Thoughts On Camera Clubs

Carrigman

http://carrigman.blogspot.com/2010/09/camera-club-scene.html

Regards,

John

FoxT

I am a member of a club myself. I am casual enough about it, I only go to the winter meetings. I pay the sub because it is not expensive & I am happy to chip in. I have received some very helpful advice from members there & some of the photography is inspiring. Some members are big into competitions etc - but they dont wear it on their sleeve & we all rub along well together.

Bottom line for me is - it has helped my photography & is enjoyable.

- FoxT

Paulw

I am currently joining a club. I went to one meeting last week and plan to attend their next meeting and probably sign up.

It's something I've never done before and never felt the need to do. My photography, as far as I'm concerned, is progressing and will continue to progress.

For me, I'm joining because I would like some more diversity in my photography. A club will push me to do that.

It will also help me pick up new tips and tricks and maybe in some way I can pass on some tips and tricks that I have learned as I progress.

But, in a similar way, it's not a "club" but rather is "Swords Photo Group"

sNarah

Interesting read, thanks for sharing.

Like you all know I'm in a camera club too and I agree with most points, though our club is imho way to focused on competitions and "being one of the top clubs in Ireland". There is a lack of workshops (one, last year, over the weekend, which you had to pay for) and zero expeditions or trips/photowalks in the 3 years that I have been a member.

On this point:

Cliques and elite groups within the club (but so far at least I’v seen no evidence that they exist). Such groupings have brought many a club to grief.

Cliques, as such, aren't the biggest problem. Each club will have a division of groups, older members, friends, etc. What REALLY bugs me is the politics and secret agenda's that are part of clublife. A sincere lack of communication towards members and decisions being made by committee members that serve little or no purpose directly for member, but only for the "future of the club". Our club has print discussion nights for a select group of members that are handpicked by the chairman. I presume this is not unusual in clubs, but the secrecy surrounding things like that just annoys the hell out of me.

On a final note - I find that my club is too focused on delivering good results in national comps and awards but provide little or nor advice and guidance for novices. At our first meeting this year, apparently some newbies come in, proud as, with camera in hand. Very sad to realize that will never have to use that camera withing the club environment. How can they expect to excel without encouraging new techniques and facilitating new learning experiences?? At every single meeting there are announcements about entering the National Shields, getting distinctions etc, at a nearly very pushy level, nearly an obligatory requirement to gainr respect as a member. Such a pity they are missing the first bit of preparing for competitions and print evenings

A request by me last year for a teaching darkroom session was laughed at. A few of us met up every week during the summer when the club was closed - at a different location each time, for shooting. I learned more over those 6 weeks than over the last 3 years. Each and single one of dreaded "going back to school" after the summer, back to the stuffy meeting room every week for either A) a club competition or a lecture by an invited photographer...

(Boy, that sounds bitter reading back now I do enjoy the camera club, just to make that clear, and all lectures are very interesting, it just needs SO much more than that)

Paulw

sNarah wrote: »

There is a lack of workshops (one, last year, over the weekend, which you had to pay for) and zero expeditions or trips/photowalks in the 3 years that I have been a member.

That's something that Swords Photo Group plan to do much more of this year - workshops, tutorials, and actual camera work. Again, it's about photography, not just sitting and talking/listening.

Snarah, is it Drogheda "Photographic Society" that you're in? I've been toying with the idea of going up and seeing if I could join, myself, but I'm not sure.


All I really hear about the group, and this could be totally wrong now, is that there are speakers scheduled a lot, to talk about their work and such?

I enjoyed the "Vision" workshops and such that were posted on here not too long ago (the video streams, the name of which escapes me) but I don't think I'd have it in me to listen to someone banging on about themselves.


That said, I would love to hang about with a few beginners and try stuff out that I haven't before. I met Chorcaì on here in reality twice or three times, and learned more from him than I did in a beginner's photo class I joined (and paid for!).

pullandbang

Well I have to say that Navan Camera Club is a lot different to sNarah's club. We focus very much on the beginner/novice with a comprehensive beginners course run over 8 weeks at the beginning of the year. We have regular outings which are tied in with the monthly competition and we have a weekend away at the end of the season (May).
Although we don't put too much emphasis on "distinctions" or "nationals" we do encourage members to try for their "L"'s etc.

I thoroughly enjoy the monthly competitions as it gives an impetus to produce prints on a regular basis and have them critiqued by a professional judge. The outings are a great social event giving people of all abilities an opportunity to share and learn.

sNarah

Deleted User wrote: »

Snarah, is it Drogheda "Photographic Society" that you're in? I've been toying with the idea of going up and seeing if I could join, myself, but I'm not sure.All I really hear about the group, and this could be totally wrong now, is that there are speakers scheduled a lot, to talk about their work and such?
.

