The club have already had their first meeting of the year and have plenty of exciting talks and trips coming up.

The club meets every second Wednesday in the MDA and run different workshops on all things related to photography in both digital and film.
Although the Mountmellick club was originally one of two camera clubs in the county, it now attracts people from all corners of county Laois and beyond.

"When we the club first formed everyone used film, but now the majority of members use digital, especially since it has become so affordable over the last few years," long-standing member, Paul Lawlor explained.
Photography can be an expensive hobby, but according to the Mountmellick Camera Club members it's as expensive as you make it.

Con Murphy said: "You don't need the latest or most expensive equipment to be a member. We have one person who even uses a mobile phone and they can get some great shots. You only need a basic camera to join and if you want, when you can afford to you can upgrade your equipment,"
Con said most people just have point and shoot cameras, and we have workshops so people can learn new skills.

The club has gone from strength to strength, since it was founded by local photographer Kevin Byrne, and adds to its membership each year. Kevin has since gone on to establish himself as a professional photographer.

The club now boasts around 30 members and regularly enter both national and international competitions. A handful of members still remain from the early years of the club.

"There have been a few changes from when the club first got together," Mr Lawlor said.

"Obviously the move from film to digital is a big change, but with the internet we can enter international competitions from our own homes," he said.

However, he feels that photoshop and other picture editing software are no great advantage to camera enthusiasts.

"Photoshop won't make a bad photo good, it can only enhance a picture. But in competitions, the judges are still looking for the original criteria such as the original lighting of a picture," he said.

This year, the club are running their own competition which is run on a league style. A different theme is set each month, and points are awarded for first, second and third and for entering.

"As a member of the Irish Photography Federation we also have to enter competitions against other clubs," Con explains. "Some of these clubs could have as many as 300-400 members, so to win an award is a great achievement for our club."

The clubs most recent award winner was Anil kumar, who won the Silver medal in the National Shield competition. Anil won his silver medal in the black and white section of last year's competition.

Every year the club holds an exhibition of their work, this year they hope to extend their exhibition over a week and they also hope to exhibit some of their work when the new Mountmellick Library opens.

Early this year, the club will play host to award winning photographer, Mike Brown. A nature and wildlife photographer, Mike was also a photographic consultant to a celebrity contestant on RTE's Wild Trials programme.

"This will be a very popular night and members from other clubs will travel to Mountmellick to see him," Con explains.

The club also launched their website last year. "We are constantly developing the website all the time. We hope to expand it to include a forum and more local photos, hopefully it will show off the county in a positive light," said Con.

Con continued: "Hopefully it will keep expanding, as new members bring great enthusiasm to the club and will keep it going for another 21 years."