Help With New Photo Club

geospatial_junkie

Hi everyone. I just joined a fledgling photography club in our area and the founder of the club is having a tough time accommodating people's needs in terms of what they want/expect in such a club.

I just wanted to get people's thoughts and opinions on what should be focused on.

A little background...
Most of the people in the club are relatively new to photography and have point-and-shoots or SLR's they don't know how to use. We've gone over the fundamentals of aperture and shutterspeed in previous workshops.

Should the moderator of the group be focusing on field trips or presentations on "how to's?" The head of the club only wants to commit meet once per month at the back of a local church.

She asked me to help, but I wanted to get everyone's thought on the matter.

Blaker

Hi!
I belonged to a club much like the one you are starting up for several years. We met once a month and at the meeting would go over basic photography ( such as how and when to use aperture priority, composition, etc) and would hand out information sheets on that weeks "lesson". Then the following weekend we would plan an outing during which we could practice the previous meeting's lesson. The persons with more advanced knowledge would 'mentor' the beginners during the outings.
Then, at the next week's meeting, we would all bring our slides/prints/digital photos on a cd and share them with the group, and we would all discuss the photos- with the emphasis on what was good about the photos- along with gentle critiquing.
This system worked well for us for over 20 years, and though our club has now officially dissolved, we still get together for photo outtings several times a year and get together for an "imagefest!" party twice a year so we can share our photos with each other.
Good luck with your club!

geospatial_junkie wrote:

Hi everyone. I just joined a fledgling photography club in our area and the founder of the club is having a tough time accommodating people's needs in terms of what they want/expect in such a club.

I just wanted to get people's thoughts and opinions on what should be focused on.

A little background...
Most of the people in the club are relatively new to photography and have point-and-shoots or SLR's they don't know how to use. We've gone over the fundamentals of aperture and shutterspeed in previous workshops.

Should the moderator of the group be focusing on field trips or presentations on "how to's?" The head of the club only wants to commit meet once per month at the back of a local church.

She asked me to help, but I wanted to get everyone's thought on the matter.

geospatial_junkie

Thanks for commenting Blaker!

I'll definitely pass on your suggestions to the coordinator. I guess the main thing we are struggling with is the mix of advanced shooters and beginners (especially when people only want to meet once per week).