That very one indeed!
we have both external speakers and members of the club showcasing their work, which is mainly what the program consists off, combined with competitions.

And afraid we have a long waiting list so no new members accepted at the moment - not a bad idea to pencil your name down for next year if you were to be interested!


P&B: I do think clubs should encourage going for distinctions, but only if they back that up with the proper guidance and relevant "training". I'm a tad jealous when reading the FB updates for Navan CC, which got me pondering over our club and how it could improve from a members point of view.

K_user

sNarah wrote: »

Cliques, as such, aren't the biggest problem. Each club will have a division of groups, older members, friends, etc. What REALLY bugs me is the politics and secret agenda's that are part of clublife.

I'm afraid you get that no matter what kind of club or group you are in, be it photography, sports, social, volunteer, or tidily winks!

I was at my sons swimming class a couple of weeks ago and overheard some of the discussions going on between the teachers. I had to laugh, it was almost a carbon copy of a conversation I had in another club that I'm in. They were talking about who was always showing up, who was always skipping, who hadn't taken part in activity A - same old, same old.

Get a bunch of people together and politics just happen. It can be annoying, it can be occasionally mean, or insulting, but its unavoidable.

sNarah

sNarah wrote: »

not a bad idea to pencil your name down for next year if you were to be interested!

That's a nice thought, and I appreciate the suggestion, but I don't think I'd be that bothered, to be honest (no offence to the Drogheda "Photographic Society" or anything).

If I were to bother looking in to joining any, I'd most likely try my luck Navan, having read this thread. Just the name, Drogheda Photographic Society, is very off-putting to me. I'm sure there are some lovely people there, but it just sounds terribly upper-class and snobby or something.


In the mean time, I'll persecute Chorcaì (until he loses the will to live :pac:), and keep reading up on boards.

sNarah

I think our official name is "Drogehda Photographic Club" actually - but I can see where you're coming from! And poor Chorcaì

One of our members (ShaneM on Boards) organised a Drogheda Photowalk last year together with Photowalkie and I do think there is a good chance it might be repeated this year. It's a good way to get to know some of the more Northenly based togs as sometimes it is hard to venture into Dublin!

TinyExplosions

But sure aren't we part of one of the best camera clubs in the country -Boards.ie! There's plenty of discussion, loads of images posted for C&C and fairly regular photowalks/meetups between here and photowalk.ie, all for the low low price of 0 euroses!

emul

John

An interesting article and as a member of East Cork Camera group I've learnt so much in the last 18 months as a member and it's always great to have somebody to go out and shoot with. The cons I believe exist in every society I think it's up to members to work at changing that rather than not turning up.

Enjoy will look forward to seeing some of your work and maybe one day we will find ourselves in the same spot clashing tripods to get the ultimate shot !

BTW East Cork camera group has a facebook page for those interested - www.facebook.com/eccgfans.

CabanSail

I've been interested in Photography since the late 60's (when I was just wee) It was never my main interest but more an adjunct to all the other atctivities I was involved.

I joined a local Camera Club back in the early 90's and stayed in that club for a few years. I learnt about developing and printing B&W. Life got in the way & I dropped out in the Mid 90's.

After getting my first DSLR in 2005 I once again looked to joining a Camera Club. As I was going to relocate to Ireland I looked at clubs in Dublin so looked at websites there. I had a choice of clubs but went to Dublin Camera Club first as they had good facilities. I quite liked the atmosphere at the club and so joined up. Nobody believes me now but I was quiet at first. After a while I made a couple of suggestions and was quite impressed with the way these were accepted. I was soon putting photo's into the competitions and learning quite a bit from the feedback of various judges and other members. I kept making suggestions and was soon asked if I would like to join the Council, which I did. When I first put images into the competitions at Novice level there were not enough entering, so had to compete at Intermediate level. One of my aims was to get the newer members to put some images into competitions. It only took encouraging a few individuals to soon have an active group.

The thing I liked about DCC was that it was not consumed by competitions but had a lot of time for other aspects of Photography as well as being a good social club. I made a lot of very good friends there.

I eventually became President of DCC before I left, which was an honour. I got a lot out of being a member there for four years, but realise you get out what you put in.

I have now once again joined my local club here. It is only small and is in need of a shake up.

AnCatDubh

A good post and thanks for sharing - an observation or two;

Cliques and elite groups within the club (but so far at least I’v seen no evidence that they exist). Such groupings have brought many a club to grief.

