Photography Foot off the Gas

[BananaRepublic]

there is never any kind of advice or tutorials given to rectify the problems which would or should improve the whole groups images mine included.

there seems to be a kind of cold war attitude amongst the better people.

In my experience (three camera clubs over the years) they fixate on competitions and on certain technical flaws and there often seems to be little else going on. In one competition one of the member judges gave most of the images a very low score based on the fact that they were "not sharp," which means they did not look perfectly sharp when projected at a size of about four feet on the long side and viewed by him from about four feet away. In my opinion this quest for ultimate sharpness is foolish because many wonderful images that will appear perfectly sharp as 11x14 prints viewed at arm's length will be tossed out in favor of images that appear equally sharp as prints but look a little sharper projected, even if the former are better images in terms of composition, etc.

They also tend to think of composition in terms of "rules," of which they have about five or six, some of which are not consistent with what you can read about composition in some of the classic books on the subject. It may help to take a little break from that environment and go shoot what you want how you want.

It makes me very sad to hear about the "cold war" thing - the club I am in currently, for all its flaws, does not have this problem.

I use the phrase "Its cut your own throat sharpe" .

 

[fmw]

Perhaps the better approach would be to ignore the competition and just shoot what appeals to you. You can compete with results or not and you are a winner either way.

 

[Dikkie]

Keep your head up.
Don't throw your camera away, yet.
Just get out of that photo club.
Take your time... relax. Do some other stuff, hobbies to distract yourself.
And some day, you want to make a picture again., ... and again, and maybe your hobby starts again rollin'.

Try other photo opportunities and challenges, Instagram, Flickr, ...

 

[Dikkie]

Perhaps the better approach would be to ignore the competition and just shoot what appeals to you. You can compete with results or not and you are a winner either way.

Indeed, competition is not always a good thing.
It gives stress and frustrates mostly.

Just shoot what you like, no rules. Some people will ever like what you do, maybe they're not born yet.
Reminds me of the story of that musician that had no fans... he finally committed suicide, and 20-30 after his death some dude discovered his music, liked it, shared it and it became a hit by a lot of music lovers.

 

[runnah]

I got bored with it honestly, now I ride bikes and spend all my money and time on that.

 

[table1349]

I got bored with it honestly, now I ride bikes and spend all my money and time on that.

Ooohhhh. Isn't it hard moderating this form from the saddle of a bike???

 

[runnah]

I got bored with it honestly, now I ride bikes and spend all my money and time on that.

Ooohhhh. Isn't it hard moderating this form from the saddle of a bike???

Ironically, both activities are a pain in the ass.

 

[table1349]

I got bored with it honestly, now I ride bikes and spend all my money and time on that.

Ooohhhh. Isn't it hard moderating this form from the saddle of a bike???

Ironically, both activities are a pain in the ass.

I KNEW THIS was YOU.

 

[runnah]

I got bored with it honestly, now I ride bikes and spend all my money and time on that.

Ooohhhh. Isn't it hard moderating this form from the saddle of a bike???

Ironically, both activities are a pain in the ass.

I KNEW THIS was YOU.

Ha, im too old to be a hipster.

 

[table1349]

I got bored with it honestly, now I ride bikes and spend all my money and time on that.

Ooohhhh. Isn't it hard moderating this form from the saddle of a bike???

Ironically, both activities are a pain in the ass.

I KNEW THIS was YOU.

Ha, im too old to be a hipster.

Sorry, wrong photo. Here you go.

 

[BananaRepublic]

Keep your head up.
Don't throw your camera away, yet.
Just get out of that photo club.
Take your time... relax. Do some other stuff, hobbies to distract yourself.
And some day, you want to make a picture again., ... and again, and maybe your hobby starts again rollin'.

Try other photo opportunities and challenges, Instagram, Flickr, ...

I am not going to throw it away thats for sure

 

[smoke665]

Keep your head up.
Don't throw your camera away, yet.
Just get out of that photo club.
Take your time... relax. Do some other stuff, hobbies to distract yourself.
And some day, you want to make a picture again., ... and again, and maybe your hobby starts again rollin'.

Try other photo opportunities and challenges, Instagram, Flickr, ...

I am not going to throw it away thats for sure

I'm not sure your age but the dilemma for me was when I was young and had time, I didn't have money, then while the kids were growing up I didn't have either. In the empty nest years when I finally had the money to really spend on hobbies, I was focused on business and had no time. Now that I've retired I have the time but back to the no money. Life isn't fair!

 

[chuasam]

Photography clubs suck.
Are you taking pictures to win contests or taking pictures for yourself?

 

[dennybeall]

I'd just like to second the fact that PHOTOGRAPHY CLUBS SUCK in my experience. The one near me has a little clique that sits in front, talks to each other and ignores all but their buddies and judges photos on how in focus they are. The composition can be crummy but if it's SHARP it's great. They give each other Points for good photos and awards for the most points.

 

[Dikkie]

I'm not sure your age but the dilemma for me was when I was young and had time, I didn't have money, then while the kids were growing up I didn't have either. In the empty nest years when I finally had the money to really spend on hobbies, I was focused on business and had no time. Now that I've retired I have the time but back to the no money. Life isn't fair!

Sad to hear... don't let your head hang down.

I'm in a current state of being 33 lately... but still feeling 16.
2 young kids, not much time for hobbies (unless exceptionally this week).

I have the gear I need now, low budget consumer range, I don't need expensive pro-gear as I'm not a photographer as profession. Years ago, when shooting film, I bought a second hand 6x6 Lubitel camera on a flea market, for $20.
I was on a photo forum too then and let my pics scan to put online. I enjoyed it very very much. Didn't have to cost much.
However, if I now look back to the bad quality images I made back in those days, not good anymore to put online nowadays to compete against pro DSLR photoshopped photos.

Besides that, you don't always need big money to be happy.
Think about those low-budget travellers like this guy:
Extreme Budget Traveling (Less Than $10 a Day) with Tomislav from Croatia

I once read an article about some guy already travelling for more than 7 years, starting with almost no budget.