Camera/Photo Clubs? good/bad idea...

I have just joined my local club & cannot praise them enough. We have monthly set subject competitions, battles with other clubs, critique evenings & monthly workshops on varying topics. The techniques & encouragement I have received gave me the courage to go on a solo street photography session on cardiff today. Don't tar all the clubs with one brush a lot of them are fabulous.
 
Well last Thursday night i took the plunge and went to a Camera club.

I am a Pro-Full time tog of 23 years since leaving school. My reason for going was to see if I could get back into shooting subjects that got me into togging in the first place.

My worst fears all came true as i went in to my first evening. It was a slide show night.

With an open mind and a quick prayer before going in I had hoped it would be full of hobbists wanting to learn and break barriers of learning new things and techniques....

So far the first evening has done nothing to dispell stereo typical ideas of camera clubs.

It was show night. And the first show was....

'Our trip to New York on the Queen Mary'.

Having lived in NYC for under 8months shooting in the States it was great to see some old haunts. but it was more like a holiday snap album.

The 2nd show was a chap that work as an Agricultural journalist and was about Farming equipement. (Tractors/Combines/ploughs etc)

In 2 hours I had aged 30 years. When asked what I liked to photographed i went blank... as that is what I want to get back... 'The Spark'

Also a few others then asked what I did for a living and before I could stop myself I said I was a Postman. A Postman????? Where did that come from????
I panicked and did not them to think 'OH, a pro tog! A know it all!!'' Which in this biz you never stop learning.

So next week I hope there are some people in their 30s' or 40s' .

It was like being in 'Gods' waiting room'.
 
I have recently joined a club and i cant recommend them enough. Good range of ages, and both sexes, and all a great help to anyone who wants to learn and fantastic for bouncing ideas off each other. The club is only 18 months old and has 15 members, but won lots of prizes etc in south wales and i wished i had joined sooner!
 
Gatesy said:
I have just joined my local club & cannot praise them enough. We have monthly set subject competitions, battles with other clubs, critique evenings & monthly workshops on varying topics. The techniques & encouragement I have received gave me the courage to go on a solo street photography session on cardiff today. Don't tar all the clubs with one brush a lot of them are fabulous.
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I don't think it is necessarily tarring all with the same brush, it depends on the type of person you are and what you want to get out of it. TBH the club you describe sounds very like the one near me, and I would never go back there - not my sort of thing at all.
 
madmatt said:
I have recently joined a club and i cant recommend them enough. Good range of ages, and both sexes, and all a great help to anyone who wants to learn and fantastic for bouncing ideas off each other. The club is only 18 months old and has 15 members, but won lots of prizes etc in south wales and i wished i had joined sooner!
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This sounds more like a group of photographers who have got together and formed a club because they couldn't find what they were looking for elsewhere - sounds great and maybe that's what those of us disillusioned with general clubs need to do.

Too many established clubs (not just photography - I have seen it in folk clubs as well) become a vehicle for the people who run it. It doesn't matter what the type of club is - there is always a Martin (for those who remember Ever Decreasing Circles) :LOL:
 
I joined my local club, went 4 times then never went again.

What a bunch of opinionated, up your own bum, knob heads they all were
 
Hmm. Sounds pretty stuffy.

If I move to a big city when I finish uni - a far away land filled with mythical photographers - I am quite tempted to start my own photography society. Although it wouldn't be so much about a society as a study group. A reading club, if you will - where we study particular styles, methods, and artists and interpret and analyse them. Each session dedicated to a particular area such as Weegee, Ansel Adams, to their more contemporary parts ect ...I'd probably learn more from that than a conservative-old-gent's slide-show on 19th century telegraph poles :eek:
 
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Sounds like the sort of thing I would like Ash. Even though I am around the same age as a lot of people at my local camera club they all seem so much older - even the younger ones! Also see the possibility of smaller groups clubbing together for things you might not need so often like a screen calibrator.
 
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Oh dear, what a lot of negative opinions. I guess it takes all sorts, thank heavens we are not all the same.

a conservative-old-gent's slide-show on 19th century telegraph poles
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You get a few luddites, but I think the above is a bit exaggerated!!
There are good clubs and poor clubs, but the poor ones generally don't have a good membership. Go visit some of the PAGB county exhibitions, look at what is being produced. There is some real talent in these clubs. I enjoy the company, the banter as well as the photography.
 
