[beachgardener]

Our club has a field trip every month. Not sure I see the difference.

It is the impromptu, unorganised, easy going nature of photo walks, and may not always be the same people and places, makes it interesting.

[cats_five]

I have belonged to two camera clubs, and at most meetings at both clubs cameras were not in evidence. We didn't talk gear very much, and no-one knew what most people were using.


I did have a photo that did very well taken on a Canon A70 3.2 MPx P&S camera and the judge was most surprised when I told him.

[Kerrowdown]

I must admit I'm not a great fan, can be very cliquey in many ways apart from just equipment choice.

Or it just could be they're not great fans of the Kerrowdown, or as they say around here "whatever".

[TaoMaas]

It is the impromptu, unorganised...

Guess yours are different than ours. The photowalks in our area are far more planned and organized than the field trips of our camera club. lol

---------- Post added 12-22-2014 at 10:55 PM ----------

I have belonged to two camera clubs, and at most meetings at both clubs cameras were not in evidence.

That would be true at our club, too. The only gear visible is usally stuff that for sale. Perhaps it would be better to label us a "photography club" since that's the major thrust of our efforts. What gear a person uses is of only minimal consideration...which,speaking as a Pentax user, is probably a good thing.

[beachgardener]

Guess yours are different than ours. The photowalks in our area are far more planned and organized than the field trips of our camera club. lol

Some of them are quite planned and organised, the landscape and city walk groups, but coming from the country it is often meeting new people. Just a few local ones that are a bit impromptu that makes life easier.

[TaoMaas]

Some of them are quite planned and organised, the landscape and city walk groups, but coming from the country it is often meeting new people. Just a few local ones that are a bit impromptu that makes life easier.

As I posted before, there seems to be a lot of resistance to camera clubs coming from Australia. Hmmm...I smell an opportunity for someone!

[beachgardener]

As I posted before, there seems to be a lot of resistance to camera clubs coming from Australia. Hmmm...I smell an opportunity for someone!

Well perhaps resistance from some, plenty of people do go to camera clubs and they are happy with that, for me I choose other things, eg. photo walks instead.

[Susinok]

The camera club I go to has 1 other Pentaxian, but the rest are Nikon vs Canon. Those folks are constantly ribbing on each other but all in fun. There are contests, and I love to watch everyone's photos and listen to the commentary. I don't like to enter the competitions myself. They are a fun bunch of people. They meet twice a month and the first month is a program by an invited guest or one of the members, and the second meeting is competition night. The competitions alternate from digital image to print.

[p38arover]

I'm the (very slack) webmaster for our very small camera club. The long time president is also long time Pentax user.

Cameras aren't usually seen at the club except when we have a planned event, e.g., model shoot, macro class, lighting class. No none seems to care what others shoot. People lend others their lenses and sometimes cameras.

We don't do a lot of judged events but we do Show and Tells. We also set assignments, e.g. Photoessays and Challenges.

I really should do a website update. It's been months since I did anything to it but if you look, you'll see some of the things I mentioned.

Henry Lawson Camera Club| Camera Club | Penrith Camera Club | Penrith| Penrith Valley | St Marys

[Bagga_Txips]

Oh dear, don't get me started on ranting about camera clubs, especially about the judging for their internal, informal monthly '' competitions ''.

45 years ago I was thoroughly lambasted for submitting an overexposed and slightly out of focus slide of a pier and beach scene, because it showed a total lack of technical ability etc. But the ''errors'' were the whole point of the shot... Maybe I was trying to be too outrageous, but I still bear the mental scars!

Fast forward to 2005, I joined a club in the North of England that boasts of its historical significance, and the first criteria the entrants had to meet, in the monthly competition with the theme Water, was that the judge would only accept pictures containing an area of water that comprised at least 20% of the area of the image. Oh dear!

---------- Post added 01-02-15 at 10:48 PM ----------

Side note - I wish the editing capabilities of this site were more usable for people posting on a tablet.

Anyway, I left that club the evening we had a ''bring your gear'' session, I literally experienced sneers and one person cutting me dead, because I didn't even have a mere Pentax at that time, I had the somewhat cheaper Samsung badged version. My dear, just imagine, a SAMSUNG...

