[Lord Lucan]

Short answer to your dilema... find a few like minded souls to do photo walks, and drink a cup of coffee with and leave it at that.

How would one do that other than joining a local club? I know a few other people who take photos, but with phones or at best P&S, and they would hardly take kindly to my flaffing around assessing different viewpoints, setting up a tripod etc.

enjoy photography as a solitary pursuit. [......] ....I think a club or group would suck the joy out of it for me.

When I was in a club we rarely had group outings, and they were optional. 95% of my photography was solitary at the time (100% now).

we've also had several [outside speakers] who presented an annotated show of their travels -- really interesting locations, but the images were basically snaps.

That was the downside of visiting speakers - most of them were just showing their holiday snaps, and I do not find most people's holiday locations interesting. I got frustrated enough to volunteer to do some talks myself in which, come to think of it, I did not show a single photo of my own.

[Kevin B123]

Originally posted by mattt*
Short answer to your dilema... find a few like minded souls to do photo walks, and drink a cup of coffee with and leave it at that.
How would one do that other than joining a local club? I know a few other people who take photos, but with phones or at best P&S, and they would hardly take kindly to my flaffing around assessing different viewpoints, setting up a tripod etc.

I have this arrangement with my local library.

They set up a photo group a number of years ago to meet once a month, and once it took off we met up even when the original librarian left, still meeting at the library and go for occasional group shoots like birding, motor sport or country parks.

You could approach your library to start up a group, or there may one in action already.

Ours is really informal and people drop in and out at they see fit, with a core of 5 or 6 regulars. Of course, we have not met now for a year due to the pandemic and the library being effectively closed to group meets, but we will start up again I'm sure.

[BarryE]

I have this arrangement with my local library.

.

Fareham?

[Kiwizinho]

I enjoy photography as a solitary pursuit. When I think of going out with my camera or even later, when editing or printing, I enjoy the fact that its just me....I think a club or group would suck the joy out of it for me.

Crowds no, but I wouldn't mind the company of one or two other photographers.

I think there is a "Murphy's Law of Camera Club Field Trips" along the lines: "In the event of an organised photographic field trip, the weather and lighting conditions will be inappropriate for photography."

Being able to assess conditions and make a spontaneous decision tends not to work so well with large groups, but it's often what produces great photos.

On the other hand, there are some stunning landscapes to be photographed in my wider area that require a good tramp (Kiwi/Brit? word for hike) however trampers(hikers) tend not to be interested in stopping to take photos, and it would be dangerous and irresponsible to go out alone to some of these remote places, so finding maybe two or three other photographers who don't mind a good long walk and have appropriate equipment for time in the wilderness could be a rewarding experience, and allow me to do photography that might not otherwise happen.

[clackers]

Like any recreation hobby, clubs vary as to how serious/active/worthwhile they are. Many in Australian cities are part of a state structure and are oriented towards competition, like a tennis club or similar - they don't interest me. The more informal groups on meetup.com have proved more useful for me.

[biz-engineer]

Various kind of clubs. Pros & cons. Some clubs follow a peculiar school of photography, matching your style/taste or not. Other clubs are multipurpose, more open. It's nice to meet other photographers for spontaneous or thematic photo outings. If they point out at my Pentax gear (like a black sheep), then it's probably not the kind of people I'm looking for. A few years ago, in my area, if you didn't have a Canon or Nikon, you'd be finger pointed at, but now with mirrorless those people are having a bit of an identity crisis.

[Cerebum]

Like any recreation hobby, clubs vary as to how serious/active/worthwhile they are. Many in Australian cities are part of a state structure and are oriented towards competition, like a tennis club or similar - they don't interest me. The more informal groups on meetup.com have proved more useful for me.

Over here we have clubs that don't do comps, clubs like Lancaster that do half a dozen per year but said comps aren't the raison d'etre, and clubs that have quite an intense core. We also have national accreditation (BPE), the images entered there are breathtaking! Its all different layers, which is fine, if your local club is the type of club you want. I have friends for whom every image they take is judged on its competitive worth. Me, I enjoy the process of making a photograph. I use to shoot for comps, but soon realised competitive photography isn't for me. I still enter stuff but mainly for fun .... Sometimes lots of fun.....I enter some pretty left field images

[robgski]

It would be nice if there was some way here on the Forum to arrange similar get-togethers.

IMO, that is where the use of Groups on PF, as opposed to threads, is useful.
Also, there is a travel and event sub-forum here that allows members to bring opportunities to meet to the attention of other members. I intend to post a thread there as I firm up my plans for a long multi-state road trip in hopes of meeting a few PF members for coffee and photos along the way.

Closer to home, I started attending a local clubs meetings at the library until COVID struck. I enjoyed the meetings. Though some of the members were into competition, or extreme post-processing, overall it was an enjoyable way to meet some local people with common interests, and even if some of their styles did not suit mine, I did learn a few things from many of them.

