5 October
Within the photography world there has been debate as
to the usefulness of camera clubs. As with all interest areas there are various
levels of competence and skill from the beginner to the full-on expert. Most
people join a club to gain more experience and to learn more about the hobby
they are pursuing. However, there are good bad an indifferent standards within
these clubs.
I have joined three such clubs since the around
2000/1. The first one was a small club, only around 10 members. There we held
competitions for slide and prints. I entered a number of them but didn’t get
anywhere. The last meeting I attended was appalling!
As we entered we laid out our print selections on a
table at the rear of the room and handed in our slides to the guy doing the
projector thing. Here is my entry for that completion …
In walks another member with a large portfolio case
under his arm. The first thing he did was have a look at the entries already
laid out and then chose which print he would enter from his portfolio.
Another member came in and laid out his prints and
told the ‘supervisor’ how many prints he had. I was watching what was going on so
when I saw him lay out his prints I went and had a look. Two were very grainy
mono shots of the Coventry Canal that he had printed himself and had the
horizontal marks that show the printer was running low on inks or the heads
needed cleaning.
His third shot was a full colour shot of a
Scandinavian harbour scene and was a lovely shot. I recognised the shot but
couldn’t think where I seen it. Later I saw it in a holiday brochure. A couple
of days after that I met the guy in town and asked how he had got in Norway. He
said he’d never been there. I didn’t go back and I have never seen any of the
members since then.
The next club was here in Dorktown; membership of
around 20 and the competitions were organised much better. I left that club
when we moved to Atherton, in Manchester. The photo club there was huge with a
membership well of around 80. They even have their own club house. Each week
were give a talk by visiting speaker or by a member. We held competitions and
even had some teaching nights. Sadly I left there when we had to move back here
to Dorktown in 2009.
There is another issue about clubs that I should perhaps
mention. Let’s start with a slide I entered here in the club Dorktown …
This one I got when we lived in Bed’th and I was
struck by the blue, green and white colours on a diagonal line. Now to my point
here – judges! The guy that time said, ‘A nice enough image but it’s the sort
of image we all were doing ten years ago.’ But if I had been a new comer, how
would I know that everyone was doing those shots ten years ago? In the same completion
one member had entered three prints, one of which won first place, another one
didn’t get anywhere but the third one was even better than the first place shot
in my view.
What did the judge say? ‘I’ve already chosen a train
image so I shouldn’t really go for another one. What? To my mind if a shot is
good enough to be placed then whether it’s a similar shot as another entry then
so be it, it get’s placed. Again, how would a new photographer feel to have his
shot written off like that?
Photo clubs then, are a mixed bag, not helped by
judges who have closed minds. Join one if you want, but don’t expect
perfection!
Even though I have posted two already, here’s today’s
photo …
One of five orchid shots I got the day.
And today’s funny …
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