I have recently discovered a trend that I am not happy with and I am curious if you struggle with the same thing. It is irritating that Camera Groups and Local Camera stores do not strive for something more. Before I get too far on my rant here is the story.
I recently went into a Camera Store in the Kansas City area (my home area) and noticed they taught classes there. I asked the store owner if he were interested in new instructors and new courses. I was alluding to what I could teach. He was a bit stand offish at first but then I mentioned I have over 125 videos on YouTube and over half a million views… He started to listen. I then went on to describe what I could teach. I discussed the potential for an HDR course, maybe an advanced Photoshop course or a few hours on the Digital Zone System. He said, “While all of that would be nice, that is not intended for our audience here. They are very basic users that don’t want that kind of course.”
Why would this store want to limit its potential for something more?
I also contacted several Meetup groups. I even offered to teach a course for nearly FREE and I received the same response!
I am sure there are several limiting factors. Of which I have been contemplating quite a bit. Here are some of my thoughts:
- Comfort: Knowledge is very similar to our relationships. We get very comfortable with what we know and seldom try to elaborate due to the intimidation factors that represent themselves along the way. Knowledge, in every aspect of our lives, is power. Certainly even the hobbyist would want to be more powerful in their Photoshop endeavors. I challenge myself on a daily basis to break my comfort zone with what I know of Photoshop and Photo Post Processing.While some may see it as counterproductive to always be coming up with a new workflow, my work has benefited from it greatly. All because I broke free from my comfort zone in Photoshop. The same could happen in these local camera clubs.
- Complacency: This form of comfort leads to complacency. Not laziness, because complacency is simply being so comfortable with yourself you do not see a need to strive for more. This is the most dangerous for of comfort because it blinds you to your deficiencies. These local groups could simply be complacent in what they have to offer that trying something new may lead to the fear of failure or lack of participation.
- Ignorance: I do not mean this in a bad way, like we normally find the word, I mean it in the most respectful way possible. Ignorance in the regards that they simply do not know. Ignorant to what could be offered and the limitless potential of the instructors that would be willing to take the classes they offer to the next level.
- Lack of Awareness: With everything in life we should be willing to continuously improve. If you are not improving you are plateauing, cutting yourself short before reaching your peak. Many local camera groups in this area do not see the need to continuously improve upon what they offer. This lack of awareness leads to a high turnover rate and less participation in what is being offered.
This is what I do know. There are a lot of different levels of knowledge on HDR Insider but they are all so eager to learn! It is infectious!
What are your thoughts?
Do you have the same issues in your local group?
Do you have any suggestions about how to change this mentality?
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
Hi Blake, Interesting post. It’s been my experience in the past that quite often such apparent lack of enthusiasm as shown by your local store owner and meetup groups is simply down to the fact that the “leaders” don’t know what their members really want because they haven’t actually asked them (usually because they can’t be bothered to make the effort}. Your local store owner gave you his “considered” response but do you think he really knows what all his members think or want? This is sad as there may well be people in these groups who would like to further their knowledge and live training and tutorials from an experienced person such as yourself would be right up their street. Furthermore, while such groups may have a robust roll call of members how many of those members carry a real interest or passion for photography and post processing? You talk about complacency, ignorance and lack of awareness but part of this could be down to plain old lack of interest in the subject matter. In the time that I have been following you via your blog and the various webinars, etc., that you’ve been involved in I’ve seen you grow but photography is in your blood, so to speak, you have an artistic nature and your passion for photography and HDR fuels your creativity, you’re gifted, but for others, like many people in these sorts of groups, while the end result may spark a mild interest or even be somewhat inspiring they don’t share a similar level of enthusiasm and the processes involved in taking photographs and post processing can seem like a lot of hard work for little reward. Now that I’ve made a half-century in my innings in this cricket match they call life, I’m discovering passions and interests that I previously thought non existent, like gardening for example. Photography, and in particular the whole digital processing side, both fascinates me and satisfies my explorers nature. I am finding some artistic expression in life that I hadn’t been able to before but in my case it takes work and dedication and there is a lot of disappointment and dissatisfaction with the results – I don’t see myself as an “arty” type. How do you change the mentality you speak of? I think you’re already doing it via your blogs, involvement with developers, and so forth. And I think it’s perseverance, if you truly want to evangelise keep badgering away at them. If I can go a tad religious for a moment and quote Revelation where it says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him …” it doesn’t say behold I stand at the door and knock but if you don’t answer I’m off! Go back in six weeks or something and ask again, maybe see if the local store owner can circulate an e-mail from you directly to his members and get an individual response from each of them as to whether they might be interested in hearing what you have to say/teach.
Best wishes and I look forward to hearing more.
Simon.
That is great advice and something I am not good with at all! I am a one and done guy especially with communication, if someone says they don’t want something or gives me a reason to think otherwise, I find it difficult to banter.
You also just hit me with the baseball bat there. I guess I take for granted my enthusiasm in Photography and didn’t take into consideration that others don’t see it the way I do. You are right, I have a sick infatuation with Photo post processing. I try to simplify it as much as possible for those who don’t like it to try and make it more enjoyable. You have hit the nail on the head with many of your comments and I am truly grateful.
