About Membership of Stalybridge Photographic Club

Membership categories & costs
How to join
What we do
How to find us
Events calendar
Activities
Competitions
Equipment

Membership Categories

JUNIOR MEMBER – any member below the age of 16 years
YOUNG MEMBER – any member who is 16 but not 18 years old
FULL MEMBER – any member who is 18 years or over

Membership Conditions

A Junior member to be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all meetings or club events.
A Junior member or parent or guardian will NOT be allowed to vote on club issues.
Only the Junior member will be permitted to enter commpetitions within the club or represent the club at federation level or equivalent.
The parent or guardian will NOT be allowed t enter any club competition or represent the club in any way whatsoever EXCEPT if that parent or guardian is a fully paid up club member in their own right.
A Young member may attend meetings or club events alone.
A Young member will NOT be allowed to vote on club issues.
A Young member will be permitted to enter competitions within the club or represent the club at federation level or equivalent.

Membership Fees

The current full annual membership subscription is £30, with a weekly fee of £3 for each session attended.
A Junior member annual subscription shall be half that of the full membership subscription. The parent or guardian will not be required to pay the annual membership subscription.
A Junior member weekly fee shall be half that of a full member; this tariff will also apply to the parent or guardian and will cover the cost of the room hire, any speaker, insurance and refreshments.
A Young member annual subscription shall be half that of the full membership subscription.
A Young member weekly fee shall be half that of a full member.

How to join

Joining SPC is simple, just come to a meeting one Monday evening (we do not meet on Bank Holidays) at 8 o'clock and you will be made welcome.

The annual subscription, which runs from 1^st April, is £30 on a pro rata basis, payable after a three visits introductory period.

There is also a fee of £3 collected at each weekly meeting; however, the first three visits are free.

What we do

If you join SPC, you will become a member of a club that was established more than four decades ago to enable members to indulge their hobby in a friendly and supportive environment, whether they were experienced photographers or complete beginners. That guiding principle is as true today as it was at the inception of the Club in 1979.

Members of SPC are able to access our members′ vast photographic knowledge base and the Club′s photographic equipment, used for studio work, photo-editing and printing.

The Club also offers instruction evenings, where more experienced photographers are on hand to advise and encourage newer or less experienced ones.

There are also various activities that take members out and about with their cameras take throughout the year.

We believe that we're one of the friendliest and most welcoming of clubs you'll find and our aim is to try to make membership a fun experience and a sociable one.

Where to find us

Events Calendar

We have a complete and full events calendar on our website.

Activities

The club prides itself on organising numerous and varied activities to suit all levels of ability and interest. We have members who have specialties in many areas of photography and digital manipulation and we spend as much time as necessary to ensure that all members benefit from this fully.

We run practical sessions on topics such as lighting, digital workshops, still life and portraiture.

Outside speakers are an integral part of our yearly calendar and past topics have included lighting for portraits, manipulation of digital files, wedding photography, judging for competitions, what judges look for and how to gain professional qualifications.

We strive to include something for everyone.

Competitions

The club is affiliated to the Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union (L&CPU) and we regularly submit entries to their competitions.

Additionally we organize our own competitions for members to submit prints and/or projected images; usually these are judged by an outside specialist.

All competition entries must conform to the rules, which echo those of the L&CPU.

We also take part in inter-club competitions with neighbouring clubs.

There is more information and the latest competition results on our Competitons page.

Equipment

We have a number of pieces of equipment available for use by our members, for example, we have a full studio lighting setup. We also have our own computer systems running Microsoft Windows with Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom installed for members' use.

We also own a projector, screen and a lightbox to display digital images & prints.