Should I Join a Photography club

Marc1548

Marc1548

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Hi
As In the title really. Should I join a club? I am thinking about it. Tbh the thought of rules committees, & that sort of stuff etc etc fills me with dread, Not sure why it really Should? My local club is Bracknell. hope I haven't offended anyone here!
But my real question is for those that are in club or have recently joined one. What is your experience? Did it ramp up your photography skills in a shorter time than would have been possible? & has it increased you interest in the hobby? Iv only been taking photos properly for a few years.
many thanks
Marc
 
If you can visit as a guest, give it a try to see if you like the people and are happy to comply with their rules.
 
I recently visited a local.club as a guest...was made to feel very welcome and was interested to see other people's images.

I want to learn and improve my photography, so have joined for 2026.

I will enter club competitions, more for the opportunity to have some of my photos critiqued than any great desire to be competitive.
 
Depends on what type of photography you want to do and focus on (pun intended). There are many online meetup groups that do a range of photography types.
 
I’ve been a member of the club in Woodley for last 2-3 years so not a million miles away from you. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. As a 41 year old man, I did bring the average age down significantly and did nothing to help the gender bias to men, but there are a few reasons I’ve enjoyed it:

1. it has been so nice to have something that isn’t work and isn’t family. 2 hours each Monday to do something completely different and focus on photography.

2. I really enjoy the challenge of the competitions and forcing myself to print and mount pictures. Too many sit on the hard drive, or excellent images that just not suitable for our home decor so don’t otherwise get printed.

3. Competition themes give a nice opportunity to go back through the archives and rework forgotten images, or get out and be creative

4. Some more fringe topics (e.g. our Annual AV competition) have made me give new things a try. AV can be a great way to present your images, it doesn’t have to be video footage to make a great film

5. The activity evenings when we get out and shoot together are a nice excuse to be creative, when you might otherwise not be inspired. You end up sparring off each other and see what others are doing

The ability levels are quite mixed as you’d expect, but everyone is there to learn and improve. And you can’t get hung up on ‘scores’. One judge will love it, another won’t. But their perspective is always interesting.

All that said, I’ve had to step away from the club recently as I took on an MBA which meant I lost a lot of personal time. I will be back though, for sure.

Could well end up bumping into you as there are occasionally competitions across groups and sure Bracknell is in our region
 
I've probably tried a dozen over the last fifty years or so (I moved around the country a lot with work).

Three were good enough for me to take out a membership, but the rest of them never received any more than a couple of visits. :rolleyes:

It all depends on what type of person you are and photography clubs certainly attract a certain 'type' of person.

Don't let me put you off though, you may like 'death by slideshow' and become a top competition winner with initials after your name. Either way, enjoy the experience and go for it - life's too short to not try . . .
 
I joined my club over lockdown in a bid to beat isolation and loneliness. I’ve met friends and I’m still there.

I don’t think all clubs are the same, different clubs can focus on different things and have their own culture. So one persons experience at one club might not apply to you and the clubs local to you. Figure out what’s important to you and visit a few clubs and judge them based on your criteria.

There’s a whole ton of things to be wary of with club photography. I’d say maintain a healthy dose of scepticism with it and make it only a small part of your photography practice
 
The only way to know which one is right for you is to visit all the options in your area.
 
I'd say 'do it'.

You won't know until you try and if there is more than one in your area, give them all a go if you can ....... most clubs allow you to visit 3 times before you decide and have to join.

I've been a member of 3 clubs, 2 in particular served me well. I'm absolutely positive that, amongst other things, being a club member has improved my photography. I'm currently a member of Kilmaurs Photographic Club and there are some excellent photographers there, the club has a very high standard. It's nice to be able to compare my work to the top members there and I also enter some of the competitions, which has also helped my photography improve.

If you do join a club and enter competitons, you will have to have a thick skin as some judges can be brutal, although I don't think that's so much the case nowadays but it's something to be prepared for. You won't forget those comments though and that will help you improve, as generally speaking, most judges do know what they are talking about, even if it is subjective.

Check out the local ones to you on their website (if they have one). You will see the standard at those clubs as most have online galleries. Join a club with a good standard, checkout the organisiations too, like the PAGB to get an idea of clubs that are doing well nationally.

I'm sure you will get many, varied opinions on this subject but whilst it's not been perfect, being a member of a club has helped me in a lot of ways.

As for rules, just be yourself, I'm sure you will get along fine in that respect. Competition rules are usually very straightforward too.

Let us know how you get on.
 