Every social gathering in the world of substance that ever was, is, or will be; will have it cliques. Online, or in Real Life. Our social inclinations as humans are perfectly positioned for us to want to be part of something in particular that we are attracted to or to oppose something in particular that repels us. As part of mankind we have an innate desire to have a sense of belonging. Essentially we all want to be part of something (and of something that attracts you to it). No matter what way you look at it social cliques or indeed professional cliques will be prevalent. They are everywhere. Whether you partake or not is a different matter. In fact whether you see them or not is a different matter entirely. It is quite possible to enjoy a gathering of whatever without even knowing the clique is operating. It just takes a little skill. Otherwise if you can't avoid it you have the choice of removing yourself from the gathering.

I enjoyed your comments on style and modifying a style to be 'accepted' by a particular judge or way of thinking. I think we can all fall into this trap. But, particular styles are popular for various reasons but mostly because they have popularity - they are liked by many (some for the right reasons and some for the wrong reasons). I'm a great fan of being your own best/worst critic but I do think we miss out on something which is the opinion of others. It takes an incredibly big character of an individual to take on board criticism in a constructive manner. If you can satisfy yourself that the critic has missed a trick, or isn't capable of comprehending what you were/are trying to achieve, if you are sure that the critic is in a place that they aren't actually capable of critically engaging the work, or if the critic has other motives which you can discern; then I think its fine to ignore them but otherwise any individual should at least listen to what is going on around them.

I think many will associate with your blog post. You are not alone

the_syco

Part of Celbridge Camera Club. It's good. Have a meeting every Mnday, and usually have a guest speaker, or one of the people there talks about how they take shots. Last year, lots of compos. This year, I think the compos won't be themed. They encourage people to get distinctions, and will help you out. There are workshops on bank holidays (haen't been to one yet - usually recovering from a hangover, or getting back from some far away lands), and over the summer when there was no meetings on, a group of us would meet up and take photos of somewhere.

Have yet to do any compos, as I'm still getting used to the camera.

New members are welcome, and are encouraged to join.

Oh, and as for groups, they exist, but in a good way. They are the people that will volunteer to be committee members, or those that will come out to shoot photos during the summer.

dubhoop

I myself recently joined a camera club at first i was a bit well nervous. as the evening went on i realised we were all in the same boat. now my pictures would not be fantastic i dont use photochop either. the people are really helpful and its a nice 2 hours every week. my club is Tallaght Photographic Society

stabo

Going to join Celbridge this monday. Been on about it for a while.

Lady_North1

Went to a camera club with a friend, won't say which one, but was not impressed at all. Not one person spoke to us. Interesting talk on lighting one week which was very helpful but we felt that we were outsiders just sitting and listening. Went back again, thinking that maybe it was because there was a speaker in that there was no time for "Chat" or a chance to ask for hints or advice on photography. Same again, someone stood up and spoke to the group, then they showed their photos from their monthly competition, picked a winner and that was it. Not once did anyone even make eye contact with us. We tried to say hello but were blanked by the members. We really felt like we were invisible. Never went back. Are all camera clubs like this, I imagined there might be a chance to just chat among members and ask advice. Instead it was like sitting at a lecture.

harr

Lady_North1 wrote: »

Went to a camera club with a friend, won't say which one, but was not impressed at all. Not one person spoke to us. Interesting talk on lighting one week which was very helpful but we felt that we were outsiders just sitting and listening. Went back again, thinking that maybe it was because there was a speaker in that there was no time for "Chat" or a chance to ask for hints or advice on photography. Same again, someone stood up and spoke to the group, then they showed their photos from their monthly competition, picked a winner and that was it. Not once did anyone even make eye contact with us. We tried to say hello but were blanked by the members. We really felt like we were invisible. Never went back. Are all camera clubs like this, I imagined there might be a chance to just chat among members and ask advice. Instead it was like sitting at a lecture.

i think so,i joined one at start of year paid my 6 month membership and went to 4 meeting and i had enough everybody jusy blanked me i sat on my own for the 4 meetings.i did try to engage them with no luck.i am new to photography only got my camera last year and was looking to pick up some usefull info not once did anyone explain anything to me a lot of the time the terms sounded forgen.i do take a good photo and have a good eye for shots,i was not looking for somebody to teach me just a little push in the right direction.i wont be joining another one in a hurry as i was made feel very small and stupid in the last one.some of them even turned there noses up at my camera i know its not the best but with the new lens it cost me over 1200 euro and had been saveing over a year for it.i am in my 30's and am a member of other type of clubs but i have seen anything like that.

LeoB

I was in a camera club before but for a variety of reasons stopped going. Mainly due to the fact there was nothing planned and all that seemed to happen was talk, but in fairness I was also heavily involved in G.A.A at the time so could not give it the time it deserved. I tried to make contact with them during the spring of this year but got no reply to an email I sent so thought that was that.

