Ideas for photo club

LifeIn35mm · Mar 11, 2015

Users of APUG,

I have started a photo club at my high school and don't have any ideas of things to do. So I thought that I would ask APUG to see if any of you have any ideas. I am definitely wanting to critiques however.

Thanks,
Griffin

Sirius Glass · Mar 11, 2015

Set a theme goal each month. For example: photos next to the water, old buildings or ruins, bridges. See http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/ for more ideas.

chriscrawfordphoto · Mar 11, 2015

Are you a teacher or student?

ME Super · Mar 11, 2015

I'd suggest perusing the themes used for the(there was a url link here which no longer exists) for ideas. A couple recent ones that came to mind are "High Noon" and "Water Isolation."

Above all, let the members be creative with whatever you decide to do!

LifeIn35mm · Mar 11, 2015

chriscrawfordphoto said:
Are you a teacher or student?

Student.

Sirius Glass · Mar 11, 2015

Oh yes, welcome to APUG

NedL · Mar 11, 2015

Is there a darkroom at your school? If not, you could look around and try to find a rental darkroom in Boulder... it might be quite inexpensive if you can split the rental among several people.

polyglot · Mar 12, 2015

I was a member of Dead Link Removed when I lived in Perth. Have a good dig through their website to get ideas on the sorts of activities and workshops that they run. You will need to have some experienced people in your club or it's a blind-leading-the-blind kind of situation.

First thing you do should be a big group outing to socialise and build camaraderie within the club. Pick a night and everyone turns up at a designated spot in your city to do some night photography - it's interesting, a little difficult, different (many people have never tried it) and requires no specialist equipment beyond "a camera" so it shouldn't exclude anyone. You can even do it without a tripod if you can't even afford a $10 used one, and tripods are really easy to share.

Critiquing well is a difficult thing and most people suck at it. Read this, especially the NPN links near the bottom and try to use that as the basis for your critique sessions. Organise a formal critique session a month after your first shared outing: everyone brings their best print in an agreed size, they all get put up on the wall anonymously, and all get discussed in round-table fashion. Keep people focused. Remember to address both technical and artistic issues. Keep it impersonal and constructive.

MattKing · Mar 12, 2015

Encourage people to bring prints, and talk about what they like, what they didn't like, what they were trying to do, how they went about it and what they might like to do differently next time.

But most importantly, look at prints!

munz6869 · Mar 13, 2015

• Camera walks (train crawls) to interesting spots - some targeted to a specific theme (world pinhole day) or technique (light meter day)
• Photo exhibition group excursions, followed by a cuppa/beer to discuss the work
• A group exhibition (themed always works more smoothly)
• A group activity - we at the Melbourne Silver Mine have a thing called 'shoot a miner' - a portrait competition whereupon we compile the best shots of each other, screen 'em on a projector at a pub, and have various prizes
• Get involved as a group in someone else's event (with a specific outcome) - we'll document your thing and so you give us access and we'll give you access to our diverse and interesting pictures

Marc!

Joe VanCleave · Mar 13, 2015

Personally, I detest camera club photography contests, where images are scored on a points-based system, and members are given an annual points ranking, with an eventual "winner" announced. In the "real" art world (if there ever was such a thing...) the only "points" that matter are dollar signs. In an enthusiast club, a carefully moderated critique and discussion would benefit all members, while helping to grow the members' overall knowledge. Especially regarding creative pursuits, direct competition, pitting member against member, makes little sense.

~Joe

Sirius Glass · Mar 13, 2015

While I learned a lot from a camera club when I was in high school. I learned about cropping, composition, and exposure. Eventually I saw that it became about winning at the expense of others, all about beating everyone else. That is when I lost interest in camera clubs.

polyglot · Mar 14, 2015

Yeah, critique is good, scores and ranking are generally bad for the group dynamic.

TheToadMen · Mar 14, 2015

polyglot said:
Yeah, critique is good, scores and ranking are generally bad for the group dynamic.

It's just a word, but I don't give critique, only feedback.
And my feedback is often not expressed as an opinion but formulated as a question: "Wy did you .... ".
It gives the other person room to think and to make up his own mind. And find his own points of improvement.

And don't forget why you all started with photography in the first place (talk about that one night too).

"Have fun and catch that light beam"
Bert from Holland

polyglot · Mar 14, 2015

TheToadMen said:
It's just a word, but I don't give critique, only feedback.
And my feedback is often not expressed as an opinion but formulated as a question: "Wy did you .... ".
It gives the other person room to think and to make up his own mind. And find his own points of improvement.

And don't forget why you all started with photography in the first place (talk about that one night too).

"Have fun and catch that light beam"
Bert from Holland

I'm going to be an insensitive bastard and assume that English is not your first language, though you write it excellently and indeed better than many native speakers on APUG...

"Critique" certainly encompasses what you describe (a variation on the Socratic method for leading people to (self-)discovery) and doesn't just mean "criticism", which in turn does not just mean "negative comments".

Bill Burk · Mar 14, 2015

You could propose an "image whispering chain"... each student gets enough time to make a photograph, then gives it to the next student who "answers" the previous one... You end up with a chain, worthy of a show! Even if there is varying quality, the total will be greater than the sum of its parts. It would teach and reinforce visual communication skills better than any "verbal" or "written" instructions or assignment could do.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?119731-Image-whispering-chain-The-results&highlight=whispering

TheToadMen · Mar 14, 2015

polyglot said:
I'm going to be an insensitive bastard and assume that English is not your first language, though you write it excellently and indeed better than many native speakers on APUG...

You're quite right: I'm Dutch.

polyglot said:
"Critique" certainly encompasses what you describe (a variation on the Socratic method for leading people to (self-)discovery) and doesn't just mean "criticism", which in turn does not just mean "negative comments".

You're absolutely right. What I meant to say is that "critique" nowadays is (almost) only exercised as "criticism" and then only in a negative way - intended or not. Just look at the comments on (un)social media and even sometimes (not too often) on this forum.
But maybe this subtle distinction is in English speaking countries still present and commonly practiced. However, in The Netherlands (i.e. in Dutch) it is almost gone - sadly enough. So by adressing this in the group and agreeing not to give "critique" (= negative) but only "feedback" (= constructive), I hope all participants are (more) aware of the impact and usability of their comments on a photograph and the photographer.

TheToadMen · Mar 14, 2015

Bill Burk said:
You could propose an "image whispering chain"... each student gets enough time to make a photograph, then gives it to the next student who "answers" the previous one... You end up with a chain, worthy of a show! Even if there is varying quality, the total will be greater than the sum of its parts. It would teach and reinforce visual communication skills better than any "verbal" or "written" instructions or assignment could do.

http://www.largeformatphotography.i...pering-chain-The-results&highlight=whispering

I've done this during a long term photo course with the group. An excellent idea for a long term project ending in a wonderful series.

NedL · Mar 15, 2015

Bill Burk said:
You could propose an "image whispering chain"... each student gets enough time to make a photograph, then gives it to the next student who "answers" the previous one... You end up with a chain, worthy of a show! Even if there is varying quality, the total will be greater than the sum of its parts. It would teach and reinforce visual communication skills better than any "verbal" or "written" instructions or assignment could do.

http://www.largeformatphotography.i...pering-chain-The-results&highlight=whispering

What a cool idea; I've never heard of anything like that. We should have an on-going infinite APUG whispering chain... an endless stream of photos... it would contain seasons and currents and eddies and reflections. A river of years!

Ideas for photo club

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