Join a camera club, develop new friendships

winger · Dec 21, 2008

I joined a club when I moved to PGH because I'd been in one in MA. I'd have to say that this earlier quote sums it up nicely:

The benifits are that the longer term members who have gone to the D side frequently have traditional camera equipment, darkroom equipment, and consumables that they practically give to you when they see that you still use film and print your own work.

I'm in the minority, of course, since I use film, but I'm dismayed at how they don't seem to "get" that the projector isn't color balanced, none of their screens are, and that it makes a difference. And they dropped slides this year saying we could just sc@n them and enter them in the d#$)^(&# competitions. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

white.elephant · Dec 21, 2008

raucousimages said:
Most clubs have little to do with photography, it is all politics.

Well, my experience agrees with this. I moved someplace new (location and time frame omitted to protect the feelings of those who I might offend by this comment, as I have no desire to do so) and attended my first ever photography club meeting so as to meet like-minded friends with whom I could socialize and learn from.

Well, was I in for a shock. OH My GOSH! The RULES! Maybe I am an exception in that I attended art school and was taught photography in an environment where exchange of feedback was encouraged because people were attempting to get better at realizing their vision.

What I found was an environment where no one talked! Images were shown (all in pursuit of an award or a contest), judges were polled, winners were announced, but no one spoke at all. I mean, you could allow people to speak only if they had nice things to say or something, but NOTHING. Judges would announce "7" "8" "6" and then they would move on.

Okay, so then after the judging portion, there was a guest speaker. Okay, I thought, now there should be an exchange of questions, at least.

Well the guest speaker turned out to be someone who had been (or was) a judge on a national level, and her talk was 100% about "how to submit photographs that might win awards." Well intentioned, of course. Nice lady. Funny.

But this still had nothing to do with aesthetics or craft except insofar as those aesthetics might help you win awards.

Winning awards is not what drives me to photograph.

I'm sure the group supported each other, and certainly that chapter had been around for a long time (they had just celebrated their 70th anniversary or something). What they did obviously worked for them, so more power to them.

But I felt there was nothing there for me. I left that night and have never had the urge to go back.

David Brown · Dec 21, 2008

rosey said:
As a secondary issue, I have used the avatar from somebody on apug to illustrate my item. I am hoping it is a piece of clip art.

The avatar is from the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip. Probably not public domain.

Brandon D. · Dec 21, 2008

semeuse said:
I am the only film user in my local club. What I find hilarious is that all the digital "experts" in the club asked me to do the club's website.

Then again, how many digital photographers are there out there compared to web site designers? I know more people who know how to use a digital camera (or who could at least figure it out) than people who can build a web site.

Just sayin'.

rosey · Dec 21, 2008

SilverGlow said:
Rosey, I generally like your article, but it reeks way too much of film vs. digital. And is that your goal? I thought your goal was to pursuade senors to look to photography and perhaps a club as a great way to meet people and practice a hobby? And if so, what do you care if the media is film or digital?
And besides, the "negatives" you write of for digital could often be made against film too. I would remove the film vs digital aspect; just my opinion. You already have a great idea: film shooting and processing and the association in a camera club is a great thing for a senior.

Go back and read the column again. There is no film vs. digital implication there. I carefully point out that many of the seniors are moving to digital, in fact are picking it up quite quickly. Digital projectors are part of the reality for them.
Regarding the "negatives" of digital, I pointed out one shortcoming: The numbers of "throwaway" prints that my generation used to get to fill albums and hand off to relatives are now being deleted while still in the camera. That is a fact.
And a great loss.
Certainly, the column covers the peaceful co-existence of both film and digital.
And for me, the added expense of going into digital while still enjoying my film gear is a legitimate reason for staying put. I wasn't trying to persuade anyone to my point of view, merely expressing it.
You seem to be reading something into that column that sumply isn't there.

Uncle Bill · Dec 27, 2008

Interesting thread. The Oakville Camera which I co-founded is 95% digital with myself being the only full time film shooter and and couple of converts to film.

What I have noticed and it has been pointed out, those older (even though I am 40, I still see myself as young) especially later fifties and up in age demographic rushed into digital big time and are it's most fervent proponants. I ignore their teasing and ask if they have any older film cameras and lenses especially if they are Nikkor or Zuiko lenses, can I have them.

gr82bart · Dec 27, 2008

Well, I have joined my local camera club. Was even asked to give a talk or two at the regional conference: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

The folks at the camera clubs are good people. But, they're misguided IMO. They think photography is about equipment and competition. And art is about rules of composition. Not to mention the holy triumvurate of fur, feathers, and flowers. In macro. HDRed to death too. Sequenced in a digital slide show set to new age muzak. But I digress.

