Are you a member of your local photography club?

[Andrew]

Whilst I am not currently a member of my local photography club, just curious if anybody else is and what you get out of it?

I am tempted to join my local one purely for ease of organising scenic spots and somebody to talk to to not make the day so lonely, however I do wonder how much kit snobbery exists and that perceived geek talk. I enjoy talking about camera and gear but ISO and best settings isn’t something I enjoy talking about and would rather just get on with the picture with settings tailored for each shot.

What has been your experience with joining or being in a club?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I got into photography just before the Coronapocalypse, so I have yet to join a club physically. Online however, I joined two on Facebook and they are a bit disappointing. Same questions every time somebody posts a nice shot: "what settings/lens did you use?"... it gets old quickly. The level of lens snobbery on the Facebook group for the a6400 alpha shooters is sometimes a turnoff too.

So I've found photography to be a bit of a solo hobby, but I hope you join a local club and have a totally different experience!

 

[Paul stuart]

Whilst I am not currently a member of my local photography club, just curious if anybody else is and what you get out of it?

I am tempted to join my local one purely for ease of organising scenic spots and somebody to talk to to not make the day so lonely, however I do wonder how much kit snobbery exists and that perceived geek talk. I enjoy talking about camera and gear but ISO and best settings isn’t something I enjoy talking about and would rather just get on with the picture with settings tailored for each shot.

What has been your experience with joining or being in a club?

yes a local camera club member which does help with photography it gets you photographing genres that you would not normally ,although everything does get the judge treatment and they are kind of taught to judge in certain way and look for certain aspects ,it is more for creative style intent,story telling and lighting that scores highly ,it kind levels out the gear snobbery. i scored well with small sensors and less exotic lenses.

 

[Clix Pix]

I find that while I can enjoy learning from other people and the occasional socializing aspect, I really much prefer shooting on my own, by myself, going at my own pace and observing what I want to see and potentially shoot. Too often with several other photographers around, everyone's talking, setting up tripods, doing this-and-that and I find that distracting. Then just about the time I'm getting into "the zone" everyone else is packing up and moving on to the next destination.....

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

I've never seen the appeal to be honest, because over the years I've met enough club members who are complete gear snobs, and I've seen the judging results from some and just thought that they are very cliquey, because a photo that should have one has been ignored over that of a member of the clique. Not for me.

 

[pmenear]

I,ve been in 3 camera clubs over the years all with different characteristics due to the member/activity mix. Try a few until you find one you like and if you don't find one then you still will have learnt a few things along the way. The mix of members will let you find experience in the genres you like, technical advice from the geek members and trips out to new locations. There is a "club look" to the images submitted for judging due to the national/international salon competition circuit which can help your own images. Developing your own style is more important just don't expect these images to do well in "club" competiotions even though they might do well in open competitions. When I'm out photographing I shoot with 4 different style/edits in mind depending on the target audinces I will submit to. If your interested in printing your own images clubs are a great source of knowledge.

 

[Boojum]

I am in a local club. Hmmm.

 

[Ralph]

I am with the local bird group here and I find if you are not in the inner circle your shots are not given the respect they deserve.
A few days back the head of our group posted a hard to get bird and got well over 30 likes.
Now for this page that is out of this world. The second Admin on the page posts up some good shots and gets the same respect.
This even goes for her not so good shots. A little side note is I use to take her out with me until she started to demand
who I have in my car, yes thats right my car. So I dropped her like a bad habit.

And from then on I don't get a look in even if the bird is really hard to get. If I get 5 likes I am doing really well.
I have thought of leaving the page but I feel like a dog to his owner I just can't walk away.
So I don't post there too often as I know the out come no matter what I post. I did do a test and it worked as I thought it would.
And then a day later some one will post the same sort of bird and get so many likes.
So loyalty isn't all it's meant to be.

So people on there are good, and you can learn a lot from them if you offer to take them out. Then you can pick their brain as it one on one.
So to that part its good to the posting its not and many times a bird will come back to the area and you ask to be stone walled.
I will stay with the hope in picking up some information along the way, and to only make comments here and there.

 

[Boojum]

I am with the local bird group here and I find if you are not in the inner circle your shots are not given the respect they deserve.
A few days back the head of our group posted a hard to get bird and got well over 30 likes.
Now for this page that is out of this world. The second Admin on the page posts up some good shots and gets the same respect.
This even goes for her not so good shots. A little side note is I use to take her out with me until she started to demand
who I have in my car, yes thats right my car. So I dropped her like a bad habit.

And from then on I don't get a look in even if the bird is really hard to get. If I get 5 likes I am doing really well.
I have thought of leaving the page but I feel like a dog to his owner I just can't walk away.
So I don't post there too often as I know the out come no matter what I post. I did do a test and it worked as I thought it would.
And then a day later some one will post the same sort of bird and get so many likes.
So loyalty isn't all it's meant to be.

So people on there are good, and you can learn a lot from them if you offer to take them out. Then you can pick their brain as it one on one.
So to that part its good to the posting its not and many times a bird will come back to the area and you ask to be stone walled.
I will stay with the hope in picking up some information along the way, and to only make comments here and there.

The unfortunate truth is that all these groups are run by people. And not all people know how to play in the sandbox. Some still like to hit and throw sand. And on committees and in groups they will operate on personality rather than principle. Believe in yourself. If you can do that you will be less dependent on small minds for approval. And just stay away from people who upset you.

It could possibly be a mark of honor not to be in the groups ruled by petty minds, eh?

 

[awdbugga]

I recently joined my local camera club in an effort to rekindle my interest in photography. I’m really enjoying it. Great bunch of people. Very friendly and helpful. One member popped round to my place for a couple of hours to help me out with Photoshop. I’d never met her in person before. So helpful. They have Zoom presentations ever week on different styles through the winter, with guest speakers from as far away as the USA. No equipment snobbery at all. The competitions are all good natured. Looks like I struck it lucky.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

I recently joined my local camera club in an effort to rekindle my interest in photography. I’m really enjoying it. Great bunch of people. Very friendly and helpful. One member popped round to my place for a couple of hours to help me out with Photoshop. I’d never met her in person before. So helpful. They have Zoom presentations ever week on different styles through the winter, with guest speakers from as far away as the USA. No equipment snobbery at all. The competitions are all good natured. Looks like I struck it lucky.

That's the sort of club I wouldn't mind being in.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I recently joined my local camera club in an effort to rekindle my interest in photography. I’m really enjoying it. Great bunch of people. Very friendly and helpful. One member popped round to my place for a couple of hours to help me out with Photoshop. I’d never met her in person before. So helpful. They have Zoom presentations ever week on different styles through the winter, with guest speakers from as far away as the USA. No equipment snobbery at all. The competitions are all good natured. Looks like I struck it lucky.

That's awesome!

 

[cdd29]

I'm a member of my local club and a not so local one. Nice for networking and socialization. I've picked up a few things and shared some knowledge too. No snobbery, though there are a few annoying people but you'll get that anywhere.