Welcome to Barry Camera Club

Barry Camera Club is one of the oldest camera clubs in Wales. It was officially formed in 1901 but prior to that it was part of the Barry YMCA.

The club is affiliated to the Wales Photographic Federation (WPF) and Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB).

It is a friendly club where people with an interest in photography can meet. Some members simply enjoy the company and the events, whilst others get more involved in the photographic aspects of the club. Our members have a wide range and level of interest and photographic skills. Some use mobile phones whilst others use point and shoot or DSLR cameras.

Of course, ‘it’s not the equipment it’s the skill with which it is used’.

Our club is open to anyone of any age with an interest in photography.  You don’t even have to live in Barry. Under 16s should normally be accompanied by an adult, or will be assigned an adult member to oversee (buddy) them.

Where Can I Find the Camera Club?

We meet regularly at the St. Francis Millennium Centre.  Non-members are welcome to come along to see what the club is like – check out the Events diary to see what’s on, or look at the calendar on the right-hand side?

We also have a Facebook group, where many of our members get together and a Flickr group where members post their images.

How Often Do We Meet?

Under normal circumstances, the club year is from September to June, with meetings on Fridays between 7pm and 10pm. All club activities will usually begin at 7:30 and finish between 9:30 and 10:00.

How Much Does It Cost to Join?

The annual season fee for 2023-24 is £40, under-18’s is £20.00

This fee is used to cover club running costs and events.

The weekly subs are £3 at every meeting to cover the costs of refreshments and hall hire.

A membership application form can be found here but are available on the night.

What Do We Do?

A typical evening might be:

A visiting presenter, often high profile in the world of photography, or a local photographer from our, or an affiliated club, will present a particular specialist topic e.g. Landscapes, Wildlife or Astro Photography or maybe even an account of one of their photographic safaris.

Alternatively, we have our educational/practical events i.e. presentation on a particular subject or Genre or Bring Your Camera evening and do some indoor photography or maybe a quiz.

Once a month we hold a club competition – entry is optional of course. A visiting judge provides feedback on the quality of the entries.

The evening finishes around 9:30

Other Club Activities:

During the summer months and throughout the year, optional outdoor field trips and/or educational activities are generally organised. These include visits to local attractions such as local beaches, parks or gardens, or maybe further afield such as Skomer, Bird of Prey Centres, Waterfalls, or red kite feeding centres.

Throughout the year we also pit our photographic skills against other local clubs in Wales and beyond in what are usually referred to as battles. These are photographic competitions in which a judge compares our images to those of other clubs and awards points accordingly.

The Finale to the standard club year is the Annual Competition and Awards Ceremony.  Here we organise an evening meal at a local restaurant at which we bring closure to the standard club year with a competition of photographs of a variety of genres. These are judged by a guest Judge and cups/shield or plaques awarded for the best entries in each category.

There is also an award for the member who has scored the most points throughout the year at the monthly club competitions.

Historically Barry Camera Club has organised and hosted a Competition of its own ‘The Barrian Cup’. This is a high profile and well-established competition which usually takes place in June and is open to all camera clubs around Wales and Beyond. It is attended by over 100 guests at the Millennium Centre here in Barry.

The future

Our program of events resumed on 2nd September 2022. You can see our EVENTS PROGRAM 

Since the start of the new club year in September we have had some great events including: A Macro Evening with Vince Penticost, a glimpse of Wildlife Photography with Allem Lloyd, a view of some old master Photography with Rob Owens, some competitions including a Battle with Cardiff CC and an evening at Nash Point taking some Astrophotography under the guidance of a local photographer Paul Murphy.

During December we some visiting Photographers and a Christmas Evening which includes a photographic quiz, some seasonal nibbles and a challenge, where each member provides two digital images that depict a Christmas Song or Carol. – a Fun evening to round off the year. 

For the next semester, starting on January 6th 2023, we once again have a full events calendar plus a few photographic challenges.

Please visit our EVENTS page on our web site on a regular basis so that we can keep you informed of future events.

Best wishes and stay safe and well, from all at Barry Camera Club