The Guardian Camera Club

It must have been all of about two minutes since I last wrote about cameras, so I'm thinking that another post is well overdue. I thought I'd write a little bit about the Guardian Camera Club. On the face of it, the Camera Club is simply another competition to upload a few photos and win a camera in return, in this case a Nikon digital SLR. The Guardian draws in a few more readers and Nikon get some advertising, so far, so average.

In reality however, to everyone's credit they've created something a lot more interesting. Each month they set an assignment (e.g. rivers, cycling, black-and-white avaiable light portraits) and the best photo wins the Nikon. They kick it all off with a tutorial video where a Guardian photographer will give their advice on how to best tackle the assignment together with some handy tips. All entries have to have been taken within the assignment's time period so you're required and encouraged to actually get out there and shoot something rather than simply trawling through your old favourites.

Perhaps more interestingly, they also review people's assignment and portfolio submissions. This is a great idea, and it's interesting to see their views based on their experience of commissioning professional photography. Flickr is great – and the Camera Club uses a Flickr group as well for submissions and discussions – but it can be hard to receive constructive criticism. Much though I love getting praise from strangers (and I really do!), even I occasionally crave a slightly more critical perspective. Of course I say all this, but when/if they review my portfolio submission I reserve the right to change my mind!

It's not without some faults, the mechanics of using Flickr as well as their own Camera Club microsite don't mesh quite as well as they could. In the early days, there also seemed to be a slight misunderstanding of how people use Flickr groups, not helped by come confusing and overcomplicated rules. In fairness though, they've taken on board a lot of criticism and they've been quite open about it being a work in progress. They still get quite a lot of Flickr Flak, but it's definitely improving.

All in all, I've been thoroughly impressed* at the efforts they've made to elevate a simple competition into an engaging, interactive resource. It's genuinely good fun – you'll take some photos and who knows, you may even win a camera...



*Until they give my portfolio a rubbishing, then I shall of course quit the group and flounce off like a spoilt toddler.