Top Cat said:
...I am quite tempted to start my own photography society. Although it wouldn't be so much about a society as a study group. A reading club, if you will - where we study particular styles, methods, and artists and interpret and analyse them. Each session dedicated to a particular area such as Weegee, Ansel Adams, to their more contemporary parts ect ...
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Sounds dreadful.:puke:

and there's the problem - a club can't be everything to everyone - if you feel the need to belong to a club, then invest some time in picking the right one. If you walk in and straight away feel comfortable, and enjoy the vibe, great. If not, give it another couple of visits and then move on, and find something that suits better.
 
Maybe so! Of course! (As with many things...) But it's not aimed at you is it? :D - but at least I'd be -very- clear about its intentions and method... If it's dreadful to you, it's probably dreadful having you aboard ; )

I certainly would not label it a "Photo soc." It would have the philosophy of learning from the masters...rather than being about our own work per se - so it's utterly different. I can only imagine photography and art students being interested o.o. But it would be nice to look at corporate masters as well, such as having a couple of sessions on studying famous wedding photographers and their pictures (then discuss them.) People can decide what want to study next.

Heck, you don't even really need to be a photographer. ^_^

My intention is that everyone (hopefully) develops an appreciation of good photography, and learns the artistic value of it. By doing so - you get a better understanding of your own artistic intention, and less on the technical side (which I think is overly emphasised as it is in photography.)

Is that really so dreadful? o_O
 
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Sounds like the worst bits of art history lessons I was forced to sit through a long, long time ago, to be honest, and has all the appeal of gargling with broken windscreens to me. But that's just me, all I want is access to a shared darkroom that doesn't have to take over my house, a few like minded people who wander around a room, looking at each others displayed prints, then wander off to the local pub for a couple of beers afterwards. No "Art of Photography" lectures - no inter-club competitions - and no unseemly scrummage around the pop-up studio and "chip in a fiver each for the model" photoshoot nights.
 
TheBigYin said:
Sounds like the worst bits of art history lessons I was forced to sit through a long, long time ago, to be honest, and has all the appeal of gargling with broken windscreens to me. But that's just me, all I want is access to a shared darkroom that doesn't have to take over my house, a few like minded people who wander around a room, looking at each others displayed prints, then wander off to the local pub for a couple of beers afterwards. No "Art of Photography" lectures - no inter-club competitions - and no unseemly scrummage around the pop-up studio and "chip in a fiver each for the model" photoshoot nights.
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Hahaha.

I could serve broken-screen cocktails if that would persuade you? : P

No? Very well then. I think you should make your own photo-soc too! :D I'd go to it! Assuming it lived up to tis practical side (which gives me an idea :D).

Either way, I think society groups would benefit more by having a very strong theme and purpose to it. It's the best way to get surrounded by like-minded individuals - and so you market it as such. Rather than having an "all-rounder" which often resorts to self indulgent show nights and competitions.
 
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This is something I'm just giving some thought to, there are quite a few clubs around North Wales and as much as anything I'm intrigued by them. The strange thing is, certainly around here, they only seem to operate during the winter months :shrug:

Simon
 
simonkit said:
The strange thing is, certainly around here, they only seem to operate during the winter months :shrug:

Simon
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Same here - I think it is because they can go out and take pictures during the summer, and the club keeps them going during the winter ;)
 
simonkit said:
This is something I'm just giving some thought to, there are quite a few clubs around North Wales and as much as anything I'm intrigued by them. The strange thing is, certainly around here, they only seem to operate during the winter months :shrug:

Simon
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I think you'll find it varies. Some run more or less fortnightly during the year, others seem to run weekly for the winter months then have a long break in the summer. Personally, one that meets once every 2 weeks is enough for me. Even that is quite demanding of time.
 
Bythesea said:
Same here - I think it is because they can go out and take pictures during the summer, and the club keeps them going during the winter ;)
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More likely because you can't get near anything worth photographing n North Wales during the summer months, and just about everyone now has a toruism based job up here.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
More likely because you can't get near anything worth photographing n North Wales during the summer months, and just about everyone now has a toruism based job up here.
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You could have a point there - and here in Bognor it might be the same (not that we have a lot in Bognor worth taking pictures of!) :)
 
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