One of the values in being a member of the San Diego Photo Club is the opportunity to participate in the MemberShare program at our Photo Club Meetings. With some recent observations in the last several months, I wanted to offers some thoughts to our members on what we can do to maximize the value of MemberShare and drive ourselves to consistently show our best work.
- Stay for MemberShare: This one is pretty basic. We have a number of people who choose to leave after the raffle drawings immediately following our Main Presenter’s program. In the past, I have heard that time was an issue. I can say, we have pushed our presenters to conclude by 8 PM to make sure we do not run late. Stay and support the MemberShare presenters, even if you yourself are not presenting. Please encourage our guests to do the same.
- Your images don’t have to chronicle the past month: I think this is a trap I have seen people get into. If you are only posting 5 images that you made in the last 30 days, the overall quality of what you present will inevitably not be as good. Most people just don’t have the time to make 5 top quality images every single month. Feel free to pull images from the vault! If you showed an image from a couple years ago, but it fits the theme of your Share, feel free to show it!
- Only show your best images: This may seem like common sense, but if you didn’t make any great photographs recently, you don’t have to force it. I am confronted with this all the time myself. You will be much more proud of your work if you are showing top-notch imagery, even if it takes you longer than every month to put it together.
- Use a theme or find relationships in the images you show: People often do this when they make a trip abroad, but you can also do things like show images that fit our Monthly Photo Quest, or a type of photography you want to explore, or some kind of related theme. People will find your images more memorable if they can link one photograph to the next.
- Don’t Be Silent, Don’t Say Too Much Either: We may be going through 80 – 100 images a meeting. We don’t want you to be silent, because after all, the story behind your image will make it even more interesting. But don’t say nothing either, consider 10 seconds of info that might be enlightening to the audience. Don’t go on too long either, we have so many images to go through.
- If You’re In The Audience, Ask Questions: MemberShare presenters want feedback. You don’t have to say “great image” every time you see a photograph, but give the presenter a chance to say something about their work. This used to be very common and is now rarely done. Don’t hesitate to ask something, but also consider….
- Don’t Get Caught Up In Feeds and Speeds: The internet has every possible resource for technical information, mainly, because the people who seek this information seem to spend more time at a computer than behind a camera. This information can be useful, but most of the time, brings down a real conversation about composition, theory, and other artistic inspiration that is what truly makes a great photograph.
If you have any questions about what I have shared, please feel free to drop me a line. I want to see our MemberShare improve. In the past, the MemberShare often was as good or better than our main presenter’s work. Seeing great work from our friends and colleagues can be one of the best parts of coming to a Photo Club Meeting.