Is anyone a member of their local photography club?

[StringThing]

I'm attending a meeting of a local photo club tonight in the hopes that I'll like what I see and join. Is anyone else here a member of their local club? Is there anything that you think I should know about beforehand or ask?

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

I am planning to join my local photo group/club as soon as my brain and my eyes start to talk to each other again.

 

[Stradawhovious]

I've often thought about joining my local photo club, but now knowing anything about it makes me leery.

 

[Vtec44]

I'm a member of a local club. There are a few good knowledgeable people in the club, but most are just people with nice cameras that stroke each other's ego.

 

[ClickAddict]

Hey Bus_Rider,
Are you talking about the one that meets at the University? I dropped in at the beginning of the summer and couldn't find them. Might have had that week off but their calendar showed there was supposed to be a meeting. If you do decide to go, let me know when and where.

 

[StringThing]

I'm a member of a local club. There are a few good knowledgeable people in the club, but most are just people with nice cameras that stroke each other's ego.

Yeah, not good.

 

[Johnboy2978]

I gave it a shot briefly. I contacted the leader ahead of time and learned that they have a monthly theme contest so I brought in my entry the first time so I could actively participate instead of just being a leach. I'm in my 30's and was looking for an arena where I could be around others w/ similar interest, desire to expand my knowledge, etc. The group was largely comprised of 60+ year old seniors. In retrospect, I should've expected that. Who else has the time? With a wife and child, I don't have a lot of spare free time to carve out either. I managed to take second place in their exhibit my first month and tied for first the second month. I didn't really get much meat at those meetings. They had a good layout with general discussion, a monthly seminar, then discussion of the exhibit entries. The problem however is that much of the group was really just snap shoters who just wanted a place to go. Thus, you have to play to the lowest common denominator and that keeps the bar pretty low in terms of discussions, lectures, and the "competitions". I decided not to go back after the second time. Didn't feel that my time investment was being well spent.

 

[KenC]

I'm a member of a local club. There are a few good knowledgeable people in the club, but most are just people with nice cameras that stroke each other's ego.

Yeah, not good.

Unfortunately, Vtec gives a pretty good summary. There is a discrete genre of "camera club pictures" which includes nature shots, some portraits and scenics (lighthouses seem to be a common obsession), and a few other things. I've been in three camera clubs over a long span of time and they are very consistent in this way. There is some difference in how badly they receive anything far out of the usual genre, like abstracts, city scenes, etc. In all of them, the judges mostly don't give anything outside the usual good scores, but in some the unusual stuff gets downright appalling scores, worse than images within the genre that have obvious technical defects.

Having said all that (venting is good), there are usually quite a few nice people with a genuine interest in photography, and even a few subversives who like the oddball stuff but just don't submit anything like that. I'm content to be in a club for these people and for some organized photo shoots at places I might not have gone otherwise. I just don't submit anything in competitions - I don't go there to get aggravated.

 

[MWC2]

I belong to one locally, the ages run from the younget being 13 years old to the oldest being in his late 60's (long time photographer, was a US military photographer for the Vietnam War). I like our club as we have a monthly meeting with a seminar and outings once a month. We've also talked about having mini-semiars on-line using google+ new features, we just haven't got past the planning stage.

I think it depends on the leader/coordinator and the group it's self as to what your going to get out of it. I think I might have lucked out and found a pretty good group right at the start up stage. I find I do get some great advice on the photos I submit for cc at our monthly meetings.

We also have a wide range of styles of photography in our group, some of the more artistic shots I have been exposed to I would never have looked twice at before but because of active discussion about the shot, I've learned to see them in a different way.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Hey Bus_Rider,
Are you talking about the one that meets at the University? I dropped in at the beginning of the summer and couldn't find them. Might have had that week off but their calendar showed there was supposed to be a meeting. If you do decide to go, let me know when and where.

Yeah, they call themselves the Focus Camera Club. They are not active during the summer... I think they run from February to June(ish). Their website/blog has recently been taken over by a different person and seems to be updated more regularly...

If you'd like to try it out... I'm willing to go with you. It'd be nice to meet you anyway: outside of TPF that is. My email is marklipton06@gmail.com if you want to set something up... Unfortunately, I can't drive atm, because of my eyes.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Tampa has a strobist group that regularly meets and has model shoots and such. I haven't had time to attend, I'm enrolled in the University Photo Certification program. This hobby takes my time and money!

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

I would look at what it costs to join vs what you get for that money. One of the biggest clubs I looked at here had so many active members, the monthly fees added up to make the guy who ran it like $2500 a month. Every meeting they had, you had to bring something or pay something. They would hold meetings at restaurants and stuff and say "oh you have to buy something cause its a business and they let us hold our meetings." I am all for supporting a business if I use their facilities, but at the same time, WTF do you need to meet at a restaurant for? They had a lot of members that I am sure learned from each other, but to me it seemed like a big sucker scheme. With the advent of the internet, I think it is much easier to join forums, or start your own groups ( isn't there a site called meetup.com or something that lets you do stuff like that?? ) Create a facebook page and start your own free club or find local people on the forums you use. I am sure there are some good clubs, but I just can't see the little bit I would pick up, being worth all of the monotonous events, money, and @ss kissing.

 

[spacefuzz]

I was a member of the Cleveland Photographic Society when I lived it Cleveland and it was great. reasonable dues, very active membership, had their own meeting hall, 4-8 group field trips a month, classes, competitions, and exhibits. Havnt been able to find anything that good out in LA though.....

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Cleveland Photographic Society is fantastic. It's like 100 years old, they have weekly meeting, frequent not open to the public photo trips, are active in the community, do tons of community service event shoots, frequent formal competitions with area professional judges (rotating), just for fun competitions, lectures...over 350 members, they have their own meeting hall, and only costs like $65 a year, plus fees for some field trips, but because of the membership numbers they are rather reasonable.

 

[pgriz]

Clubs are like any human grouping - some are filled with helpful and humble people, others feature cliquish arbitrators of taste and style. Some are well run, others are... fiefdoms compensating for the inadequacies of "real" life. The club I'm in has between 120-160 members (it varies by year to year), with weekly meetings, and a club executive that tries to be responsive to member input, needs and desires. There are some on the exec who appear to be on power trips, other who are genuinely interested in sharing and helping, and others who blow hot and cold. Overall, I'd say it was worth it (and continues to be), as I have met at least 10 professionals who make their living from this field and who have been very open in sharing their knowledge, techniques and insights. I have been fortunate in being accepted by them as a peer, even though I know my skill level is much, much less than theirs. I've learned very much by observing them in workshops, ,participating in mentoring sessions and sometimes going out on shooting challenges. But it really depends on finding the right group of people.