Camera Clubs

I have been a member of my local camera club since September. I really enjoy it. We've had some really great photographers come and do presentations which has inspired me a lot and the competitions are great because you get to hear other people's feedback about photos.

I am the youngest by far though. Most of the people there are retired and I'm 25! They do all make me feel really welcome though

And so do we - don't we

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Most definitely Barry, very welcoming and most generously helpful indeed

LOL i know what you mean. Because i'm employed as a photographer and have had the amazing opportunity to photograph some of the most famous people in this country, i did tend to find camera club members constantly asking me would i do this and that. their questions were valid to themselves but i found myself being unable to answer a lot of them because most of it didnt matter when working for clients. camera clubs tend to look long and hard about subject matter, composition, spending a great deal of time thinking about angles etc etc whereas if i didnt get the award in focus, without the reflection or i made the MD look like he had 5 chins or the price wasnt competitive enough thats what was important to me, boring as it may seem. when shooting for clients club members often dont see the amount of business that goes besides the actual shot itself which could account for only 25% of the shoot.
PLEASE NOTE GUYS AND GALS, these comments are based on my own experience and DO NOT represent all camera clubs so PLEASE dont get offended..
However, that aside, Andy Rouse did give a fabulous talk even if his laptop did go belly up half way through...

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The st ives camera club has not long gone digital i have been asked to join a few times and mulled it over... I taught myself photography from books and web sites and which quite often contradict each other i think for me it would just make life to confusing, its taken a while to get used to learning all the rules of photography and then learning to break most of them to make my work different or sell able... i think if your not into reading in a huge way and like the more hands on with help approach then a club would be great.
For me picking a good mates brain when i get lost or stuck works wonders...
Thanks miles x

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Pedantic!!! I entered my 2nd comp on thurs at my club a picture of me made to look like a cyborg!! 9 photo's shot with 4 different lenses and about 10 hours in photoshop. he picked it up said it was a funny textured paper and he didn't like the mount and went straight on to the next one.I thought for a creative theme it was cool,i also thought it was down right rude not to even comment on the bloody picture it's a camera club not the origami society!!! At leat give us some sort of encouragement as it's the only way us newbies learn i thought..

thats pretty crap really considering camera clubs are a really good forum to meet and swap ideas, old and young alike. people like this serve only to distance themselves from reality and encourage togs not to bother with their club...

i wouldnt worry to much steve, he prob still lives with his mum, irons creases into his jeans and always stops at roundabouts even if nothing is coming....
have you posted said shot??

__________________
The summer is here and the time is right,
We're going racing in the street....Bruce Springsteen

Canon Forever

1Dmk2,10D, 20mm,28-70mm,200mm, Elinchrom3000,1500,600's,500's, Multiblitz200,Bronica SQb, expensive Manfrotto tripod

Hi Steve, sorry to hear of your experiences with this judge, if we had felt that a particular judge did not give enough comment be it negative or positive about a number of images in a competition then a comment should be made to either the judge or the Federation that he/she belongs too. But saying that all judges will have a particular photographic interest and will be bias towards that interest, so maybe your particular judge did not like the 'creative theme' of your choice and would had preferred a sepia image from a 35mm film. I have had quite a few negative points made about images which have done very well in other competitions. As Andy said, don't let this put you off, I have found that these judges are few and far between, the majority will give plenty of feedback and are normally able to give you more feedback afterwards if you ask.

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