Then a new Library opened in our town, Rush Co.Dublin and when chatting to one of the staff the idea of a camera club came up and next Thursday we have our first meeting. (I am counting down the days) We have about 20 names and our plan is to introduce each other and have some suggestions on what will happen in the next 6 months. Already we have a trip planned and the idea is we will meet up the week after the trip and see how we all got on and how we can help each other to improve, which to me is the essance of a club like this. We have a mix of people who vary from beginners to intermediate

We have a number of heading we want to tackle

• Local Landscape
• Local buildings (the library is in a restored 1760 church, fantastic building)
• Portraits
• Still Life
• Sports

Our aim is to have an exhibition next June to mark the first anniversary of the library opening as a thankyou to Fingal C.C for providing such a superb facility. Any thoughts welcome. Maybe some BOARDS member might come down to us some night???

So if you are around Rush next Thursday drop in to the Library @ 7

(We have since learned the other club is still going and some of them are not best pleased):rolleyes:. I think some will join each club

the_syco

stabo wrote: »

Going to join Celbridge this monday. Been on about it for a while.

Good lad. Although it kicks off at 8, try to be there at 20 minutes to, as everyone stands around chatting to each other. It usually goes on for about two hours, and then there's tea afterwards. If you want, you can follow them to the pub afterwards. It's in a hall in between the entrance of Castletown House, and the church. See here

On the 4th, there's a guest speaker, Tony Worobiec - Fine Art & Landscape. Glad I checked, as there's some competition "hand in" which gets judged next week. There's a workshop on the bank holiday (25th), if you have a laptop, and want to learn how to process images in Photoshop. Keep meaning to goto these workshops, so may get to this one, if I'm not drinking :P

harr wrote: »

it cost me over 1200 euro and had been saveing over a year for it.i am in my 30's and am a member of other type of clubs but i have seen anything like that.

:eek: holy f**k. Mine only cost €511, but only got a basic lens with it. But yeah, that sounds very sh|tty (the snobs, not the camera).

=-=

The camera club sometimes organises a class that goes on for a few months to teach you the basics of photography: did it before buying a camera, but it's probably more use to you if you have a camera, so you can test the things you learn after each night.

Mountainsandh

Great thread thanks Carrigman and other posters. I've been meaning to join one of the seemingly very friendly and good clubs around for ages, but well no time and... it's a bit daunting. I have been self teaching with the internet, and well, never had someone's real opinion except for online c&c... so I'd feel like such an ignoramus going to a club. I think I will some time though, I can see how useful (and enjoyable if you meet the right crowd) it would be. Thread helps making it a bit less daunting.

sineadw

Hmmm and hmmm... been avoiding this thread from differing emotions..

I'm on the fence. I love that my club (DCC) has so many great facilities - a studio and darkrooms (darkrooms!) that are so easily accessible for members. And in fairness I don't feel it has the cliquishness or elitism that a lot have observed here. Plus it runs a terrific amount of trips and workshops and courses from beginner level up. Which reminds me - I really have to do something about the PS course I'm supposed to be running..

BUT: Again, far too much emphasis on competition. WTF is that about? And the camera club mentality of certain things in focus/OOF/rules in general really pi$$es me off. I know how to take a technically perfect photo, thank you. I am aware of the rule of thirds also. Anyone who reads a book is aware of the rule of thirds. I find the shots that 'do well' to be terribly formulaic and a photography-by-numbers yawnfest. And here's why I've been avoiding this thread: it's the same here. I'm ducking to avoid the crossfire. But it's why I don't come here so much anymore. Anything that doesn't fit into the club mentality is a no-go.

It'd be nice to see that change..

nilhg

Almost two years ago (as a result of a post on here) I went to a meeting which led to the setting up of South Kildare Photography Club, there were 7 of us at the start and that quickly enough went up to 15 or so. Only one of us had ever been part of a camera club before so I suppose we came to it with a reasonably open view of how we wanted to do things. For the first while we were really quite informal, but as our fame spread;) and the membership grew we had to become more "traditional". While I'm sure that we haven't done everything (or even most things) right I'd be reasonably confident that our members are getting something out of our meetings and I'd be sorry to think that a new member might come and get a response like the one Harr and Lady_North received, if anyone here wants to pop along on a Thursday night just PM me and I'll make sure you get a proper introduction.

