Longtime Professional Photographer, Former Custom Lab Owner and Immediate Past President of Park West Camera Club in NYC, Now Retired!

EdFromNYC · Jul 20, 2025

Hi to fellow photography enthusiasts!

Longtime Professional Photographer, former custom lab owner and Immediate Past President of Park West Camera Club in NYC!

I joined Photrio a little while ago and now have time to say hello! I larked in the past but have subscribed and follow this site as well as others such as Nikonians, PetaPixel, DP Review and quite a few YouTube Channels to keep up with news and developments in this field.

In 2008, I retired as a photographer who specialized in photographing fine art work, mainly flat art and provided 35mm and 4x5 transparencies, both B/W and color prints and related services such as duplicate slides, prints from existing transparencies and negatives and later on, digital files and conversions of slides and prints to digital files as well. My lab provided many related B/W and color services. We served freelance photographers, smaller art agencies, publishers and those who needed our specialties. We were located in Manhattan, NY's "Photo District" which saw over 100 photolabs and stores that provided related services and supplies. B&H Photo/Video and Adorama (still there!) were among the many stores located and spread on both sides of Fifth Avenue from 23rd St downtown to 14th St, also known as the "FlatIron District." The Photo District News magazine provided news and resources in the area for many years from 1980 to early 2020! PDN was also instrumental in setting up the Photo-Expos at the Javits Convention Center for many years.

For 40 years, Photographics Unlimited, Dial-A-Darkroom also provided B/W and color darkrooms for freelance and advanced photographers to process their own film and prints. Mounting and other finishing services were also available.

In the late 90s, Photographics Unlimited also provided digital services as well, offering digital workstations, film and print scanners and digital prints as well.

After my retirement, I became active with The Camera Club of New York as well as Park West Camera Club, presiding as President for 6-1/2 years. Since 2005, I was also involved with the New York City Photo Safari Meetup group, photographing sites throughout Metro NY, NJ and CT. Now, I'm involved with NYMACC, see: www.nymaccphoto.org where our group is helping Metro NYC camera clubs succeed!

I'm currently using Nikon D810s, D750s and several Z5s with 2/3 of the "Holy Trinity" of lenses and many others I've accumulated through the years. My photo activities now involve taking classes with the School of Visual Arts Continuing Education program.

Be well! Ed From NYC

MattKing · Jul 20, 2025

Wecome to posting!

bdial · Jul 20, 2025

Welcome

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 20, 2025

Welcome. How do you help photo clubs to succeed?

EdFromNYC · Jul 20, 2025

Alan Edward Klein said:
Welcome. How do you help photo clubs to succeed?

Alan!

NYMACC, is a successor to the old Metropolitan Camera Club Council of the 70s and 80s (I believe that is the correct name of that group) that was the NYC forerunner non-profit that publicized independent and corporate photography clubs, gallery shows, speakers for lectures, etc as well as other avocations when there were city newspapers that offered weekly "Features" pages.

There are corresponding groups in NJ and Long Island, NY, such as the NJ Federation of CC and the Photographic Federation of Long Island. Each group publicizes their member clubs as well as offer each other ideas to help recruit
and retain members, best practices for general club functions, recommending potential competition judges and speakers., etc.

Most clubs and groups shut down during COVID-19 restrictions and met via Zoom. Some clubs have pitfalls
trying to meet in person as they did previously before restrictions, while some members prefer the convenience of being home and not having to travel. Currently, NYMACC has 13 member clubs and several guest clubs at our monthly online meetings. We try to offer our members possible solutions, such as creating "Hybrid" live meetings being broadcast to Zoom attendees as well.

Be well! Ed From NYC

AnselMortensen · Jul 20, 2025

Welcome aboard!

Sirius Glass · Jul 20, 2025

Welcome to posting on Photrio!

mshchem · Jul 21, 2025

Very pleased to hear from you! Welcome!!!

koraks · Jul 21, 2025

Welcome a board @EdFromNYC ! We're happy to have you. And congratulations on the relevant work you're doing keeping local clubs alive!

