digit-up Loc: Flushing, Michigan

A few years back, I joined a local camera club. It had been around since 1946, and had a fair number of members, when I joined. We met twice monthly in a local conference room of a library. It was a reasonable location, well placed for most members. The camera club members would bring prints of their own photos, & 5 random members(different each month) would "JUDGE" them. rating ONE through five. After the showing and awards, we would all discuss the merits of the prints. We met nine months out of the year and selected nine different "subjects, one per month. Usually, once a month we would put on a "learning/sharing, EVENT, to up-date skills of the interested members. Over the years, we moved a couple of times, to obtain well located mug. sites, that were most importantly free. Our usual format went on, and our membership basically stayed steady. A couple of years ago, due to the snail-paced set-up time for the monthly judging night, we started to consider OTHER ways to accomplish our judging and evaluating procedure. It was suggested by a few "newer=members" to take the club on-line. Some folks got all jazzed for the idea, but most were not all that hot for the on-line sight that had been suggested. I thought that we could have just "tweeted" our old approach, get our own Club-owned lap-top and projector and move on. Since the new concept began, not many of the OLD members have begun doing all the club stuff from home, on-line, and member ship has dropped drastically .. People seemed to prefer enjoying the fellow-ship of the meetings, as opposed to doing the photo submissions and judging at HOME, and over a couple of weeks. Our meetings became pointless, to some, and the club members that have stayed on, have yet to master the ins & outs of this New approach. The new deal is something called "visual pursuits" and even after about two years, few are participating. It's become a disaster, almost like the "affordable care act. Any one on the hogg have similar "camera Club experiences? Any comments.solutions??? Thanks for your time and advice... RJM

Kuzano

Politics.... ruined every one I belonged to. Plus various of the items you mentioned. Petered out.

digit-up Loc: Flushing, Michigan

A small number of photographer members, who do nice work(not exceptional work) became the POLITICIANS/Leaders, and are dragging the few remaining members down a road, a road that not many are all that happy to be on. Yea, it probably does have to do with the politics of influence . I hope the club SURVIVES. When the "visual pursuits thing began, I got a sign on "user name,and even brought pictures to a gallery. So, I didn't drag my feet, for going along, but, since that time (a couple years has passed, and very few people 6 or 7, have come along. I view it as hopeless, for those that would like to join a camera club to share time with like-minded folks. If we wanted to become professionals, unlike so many in the club that think they already are (pros) We would actually attend Schools for same.. As for me, these days, I'm just as happy(well, maybe not quite) with my gear, my G.A.S. and my trips out to take photos. Since half the club uses Canon, and know that they are the smart ones, and the other half shoot nikons and KNOW THAT THEY ARE THE SMART ones. I wasn't getting much, in the way of brotherhood, since I'm all PENTAX, body's and lenses. Oh Well!!

wattsimages

I'm the president of the Clark County Artists Guild here in Las Vegas. The problems you're describing are very common. One thing you need to keep in mind is that newer members are very comfortable communicating online, however the purpose of these groups is to get face-to-face and have an interaction/dialogue with a real person. Having an online presence is a good supplement, but you can't get rid of the face-to-face meetings.

The real issue with the newer generation, that they're not used to interacting with actual people. But once they realize the value, they will look forward to face-to-face meetings. I would suggest to your group's leadership put an emphasis on face-to-face meeting, supplemented by the online stuff. Running and managing these types of groups can be very difficult. But keeping our art alive is worth it.

digit-up Loc: Flushing, Michigan

I truly appreciate your response. I wish it were as simple as you PROSCRIBE. But in the long and agonizing effort to bring us all "on-line" the original concept, and most of the GOOD old members, have disappeared .. my fate exactly. None of the new guys will consider the face to face aspect of any organization. RJM

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

There is a huge difference between a "camera" club and a "photography" club. Photographers worry more about important matters and leave politics to "clubbers".

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

in the mid-'90s I was living in Tucson and joined a terrific club called Tucson Camera Collectors that had monthly meetings with lots of friendly fellowship. A buddy of mine was also active and we'd meet for an informal dinner before the TCC meetings and the enthusiast conversation would commence there. About half the members were into general photography of all sorts and the other half were serious collectors of cameras both classic and obscure. TCC held semi-annual 'camera shows' which included outside vendors as a way to raise funds and promote the hobby. I particularly liked the fact that if any of the TCC members had a question or a knotty problem, we could phone one of the others for advice and counsel. Looking back, TCC's success had a lot to do with a small core of key members who did a great deal to encourage 'newbies' and keep the group on track. As individuals aged and grew less willing or able to assume the mantle of leadership, the group declined. Goups of that sort seem to have a sort of 'shelf life' to their cohesion. It was great while it lasted, and we may find ourselves saying that about UHH at some point in the future. I will always have my Hedgehog pin from MT Shooter.

Photocraig

That's why The Hog is MY camera club.

digit-up Loc: Flushing, Michigan

It makes perfect sense!!! Thanks for all comments. RJM

Preachdude Loc: Geneva, OH

Years ago, I joined a color slide club in Glendora, California, and the club in turn was a member of S-4-C, or the "Southern California Council of Camera Clubs. My local group met twice a month, once for color slides and once for "nature" slides. The latter could not show "the hand of man" in the image. Both locally and regionally, there were divisions 1, 2, & 3. You joined with an automatic rating of 3. After you'd won some ribbons, you moved up to be a 2. One or two of our local members were in the 1 division. All were there for mutual support and encouragement -- no politics. I never became a "1" but as a solid "2" I won a number of ribbons.

