“Why don’t you join a photography / camera club and learn how to actually take photos”
This was the refrain from my wife over the years, every time I complained about the poor standard of my photographs. Especially since we had the holiday of a lifetime over in Canada in 2011 and what should have been the highlight photograph of a bear and her cub turned out to be a disaster! The resulting mess can be seen to the right. Disappointed? Yes, a thousand times yes. I couldn’t understand why, after all, the camera was fully on Auto, so the camera should take perfect photos, shouldn’t it?
I had owned a camera, of one sort or another, for quite a few years. As a teen I bought myself a Polaroid, Kodak Instamatic, a Kodak 110, a Vivitar XV-2 and my last film camera was a Canon EOS 600.
I ventured into the world of digital photography with the Canon Digital IXUS 70, followed by a Panasonic DMC – G1 (The one I used to photograph the Mum and cub). It was the Panasonic that I had when I joined Willfield Camera Club. My wife, having seen a small exhibition from the club, wrote down the contact details and insisted that I join, as it may have 3 benefits, 1. “It would get me out of the house and give me a hobby” 2. “It would get me into the swing of interacting with others again”, after I had been made redundant I had little outside contact. I had very little social skills and was intensely shy. 3 “You may improve your photography skills”. I plucked up the courage and applied to join, thank goodness I listened to my wife.
The second night they held a Viking studio shoot, my cowardice went into overdrive. I would be in a room full of strangers, I had never been in a studio, as a photographer and had never worked with models. Everyone was most patient and explained what I needed to do with my little 4/3 SLR and I was put at ease, when I brought up the fact that I didn’t have a full size DSLR I was told “It doesn’t matter what make your camera is, as long as it isn’t a Canon”. Thus ensued a good-natured ribbing between the Canon and Nikon owners. Now with help I produced my first decent photograph of a Viking no less! (See left).
Since then I have grown in experience and confidence and have enjoyed talks by fellow members, professional photographers and talkers. I even have given 2 myself, one, my favourite subject which I bore everyone with – Canada and one online during one of the Covid lockdowns about the groups I am a member of on Flickr. Yes, the core of faithful members still carried on with weekly meetings, usually hilarious, using Teams. I traded in my Panasonic G1 for a bridge camera another Panasonic, a DC FZ82. However Willfield helped me get into Macro and wildlife photography, so when I reached the big 65, my wife bought me a ……… wait for it …….. Canon EOS 6D mk2, with a 24 – 105, 100 – 400 zoom and Macro lenses. Needless to say I took some flak from the Nikon brigade, all good natured of course.
I still insist that I have not developed the “Photographer’s Eye” to see what would take a good photograph, but thanks to the friendship, advice and experience of members I can honestly say that Willfield Camera Club has done marvels for me and can see that I need to improve my framing of a subject, (See right). The members have introduced me to the worlds of Macro, Studio, ICM, Compositing and Portrait photography. I have become more confident in my approach to photography and in creating new friends, although the phrase “Alan, you volunteered for a talk yet? … “still fills me with dread.
A small selection of my photos are shown below; if you can stand more, here are some links.
My Willfield gallery is linked here; Alan Rust – Willfield Camera Club
My Flickr page is linked here; Alan Rust | Flickr