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Nod said:
If you can visit as a guest, give it a try to see if you like the people and are happy to comply with their rules.
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This. Maybe see if you can go a couple of times though - scope out any obvious cliques
 
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I'm not the clubbable type so can't really advise you. But perhaps first ask yourself what your core purpose is in making photographs (it's allowed to be a compound one) - and how that may accord with that of people who are happy to be in a club.

You could enjoy it as a sort of social time out. Or find it culturally & emotionally stifling ...

It depends where you're coming from.
 
My photography only improved slowly until I joined a club then it improved rapidly particularly after entering competitions. In my current club, we have plenty of mature members but also a couple still at the local university. About 1/3 the members are female and they include many of our best photographers. We are fortunate to be one of the largest clubs so have plenty of resources and expertise. The talk about cliques can be misleading. If you attend a club regularly (not just photography), you may meet others with very similar tastes/outings etc. so likely to talk to them regularly which is fine but this called cliques by those who are shy and find it more difficult to make friends. At my club we actively seek out new members to ensure that they are meeting others and made welcome.

Dave
 
I asked the same question on here about a year or so ago, and I did join up and now am in to my second season.
Really enjoy it and have learned lots, even taken part in the internal competitions.
Mostly watched and especially listened to what the guest judges have to say about all the photographs they judge. That part is very educational, and I sit and try to think what the judge is going to say, and I have had similar thoughts to the judge,
There are some very nice people in the club, I have found that to take part all you have to do is be yourself.
Some have very expensive gear and some don't, I am one of the latter, but its not stopping me from getting results..
We are in a very rural part of Scotland and we see each other quite a bit while out doing other things.
I am glad I joined, were going for a Christmas meal and drink in a few weeks, last year was great fun.
 
LeeRatters said:
I tried this sort of thing once or twice, but it wasn't really for me - was a bit clicky too.
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My experience, too.

There are "club people" (once known as "clubable" - which could have a double meaning) and those who aren't. I'm one who isn't.
 
I'd say try it. Membership of a club where the work of members is judged can teach a great deal.
My first club, many years ago ran slides. You showed what you took and the feedback was on how you might have taken a better image.
My second club was at a time when composite digital images were the thing. Not quite my thing to spend hours in front of my monitor and a bit of a mystery how it was deemed to be "photography", although undeniably art requiring high levels of skill and experience.
Now a couple of months into my third club, the emphasis is on the post processing of images. I am very impressed with the transformation of a naff image into a moody masterpiece, although it may not have looked anything like that when shot. I'm going to present my images in the way I like (including digitally projected film images), I'll see how that goes, but I know I will be alone.
 
Dale. said:
I'd say 'do it'.

You won't know until you try and if there is more than one in your area, give them all a go if you can ....... most clubs allow you to visit 3 times before you decide and have to join.

I've been a member of 3 clubs, 2 in particular served me well. I'm absolutely positive that, amongst other things, being a club member has improved my photography. I'm currently a member of Kilmaurs Photographic Club and there are some excellent photographers there, the club has a very high standard. It's nice to be able to compare my work to the top members there and I also enter some of the competitions, which has also helped my photography improve.

If you do join a club and enter competitons, you will have to have a thick skin as some judges can be brutal, although I don't think that's so much the case nowadays but it's something to be prepared for. You won't forget those comments though and that will help you improve, as generally speaking, most judges do know what they are talking about, even if it is subjective.

Check out the local ones to you on their website (if they have one). You will see the standard at those clubs as most have online galleries. Join a club with a good standard, checkout the organisiations too, like the PAGB to get an idea of clubs that are doing well nationally.

I'm sure you will get many, varied opinions on this subject but whilst it's not been perfect, being a member of a club has helped me in a lot of ways.

As for rules, just be yourself, I'm sure you will get along fine in that respect. Competition rules are usually very straightforward too.

Let us know how you get on.
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do they have guest nights at kilmaurs PC, ive got a house up there and at odd's at what to do some nights when i stay there( sods law ive just returned from there yesterday as ive got some surgery planned for tuesday)
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
do they have guest nights at kilmaurs PC, ive got a house up there and at odd's at what to do some nights when i stay there( sods law ive just returned from there yesterday as ive got some surgery planned for tuesday)
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Yes, you get 3 visits free.
 
@Marc1548, I see Bracknell had Gary Gough as a speaker back in September. That alone would've been enough incentive for me to join if I was looking to.

They also have some very good and credited photographers .............. personally, I think you have nothing to lose by checking the club out.
 
LeeRatters said:
I tried this sort of thing once or twice, but it wasn't really for me - was a bit clicky too.

