Originally posted by davemdsn 
There is also a trade off to this technology thing. We are loosing touch with each other as people. We are nothing but codenames. This is a great camera club, but we don't have big group meetings where we can shake hands, meet the spouses (or other significant others), and so forth. Knowledge is growing leaps and bounds, but social interaction is fading. We are a long way from serious loss of souls, but I do miss the personal touch of face to face meetings. I have friends right here in town that I rarely see because we can e-mail so easily.
Well said. I once knew everyone at the local film lab on a first name basis. As a result, a quick trip to the lab more often than not ended up being an hour or more of casual conversation - about my photographs, about something they may have seen on other photographs processed (techniques, scene ideas, etc), about local gossip heard from other photographers, or whatever. And, of course, other local photographers often came in during these periods, joining the conversation to share gossip, techniques, something new around town, comments about models from local agencies, or whatever. In other words, I nearly always gained something, professionally or otherwise, from these social situations. That lab is gone today (closed three years ago) and I have yet to find anything similar when it comes to social interaction with other local photographers.
The local camera club, once numbering over a hundred, is a shadow of it's former self. Over the years, many of the old timers have moved on (leaving photography or whatever) and the younger generations just don't seem interested in joining clubs. As a result, membership today is less than twenty, with perhaps ten actually showing up for meetings. Those earlier larger numbers garnished significant discounts on film processing, equipment, trips, cruises, flights, hotel accommodations, rental cars, and so on. Today, I doubt there are enough members to attract discounts at a local hamburger joint.
stewart
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