I am off to the local camera store to go knock on the door 🙂
Hi Blake:
I got your point and pain. I am an iphoneograher who love shooting with his iphone for past 3 years and have been following your videos for few years now and have learnt great tips.
To be honest, I do not think I fall in the “gifted” category and did start with learning basics from friends and ppl around me 3-4 yrs back. But as I learnt basics, I came across some HDR tutorials from your channel and others on youtube and an interest was developed over the period which still continues and grows stronger as days pass-by.
The same is true for your local store audience. Until someone show them whats beyond basics they would be struck assuming this is all they can learn. Its true that not all of the users would gain equal interest in learning further but even a few would be good enough to spread the message locally and may build up the audience over time.
It may sound silly but put in the same situation, I would still sign-up with the local store to teach a basics class and during the class may try to show the audience what lies beyond basics ( in a laymen terms, with results) and how I learnt it by failures but pushing myself to learn.
May be out of that class, someone would feel interested and then try to sign up for advance…
Thanks,
Ankur
Ankur,
Thanks so much for your insight. That is great advise! I may have to consider that. I did teach a beginner course here years ago through a local Adult Education and was quite surprised by the interest to pursue more difficult assignments. Maybe I should re-engage that audience and offer something like you suggested.
I too at one point did not feel gifted, I felt the opposite actually. At the turning point of my art career in 2010 I was about to put down my camera due to my frustrations with Post Processing. Then I found HDR and the light bulb clicked on for me. The world of possibilities and a deep seated infatuation came to fruition. I am glad I stuck with it, I really just want to pull that kind of passion and inspiration out of others who are on the same path.
Thank you for your additional comments, that is very helpful!
Too bad you are so far away. Our camera club in Grants Pass, Or would jump at your offer.
I will travel for a workshop, especially to Oregon! Maybe make it a 2 day shooting / photowalk one day and post processing day 2?
Hi Blake
I have the same issues. I had a lady in my last HDR workshop that thought it was a beginning photography class. She had just got her camera and wanted to learn how to use it. She was the best advertisement for my next HDR workshop, telling everyone how easy it is to be a good photographer. She has been to a lot of my workshops and it’s great to see how far she has come in the art of HDR.
Ha! That is actually kind of funny though, to go to an HDR course for mistaking for beginning photography. What a hell of a way to learn!
Hi Blake! Sad to say it but some people manage to live WITHOUT a pulse. I live for color and beauty and new ideas, and have been stunned to be told “the only colors that sell in this town are black, grey and navy” (honestly, I was in a yarn and fabric store and wanted colors); and I have realized that showing enthusiasm or interest can cause people to back up in fear, of all things. Cripes. I even went with a long time friend (in another state) to help her discover colors and she became immobilized with the choices (!). David and I have volunteered our services and been strongly discouraged from coming back…who knows what kind of fear based thinking goes on in there. It’s very hard when you live somewhere and while you see the potentials, so few seem to embrace them too. I give thanks every day for the online community! So, thank you and all the others who envision a connected, enlivened environment where humanity encourages each other and finds life worth living, enjoying and sharing. Maybe we are the fore-runners, holding the vision, doing what we can to prompt some life force in our fellow humans. The other thing–I do find that eventually people get used to my showing up in the neighborhood, week after week camera in hand, taking pictures as the seasons change. The first three + months there was an obvious mistrust of who I was and why I was there, even though I smiled and tried talking to them, so it takes time and persistence to gain some peoples’ trust. Good luck, you have so much that you share, your enthusiasm is great. Again, I have really enjoyed the Topaz classes you have done–thanks!
Thanks so much for sharing. It seems fear can either be a deterrent or a motivator. I choose to use it as a motivator. It is pretty frustrating though that you can’t walk into a place with real people in real life (not saying you or the internet is fake) but the idea that a group of like minded individuals could co-exist in one place and strive for more of each other. I once went to a meetup and taught a class on constantly engaging your workflow and I showed a lot of HDR images. One older gentleman at the very end said, “I dont like your work, it looks fake, HDR is not natural.” I said to the man, “Do you like Ansel Adams?” he said “Of course!” I said, “Well then you do like HDR!” He didn’t get it, just remained shut down with arms crossed. It is a shame, however, I embrace your encouragement and thank you for the compliments! I will be doing many more Webinars with Topaz in the coming months! Stay tuned!
One of the things I struggle with, both for camera stores and meet up groups, is the amount of ego that is involved. It is one of the things I enjoy most about HDRInsider, the desire to learn and improve is extraordinary. I met a chess grandmaster once and asked him he got so good. His response, “I found someone I could not beat, played until I won and went looking for someone better to learn from. I am always looking for someone with more skill than I possess. They are the most likely to teach me what I do not know. If I am looking for accolades, I would look for people with less skill. Maybe this is some of the issue going on with the meet ups??? For anyone who doesn’t know this already, Blake possesses tremendous skills and he teaches without ego. A very enjoyable experience!!!