I get more 'social' photography from local people I've met through Instagram/FB groups, here ( @gramps ) and just other photographers I've met & still bump into when out & about.
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Same. I found there were some "old boys" in the clubs who, whilst they did know a lot only seemed to know things relevant to their niche of photography and would poo-poo anyone who dared to know something they didn't. But that tends to be how photography works generally, you can watch lots of you-tube videos and not know if you're getting informed or misinformed just because the you-tuber speaks confidently and authoritatively.

Thats why 'social' photography works for some because often theres fewer egos and it is genuinely more collaborative and you can work through hurdles if you have any and also help others over theirs. A bit like this forum really.

That type of social photography works better for some, so you need to figure which would benefit you best.
 
Like others I tried several groups before finding one that met my personal needs. Like others I found too many groups run by the prime members for the prime members. The one I am still a member concentrates of photographic outings and encouragement with help of a 'professional' if and when needed. We do have internal competitions but again the accent is on improvement. The club does enter other external competitions and we are all encouraged to engage but its up to each individual, we have quite a bit of success, showing that letters after your name mean nothing - its your photo that count ....

The club arranges outings all over the UK and even Safaris to Africa etc

I suggest you try some and see what fits your needs .....
 
I tried a couple of local clubs and the people were really nice and friendly.

My issue was with the schedules of the clubs being focused primarily around a competition of sorts every month.

I was, on both occasions, probably the youngest or one of the youngest there and I would estimate that 80% plus were retired.

I don't have the spare time a retired couple or individual may have. I run two businesses, have two teenagers to run around and parents getting old to help out.

So for me, the pressure of having to do competitions every month or so just wasn't worth it.

Some of the images people had taken were amazing but I don't have the spare time to put into it at the moment.

Adam
 
I like my local one. Not too many people (about 15/20). The nice thing about it is that everyone helps everyone else, and we probably have a full range of ability.
As for competitions, yes we have 8 in total, but 4 are judged by ourselves. Also a rule regarding nothing over 2 years can be entered, so you don't have to sit through someone's holiday snaps from 10 years ago, when they can't be arsed to take anything new ;)

Most clubs do tend to let you go a couple of times to check it out.
 
I belong to one camera club "Coffee And Cameras" in Concord, NC USA. It's a Meetup club (Google Search for "Meet-Up"), but joining and remaining a member of it is completely free. It isn't a structured meeting in any way, just a bunch of photographers of every level who enjoy meeting and sharing ideas with each other. "New Gear" when brought in by someone tends to get a lot of attention by all, when someone brings in their latest "acquisition".

Several of us "more experienced" and "Pro" photographers tend to spend part of this meeting time helping the newbies with demonstrations and question and answer sessions of 1 on 1 or with a small group interested in what we have to say. These sessions are pulled off to the side of the main group for a quieter session. We meet on the first Saturday morning of each month at 9 AM, and usually begin braking up at 11-12. We welcome anyone who is interested in attending, even those who use cell phones, film, etc. We meet in the Food Court of a local shopping mall that has given us permission to meet there free, as long as our meetings don't interfere with the main meal times of the food shops (our reason for meeting at such an early time) . A coffee and pastry shop opens early for us on our meeting days. Some of us like to continue our meet through lunch and order from one or more of the shops to stay through lunch. There were 17 of us attending this on December 6. The attendance has varied, but has been generally increasing every month of this year 2025 and plans to continue in 2026.

This meeting is held in the USA, so I doubt that any of you will ever attend, but maybe one or a small group of you could get together and start a similar group. Being an "Old Photographer" who has been carrying a camera around since about 1952 and working on photography related projects for most of my working career has given me a lot of experience in photography, videography, and lighting that has been of significant interest by those that I freely share it with. It "feels good" to do this, and to help those new to photography and lighting to learn from my experiences. Others with experience tend to do the same at these meetings, though we all seem to start off chatting and sharing with each other, until we find someone asking newbie questions. Then one of us will begin helping them in a session off to the side of the main group.

Charley
 
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CharleyL said:
I belong to one camera club "Coffee And Cameras" in Concord, NC USA. It's a Meetup club (Google Search for "Meet-Up"), but joining and remaining a member of it is completely free. It isn't a structured meeting in any way, just a bunch of photographers of every level who enjoy meeting and sharing ideas with each other. "New Gear" when brought in by someone tends to get a lot of attention by all, when someone brings in their latest "acquisition".

