OT: regarding photographer networks. . . local photo scene. . . .

[madkins]

hey there, folks. . . .

 

i had read the photo mentor thread and i started thinking about how i learned

photography. i was wondering what the local "scene" is like for the rest of

you. . . .

 

a little background on myself so you can understand what i'm talking about. . . .

 

when i was about 15, i first started messing around with cameras. i was given a

minolta x-370 with a busted lightmeter and when i started my photo class, my

instructor gave me a gossen scout lightmeter to use until i upgraded. i bought

a shabby cosina olympus om-2000 as the first camera that i purchased with my own

cash and continued taking photos.

 

along the way i was briefly involved in a camera club (when i was dating a

member's daughter) and i found that most of the folks involved in that were too

busy stroking each others egos or trying to tear one another down. i wasn't

really into it and stopped going after a few months. at the only local camera

shop that's still remaining open for business, i got to know the folks that

worked there as well as most of the customers. some of us were into the same

things both photographically and otherwise so a few friendships were formed.

 

there've been a few times that i've jokingly remarked that i was part of the

huntington underground photo collective while BSing with some of the other

photo-geeks i know. the whole mentor thing sparked this because i thought of

the couple times gear has been borrowed or loaned, or more technical information

has been shared. i've had projects where i needed a widelux and got one from a

friend. . . or i needed immediate output and a friend loaned me their 5D.

sometimes it's just simple stuff where we'll be taking photos in clubs and

someone, after being asked how to get photos with some busted old 35 slr that

they might have inherited, brings up the idea of taping down a lens at a sort of

intermediate hyperfocal distance and using a flash. . . .

 

anyway. . . just wondering if anyone else had similar experiences. i know a few

folks in different parts of the world where, for whatever reason, they don't get

to meet up with other like minded photographers and all the folks they DO know

are ultra-competitive or totally unwilling to help.

 

hehe. . . . i've sort of noticed similar traits on either side of the fence

here on the leica forum, but generally dismiss the things that i find

disagreeable because i know that there are a couple guys in my little

photo-clique that i want to simultaneously buy a beer and punch in the mouth at

the same time. . . .

 

so. . . any contributions you might have would be interesting to me. . . whether

it's some complex dissection of the anthropological issues that create these

types of groups. . . some similar story you'd like to share. . . or to just tell

me you'd like to punch me in the mouth. . . .

[stuart_richardson]

I basically learned photography in Santa Barbara, which was nice for a number of reasons.

The Brooks Institute is in town, so there are always a bunch of kids coming in to learn

photography. There are two major photo stores and a few local pro labs. The good thing

about them is that they are largely staffed by Brooks students, or former Brooks students.

That means that basically every salesperson you meet has had a rigorous technical training

from 35mm to 4x5, and you can ask almost any of them, "what ISO do you shoot HIE at?"

or "What books or basic setup would you recommend for getting into studio lighting?", or

"which is more reliable, the Mamiya 645 AFD or H1?" <P>The point is that they are all

training to be pro photographers, so if they don't already know the answer, they can point

you to someone in the store who does. They are interested in equipment, but most of

them photographers more than gearheads, so they can guide you really well. Nobody was

really competative because they were all still students and most of the competition was

with classmates, not with other local photographers. When I was learning, they were really

helpful in helping me learn how to develop on my own, which were the best books for

learning techniques and photoshop, who to go to for repairs and processing and so

on.<P> I think in a bigger city I would not have had the same personal attention, and in a

smaller one I would not have had the same knowledge base and equipment selection

(rentals too). So while I did not go to Brooks myself, I was able to leech onto the

infrastructure they had built in town, and learn a lot from the students.

[madkins]

that's pretty cool that you mention brooks, actually. . . . one of the only decent guys in the camera club was some sort of brooks graduate. . . .

 

in my small-ish town, i'm pretty lucky to know a guy that runs a decent lab and has been able to answer most of the questions i've had. it was him, as well as a retired newspaper photographer, that used to work in the local pawn-shop superstore (with a surprisingly decent camera department) where i first got into cameras and photography.

 

sadly, though, our local college doesn't have much going on in the way of a photo department. there's basically one guy that teaches all the photo classes. he's an alright sort of fellow, but. . . without knocking the guy too much, he sometimes makes it plain that you can't build an entire photo program around one man. . . .

 

the only other instructor that i know of for the college is this one woman that was down at the camera shop while i was picking up chemicals. . . she was asking what speed film she should use for taking photos at night. after i asked her what she was planning on doing, the counter-man, she, and i got into a discussion about how long the exposures were going to be, how much ambient lighting she wanted to pick up outside the flash, how she was going to meter the scene, etc. it was sort of strange because she seemed to not quite understand some of what we were talking about (and this wasn't some lame attempt at flexing our collective photo-man muscles with the little photo girl in our presence. . . we just asked the general questions she should have been asking herself).

 

anyway. . . point is. . . it was sort of strange to see someone that has to be ready to instruct others not knowing some basic technical knowledge.