That is great advice Ron. When I was in college there was one artist that always made awesome masterpieces. I strived to learn all I could from his process with the intent to become better, not necessarily better than him, but it inspired me to become better. I can relate to the grand master!
I sincerely appreciate your comments about my teaching style.
Hello,
I understand your frustration and I’m also hurtled when I see brands like Nikon producing more low costs DSLR and let the D300s still without another DSLR as D400. It’s for a minority, like your courses !!!
I do my courses by myself and offer them just for fun and share experience using a group site for all activities in my town. I have my friends asked before and 2 days later I open the picture activity to everyone.
Sunday it is “discover macro with your own hardware” and some accessories I have to give for this occasion. My friends who have the habit only come to share of course.
It’s a “highly waiting for course” but I do also, night pictures, architecture, street, portraiture…
It is the only one thing I can do as I can’t work for the moment (big car crash). I do my reeducation walking and taking pictures but I still get my work background fine as I’m professional teacher (Lan, Wan & servers). I only have to walk but if I can do it with a “professional like” background, it’s better to work again later. I’m never alone also and I appreciate this. Each time I learn something new, it’s great.
The only one I can’t get to share is theater or concert. Nobody are interesting for. The people who try it once find it too difficult. They find not enough good pics even with better DSLR than mine. Another thing is flying insects without tripod, too very poor method that let’s only 1 to 2% of good pics.
What I reach and don’t find is a group with a large printer and numeric knowledge. All I find are groups with computer mounts and a badly film section with very old poor enlargers (I still use my own lenses).
Here our real photo groups in Lyon (2nd town in France) still stay 20 years old before. I think it’s worse… I imagine you with HDR courses, you’re a pure dream man 😉
Thanks,
Fabrice
Thanks for the input. I wish I could do the courses for fun! But a man has to make a living! I would be willing to do abbreviated courses, but a full workshop, that is another story! You seem to have a lot going for you and it is good that you are staying active during your recovery. Your courses seem outside the box, I can imagine why they are highly awaited!
I am a member of a camera club in cornwall, UK. We have regular PS, HDR, AV, and print finishing sessions.
Hi Blake,
I am the founder of a Meetup called the Colorado Photography Learning Group and can give you some insight on how we operate.
I started this group so I could have a platform for advertising the photography and Photoshop classes that I teach. After 4 years, we have 1900 members in 3 cities, and it’s still a challenge to get people to sign up for classes and workshops, especially those that aren’t free. I have an HDR workshop set up for this Saturday with only 2 students and a color management workshop the following Monday with only 3 students.
Part of the issue is that people are so busy that they’re only going to sign up for things that are of tremendous interest to them, even more so if they have to pay for it, given all of the free tutorials online these days. The programs that are most successful are those that are unique opportunities people can’t get anywhere else.
My advice to you would be to start your own Meetup if you want to do what you are passionate about because you’ll just keep running into frustrations if you are trying to convince and get permission from others to allow you to teach things that aren’t as important to them. I ran into this problem over and over again with other groups because, quite frankly, most organizers are running groups to feed their own egos. I also used to teach at local art centers and finally decided to quit doing that because they would take 40% of the tuition when I was bringing in 75-100% of the students, and I was never high on their priority lists.
We often have other photographers teach for us, and I try to keep my ego in check, but there are certain situations in which I will not work with someone else. The biggest reason would be if we already have someone who teaches the same subject. Another would be if the person has a bad reputation.
I could go on an on. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions about running a Meetup.
I am Johnny come lately here.
Local club was going a bit stale. So, since I work in a wider format color printing service, write icc profiles for our several large ink jets, and have a good understanding of color and the process, I offered to do a class or several here at work to help people understand the printing and profile process. I even offered to print an image for each participant for free. Well I got the same response . . . not needed we print at Costco, profiles are not that relevant to what I do, my prints are good enough now, to much to do about nothing, my brother-in-law prints my stuff and says this is not really important . . . lots of lame excuses.
I offered as part of this to show hoe to prep an image for printing, especially for wide output. Same response. Oddly I have been a photographer for 50 years, and doing digital processing and printing for near 20 years and I find that the more new stuff I learn the better my work gets (Being why I just bought your zone system kit).
I see lots of images from a variety of skill levels. In 17 years I can tell you that the level of expertise and skill has declined significantly. The availability of good gear for a very reasonable price has brought a new crowd to the game. “Good enough” is now the norm. And sadly a lot of this mediocre stuff is selling because expectations have declined with price.
Keep up the good work. There are many left out here that appreciate good and want to be great. And real cameras do not make phone calls!!
Phil
Thank you Phil! That is so on point. I can’t believe they’d turn down 50 years of knowledge. That is priceless! Your point that real cameras do not make phone calls is so great! I cannot agree more. When I see pros using iPhones saying iPhonography, all I can think about is Ansel Adams using a Polaroid and calling it Polaroidography!
Thank you for the compliments, I will do everything in my power to keep this ball rolling!