[Thwyllo]

This issue of competition keeps rearing it's ugly head doesn't it. Frankly there is nothing more off-putting.

I have no desire whatsoever to 'compete' and 'win'...its all but meaningless. One man's Van Gogh is another man's Jackson Pollock. Sharing photos with like minded folk and hearing the odd bit of constructive criticism should be about it....not 'winning' makes you think you're a loser. Find me a camera club like that and I'm there.

[BarryE]

This issue of competition keeps rearing it's ugly head doesn't it. Frankly there is nothing more off-putting.

I have no desire whatsoever to 'compete' and 'win'...its all but meaningless. One man's Van Gogh is another man's Jackson Pollock. Sharing photos with like minded folk and hearing the odd bit of constructive criticism should be about it....not 'winning' makes you think you're a loser. Find me a camera club like that and I'm there.

There's not much support for the competitive side of photo clubs, it seems. Maybe PentaxForum members are just natural introverts or maybe we're just smarter than most other camera users and think club judges are hot on the rule of thirds and leading lines, but little else?

[mattb123]

I suspect my community is too small to have much of a club and I have never been to a camera club meeting.
I'm afraid if we had one here I'd have to run it and I don't really want any additional responsibilities. But sometimes I shoot landscapes with other people although that is not the norm. Landscape photography seems like a very solitary pursuit to me which is one reason I like it.

[UsernameRallyjenos]

I think it would be interesting to see if anyone has any views on camera clubs/societies. I was a member of a local club a few years back. It was very popular (currently a waiting list to join). It attracted big name speakers, eg Joe McNally. So it clearly worked for many. Somehow, it didn't work for me. Why? I felt it was rather too fixated on competitions. The speakers were interesting, but the competitive bias grated a little.

I don't recall how many members attended each meeting, my guess was 125-150 ish - so it was popular. The numbers meant integrating for new visitors was a challenge, partly because at the breaks this number of photogs spilled out into the reception area in their regular groups and the room heaved with folk. There was a loooot of gear talk, something that doesn't register with me, and "clever" Photoshop etc., wheezes.

I think I was looking for something else. Somewhere to chat about photography - the aesthetics, the process, even the 'art' (trying hard not to be pretentious) - over a beer or two. More informal and relaxed. It's probably me.

I've looked around at other local clubs and they all seem to be similarly organised. A pity.

Anyone come across other societies/clubs that don't fit the norm?

I have avoided clubs as I find Competitions too stressful & restricting. I also don't like critiques. I'm not perfect by any means, but my work is only seen when I am happy with it. I exhibit and get lots of "ooh's & agh's, so I must be doing something right and I'm happy with that. I have also heard that sometimes the longstanding members think that they have all the knowledge, and so if you don't comply you are wrong, so narrow in their outlook which I think stifles creativity.

[c.a.m]

I think that image competitions can serve a useful function, apart from 'scoring' or 'winning'. For me, our club's competitions provide a reason and an objective to really work on improving and applying my photography skills.

For example, one our topics was Bridges. I had a local historic bridge in mind, and planned out what I wanted to achieve. I ended up driving to the location on five different occasions until I got the image that I had imagined -- still water, mist/fog, and sunlight just kissing the top of one of the spans at sunrise. I had to think carefully about the timing, light and exposure, composition, and post processing steps. I was happy to have my image recognized in the competition, but I was happier with the effort I made and the enjoyable process I went through. I was also glad to have my picture shown to others in the club.

The judges in our club's competitions generally give constructive feedback that add to the overall learning experience in the club. Points are awarded for recognized images, and members can progress from novice to intermediate to advanced based on their yearly tallies. But it's all pretty casual and friendly, and folks are quick to congratulate others.

- Craig

[robgski]

The judges in our club's competitions generally give constructive feedback that add to the overall learning experience in the club.

That is one of the reasons I enjoy participating in clubs or competitions.

[TaoMaas]

I've been a member of my camera club for 40 years or so and I really enjoy it. We meet twice a month with one meeting being a program and the other meeting being competition. We alternate competitions each month between prints/slides and digital images. I have no issue with the competitions, but the key is in not taking them too seriously. It's just someone's opinion and all this stuff is subjective. Even though the whole club takes field trips several times during the year, there are also smaller groups of folks who met through the club who like to go out and shoot together. We've got a wide range of experience levels in the club...as well as a variety of photographic interests. Some guys shoot portraits, others shoot sporting events, still others like nature or birds in flight, and others love creating works through combining images. We try to make room for everyone. What's kept me coming back all these years is very much what has kept me coming to this site...a shared interest in photography. Some folks in the club are really into the gear, but overall most of the folks in our club are more concerned with the final image. Nobody thinks I'm strange for sticking with Pentax all these years and in fact, it's gotten me some sweet deals on lenses and cameras. Sometimes one of the members will come across a bargain on a piece of Pentax gear somewhere and they'll call me to see if I'm interested since I'm about the only Pentax user in the club.