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 21, 2025

EdFromNYC said:
Alan!

NYMACC, is a successor to the old Metropolitan Camera Club Council of the 70s and 80s (I believe that is the correct name of that group) that was the NYC forerunner non-profit that publicized independent and corporate photography clubs, gallery shows, speakers for lectures, etc as well as other avocations when there were city newspapers that offered weekly "Features" pages.

There are corresponding groups in NJ and Long Island, NY, such as the NJ Federation of CC and the Photographic Federation of Long Island. Each group publicizes their member clubs as well as offer each other ideas to help recruit
and retain members, best practices for general club functions, recommending potential competition judges and speakers., etc.

Most clubs and groups shut down during COVID-19 restrictions and met via Zoom. Some clubs have pitfalls
trying to meet in person as they did previously before restrictions, while some members prefer the convenience of being home and not having to travel. Currently, NYMACC has 13 member clubs and several guest clubs at our monthly online meetings. We try to offer our members possible solutions, such as creating "Hybrid" live meetings being broadcast to Zoom attendees as well.

Be well! Ed From NYC

I was asking because I'm in a photo club in my 55+ community where I live here in NJ. I'm also familiar with the Monmouth Photo Club in NJ, apparently a member of NYMACC, having seen some of their members' work.

PS. Have you judged photo contests?

MattKing · Jul 21, 2025

Welcome to Photrio.
FWIW, in Canada we have a national organization that supports photo clubs:
CAPA
The Darkroom Group I'm a member of is a supporting member of CAPA, although with our analogue focus, we are a bit of an outlier.

Carnie Bob · Jul 22, 2025

MattKing said:
Welcome to Photrio.
FWIW, in Canada we have a national organization that supports photo clubs:
CAPA
The Darkroom Group I'm a member of is a supporting member of CAPA, although with our analogue focus, we are a bit of an outlier.

Old dog learns new tricks - I have been working with photographers for 50 years now and I never heard of CAPA.

MattKing · Jul 22, 2025

Carnie Bob said:
Old dog learns new tricks - I have been working with photographers for 50 years now and I never heard of CAPA.

Back in the day, you might very well have got a really good return on your investment if you had advertised your lab in the national magazine!
It is hard to predict whether you might get a return now, based on what I've observed (from a bit of a distance) about what is happening with the clubs, and what I understand about what you are doing now.

Carnie Bob · Jul 23, 2025

MattKing said:
Back in the day, you might very well have got a really good return on your investment if you had advertised your lab in the national magazine!
It is hard to predict whether you might get a return now, based on what I've observed (from a bit of a distance) about what is happening with the clubs, and what I understand about what you are doing now.

Hi Matt - I stopped giving talks at Camera Clubs about 10 years ago, what I had to say had absolutely no mileage at these clubs, peoples eyes glassed over and I could tell my processes had very little interest to the members. I think if I talked about big colour inkjets I would have had a better reception.

koraks · Jul 23, 2025

I kind of recognize that @Bob Carnie ; if I look at the amateur domain I perceive the membership of Photrio as a bit of an exception, since there's an active and alive interest in print, especially analog print, and pretty much any type of process within that larger domain. However, looking at camera or amateur photo clubs as such, interest focuses really on those two aspects: cameras and (to a lesser extent) photos, with relatively little interest in the question how (or even, if) this ends up on paper. I think part of the problem is also that the older guard basically forgot the point of print when they transitioned to digital and a computer screen took the place of paper, while the younger generation never even experienced the magic of printing in the first place (regardless of technique).

There's hope, though; as said, Photrio membership is a bit of an exception and we still grow on a daily basis with an influx of also relatively young photographers with (also) an interest in print. At the same time, if I look at local workshops that are given in analog printing techniques, there seems to be an active interest in that, with new arrivals joining these workshops and being eager to learn.