What I find interesting is their futile efforts to attract younger photographers. They have this reticence to talk about ToyCameras, conceptual art, urban street photography, B&W film processing, etc... pretty much everything that would attract the younger photographers. To them, a trip to the Zoo was considered attractive to the youngins. Oiy. They remind me of really uncool parents. And grand parents.

They are nice people though and I go when I can. I agree with Rosey in that APUGers should reach out, if not to make friends, but to at least to let them know there is a vibrant world of traditional film out there.

Regards, Art.

rosey · Dec 27, 2008

Uncle Bill said:
Interesting thread. The Oakville Camera which I co-founded is 95% digital with myself being the only full time film shooter and and couple of converts to film.

What I have noticed and it has been pointed out, those older (even though I am 40, I still see myself as young) especially later fifties and up in age demographic rushed into digital big time and are it's most fervent proponants. I ignore their teasing and ask if they have any older film cameras and lenses especially if they are Nikkor or Zuiko lenses, can I have them.

I find some of the older digital folks at these clubs, especially the ones with big bucks who just have to have the latest and greatest, are my best source of mint 35mm film gear. Often they just want a pittance for what they consider "outdated."

paul ewins · Dec 27, 2008

One of my friends nagged me into joining a camera club last year. She also nagged a few other friends (and my GF) into joining so it has become a great social occasion for us. The club meets at the local senior citizen's centre and, prior to us (30's and 40's) joining, most members would have been eligible to join the senior cits too. They have mostly converted over to digital although there are a couple of people still entering analog B&W prints. But they are gung-ho on digital, usually to a fault. The club has one competition night and one lecture/workshop night each month. A few months back the visiting judge showed us some of her pinhole work for which she is very well known (http://www.stephtout.com.au/pin/pin.html) and I heard one of the older members saying that he thought he knew how he might be able to "do that in Photoshop".

The local clubs do seem to be very oriented towards competition which has its own narrow view of "good" and "bad". While shooting particular themes is a good exercise, shooting to please a judge as well generally results in technically correct but soulless photographs. I sometimes struggle to find the motivation, especially knowing that the judge's own bias is usually the most important factor. Sometimes this is amusing, like when we head a food theme and the judge didn't like chocolate which featured heavily in some photos. Other times it can work to your favour - the judge who liked flowers gave a prize to my very cliched shot of a lily. But generally after the competition is over the photos get shoved in a drawer and never seen again.

My standard line to people is that a camera club can improve your photographs from awful to mediocre. They can also be fun, social places to talk to other people who own cameras. But I find them strangely unrewarding when it comes to getting my photography fix.

Alexander Ghaffari · Dec 27, 2008

There is a nice film camera club in my city, but I cannot afford the $750 annual membership fee. Also, parking downtown is a PITA.

Chuck_P · Dec 27, 2008

Alexander Ghaffari said:
There is a nice film camera club in my city, but I cannot afford the $750 annual membership fee. Also, parking downtown is a PITA.

This is incredible-----what could possibly justify $750? What is going on at this club?

Shmoo · Dec 28, 2008

Alexander Ghaffari said:
There is a nice film camera club in my city, but I cannot afford the $750 annual membership fee. Also, parking downtown is a PITA.

For $750 it had better be "nice", that's for sure. I can think of a lot of things I could buy for $750 that would be "nice"...lens, film, chems...

MattKing · Dec 28, 2008

Does the $750 include use of equipped and supplied facilities like a darkroom or a studio? If so, it could be excellent value.

Matt

gr82bart · Dec 28, 2008

The Camera Club of New York dues are $1600 per year. But having read their site and seeing their facilities, THIS is what a camera club should be, not like my local club. Albeit the dues could be lessened somewhat. http://www.cameraclubny.org/membership.html

Regards, Art.

Richard Kelham · Dec 29, 2008

paul ewins said:
My standard line to people is that a camera club can improve your photographs from awful to mediocre. They can also be fun, social places to talk to other people who own cameras. But I find them strangely unrewarding when it comes to getting my photography fix.

That's been my experience too. These clubs seem to have their own rather tired aesthetic, found nowhere else,enforced by judges and endless competitions and "battles". Plus they are now 95% digital and just stand around wittering about the latest Photoshop plug-in. No thanks.

Tom Kershaw · Dec 29, 2008

Richard Kelham said:
That's been my experience too. These clubs seem to have their own rather tired aesthetic, found nowhere else,enforced by judges and endless competitions and "battles". Plus they are now 95% digital and just stand around wittering about the latest Photoshop plug-in. No thanks.

Referring to camera clubs in Norfolk?

I haven't yet been tempted to visit the one in Norwich.

Tom.

