Club photography

[Dinesh]

"I would never join a club that would have someone like me for a member"

Woody Allen, American

Actually, I think it was Groucho Marx.

 

[Dave Miller]

Actually, I think it was Groucho Marx.

It was.

 

[MattKing]

Actually, I think it was Groucho Marx.

But Woody Allen liked to quote him!

 

[Nige]

I think if you are choosing what and how to shoot based on how well some judges at a camera club are going to score your work, you are doing yourself a real disservice. Because if that's the case you're not shooting your own work, you're shooting their work. While it's possible that those judges have real experience and insight into what good work is, they could just as easily have no clue. In either case you are not expressing yourself but expressing what you think others appreciate.

Simple solution is to shoot what you love to shoot, maybe it'll score well, maybe it won't, but at least you're being true to yourself, and most likely it'll also be your best work.

agree!

The camera club I frequent has 'print competitions' once a month. There will be 75+ prints on the walls (sometimes many more) and the 'judge' comments on every one. Time means it will be brief, but if you can't glean a couple of useful comments or thoughts out of the night, then your not listening!

 

[David H. Bebbington]

Time means it will be brief, but if you can't glean a couple of useful comments or thoughts out of the night, then your not listening!

Camera-club judges are often a rich source of technical information, tips on technique, etc. Their advice and attitudes are, however, almost certain to be referenced backwards to what has been done before, and they are likely to be most receptive to minor (non-threatening) variations on what has been done before. They are likely to have little or no understanding of a conceptual approach (where it is the idea that counts) and are guaranteed not to be able to help anyone in any way who aims to be the next big thing in the art world!