Several of us "more experienced" and "Pro" photographers tend to spend part of this meeting time helping the newbies with demonstrations and question and answer sessions of 1 on 1 or with a small group interested in what we have to say. These sessions are pulled off to the side of the main group for a quieter session. We meet on the first Saturday morning of each month at 9 AM, and usually begin braking up at 11-12. We welcome anyone who is interested in attending, even those who use cell phones, film, etc. We meet in the Food Court of a local shopping mall that has given us permission to meet there free, as long as our meetings don't interfere with the main meal times of the food shops (our reason for meeting at such an early time) . A coffee and pastry shop opens early for us on our meeting days. Some of us like to continue our meet through lunch and order from one or more of the shops to stay through lunch. There were 17 of us attending this on December 6. The attendance has varied, but has been generally increasing every month of this year 2025 and plans to continue in 2026.

This meeting is held in the USA, so I doubt that any of you will ever attend, but maybe one or a small group of you could get together and start a similar group. Being an "Old Photographer" who has been carrying a camera around since about 1952 and working on photography related projects for most of my working career has given me a lot of experience in photography, videography, and lighting that has been of significant interest by those that I freely share it with. It "feels good" to do this, and to help those new to photography and lighting to learn from my experiences. Others with experience tend to do the same at these meetings, though we all seem to start off chatting and sharing with each other, until we find someone asking newbie questions. Then one of us will begin helping them in a session off to the side of the main group.

Charley
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That sounds remarkably civilised. More my idea of what a club should be, I think.
 
I once ran a camera club at the company I used to worked for and they funded us to buy equipment if we needed it which was brilliant. This was many many moons ago and we did have the odd member who had images of Christmas on both ends of a roll of film :ROFLMAO:
 
Just back from our Camera Club's Christmas Night out and had a great laugh. Lots of decent photographers among our number and there are competitions both club and National but it is essentially a social club. That is one of the reasons I continue to join even if I don't go in for as many competitions. We are lucky enough to own our own venue so we have a home and those who join usually do a spell on the committee getting speakers and events organised into a really varied syllabus. I did a bit of judging for a few years and the vast majority of clubs I visited in central Scotland have a pretty aged demographic. That may suit you or put you off but they all tend to be really friendly places with good banter and of course a common interest to at least start getting to know people and have something to talk about
 
I'm unaccountably biased, not being a crowd-scene operator, but -

I imagine clubs as a collection of comfortable armchairs - along with a lectern for those who like sounding off & ruling the roost. Self-reinforcing places where equipment is mentioned a lot, with its expense a presumed badge of merit, and techniques of the clichéd 'painting by numbers' type are extolled. I imagine that there is little discussion of the cultural aspects of photography - or its essence, meaning or value.

I imagine that they're social gatherings of a certain kind, stuck in a mainly middle class, comfort-zone time warp and cultural dead-end.

Can photography have guts, or is it futile escapism?

My shoulders are without chips, I claim - I'm just trying to be accurate. Answers on a postcard, please, to the following address:

Major Harrumph, Talk Photography.
 
This club that I belong to has occasional meets that usually occur at other Saturdays other than the scheduled first Saturday of each month.

A recent one was a model shoot in a nearby park. One member set up his lights and brought a posing stool. Another brought some various props, and one photographer's adult daughter volunteered to pose for everyone. This took place in a lesser used lawn area of the park near the trees and this shoot lasted several hours, with occasional breaks, usually when one photographer had finished taking his shots and the next was about to start. The model could stop and take breaks whenever she needed to as well. Those of us with portrait shooting experience helped those without the experience, and all had a great time doing this.

A night shoot of the city lights and traffic from a bridge was interesting as well. Experiments in long exposures, and high ISO settings, as well as comparisons of the telephoto lenses took place on this night. Again with the more experienced taking time to help those new to this.

In the late Springtime there is a Sunflower Farm with many acres of Sunflowers and many photo shoots of these flowers or of those posing in front of them takes place during these annual Springtime trips. The farm allows these photo shoots, as long as they know when we wish to be there. A nature walk with cameras on a relatively easy trail through a nature preserve was also held last Spring.

There has been some talk of a train related photo shoot. There is a State Transportation Museum about a 20 minute drive from here and the property is a former railroad repair shop and rail yard with many full size restored cars and engines to see and photograph. A live steam engine train ride around the property is also available on the weekends, but the repair shops are frequently busy every day with paid as well as volunteers working on the restoration or repair of all of the engines, cars, and equipment that is there. I believe that this trip will happen in the early Springtime of 2026.

