Ontario Council of Camera Clubs (OCCC) formerly known as the Greater Toronto Council of Camera Clubs (GTCCC)
The Ontario Council of Camera Clubs is an association of about two dozen photography clubs in the Greater Toronto area and surrounding areas, of which the Richmond Hill Camera Club is a long term member.
At present the member clubs range from Oakville, Hamilton, Burlington, Halton Hills, Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo in the south and west, north to Newmarket, Georgian Bay, Barrie and Haliburton, and to Ajax, Oshawa & Cobourg in the east.
There are 5 yearly events that the OCCC offers to its members. The Open Challenge, Inter Regional Competition, Capture Day and Awards Night and the Fall Retreat.
The OCCC acts as a forum for member clubs, and promotes and facilitates various events of common interest.
Richmond Hill Camera Club GTCCC Awards
The RHCC is recognized as one of the premier clubs in the OCCC/GTCCC and we are very proud of our members and their accomplishments as photographers.
In 2018 the Richmond Hill Camera Club reclaimed the Stuart Freedman Trophy as the top club in the Greater Toronto Council of Camera Clubs, having won it in 2015 and 2016.RHCC won both the Nature and Natural Things Trophies and 4 of the 12 categories.
Three of our members won category specialist awards; Rob Kline (Pure nature wildlife), Luba Citrin (Creative Vision) and Lance Gitter (Theme: Liquid).
The following members earned Top 3 awards for individual images:
1st – Helena Chu, John Kot, Marie Algieri-Goldgrub, Katherine Wong
2nd – Katherine Wong (two 2nds), Margaret Krzepkowski
3rd – Harvey Ash, Cliff Homewood, Nicholas Tian, Margaret Krzepkowski
In 2017 our club placed third overall out of 20 competing clubs. The Stuart Freedman Trophy is based on the top 12 scores from 12 different makers across the 12 categories.
Each category awards certificates to the club with the highest aggregate of 6 images from 6 different makers. RHCC placed first in 4 categories, second in 2 categories and third in 3 categories.
We also had 15 Honourable Mentions and four top awards across the various categories.
In 2016 our club won the Stuart Freedman Trophy as the top club in the GTCCC competition for the second straight year. We also placed first in 5, second in 4 and third in the other category, placing in the top 3 in all 10 categories.
Our members had 35 HMs and 12 top 3 awards as individuals.
In 2015 our club won the Stuart Freedman Trophy for the first time. We placed first in 3 categories and third in a fourth category out of the 5 categories in the competition.
Our members earned 21 HMs and 7 top 3 awards.
OCCC 2019 Open Challenge
The 2019 Open Challenge Rules have been posted on the OCCC website.
The biggest change for this year is the deadline for clubs to submit entries is end of May (previously in January) with the presentation of images and awards in October (previously April).
Please visit the OCCC website at www.o3c.ca