthly meeting. As a member, you will receive regular emails regarding club updates. In the Members Only section of our web page we have a calendar listing all upcoming events, outings, and meetings.

We sincerely hope you will consider joining us.

For membership information please use the membership page. For all other questions and comments, contact us.