Camera Clubs

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1 Nov 2012 - 6:29 PM

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cuffit (e2 Member)

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1 Nov 2012 - 6:42 PM

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Isn't Ephotozine just a very large camera club, albeit a virtual one, but with all the same issues? Members are much the same as those in clubs but you don't see them so who knows how old they are and if you don't look at the info supplied with a photo you don't know what brand or type of camera a photo was taken with - but Canon v Nikon discussions (?) continue. Some good photos receive few votes and some other photos receive a hundred and who knows why - just like the judging at the club competition then.

You can put some comments on a forum and be ignored, just as you might feel unwelcome at a camera club. It was mentioned at the front-end of this thread that camera clubs throw up plenty of 'birds on sticks', well plenty of that here, too, although it is just as difficult to get one of those right as it is any other aspect of photography and we all have our favourite subjects. Check out the forums and you can, not too often thankfully, see flare ups on all sorts of things. Ephotozine is free to use of course (is that a good or a bad thing) but a fee if you want the bells and whistles - money up front for that (or just dip in for a short period at a cost) just like camera clubs.

I would agree though with GeordieDoug, having joined a camera club recently, that it does appear to be the domain of older people (me included I am afraid to say at 60-ish), women included in this case, but I thought the same when I went to one aged 35 and walked away accordingly. The club is friendly enough and the competitions are not dominated unless by good photos. But look at any motor race meeting, for example, and it tends to be older people taking the photos with high-end gear and mostly, but not exclusively, men - yet just about everybody has a camera of some sort whether mobile, compact or bridge. Generally speaking, youngsters tend to be 'doers' and want to get on and do things while some 'older' people retain an interest and put something back in at the same time - how many people here have organised something for a while and haven't been able to step away for lack of any more youthful volunteers, so the aged march on.

I like this site and all it has to offer, but probably only use a fraction of what it does offer. Similarly, I like pitching my photos against others as a way of improving and the club suits me better than Ephotozine at present, but it was/is Ephotozine that has improved me I think. I don't see the club as a social venue though. I wouldn't stick with a club if some people were as described in previous posts, I just think you need to find what suits you best and walk away from what doesn't. I expect the next generation are indeed doing great photographic things but on sites that I am not particularly interested in. Just like any business or venture, clubs and websites will change or whither away, but isn't that the way of it?

Chris