This presentation was made to the club members and potential new members. It is a starter kit for your Photography with some tips and pointers of where to go for information and help, as well as how to get the most out of your membership to Marlow Camera Club.
All content Copyright (C) 2025 Andrew Kirby and Copyright (C) 2025 Marlow Camera Club except where quoted and credited to original sources.
We started by asking why are we interested in photography.
Many members shared their reasons which were wide and varied.
Andy shared that he’s a visual thinker but absolutely rubbish as expressing those visuals by drawing or other means that require eye-to-hand coordination. For him, photography is a way to create images and express visual thoughts without the need to draw. It also engages his more technical and scientific interests while exercising the more artistic parts of the mind.
Andy mentioned that he enjoys following Roman Fox on YouTube and Social Media. Roman’s photographic style is something that Andy appreciates and draws inspiration from.
Roman’s website can be found here: www.snapsbyfox.com
Roman often sends out emails with blog articles and this week there happened to be one entitled “Why is Photography the best hobby?”
Photography Is The Best Hobby
I’ve recently been talking to a friend about the different hobbies we’ve had over the years. Mountain biking, cars, hiking, computer games, just to name a few. Pretty quickly we concluded that photography is actually the best hobby in the world. Here’s why:
It’s creative
Everyone needs a creative outlet, whether it’s painting, singing, or knitting. We’re naturally creative creatures, and we thrive when we make things. Having a creative outlet is essential for mental health, happiness, and overall life satisfaction. Photography gives you that outlet every single day.
It’s technical
While creativity uses one side of your brain, photography also taps into the more analytical side. Settings, cameras, focal lengths, lighting – it can be as technical as you want it to be. And that’s not a bad thing.
It involves gadgets
Photography involves buying gadgets, and who doesn’t enjoy that? Sure, there’s a small group of film purists who cringe at the mention of “gear”, but even the most artistic photographers like a new camera now and then.
It’s affordable
Sure, cameras can be very expensive, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we know photography can easily be done on a budget.
It requires problem solving
From figuring out how to capture a shot, to planning a route, or setting up a scene, photography constantly challenges your problem-solving skills.
It gets you out
Without photography, if you told someone you were going on a six-hour walk alone, for no reason, people might start to worry after a while. Jokes aside, photography gets you outdoors, whether it’s a stroll around your local town or a six-month trip across the world. Without it, you’d probably spend a lot less time outside.
It forces you to observe and be present
I love travel, and there’s a huge difference in how I experienced it before and after photography. I barely remember my trips before picking up a camera, but now I can recall them in detail. When you’re shooting, you’re paying attention to every part of the scene. It might seem like you’re not present, but I’d argue you’re actually more present than if you weren’t holding a camera.
It keeps you fit
My average photowalk is between 25–35k steps a day. On bigger days, I can hit 60k. Photography gets you moving – across cities, up mountains, early in the morning, and late into the night. It’s a physical hobby that helps keep your fitness in check.
It can be combined with other activities
Holidays, hiking, camping, city breaks, backpacking, cycling – photography fits into them all and makes them even more rewarding.
It’s social
While some genres, like street photography, are often done alone, photography is also very social, especially with social media. I have two groups of friends: those I grew up with, and those I met through photography. Without my camera, I’d have half the friends and 80% fewer memories and experiences.
It grows with you
Some hobbies fade with age. Downhill mountain biking is great at 18, not so much at 48. Photography is different. As long as you can see, think, and walk, you can keep shooting. It’s a lifelong hobby that evolves as you do.
It leaves something behind
Every photo you take will one day be seen by future generations. If you share your work online, it might even be seen by someone on the other side of the world who doesn’t speak your language. Even if you don’t care about this aspect, your photography leaves a mark.
It’s never finished
Photography is never complete. There’s no finish line, no point where you’re “done”. It stays with you, always running in the background, always part of your life.
I don’t know about you, but the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that this is the best hobby in the world.
–Roman Fox
On the point about it being affordable, Andy noted that you can buy some truly amazing camera on the used market from the likes of MPB and unless you’re heavily cropping, 20 Megapixels is plenty for making A3 prints and more than enough for projected images or images displayed on a computer screen.
So why join a camera club? Why on earth would you want to do that?
What do we offer members?
A club enables photographic experiences that you may not otherwise experience. Examples include: Photographing birds of prey at close quarters, Working with professional models, trying out different techniques that you may not ordinarily encounter, like light painting.
Competitions do three things: obviously there’s the competitive element, but also members benefit from the judges commentary and critique as well as a programme of competitions giving motivation to get out and take photographs in order to participate.
There is an element of entertainment – we hope that as well as informative our programme is entertaining and amusing.
The club is a great place to meet like-minded people. Many friendships have been made through the club – “The Coven” being an example and it was great to see Mary and Margaret back at the club.
Seeing other people’s ideas and discussing our images is a great way to exchange ideas – and while outright copying is not very sporting, taking an idea and adding your own flair and touches to make it your own is a great way to learn and develop.
One common thread that runs through all these things is improvement. Whether we consciously seek it or not all these things improve our photography skills. Whether you’re actively taking photographs or just looking at other people’s work, it all adds up to help us improve…
Most people start taking snaps or ‘record shots’ as they record a moment in time. These days it’s easy to take a reasonable snap with all the automatic features that cameras and phones have.
