A Diamond or any precious stone is considered valuable. Its beauty, uniqueness, scarcity and sometimes it is one of a kind makes it prized and treasured. Something to be passed on to the next generation, given to someone you love to be appreciated and enjoyed. Mere mention of treasure and the mind immediately think of Ali Baba, the Pharaohs, King Solomon and possibly Yamashita. Thoughts of gold bullion, gems, precious metals and paintings, antiques and rare manuscripts. Mostly material things, objects, something to be held, viewed or worn.
But there are other treasures that one is not aware of. Not the ordinary ones we usually think. Not material, not tangible but still can be considered a treasure and there are three in CCP. One is CCP itself. Most clubs wonder why in spite of every problems encountered that would have put an end to any organization, financial, personality clashes and the usual power struggle common in any group, CCP still marches on.
The other treasure is the wealth of ideas brought about by the themes chosen in monthly competition. Last month’s theme of Three is a perfect example. We usually admire the works of our great photographers, our Masters but once in a while a new member or even a probee comes up with a photograph that amaze. Our June 2012 competition theme is Three and what a competition it was. Ideas coming from the members were a mixed sort. Some were literal, others banal but there were a few exceptional ones that makes one think, wonder and discover something new. A man and a pregnant woman whose face was not shown. There’s just two persons in the photo not three, where’s the other one? The third person is the fetus inside which is not visible. If not for the stretch marks, one can mistakenly conclude that it was just another man with a 50 inch waist. Is the photo in conformity with the theme? I believe so!
Another is Rudy’s shot of a fully saturated but attractive twig with three shoots trying to emerge from the branch. Others were three birds all in flight. Three pairs of people in one photo. Shavings of three different colored pencils. Concepts that only a few would think of! I left the meeting glad and fortunate that I attended.
Finally, the greatest treasure of the club are its members. Most of the Lifetime members have contributed to the what the club is today. CCP is like a never ending construction. changing with the times, each member laying a brick or even putting up trusses and beams that would make the club more stable and resilient to any storm or quakes, man made or natural. There were other photo clubs organized and started before all over the world but I believe that they have not lasted this long. Many say that it is because of our common love/passion for photography and bonding of the members. The longevity of CCP I believe is due to the ability of the new members to take up the leadership mantle without drastically changing the directions set forth by its founders.
Delving deeper into the qualities of each member, one would discover other unexpected finds. I was informed by Ollie Laperal that within a few months, he might have the answer to my white hair becoming black naturally without any artificial method, he also will have an answer to falling hair that many members were experiencing and waiting and wanting solutions for and finally he will teach me how to live longer. I may have misgivings about the first two claims but I will believe everything he says about the last one.
Rudy was asked to say something about the photo that was being auctioned. He was almost unstoppable, perhaps Mon Abad should have placed a time limit on Rudy’s speech. We had a full lecture on lenses and photography the auction almost ran out of time. Ask June Que about food and look at the twinkle in his eyes while he expounds on how it was prepared and where you can find the best and newest restaurant. Talk to Louie Abiva about printing. Raymund Sto. Domingo about sounds. Emil, Bien, Quincy, Rey, Raul, not Raoul about photography. Where else can you find information about cameras, tips on photography, medicine, legal opinions, construction, business problems, even tax matters and US immigration queries for free? Only at a meeting of CCP.
A CCP meeting is even better than Google when it comes to veracity of information. In internet you have to check and recheck so called “facts”, in CCP, as the saying goes you get it from the member’s mouth, first hand, all you have to do is ask.
The problem with these treasures is that it is perishable, and once they are gone it is done.
One of my regrets was that I failed to talk to Dr. Legarda when he was still with us. I could have learned how they conduct their OTS. Do they ride horses to get to Tagaytay? Carabao driven carts? How many use view cameras or their point and shoot Brownies with their ultrafast ISO of 25? Who was their counterpart of Rudy de Leon? Mon Abad? Load Factor, Glass negatives or Films? Is it all Landscape, Still Life and Macros? No grab shots, street photography and BTS?
Perhaps new members should start asking Lifetime members questions about conditions during the Jurassic era of films, before we expire like a Kodachrome Film.
“Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they’re always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.”
Theme from Cheers.