Clubbing, or Camera-derie...

I've always thought it would be good to join a camera club or photography society as some of them are known, but like many people I've been put off by talk of obsession with distinctions (LRPS etc) and competitions, snobbery, and most of all by the times of the meetings. I work reasonably long hours and I'm not always able to commit to getting out of work on time to get to an early evening start, so I've never got around to joining or even visiting one and my photography was largely a solitary pursuit or something done with the indulgence of my lovely wife on days out and holidays etc.

Around six months ago I heard about a local camera club from a fellow member in the woodcraft club I also frequent. This one was different by the sound of it, as it was quite a young club so no long history to live up to, most of the members were relatively inexperienced in photography as a medium or as an art, it was just around the corner from me, and best of all, meetings started at 7:30 or 8:00 pm so I could get to them easily. So it was that before long I found myself a member of Roby Mill Community Camera Club.

The club meets in The Star at Roby Mill every other week. They're unlike most other clubs I've heard about due to their active programme during the summer months - they like to be out and about taking photos whenever possible. It's very much about going out together and taking shots, and much less about homework and critique, though there is still obviously a level of critique, as you would expect. In winter they are more confined by the conditions but there's still a lot of actual camera activity. 

One of the nights earlier this year was a fifteen minute challenge where we all piled into cars, went to a less than obvious location and took the best picture we could in fifteen minutes, then returned to the pub to look at each other's best pictures. We've also spent time in a cemetery car park taking photos of a man dressed as a Jedi and waving a lightsaber, had a presentation on using Lightroom and Photoshop for post production, had a talk from an L&CPU judge (Lancashire and Cheshire Photographic Union) about what it takes to enter competitions, and as a result a few of us have entered some pics into the annual LCPU Individual competition, entry for which requires you to be a member of an affiliated club.

Overall impact of the club has been huge on my photography. I've taken lots of pictures that I wouldn't have had the chance to capture, used my tripod more times in the last three months than the whole preceding three years, talked to more people about photography technique and compared images with more interested parties than for a long time. And I like to think I've helped a few people to learn something as well, just as they have for me.