While in principle I'd agree with a lot of what John has to say in his blog post I'm not entirely sure that I'd be too worried about competitions and judging, in my limited experience with interclub competitions sometimes I think that the committee picking the panels are more conservative than the judges and with our own internal competitions quite often the judges will pick up on things that I'd have missed, as long as you are not too competitive and have confidence in your own judgement then usually you can take something useful from the experience.

TBH though it's the social aspect that I really like, it's nice to get away for a while and meet folks who share your interest.

dinneenp

5 iron...

I'm going to go along to the Galway Camera Club and see what it's like, what they do etc. I've heard good things.
I think it'd be nice if people brought in their lenses and you could try them out (during the meeting) to get an idea in case you're interested in buying one.

CabanSail

sineadw wrote: »

BUT: Again, far too much emphasis on competition. WTF is that about? And the camera club mentality of certain things in focus/OOF/rules in general really pi$$es me off. I know how to take a technically perfect photo, thank you. I am aware of the rule of thirds also. Anyone who reads a book is aware of the rule of thirds. I find the shots that 'do well' to be terribly formulaic and a photography-by-numbers yawnfest. And here's why I've been avoiding this thread: it's the same here. I'm ducking to avoid the crossfire. But it's why I don't come here so much anymore. Anything that doesn't fit into the club mentality is a no-go.

It'd be nice to see that change..

The Club Competition is a Genre which seems to stick to rules and it resists change away from the "norm". I really liked it at DCC when we would get a Judge who would look past the "rules" and get stuck into why an image works (or not). It seems to be international as it's the same back here, but probably more conservative. There are groups within DCC which are quite different and pursue different standards to assess images, like the Documentary Group.

sineadw

CabanSail wrote: »

The Club Competition is a Genre which seems to stick to rules and it resists change away from the "norm". I really liked it at DCC when we would get a Judge who would look past the "rules" and get stuck into why an image works (or not). It seems to be international as it's the same back here, but probably more conservative. There are groups within DCC which are quite different and pursue different standards to assess images, like the Documentary Group.

Yep - Paddy and the documentary group rock And I'll never forget yerman from tallaght judging, telling people "it's a rock. It'll be there in 300 years. Go take pictures of people!" Those judges were too few and far between though. Or maybe its that the members were too wary of rocking the boat that the judges had no other choice? I dunno. It needs to change for me to feel I belong or have any real contribution to make though.

stcstc

i like sinead have been avoiding this thread and biting my lip a bit

2 years ago having got sick of the way a camera club was being run. i and a few others left and setup a new club. But the plan was to keep the club active and always energetic.

the first year this worked well, the club programme was very active, more outings etc than sitting listening to people

some people like the competition thing, i will enter when i have time but dont stress about it.

we had a judge the other night who told me my shot was too sharp, (not over sharpened) and it needed blur trails out the back, it was a panning shot of a BTCC car. now his response came out of the camera club rule book rather than thinking outside the camera club mentality.

now the other thing that has happened, like it will in any other club, is thinks have slowed down in our club, the programme seems less active, more listening to people talk rather than taking pictures, and the social bit of the pub afterwards has almost died, whichis such a shame.

But i guess when you get such a large group this always happenens

katiemaloe

Hi all, This is an interesting topic and one I've been thinking about for a while. I haven't joined a camera club before but have printed lots of thier competition pictures etc.... (I work in a camera shop / photo lab) I think I probably will pop along to my local club just to see what its like anyway. I have always gotten the feeling that the emphasis is on the usual formal technicalities such as sharp focus, composition, very controlled, formal photos with lots of rules. Classy portraits, very smart scenic shots, clean, executive calendar kind of photos. Competing and the judging of what is a good photo doesn't massively appeal either.I don't mean to offend anyone, just don't think it would be my cuppa tea.

I think the idea of being in a club and learning and sharing photography tricks appeals very much. I think the social aspect of lots of people meeting up with a shared interest is a very good thing.... bit of a laugh, meet new people and learn a few new and different ways of doing things.
I have been thinking of setting up a new photography club but where things are a bit different. I have lots of ideas still spinning in my mind about it. Different projects, thinking outside the box, and "break all the rules" kinda photography. Like shooting out of focus, messing about with colours, crossed processed slide (I'm a big fan of film so lots to play with there). maybe everyone doing a big camera obscura together. making pinhole cameras, I'd love to see other peoples quirky ideas for photos, just to push the boundries a bit. I bet it could be fun, interesting and and good to see the different results and experimental photography.

I think its important to learn too and I would certainly be open to helping with any camera, film, printing queries etc... But I like the idea of everyone being in the club together, rather than a strict lecturer, audience kind of set up. That everyone can bounce ideas and knowledge around. I still have a bit more work to do before I set it up but its certainly on my urgent to-do list! Do feel free to PM me if any of ye are interested or have any ideas or suggestions! Well I'll stop babbling now! Just a few of my thoughts on a different kind of photo club

CabanSail

In one way I can see the value in the formula type of competitive process. It does often conform to the rules, sometimes too much and without much imagination. The thing is you really need to know how to acheive shots that fit the rules before you can effectively break them.