[TaoMaas]

Oh dear, don't get me started on ranting about camera clubs, especially about the judging for their internal, informal monthly '' competitions ''.

45 years ago I was thoroughly lambasted for submitting an overexposed and slightly out of focus slide of a pier and beach scene, because it showed a total lack of technical ability etc. But the ''errors'' were the whole point of the shot... Maybe I was trying to be too outrageous, but I still bear the mental scars!

First off, you can't let other people's opinions have that much control over your feelings. Especially the opinions of folks who are most likely non-professionals at the thing they're being asked to judge. Once you realize that being judged in camera club competition is in no way a reflection of the worth of your photographs, you'll be much happier. Think of it as engaging in a friendly game of basketball or soccer with some friends. Sometimes you win...sometimes you lose, right? But even if the score doesn't go your way, don't you adopt a "we'll get them next time" attitude? Eh...that's how it is in camera club competitions. However, don't expect the level of judging expertise to be significantly greater in other venues. If you submit your pics to local publications, chances are very good that they'll be judged by people who care far, far less about photography than the average reader of this forum. So, when you try something different...as you did with your pier and beach scene...most likely those editors won't "get it", either. That's just the way it is out there. There's a saying among folks whose work gets judged and changed as part of their daily life. We say, "You have to be willing to kill your baby." It just means you have to have really thick skin when it comes to this stuff.

A fist-bump to Susinok (a fellow Pentaxian in the club I belong to). Reading this thread is making me appreciate our club.

[hjoseph7]

I went to my first informal meeting with a camera club today....nice people but I don't think anyone in the group knew or cared about my K-3 which is actually fine with me cause I enjoy being under the radar so to speak...LOL
There was a lot of talk about Sonys and Canikons.
One guy picked up my K-3 / FA31 and was quite impressed with how heavy and solid it felt....yup, that's why I love Pentax.

I look forward to the next meeting...maybe I'll bring the K-01 and really confuse them...

Glad you hit them with the FA 31mm. I love the heft on that lens.

[audiobomber]

I joined a camera club and quit after one meeting because I didn't like the format. Typically the leader starts off the meeting with a lecture on gear or technique, followed by a slide show of up to three photos by each member, during which the other members take turns critiquing. It was uncomfortable, because some of the photos were pretty terrible. Most of the best images had some flaw that could be highlighted. I found it rather mean-spirited to comment on how the photos could be better. Hearing the critique seemed to suck the joy out of the shooter. I believe one photo was selected as the best.

I brought three photos on SD, with a card reader, which would have taken no time at all to load, but because I didn't know to email them ahead of time, the leader decided we didn't have time to look at them. We then watched a slide show by one of the members from the club's last photo walk; dozens of very mundane images of the downtown core. After the slide show there was a general discussion with no specific topic. The leader did his best to draw out this discussion about nothing, because apparently we were running ahead of schedule. I was again annoyed to find that we didn't have time for my photos, but we had time to kill.

The leader is someone I've met in the past and considered rather arrogant. The meeting reinforced this opinion. Most members were surprisingly ill-informed about gear and digital photography, with a high proportion of newbies. There were of course Canon and Nikon shooters, a few Sony shooters, MILC and SLT, a few bridge cams and a K-30.

I didn't think the time spent was productive and do not enjoy critiquing others' images. I never went back and told them to remove me from their mailing list.

[redrockcoulee]

My wife and I make up 2/3 of the critique panel with our club. We do 3 or 4 images and the members who want opinions on their work submit them. The only contest is the monthly one here everyone votes on them. There is one point for entering and one point for winning. End of year the overall winner and a random draw are awarded a gift card each.

A friend calls the club the cookie club as the social aspect is the biggest draw. We have some new members that are more enthused then the old guard so that makes the club better as time goes on.

Some shooting every brand and some only film. At a weekend retreat with a club from a rural area of the next province of the 15 people there the K5 was the most common model (3).

As the past president all I know is how hard it is to get members involved. I have made good friends and got access to places I would not have because of the club.

[MRRiley]

I have no use for a camera club that makes me feel like an interloper or even a fool because of my choice of Pentax gear. The local club which I attempted to get involved in a few years ago was very cliquish and seemed to serve no real purpose other than stroking the egos of the principals.