I took the attached photo at this railroad museum 25 years ago with my first really professional Sony 2.1 megapixel digital camera, a Mavica MVC-FD98 (about $1200 USA cost back in 2000). Not much of a camera when compared to what is available today, but it was about the best digital camera available in June of 2000. It used 3 1/2" floppy disks to record the photos, and one disk could hold four full resolution photos. I had a large fanny pack with about two dozen floppy disks in it that I wore during any photo shoots. If the floppy faced right it was fully used. If it faced left, it was ready to use. Each had a disk number written on it, so I could write notes of the contents of each as I used them, on a small pad in my shirt pocket. The shots from this camera could be printed up to 8 X 10", but became pixelated when enlarged much past the 8 X 10 size. This shot is of the live steam train that was being used for the train ride that day, and it was moving when I took the shot, however it was only moving about as fast as someone jogging. This shot file is directly from the camera with no editing at all, and it's a jpg shot with many artifacts that will show if enlarged more than 8 X 10", but it's quite impressive for those early days of digital photography.

Contact some of the photographers in your area and see if you can get them interested in starting up a meetup type club something like ours, if none exist today. Also, do your best to find a place where you can have your meetings, hopefully at little or no cost. Where we meet does provide some lunchtime business for the food court after our meetings and they provide the space and tables for us to meet before the lunchtime rush of customers. We consume quite a bit of coffee and sweet rolls from that one coffee shop, so they open early for us too.

Charley
 

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I work just outside Bracknell, twinned with Hell (but I hear it has a nice new shopping centre!!), but I know someone who was with Bracknell a few years ago, had nothing bad to say about it.

I would give the camera club a go, and if you join and it doesn't work out then at least you will have given it a try. In my club, RTPS, we have special interest groups and everyone's tastes are catered for, and there is always someone on hand to give guidance. The rules for competitions are complex, whether you go for club, regional, national and international, not to mention PAGB, RPS etc. but if a club has a lot of accredited photographers who can advise then that is good. At least I can see how my photos compare with my peers when entering club competitions. We've made friends in our club too.

Give it a try I say.
 
Great thread, thank you.

Are clubs primarily concerned with the dark winter evenings and close for the summer?
 
droj said:
I'm unaccountably biased, not being a crowd-scene operator, but -

I imagine clubs as a collection of comfortable armchairs - along with a lectern for those who like sounding off & ruling the roost. Self-reinforcing places where equipment is mentioned a lot, with its expense a presumed badge of merit, and techniques of the clichéd 'painting by numbers' type are extolled. I imagine that there is little discussion of the cultural aspects of photography - or its essence, meaning or value.

I imagine that they're social gatherings of a certain kind, stuck in a mainly middle class, comfort-zone time warp and cultural dead-end.

Can photography have guts, or is it futile escapism?

My shoulders are without chips, I claim - I'm just trying to be accurate. Answers on a postcard, please, to the following address:

Major Harrumph, Talk Photography.
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What is the point of describing your imagination particularly as you are so wrong and your comments are insulting to those who are club members.

Dave
 
DumfriesDik said:
Great thread, thank you.

Are clubs primarily concerned with the dark winter evenings and close for the summer?
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My club has weekly meetings usually physical but occasionally zoom from September to the end of May but we also have several subgroups which run all year and regularly organise outings throughout the year (some of those may be overseas); a club trip to Berlin in just being planned. We are also in regular contact with other local clubs and a club from Australia and one from the USA. This amount of activity requires a large Committee and we are fortunate to have a local young University Student on the Committee.

Dave
 
DumfriesDik said:
Great thread, thank you.

Are clubs primarily concerned with the dark winter evenings and close for the summer?
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Yep, pretty much the same as the football season in Scotland. In the summer our club, Midlothian, try to have an outing each month in the summer.
 
Tried a couple of guest nights - definitely wasn't for me but there were some stunning images on display and I know someone peersonally who is a member of the club and has benfited enormously from it with a great improvement in her images. I think you should give it a try and I think you will know pretty quickly whether it suits you.
 
We haven't had any competitions, and I'm happy with that. We are all so different in how we take photos that competing with each other just seems wrong to me. We each do our own kind of photography so differently from the rest of us that I don't feel that it is possible to compete, like a ball game or tennis match. I have seen many friends become enemies over competitions involving photography at other clubs that I have belonged to, and I want to remain friends and respect their style of photography and hope that they have the same respect for what I do. I compete with myself, to achieve better and better shots. When people see my photos and openly thank me for letting them see my photos, that is my satisfaction for doing them and I am delighted when they like them so much that they ask if they can buy a copy from me. I no longer work for a living so I don't want any part of being in business any more. So when someone sincerely wants to buy one of my photos, I have given one to them without charging. If the club that I belong to ever starts having competitions, I'll either not participate or I may leave the club, since I have seen too many competitions cause bad feelings between the participants or those tasked with the judging. Competing with myself is the only form of competition that I want to do. I win when others see my photos and comment to me about how much they like them.

Charley
 
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