Join us for our next Hands-On Group
(formerly known as "User's Group")
April CMPG HANDS-ON MEETING:
THE EC SIMULATED "ROLL OF FILM" CHALLENGE
Our April Hands-On Group activity is a Simulated Roll of Film Challenge. This is an activity for all skill levels. This challenge's objective is to improve our intentionality. Better composition by focusing our efforts before we click the shutter button. Increase our creativity by limiting our choices. Slow down, plan the shot. Also, we'll reinforce our fundamentals (exposure, focus, etc.)
When:
Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 6:30 to 9:00 PM (sunset: 7:45 PM)
Where:
Main St. & Maryland Ave., Old Ellicott City (Downtown) Meet at the Tardis (blue Free library across from the B&O Museum) in downtown Old Ellicott City.
Overview:
To ‘see things with your own eyes,’ as they say, is not always to see the truth. One must see with eyes of the mind; one must employ the little cells of grey!
--Hercule Poirot (*1)
The activity is to shoot the equivalent of one roll of film... 24 exposures... NO MORE...
We'll start by "loading" our film, choosing our ISO and whether we are shooting B&W or color. We'll "wind" our film by recording on the clipboard our starting filename. Shall we make it harder? For those advanced shooters craving more challenge: Slide film. JPEGs straight out of the camera... Can you nail Exposure, hold the highlights while still getting shadow detail?
We'll explore Old Ellicott City for about an hour in small groups on what I hope will be a lovely spring evening. We will emphasize our composition and exposure skills: Architecture, street life, shadows, reflections, etc., as all are available downtown. We'll be shooting in the golden hour for the most part. We'll meet back at the Tardis to discuss our experience.
Please bring your patience, cooperation and sense of adventure. Remember this is a game, DO NOT let frustration ruin your experience. Please embrace the adventure. If twenty-four exposures run out to soon, then "reload..." B&W too constraining, change to color... ISO chosen, not good for golden hour, then increase it (or switch to auto-ISO)... The objective is to create composition choices intentionally, then record that choice with a decisive press of the shutter button. To think through the image making process rather than spray and pray...
What to bring
• Camera
• A favorite walk around lens
Sharing Images
Submit up to 5 images from this challenge. If you are willing, the first of these images should be a contact sheet of all 24 images, unedited. We will provide instructions for Lightroom and a couple of optional templates to dress the contact sheet up.
CMPG-2026-EVENT-APR15-LastName-FirstName-01.jpg
Dropbox Upload Link
Reference:
*1. Agatha Christie, The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot -- Chapter 1: The Affair at the Victory Ball, (Dreamscape Media LLC, 2018, originally published Sketch Magazine 1923), pg. 19