I think it's just that the expectation of camera club members having an interest in print has ceased to make sense at some point. They're different audiences now, with some overlap, but not all that much.

joho · Jul 23, 2025

NYMACC, is a successor to the old Metropolitan Camera Club Council of the 70s and 80s...

Hello, EdFromNYC ,
your words wake-up my memories from the late 70's with the photo-clubs them days

MattKing · Jul 23, 2025

Carnie Bob said:
Hi Matt - I stopped giving talks at Camera Clubs about 10 years ago, what I had to say had absolutely no mileage at these clubs, peoples eyes glassed over and I could tell my processes had very little interest to the members. I think if I talked about big colour inkjets I would have had a better reception.

I'm talking about even earlier than that Bob - when the Photo clubs were much more into prints!

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 23, 2025

Carnie Bob said:
Hi Matt - I stopped giving talks at Camera Clubs about 10 years ago, what I had to say had absolutely no mileage at these clubs, peoples eyes glassed over and I could tell my processes had very little interest to the members. I think if I talked about big colour inkjets I would have had a better reception.

At my Photo Club in my 55+ community, eyes glaze over when I mention that I still shoot film. I still get the "You mean they still make film?" question? Of course, everyone there now shoots digital and only shot film when younger. Many still have their old film cameras in their attics. The only printing is when we provide prints to be hung in the clubhouse. Otherwise, contests, discussions, etc are all on digital TVs or Zoom. There are also poorly printed photos incorporated in the community newspaper.

MattKing · Jul 23, 2025

FWIW, the local Photo Club I used to be a member of still has a number of people who make or have made good quality inkjet prints. They are putting a decent amount of energy in showing prints and staging informal two club print competitions. They also currently have a very nice group exhibition at our City's Archive and presentation Centre.
You can see it here:
The club still has some fine photographers, and I find that with them, they have no problem appreciating what I do, while I appreciate their work.
I expect that the mutual respect that one can encounter in a Club environment is one of the reasons @EdFromNYC is motivated in what he does.

koraks · Jul 23, 2025

That looks great; I see some nice prints there.

MattKing said:
I expect that the mutual respect that one can encounter in a Club environment is one of the reasons @EdFromNYC is motivated in what he does.

Yeah, those get-togethers are of a different nature than a forum. Then again, they don't always work in the long run. It depends a bit on the people involved I guess. @gary mulder has tried to organize something along these lines for quite some time; the last couple of times I was involved as well. It was a small group, pretty ambitious, interesting discussions, but in the end, the problem was to maintain a clear sense of purpose for the group. We still meet in different combinations though.

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 24, 2025

MattKing said:
FWIW, the local Photo Club I used to be a member of still has a number of people who make or have made good quality inkjet prints. They are putting a decent amount of energy in showing prints and staging informal two club print competitions. They also currently have a very nice group exhibition at our City's Archive and presentation Centre.
You can see it here:
The club still has some fine photographers, and I find that with them, they have no problem appreciating what I do, while I appreciate their work.
I expect that the mutual respect that one can encounter in a Club environment is one of the reasons @EdFromNYC is motivated in what he does.

I notice at least four bird shots. What is with birds? People in my club also shoot a lot of birds.

MattKing · Jul 24, 2025

We live in an area that is actually a river delta, and therefore our city is actually named Delta.
Our nearby landfill area attracts one of the highest concentrations of Eagles in the world.
Our local roads run beside fields and ditches and canals that are literally teaming with bird life.
We are also a stopping point for a number of major seasonal bird migrations.
So people take lots of bird photos
This is the bird page on the website of a good friend, Karoline Cullen, who I met through that club, and who has a couple of (non-bird) photos in that show: https://www.cullenphotos.ca/KCullenPhotos/Birds

Alan Edward Klein · Jul 24, 2025

MattKing said:
We live in an area that is actually a river delta, and therefore our city is actually named Delta.
Our nearby landfill area attracts one of the highest concentrations of Eagles in the world.
Our local roads run beside fields and ditches and canals that are literally teaming with bird life.
We are also a stopping point for a number of major seasonal bird migrations.
So people take lots of bird photos
This is the bird page on the website of a good friend, Karoline Cullen, who I met through that club, and who has a couple of (non-bird) photos in that show: https://www.cullenphotos.ca/KCullenPhotos/Birds

My fellow photo club member won second place in last year's 55+ intercommunity contest here in New Jersey. He shot an egret in Florida in the winter. He's a snowbird himself.

