Yesterday I mentioned the Rocky Mountain Spring Camera Show which is being hosted by the Denver Photographic Society. DPS is a local camera club, and one of the questions I am often asked is what group, organizations or clubs do I belong to and how do they benefit your work. As I mentioned this event sponsored by a local club I thought this would be a good time to talk about the options available.
First off, I am not a member of DPS and I have not been to any of their meetings, but I did mention the camera show as I thought it may be of interest to the local Denver readers of this blog. There are many positives to joining a local camera club, however if it is the right decision for you depends on your objectives and what you would like to get out of the club. In the Denver area there are quite a few options for photo clubs you may consider depending on your location, I recommend checking out a few prior to joining a specific club.
Since photography is quite popular in Colorado there are many options available, but if you are in a smaller town or restricted on time an online forum may be the right option for you. Depending on the type of photography which interests you, there is most likely an online forum which will focus on your subject. For my personal work, I follow or participate on Nature Photographers Network, Nature Photographers of Colorado as well as Sports Shooter. There are others I also look on occasionally, but these three are the top. Besides the traditional forums, you have sharing websites like Flickr, and photo.net however I encourage you to read the terms of usage for whatever online forum you use to make sure how any photos you upload may be utilized by the site.
For the professional side of my work, I belong to Indie Arsenal which is a local group of creatives who through online forums collaborate and network at no charge. With members from varying disciplines it also provides the opportunity to talk to other creatives who may be having similar problems whether in the same discipline or not. From the meetings, I have found an issue discussed by a web designer may be something I am dealing with as well and it is helpful to have different backgrounds trying to find the problem. In addition to Indie Arsenal, I am also a member of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. While Indie has creative businesses strongly represented, the chamber represents businesses of all sizes and provides many opportunities to network with fellow members at events during the course of the year. The main item to remember with the chamber is that the more you take part in the events, the more you will get back. If you are in the Denver area and are interested in trying out the chamber, let me know and I would be happy to take you to an event and provide you a contact at the Chamber to talk to in more detail.
On a National level, I am a member of two different professional organizations. The first is the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) which is an organization of photographers who mainly photograph for publication. ASMP helps promote the interest of photographers in the industry as well as provides resources which help photographers with their business and growth. One publication which is a great resource is the ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography which is available for anyone to purchase. While ASMP is at a national level, there are also local chapters which have events. ASMP Colorado is my local chapter and they have meetings about once a month allowing members to get together and network. While I have heard in the past some people do not like this as it is more so a gripe session, just like any organization it is all about what you wish to get from the opportunities. The other national organization I am a member is the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). To be honest at first I questioned joining this organization, however with their extensive online resources as well as printed magazine I have found great value in being a member. Additionally with the discounts you can get through being a member the membership basically pays for itself. If you are using Lightroom and/or Photoshop there is a great wealth of information available to help you naviagte the complexities of these programs.
There are many more groups and associations out there whether local, regional, national or online. The bottom line is to find what works best for your specialization and see if being a member is right for you. Whether it is PPA, NANPA, WPPI, APA or any of the many others talk to your peers as well and see what makes sense. Are there any organizations which you are a member of currently, leave a comment and let me know.