Many years ago I was involved in a Theatric Group. A group of guys put on an item which was a parody of Swan Lake. You know the sort of thing, big boofy guys in Tutu's, Football Boots and tights doing Ballet. The thing they soon discovered was that to send up the ballet they first had to learn how to dance it quite well. They all went along to classes and spent a lot of time getting the moves required technically correct. It was only when they had acheived that level of proficientcy that the version where they stuffed it up was effective. The audience could see that these guys could actually dance very well which then made the awkward moves very funny. Without the control they had the only joke would have been the visual effect of the disjointed costumes. This is a long winded anecdote to say that there is a difference, a huge difference, between making mistakes due to lack of control of the image and a photographer who sets out to break the rules. I think this is why some of this type of work is effective and a lot doesn't. I think the viewer has to see that there is still control in the image even if it's managing chaos.

The Camera Club type of Judging has it's value to establish that discipline to help develop the control over light and exposure with the "rules". Knowing how to comply to the rules gives one the tools to break the rules much more effectively than someone who is just justifying a lack of expertise.

BTW ... The guys kept going to Ballet Classes long after the show had finished as they found it better practice for playing Football than what they were doing before. Ohhhh and there were some nice Ballerinas there as well!

CabanSail

sineadw wrote: »

Yep - Paddy and the documentary group rock

Paddy and the Doco Group are cool. They are another aspect of DCC. I think for a Camera Club to be effective there needs to be more than just competitions. IMHO DCC is a good club as it does promote lots of diverse areas of photography and is not just about competitions.

sineadw wrote: »

And I'll never forget yerman from tallaght judging, telling people "it's a rock. It'll be there in 300 years. Go take pictures of people!" Those judges were too few and far between though. Or maybe its that the members were too wary of rocking the boat that the judges had no other choice? I dunno. It needs to change for me to feel I belong or have any real contribution to make though.

All the Judges used at DCC were assessed and there is records kept as to who should be invited back. It is hard to find people to do the job and it can be hard to get two a month which have not been there for a while. Those that give a passionate appraisal, like the one referred to above, are highly valued.

If you know people who would have the experience and would make a "good judge" why not suggest them. It's a way to start changing the way things are done.

artyeva

uugggh the very idea of camera clubs brings me out in a rash...

there's a lot to be said for them if you're getting what you want out of them, fair play, off you go. But i don't like it [in real life as well as on here] when the camera club ''logic'' - and by that i mean the usual rule of thirds, focus, sharpness b*llsh1t - is used by some as the yardstick of bee-all and end-all. err... it's not.

i wanna join katie's camera club. ooh, y'see?! there's the name there already i'd love it of there was a club down here in bogland with a few people who had an interest in photography [rather than pwetty pictures] and were up for trying some different stuff. i tried when i moved here first, but just like the film club and the book club there just aren't any peeps where i live who have an interest in ... well.... anything!!

I think Drogheda could do with a new club. I'd do it myself, if I could. Call it the Super Duper Camera Club (SDCC). Anyone interested?...


EDIT; actually, I'd say it's fairly easy to set a club up. Hmm...

Carrigman

Thanks to everyone for responding to my initial post. Clearly, the subject of camera clubs is one that is of interest to a great many people.

Here is a very funny link that shows how classic photographs might be reviewed were they to appear on the web for the first time...or by a certain type of camera club judge!

http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/2006/06/great-photographers-on-internet.html

sineadw

Ah i'd forgotten about that one - brilliant!

stabo

the_syco wrote: »

Good lad. Although it kicks off at 8, try to be there at 20 minutes to, as everyone stands around chatting to each other. It usually goes on for about two hours, and then there's tea afterwards. If you want, you can follow them to the pub afterwards. It's in a hall in between the entrance of Castletown House, and the church. See here

On the 4th, there's a guest speaker, Tony Worobiec - Fine Art & Landscape. Glad I checked, as there's some competition "hand in" which gets judged next week. There's a workshop on the bank holiday (25th), if you have a laptop, and want to learn how to process images in Photoshop. Keep meaning to goto these workshops, so may get to this one, if I'm not drinking :P


:eek: holy f**k. Mine only cost €511, but only got a basic lens with it. But yeah, that sounds very sh|tty (the snobs, not the camera).