Having said all of that, I counted those three years of membership as a great experience. When I went to the monthly S4C meeting, all slides were shown with a high-power projector on a screen twelve feet wide. Whereas locally we joined together to rate every slide from 4-9, 9 being best, at S4C meetings there were three judges, and the scores were averaged. Simply from observations stated by the semi-pro or pro judges as we saw the slides, I learned a lot about photography. At those S4C meetings almost every month there were workshops announced at reasonable cost. In short, I found the experiences well worth the effort, and I made a lot of friends.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

In a sense, competition in a Camera club is self defeating, especially when judged by fellow club members. A few will fight it out and the rest get disheartened. What you need are qualified guest judges that critique every image. Beginners learn from this. everyone learns something and the personal 'best image' from the judge is not considered as being 'The one that always wins'. Personally I would not aggregate the whole season's images in order to give out tiny cups and shields because this adds pressure to contribute regularly (those putting in the most will probably raise their overall score). Clubs work best when everyone is catered to. A varied programme with guest speakers and examples of their work or information about local attractions to encourage team shoots etc. Print and DPI, Black and White ,IR etc Iphone and compact. Macro and Portraiture. A club should inspire experimentalism and 'how can I do that'. If people demand Kudos for their winning images use them for publicity purposes or simply add a web page to your web site .
Hope this helps

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

On my 3rd club - first two were nothing special - lots of talk and no action.

Club #1.

Mentoring consisted of 1 evening, for 30 mins per month - it was in the form of a lecture with some Q&A. Regular competitions some print, mostly digital. Projector was ok, but little guidance on image settings so many images showed blown highlights, and were graded thusly. Lots of repetition, same people would win the comps. Flowers, insects, birds, etc, with some abstract - if you did that then you had half a chance. Judges ranged from pretty awful to a couple of good ones. Speakers were mostly ho-hum, often more interested in selling the products of the mfgrs that sponsored them, as well as their services, than sharing some knowledge and skills. Several basically showed the equivalent of a family slide show. Not worth the time. We were told as members that it was "our" club, and that the BoD welcomed suggestions. I made about a half-dozen suggestions - update the website, do a real mentoring program to bring newer and less experience photographers along, do things that would entice the younger crowd - I think the median age of this club was about 72 - do themed competitions, allow members with specialties to make presentations, a Facebook and possibly other social media presence - etc. All of it was rejected because they felt it would be a slight and an insult to one old time and lifetime member to make any changes. Last I heard nearly all the changes I suggested had been successfully implemented. The most important observation I made was when I overheard one member say to another on an outing - "boy, that picture would do well in a competition!"

Club #2. Same old stuff - some of the members of club #1 were also members of club #2 - same projectionist, so same issue with setup, black and white clipping points and lots of images losing points on those technicalities. Most of the other issues that plagued the other club plagued this one too. Both clubs had cliques that were pertty much impenetrable, and a mild condescension to those wanting to be accepted.

Club #3 - jury is still out, but this club has no competitions, meets once a month, and has really good speakers. The quality of the members' work is really quite good. Been a member for 2 yrs now, and don't plan on making any changes.

wattsimages

That's unfortunate. I belong to 4 groups, one that I run, and three that I enjoy. No one asks me what brand I use. There was a photo walk were a new member (it always seems to be the guys) made a comment that my camera was not worthy. When I won the contest after the walk, he said wow and asked to see my camera. I told him that the camera doesn't matter, and my clients hire me for the finished product, not what tool or I use. He then declared that the contest was not fair because I was a professional.

okay, maybe it wasn't fair. maybe I led the walk to areas where I knew that my system would have an advantage ;) The key here is that every system has its strengths and weakness. When you fall in love with the "badge on the hood" you lose sight of what's important, the final image.

I want to hang out with people who have other brands of cameras. Go out and shoot with them, compare there images with what I'm getting....Maybe your group has gotten too far off course. I would get an old roster and call the members that are not participating. either take the old club back, or start fresh.

wattsimages

This is sooo right. We charge a very small fee for entering competitions and use that to pay for "out-side" "qualified" judges. would you pay $5 to have one of your favorite images critiqued by a Gallery owner or a photo editor....The answer is usually yes.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

RJ, I think we have seen it here a few times before. I'm just a little surprised that a club since 1946 is not a PSA club.
I've only belonged to one club for about 5 years. I kinda stopped going when I started going to photo school and always had a class on the same nights as the meetings.
My club also started in the 40's but was an early adopter of the Photographic Society of America(PSA). PSA is the umbrella organization of most of the clubs in much of the world.
My club meets every week with competitions every two weeks. But those in charge are mostly implementing and enforcing the doctrine of the PSA which is very established. The odd weeks are used for education or print exhibits.
Personally I would like to see every club having problems join the PSA but that means you have to pay dues($35 annually)and I've heard many here grumble about even a small dues.
But I've always been competition heavy and very light on comradeship. To this day after 5 years of having been in the club I could not begin to tell you what brand camera even one other member used. The club was completely equipment un-oriented. Only image oriented.
Sorry to hear your club is falling apart.
Turn it into a PSA club or start a new PSA Club and new members will follow. Good luck! ;-)
SS