Uncle Bill · Dec 29, 2008

The Oakville Camera Club was delibrately designed not to be competition focused, instead we run with monthly shooting assignments with peer critiques and we find it works pretty well which along with a "member of the month" feature where a member of the club comes up front and does a little slide show and talks about their inspiration, what got them into photography, etc. The other monthly meeting we either bring in a guest speaker or conduct a workshop, for example in January one of our members is showing off his personal flash technique and how he creates his photos with it.

Usually after the meeting we hang out at a local pub across the street from where we meet (the local library).

winger · Dec 29, 2008

Uncle Bill said:
The Oakville Camera Club was delibrately designed not to be competition focused, instead we run with monthly shooting assignments with peer critiques and we find it works pretty well which along with a "member of the month" feature where a member of the club comes up front and does a little slide show and talks about their inspiration, what got them into photography, etc. The other monthly meeting we either bring in a guest speaker or conduct a workshop, for example in January one of our members is showing off his personal flash technique and how he creates his photos with it.

Usually after the meeting we hang out at a local pub across the street from where we meet (the local library).

I found a club like this near me, too. So now I'm in two clubs - one that's pretty much the competition-driven, digital-based, old-boys-club, etc.. and one that pushes me to do more photography. Though some from each club go out for food/drink after the meetings, so that's likely universal.

jgcull · Dec 29, 2008

>>>camera clubs aren't interested in film photography anymore.<<<

... which is why we started our own. The Brushy Mountain Film Users Group.

I was 1 of 2 film users at the larger camera club "uptown". It was a great group for digital folks, but digital is just a different animal and I wasn't willing to make the drive. I asked an acquaintance here what he thought about putting the word out (he works for the newspaper in our small town), inviting film users. We were delighted with the response, and we've been meeting regularly now for several months. We've had a speaker come talk to us about what makes a good photograph, we've gone to a wonderful exhibit together, we've done a slide show and had our own exhibit here in town. One of the ladies in our group agreed to drive to Charlotte with me for a darkroom class, and now she's hooked on doing her own! We've been given 3 enlargers from outsiders, that we've passed on - 2 of them within our group. And we're taking a pinhole class together this winter.

It's been a good thing! Oh yeah, and I've made some new friends with a common interest.

Janet

cdholden · Dec 29, 2008

Janet,
It's good to see that your experience was not only enjoyable, but productive too. When living in south Florida a few years ago, I attended a couple of photo club meetings, but was quickly identified as "the one who hasn't upgraded yet". It was mostly the retired crowd talking about their latest I-wish-my-wallet-could-keep-up-with-technology model camera and how much it would cost for the hosting store to mat and print for the next show/competition. No one I met wanted to discuss techniques or locations. I decided my time was better spent in the Everglades as the sole member of my ubercool photography club.

gr82bart · Dec 29, 2008

I have to add that in New Haven, besides the New Haven Camera Club, there is also Photo Arts Collective which is sponsored by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. Two groups that are pretty much the polar opposites of each other. PAC is a group focused on the entire gamut of photography beyond equipment, competition and rules. And trips to the zoo. I like them both - one for amusment and one for deep lasting intellectual experiences.

Regards, Art.

mabman · Dec 30, 2008

I'm in my 2nd season at the oldest local camera club. While mostly older members, they do attract interesting speakers and get a variety of judges for the monthly competitions, and the members are generally friendly.

The funny part is that the monthly critiques tend to emphasize sharpness and contrast, but a good number of the guest presenters on other nights do a lot of things that aren't necessarily absolutely sharp, and who play with contrast

So far I'm enjoying it overall - I've gotten to go on a number of outings that I wouldn't normally experience, like shooting a university women's hockey game (difficult to do with manual lenses, as I discovered), shooting fireworks, and taking pictures downtown at night (which I tried with cross-processed slide film for the first time as well, with interesting if not great results). I've also been introduced to local photographers that I had no idea existed otherwise.

Rlibersky · Dec 30, 2008

Although I'm not into the art that the Camera Clubs aspire too, I do not feel a need to criticize them for what they have chosen to do. I'm the one who voluntarily went to the meeting.

In the last few years we have lowered our mean age by 30years a lot of 20 and 30 something people have joined. This group has lasted longer then I thought they would and the club is better for it.

All in all a worthy group. I have recently found a group of alternative printers that i am enjoying a lot.

Uncle Bill · Dec 31, 2008

I think at this stage, film users camera clubs will be more like "Fight Club"

Gene_Laughter · Dec 31, 2008

Having viewed far more color slides than man should ever see of a cardinal perched on a dogwood branch, a beach sunset, cute kittens, a back lit dewy spiderweb, etc. - and having listened to endless debates comparing lenses and cameras, and having suffered through long sermons on the virtues of digital photography, I left the world of camera clubs, never to return!!!

Many nice people. More boring images.

Cheers,

Gene

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