Camera clubs and competitions

[PHOTONA]

I haven't been a club member for many years now. I also wonder if falling attendance might be down to the demographic of members; namely is the age profile of members towards the more mature.

This is depressing part of it and puts me off a bit as with aging and being amateur unfortunately sometimes come certain features but as mentioned not if your motifs are your own improvement

In the past if you wanted to learn about a genre or style of photography you had to physically go to a lecture / workshop. Now I can watch training videos at a time to suit me.
If I want critique I can post to forums like TP or FB groups etc.
I just wonder if people are moving away from the in person interaction in favour of online

they do but it is irreplaceable, but also critique not by random public (the fact somebody is in a group/forum means nothing)

 

[PHOTONA]

That said, although there are clearly people in it to win it, the best way to view comps is that you're competing against yourself. The aim being to, year on year, do better than you did before

that's exactly how I see competitions.

A good Judge is there to offer support, tips, share a skillset to help you improve with the aim that your photography will improve by having a second (hopefully skilled) opinion

however unfortunately there are also sometimes bad judges I always try to see it as a difficult for them task too due to the time constraint

Photography is an art form, but just as some types of painting, sculpture etc. can be sh*t due to a lack of skill & knowledge for that genre, poor photography skills can often be spotted and more easily 'corrected' with another's help. Comps help many improve, even if you never enter you can still learn from the critique at Judging nights

My Top Tip - if you can't find a club you like start your own and run it in the way you'd like

pretty difficult to start as you need an audience and cost of running it (time mainly) vs membership makes it almost impossible.This is why I think it is mainly run by older people

 

[Dave Goodier]

pretty difficult to start as you need an audience and cost of running it (time mainly) vs membership makes it almost impossible.This is why I think it is mainly run by older people

I did it via Facebook - 50+ members within 12 months

We met every 2 weeks in a pub for FREE - they knew we'd buy beer lol

It worked REALLY well too too for getting people out and shooting together - no comps

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

they do but it is irreplaceable, but also critique not by random public (the fact somebody is in a group/forum means nothing)

Am I correct that English is not your first language?

I only ask because I don't quite understand what you are trying to convey in that sentence.