Camera clubs are boring why??

[jdobb2001]

IT just seems all the pictures I see when thinking of joining a club is
the same old pelican on a pier, pictures of the waves on the ocean and
pictures of flowers etc.. and everything revolves around scoring high
points in a contest where the contest subject is usually something
above.

Do any clubs exist where its not so boring and formal where
experimentation and pushing the limits exist? Where the mean age is
under 48?

I would rather collaborate,learn and just have fun during the whole
process and maybe discover new techniques and make some new friends who
also like photography. There is already enough competition in formality
in the job world, who the hell wants to do that with their hobby also?

Any tips or hints on where to find such clubs or do they not exists??

[Mick Brown]

"jdobb2001" <jdobb...@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:1110845808.8...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

As a former member of a very large Camera Club in Australia, I think I
can answer that.

Basically it comes down to the judges, what tends to happen is that most
of the judges are more senior members of the club, who love that type of
work. Whenever any of the newer members submitted work that was a
little modern, it was lucky if it was recognised let alone in the prize
winners.

I tested this theory a few times. Whenever I submitted one of the
standard "boring" subjests, I quite often figured in the top 3, but
whenever I went a little left field, I usually got hammered. And if you
ever submitted a nude...forget about it!!

As I left the club, I did notice a large influx of new younger members
as well as some of the more senior members willing to take on new things
so maybe it's different now, but I don't have time to go back to test
it.

I get more constructive feedback from websites, like www.photo.net.

Mick Brown
www.photo.net/photos/mlbrown

[Scott Coutts]

Yeah, I agree... a lot of the clubs I've looked at have been like that.
I thought I might have been onto something when I discovered a Monash
University (which I currently attend) Camera Club website... but I found
out soon after that it was no longer running ):

I dont know if other unis have photography clubs... maybe you could
check out the web pages or give the uni a call and ask for their clubs
and societies rep?

Scott.