Carnie Bob · Jul 25, 2025

koraks said:
I kind of recognize that @Bob Carnie ; if I look at the amateur domain I perceive the membership of Photrio as a bit of an exception, since there's an active and alive interest in print, especially analog print, and pretty much any type of process within that larger domain. However, looking at camera or amateur photo clubs as such, interest focuses really on those two aspects: cameras and (to a lesser extent) photos, with relatively little interest in the question how (or even, if) this ends up on paper. I think part of the problem is also that the older guard basically forgot the point of print when they transitioned to digital and a computer screen took the place of paper, while the younger generation never even experienced the magic of printing in the first place (regardless of technique).

There's hope, though; as said, Photrio membership is a bit of an exception and we still grow on a daily basis with an influx of also relatively young photographers with (also) an interest in print. At the same time, if I look at local workshops that are given in analog printing techniques, there seems to be an active interest in that, with new arrivals joining these workshops and being eager to learn.

I think it's just that the expectation of camera club members having an interest in print has ceased to make sense at some point. They're different audiences now, with some overlap, but not all that much.

I actually think there is a huge interest in film and photography in general, just last Sunday I had over 35 ameture photographers, an influencer with film crew visit me and Anam and I toured the lab in two shifts. ( this event was sponsored by Ilford and a larger printing lab from my area. There was not one person over the age of 35 years of age and when I asked who shot film every hand shot up. I will post the pictures soon when they get all their stuff together.
I get about 20 requests a year for free help to hang out in the darkroom , in almost all cases I refuse as its a small tight team here and causes friction. One aspect of my printing is I will allow the artist to hang out with me while I print their work, rules are they have to meet my time and they do not try to direct me or Anam. This is a highly fun aspect of printing and in almost all cases it works well, there was one dude though I must say it did not go well , but 9 out of 10 are really fun to meet and get to know.

MattKing · Aug 1, 2025

MattKing said:
FWIW, the local Photo Club I used to be a member of still has a number of people who make or have made good quality inkjet prints. They are putting a decent amount of energy in showing prints and staging informal two club print competitions. They also currently have a very nice group exhibition at our City's Archive and presentation Centre.
You can see it here:
The club still has some fine photographers, and I find that with them, they have no problem appreciating what I do, while I appreciate their work.
I expect that the mutual respect that one can encounter in a Club environment is one of the reasons @EdFromNYC is motivated in what he does.

I attended the official opening reception for this show yesterday. It was a fun and interesting affair.
I hadn't fully realized how extensive the entire project is, or how extensive the involvement was of our City administration.
This is the largest of three showings, spread among tree locations in Delta. Delta's Curator worked with the club members to help organize the project, and attended to actually hanging the shows, with some help from a club member or two.
Overall, their are 63 prints in the shows, from 16 different club members.
There is also a digital "slide show" presentation of the images, which is well done. One great addition to the slide show comes from the fact that a children's "art camp" also took place at at least one of the occasions, and several of the children painted pictures based on some of photographs. Images of The pictures from those ~9 year old artists were included with the images of the photographs they are based on.
Here is a link referencing the project on the club's website: https://deltaphotoclub.com/canadian-snapshot/

I post this here, because it highlights how important photo clubs can be for many photographers, and how productive the relationships can be between clubs and the community at large. I'm sure that is something that will likely resonate with @EdFromNYC .

Longtime Professional Photographer, Former Custom Lab Owner and Immediate Past President of Park West Camera Club in NYC, Now Retired!

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