HISTORY

The Bridge Lake Photo Group began as an idea that Larry Citra had - to form a “photo group” of likeminded photographers in the area and to meet up once or twice a month to share ideas and images in an informal way. 

The group started out in the fall of 2005 with five members including Larry (the other four were Bill Jolymore, Rob Tillyer. Dennis McCoy and Karlene Wideman). Early additional members were Brenda Tillyer and Sharon Jensen.

The first meeting was held at the Bridge Lake School Library. Sitting at a table, printed pictures were passed around and features such as composition, lighting, sharpness, colour and similar properties were discussed. No one owned a laptop and only two members had digital cameras.

Even the digital shooters still shot slide film on a regular basis and those slides were viewed on a slide projector ... very high tech! A few years later, as member numbers grew, meetings were switched to a school classroom. By popular demand, meeting frequency was changed from once to twice a month. Members were starting to use Photoshop and it was found to be too long between tutorials and getting feedback.

After 10 years of coordinating the Bridge Lake Photo Group activities Larry decided that 30 plus years of plowing snow had lost its appeal and he and his wife migrated to Salt Spring Island for the winter months. Derek Chambers took over responsibility for coordinating the Photo Group, and this year responsibility has become more shared amongst members. In recently, Ray Waters has taken over the hosting duties of our bi-weekly Zoom meetings.  

Website

The BLPG website (http://bridgelakephotogroup.com) was set up in late December 2012 and is used to showcase the photos members show at our twice monthly meetings.

The Bridge Lake Photo Group undertakes many activities:

Photo Exhibitions

The 1st Bridge Lake Photo Group Photo Exhibition was held in 2010 in a classroom at the Bridge Lake School. Almost 100 people showed up in the middle of a snowy January. Attendees were lined up in the hall outside the classroom and inside it was standing room only. The next year the Photo Exhibition was relocated to the Bridge Lake School gym, once again in January (the 30th actually) and well over 100 people showed up. The gym was divided in half so that the audio/video and all the chairs could be set up ahead of time. Over the following years the Photo Exhibition was held annually, eventually being moved to the Interlakes Community Centre when the Bridge Lake School was shut down.

Because of Covid the 2020 Photo Exhibition, which would have been the 11th had to be cancelled; so also, were those of 2021 and 2022. Thus the 11th edition, here at the Parkside Gallery in 2023.

A number of our current 24 members of Bridge Lake Photo Group are once again presenting an exhibition of photographic pieces at Parkside Art Gallery May 23 – June 21, 2025.

Workshops

We pride ourselves on our history of sharing knowledge and expertise among the group. Over the years members have been welcomed at numerous free workshops, taught by other members, covering many different photography topics, just a few of which were software, editing techniques, camera settings, off-camera flash, abstract image making, light painting, and how to clean one’s digital camera sensor.

Photo Outings

The group plans photo outings to some interesting nearby location. Some have been to Farwell Canyon, Eakin Creek Canyon, Wells Grey Park, Canim Falls and Cougar Point. Current outings planned are the Ceeds Co-op bird walk, the Canim Lake Pow Wow that will be held in 100 Mile House. 

Photo Field Trips

Annually we try to arrange for a more expansive photo experience by travelling further afield and for a longer period of time, such as ten days to two weeks. Over the years groups of us have travelled to the unique landscapes of the Palouse area of southeastern Washington, to the Nemiah Valley and Chilko Lake area of BC, to a former cannery, Talheo, across Dean Channel from Bella Coola, and to Haida Gwaii including Graham Island, Rose Harbour and Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve. This year there is a plan for a 10 day Waterton adventure.

Meetings

The group, now in its 20th year, still meets twice a month, on the first and third Thursday evenings from 7 PM to 9 PM, but now via Zoom. Although Zoom meetings first came about as a result of COVID, because of the wide geographical spread of our membership, including both permanent and seasonal residents, and because driving to meetings in the dark of winter on icy roads is dangerous. Zoom has been found to be much more convenient and inclusive – location is no longer an attendance issue.

Membership is open to anyone with an interest in photography. The current annual membership fee is $25.

For more information and if you are interested in joining the Bridge Lake Photo Group please contact

Ray Waters at dudleydr1390@gmail.com or Gary Hardaker at gary_hardaker@hotmail.com