From here you learn some technical skills to control the image and make it appear how you want.
Once you start to control the image then we bring in compositional skills – the more ‘arty’ things that make a good image look attractive.
Both technical and compositional skills are honed over a period so they become second nature. We develop attention to detail. It’s still okay to take snaps but we move toward intentionally constructing an image from an idea than recording a moment.
Once they’re at this stage some photographers look at submitting a panel of images to the Royal Photographic Society to earn their LRPS qualification.
Once into the stride of constructing images we can begin to use them to communicate ideas, feelings and emotions.
Many photographers then begin to develop a distinct photographic style where the kinds of images they make are recognisably their work. When you look at some of the most experienced photographers in our club you can instantly recognise it – and that’s their personal style showing through.
At this level some photographers think about attaining their ARPS distinction with the RPS.
Finally, we work on our style and try to be outstanding – standing out for excellence.
At that level some attain the FRPS distinction.
It’s not all about distinctions – it’s about doing what you enjoy – and for most getting better at what you enjoy makes is more enjoyable.
There’s a ton of stuff that count as ‘The Basics’. Sorry to disappoint but we’re not going to cover them all tonight…
What I do want to do is show that by being a part of Marlow Camera Club you can build a photography toolkit that helps you on your photographic journey and enjoy the ride!
Besides our regular meetings which feature lectures, workshops, competitions and member’s evenings the club has a very active WhatsApp group which is divided into channels on different topics.
Members also have access to a private Facebook group.
Both of these were used to great effect during the summer when Rowena and Mary ran a weekly image challenge – where each week members were challenged to take photos on a certain theme or using a particular technique and share the results. This was immensely popular.
We also ran some excursions and visits during the sumner to locations for photography – and also keep in touch over the summer break by having a pint afterwards in a nearby pub.
We highlighted some of the events from the programme this season that may be of interest – the full programme can be found on the website in the Calendar page
Computers, Software and Editing
MCC is Marlow Camera Club and while computers are necessary in the modern production process, we try not become Marlow Computer Club.
Most members use one of three software packages and if you also use one of the ‘big three’ then you’ll find there is plenty of help and expertise in the club.
Affinity Photo is from Serif. It competes with Adobe Photoshop. The software license is sold on a basis that each major version requires paying full price, however minor versions are free updates. It is considered to be reasonably priced and Serif often run promotions where the price is discounted. Many people who were using Photoshop Elements seem to have moved to Affinity Photo. Since it is so popular, there are plenty of online resources for learning and problem solving.
Photoshop is also popular within the club. It has a long history of being one of the premier image editing software packages and was priced accordingly. Adobe are constantly adding new features and some of the newest AI features for making complex selections and generative fill are quite impressive. Many members are subscribers to the Adobe Photography Programme which offers Photoshop, Lightroom Classic and Lightroom as well as access to cloud storage, and cloud based AI and editing tools for a monthly subscription of about £15.
Lightroom is a photo management tool with editing tools built in. Lightroom is non-destructive in that the image adjustments are stored separately from the image, so the original image is never over-written. Most common adjustments photographers use can be done in Lightroom, but we often use Photoshop where more fine adjustment is needed. Also, adjustment tools like Nik Efex are popular as well as “Presets” which are a quick way to achieve a style or look.
I love a good book! There are some great books out there that help with photo editing techniques and photography in general. Here are some of my current favourites:
The Headshot by Peter Hurley https://amzn.eu/d/dfWhN7S
Fine Art Inkjet Printing by Jim Nickelson https://amzn.eu/d/41tkUhO
Lightroom Transformations by Martin Evening https://amzn.eu/d/9MePnOT
Close-up and Macro Photography – Art and Techniques by John Humphrey https://amzn.eu/d/9XC2vrF
The Photoshop Workbook – Glyn Dewis https://amzn.eu/d/dc82zbI
Creative and Experimental Photography – Art and Techniques by John Humphrey https://amzn.eu/d/5DziXb6
Photograph like a thief – Glyn Dewis https://amzn.eu/d/gpLsE2C
Photoshop Layers and Selections Workshop – Glyn Dewis https://amzn.eu/d/68arQJG
The Photoshop Toolbox – Glyn Dewis https://amzn.eu/d/evt3Xwu
YouTube is a great resource. You can find out how to do pretty much anything and it’s a source of ideas as well as equipment reviews.
There is a trend that videos on YouTube can be fast paced so you have to use the pause button if you’re trying to follow along.
Here’s a list of some of my favourite Youtube channels (all clickable links):
- Roman Fox
- Adorama (particularly Gavin Hoey’s videos)
- Alan Schaller
- Gavin Hoey
- GavTrain
- Glyn Dewis
- Jared Polin (FroKnowPhoto)
If you find any useful, interesting or entertaining photography related YouTube channels or content, please share it on our WhatsApp group.
Here are a couple of examples shown:
Great thing about skillshare is that the courses are curated and come with files you can download to follow along.
It’s great for Affinity Photo, Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.
Courses are detailed and are paced slower – for instance Affinity Masking and Selection class is 4 hours broken into 52 lessons of between 3-10 minutes.
Try it and get one month FREE using this link: