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Clark's Message for September |
Have you noticed how everybody (with the possible exception of a few great-great-grandmothers) has a camera these days? The digital camera phenomenon has ushered in the greatest interest in photography since Kodak first came out with the box camera. Everyone (it seems), at every wedding, birthday party, vacation, etc. has a digital camera. I even saw a young girl taking pictures during a funeral service!
And, I'll bet that 99% of the photographs taken by all of these cameras are unsatisfactory to the "photographer," and certainly to us who have a little experience in the field. I'm sure many people, especially young people, buy a digital camera with the idea of making great photos. When they print out what they have taken, I'm sure many of them aren't happy with the results. Because, as you and I know, the camera doesn't make a good photographer, any more than a typewriter makes a good writer.
Do you see where I'm going with this? With all of these people buying cameras, and some of them expecting to get good results, there are a lot of unhappy people out there. People who really want to take good pictures, but can't quite seem to get it on the memory card. And, a good number of these people are relatively young. I know the disappointments that I had with my first few cameras. I wanted to take really good (not necessarily great) pictures, but I just didn't seem able to get it on film. It took many years, and a great deal of experience (and film) for me to get, what I will call "socially acceptable" results. How I wish I would have had access to a club like ours when I started out. But, alas, there was no camera club in Palmyra, Nebraska.
So where does that leave us? Here we are with a great learning institution (well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration) that could help a multitude of people learn to take better photographs, if they only knew that we existed, and that we accepted beginners.
Let's do a really great public service; let's tell everybody that we can about the Lincoln Camera Club. Let's tell them that we would be happy to mentor anyone who wants to improve their photography. Let's tell them not to worry about their early results, that we have all taken some bad photographs (and still do for that matter-we just delete the bad ones). Let's tell them that although they may never win competitions, they will soon be taking better photographs, just by participating in the club activities, and lectures. Let's tell them that there is a wealth of help available to them, and we can show them where to get it.
That's how we can serve the community, and work to improve the photographic environment (and, at the same time, gain some new members which would be nice). |
President's Column 