=-=

The camera club sometimes organises a class that goes on for a few months to teach you the basics of photography: did it before buying a camera, but it's probably more use to you if you have a camera, so you can test the things you learn after each night.

Cheers for the info,looking forward to it.

LeoB

LeoB wrote: »

I was in a camera club before but for a variety of reasons stopped going. Mainly due to the fact there was nothing planned and all that seemed to happen was talk, but in fairness I was also heavily involved in G.A.A at the time so could not give it the time it deserved. I tried to make contact with them during the spring of this year but got no reply to an email I sent so thought that was that.

Then a new Library opened in our town, Rush Co.Dublin and when chatting to one of the staff the idea of a camera club came up and next Thursday we have our first meeting. (I am counting down the days) We have about 20 names and our plan is to introduce each other and have some suggestions on what will happen in the next 6 months. Already we have a trip planned and the idea is we will meet up the week after the trip and see how we all got on and how we can help each other to improve, which to me is the essance of a club like this. We have a mix of people who vary from beginners to intermediate


We have a number of heading we want to tackle

• Local Landscape
• Local buildings (the library is in a restored 1760 church, fantastic building)
• Portraits
• Still Life
• Sports

Our aim is to have an exhibition next June to mark the first anniversary of the library opening as a thankyou to Fingal C.C for providing such a superb facility. Any thoughts welcome. Maybe some BOARDS member might come down to us some night???

Just an update.

We started our Club Group last Thursday and 28 turned up. We decided not to have club in the title as we want a more informal setting as most are totally new to photography. No joining fee and no fee for meetings or meet ups as yet. We do plan however to get some equipment and when this happens we will charge a max €3 per member per month. Again we want people to participate and feel by going down this route our group will be more user friendly

We gave out a questionaire and that will decide our course for the next 6 - 8 months. It was fairly alog the lines of my earlier post There were 4 or 5 experienced people there and each came forward and offered to take a small group and we have our first outing this Sunday.

Thanks to Paul W for his offer to come down to us some night and hopefully one or two more from here might come down at some stage.

LeoB

sNarah

Leo, thanks for the update! Sounds like an interesting concept, and 28 is a very good amount to start off with. Might be interesting to share what suggestions you get from the survey. I think it's important to ensure expeditions are organized, even if it's walking around the local village and capturing it in it's finest form, I always learn a lot from watching other people and discussing "the shot" while you're taking it.

I might have a suggestion for you for one of the nights, just to have a quick word with the other people involved in what I have in mind, I'll get back to you!

stcstc

be very careful with getting equipment and arranging outings without any insurance etc

if someone gets hurt by the groups equipment or on an outing, your gonna be in bother


so you need some income, the cost f insurance is around 400 euros a year for a club

i know of a club who bought lights, with the plan or hiring them out to the members, they then found out if there was an accident, the committee were personally liable, as their insurance didnt cover this properly. and there wasnt a was of covering correctly without getting a commercial hire type insurance policy

ThOnda

For example, this week there was a judge explaining his opinions (a competition, of course) and there was quite nice portrait of a child. A little cliche, but nice. It was from the eye-level and the kid was lying on her belly with arms forward. It was shot with quite open aperture, so the eyes were lovely sharp and everything else (by laws of optics) become softer and didn't drag the attention away from the face and the eyes. And the comment was "those hands are not sharp..." - without any other explanation or so.

Question is - do I really want to hear opinion on my pictures from a person like that? Do I want to hear any opinion from a person like that? I am getting better feedback on Flickr!

That does not mean, that there are no lovely and interesting people that make all the time worth waiting for a talk after the "judging". Well, judging...

Camera club for me is the opportunity to meet people and to talk about photography. One hour in DCC Mk. II (Devitts) is much more valuable for me than two hours of listening to somebody's opinions.

magicbastarder

i went to my first camera club event in years earlier this week. i'd been to a few events fo a camera club a few years back, because my dad asked me to come along to show some photos, but i did find it to be more of a camera club than a photography club.

i was pleasantly surprised with the meeting on monday - it was a DCC workshop on documentary photography, and the people there (well, it was about half and half an impromptu group of my friends and the rest DCC people) were more interested in talking about the point of photography than the mechanics, which was refreshing from my previously (limited) experience. i can see myself going back.

Mountainsandh

hhhmmm... haven't had a chance to join a club or do a course yet, and thought really I should, but now after reading every one's comments, not so sure anymore.
I do want to meet nice people, and learn from people's tips and comments and pics, but a very narrow minded "technically correct" set of people would really p*** me off.
Then again, if you're just starting like me, the bit of technicality is a good thing too I suppose.

The other side of the coin though is arty-fartiness, and that would annoy me too big time.

What I would want from a club are people that are technical and arty enough to learn something from them (and to enjoy the interaction and pics of course), but not too technical, and not too arty farty. That's not too much to ask is it ? I find the boards photography section is not over technically minded, and arty fartiness is kept in check .

Suppose I'll just have to try to find out what my local club is like.

CabanSail

Mountainsandh wrote: »

What I would want from a club are people that are technical and arty enough to learn something from them (and to enjoy the interaction and pics of course), but not too technical, and not too arty farty. That's not too much to ask is it ? I find the boards photography section is not over technically minded, and arty fartiness is kept in check .

Suppose I'll just have to try to find out what my local club is like.

Each club is going to be different and how it operates is a sum of the people involved. In saying that, people who have more influence can shift that more than others less involved. Once things are established then that way will generally be reinforced as those that like it will remain but if it's not to your taste then they will not join or leave.

When I first attended DCC I mainly liked the way the club but there were a few things which I thought could be improved. I raised these matters with members of the Council and was expecting a neagative response. That was not the case and they were open to new ideas, as long as I was prepared to help implement them. I did that and enjoyed doing it.

I must say that most of the people I was associated with at DCC were far more driven by the image rather than the technology. This forum here has much more emphasis on gear IMHO.

Camera Club Competitions are a Genre and you sort of need to know how they operate when getting involved. I do enter & also try to push the envelope a bit too.

Anyway .... you do get out what you are prepared to put in. I was hoping that Thonda would nominate for Council at DCC as he would have stirred things up there a bit like I used to. Maybe next March?

xia

magicbastarder wrote: »

i went to my first camera club event in years earlier this week. i'd been to a few events fo a camera club a few years back, because my dad asked me to come along to show some photos, but i did find it to be more of a camera club than a photography club.

i was pleasantly surprised with the meeting on monday - it was a DCC workshop on documentary photography, and the people there (well, it was about half and half an impromptu group of my friends and the rest DCC people) were more interested in talking about the point of photography than the mechanics, which was refreshing from my previously (limited) experience. i can see myself going back.

And it was lovely meeting you there!

I have to agree, I love that documentary workshop. Even though I still haven't done a real documentary project, I love to listen to the people there - especially as they have a similar approach to photography like I have - like the name says: documentary and not changing pictures in ways that weren't there in the first place.

As for the weekly meetings. I go there because there's usually always something to learn - or to smile about. Like this Tuesday on the competion judging. Like Thonda said, some comments were to smile about, like the mentioned baby picture (I found it very good too). Or my own pics. My personal favourite (a rose, but taken with a close up lens on a zoom lens) got 15 points out of 50 and the second (a snap taken on a compact just for the fun of it) got 40 points...So I take part in the competitions just to hear another opinion but definitely not taking it seriously.

But to talk about photography and getting more tips the documentary workshop and Devitts is definitely more suitable I think.

GalwayMarion

A very helpful thread, and now I am sure that I will join a camera club, all I have to do is find the right one!

LeoB

LeoB wrote: »

Just an update.

We started our Club Group last Thursday and 28 turned up. We decided not to have club in the title as we want a more informal setting as most are totally new to photography. No joining fee and no fee for meetings or meet ups as yet. We do plan however to get some equipment and when this happens we will charge a max €3 per member per month. Again we want people to participate and feel by going down this route our group will be more user friendly

We gave out a questionaire and that will decide our course for the next 6 - 8 months. It was fairly alog the lines of my earlier post There were 4 or 5 experienced people there and each came forward and offered to take a small group and we have our first outing this Sunday.

Thanks to Paul W for his offer to come down to us some night and hopefully one or two more from here might come down at some stage.

LeoB

Well we had our first outing on Sunday and it was a resounding success, well that was the opinion of all who were there. Following on from our first meeting this outing helped us get to know each other a little and there was plenty of banter thanks to a few charachters:D. We had 28 at our first meeting and expected/hoped about 10-12 people on Sunday. We had 15 with a few emails from people who had to work and had family commitments so we were happy with that. We have 3 new people coming on Thursday. If it all level off at 20 we will be happy.

We were in groups of 4 and we just went to a local estuary and took some photos. We shared tips and meet on Thursday and will have a look at how we got on.

Thanks to the Boards.ie members for the good luck P.M s and the advice. We will be discussing some issues raised this week. While I said initally we didnt want to be a "club" I can see the benefits of that structure and so can others in the group, I have a feeling I will have a job before I get home Thursday night BUT we really do want it to remain as much social as serious. Balance!!

I will keep in touch and fill ye in later what we decide to do.
sNarah will pm you later in week.

Thanks again Boards.ie for your tips and advice
LeoB