Anyone here a member of any of the meetup.com photography groups?

I need to know your opinion on what makes a meetup group good, and what makes one bad.  Feel free to recommend any particular ones that you like, too.

Also interested in knowing how often your favorite groups get together, any costs involved, and is it just meeting and socializing or is there some sort of activity (a workshop or group photoshoot)?
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Here in the LV area there's about a dozen of 'em related to photography, and all but 3 or 4 of them are worthwhile, the majority of 'em not having any events or meetings scheduled at all. 

Sometimes I wonder why the organizer even bothered creating the group.  They seem to have members, but nothing at all going on.

I'll chime in to answer some of the questions that I've asked in a little bit.

Not a member but this group uses our studio and I know the facilitator

http://www.thepixelpoets.com/

mostly a group for those newer to studio / model photography - most have experience in other photographic backgrounds

they do a nice combination of discussions, workshops,  and instruction.

I have six meetup groups.  My experience is that organizers have different levels of motivation.  You will find good groups and bad ones.

I belong to a few. Check out how many members are involved in one group and how often they are shooting.
Some have been very good experinces...especially when I was first starting out.

Good luck

Right here - current member of 20 MeetUp groups in the San Francisco Bay Area (mostly centered around San Jose/Silicon Valley). I can provide feedback as someone who is relatively new to portrait photography, so I wouldn't hang-on to every word I say.

If it weren't for MeetUp, I'd still be looking for legitimate classes for Boudoir/Glamour photography. I liked the ability to meet with other photogs, see how they work behind the camera, and see how shots were set-up. To me, what makes a group "Good" is that they have regular photoshoots, once a month or every weekend, and have the ability to hire great talent (Model, MUA/Stylist). It also helps to have a great lead photog who inspires creativity, whether pushing you away from using a flash/strobe in a Natural Light shoot, or suggesting alternatives to what you're already doing.

I wouldn't say "Bad" things exist about the MeetUp groups I follow, rather things that could/should be improved. There are only so many times you can have a photoshoot in a Hotel, public park, or someone's home studio, and the diversity in your port could suffer. Granted the aformentioned are safe/guaranteed locations to shoot, but I fear that models would want more out of working with MeetUp Groups.

With groups that are established but rarely have anything going on, I think it's a side-effect of tough scheduling issues, the inability to get an idea/photoshoot off the ground, or getting the right model. I hate saying it but the most "successful" ones I've seen cater to shoots that people want to do, like Nudes or Lingerie/Swimsuit, rarely Fashion.

For me, I'm big with eRwin (#63195) and the Bay Area Model Photo Shoots because it's guaranteed he can get the best model almost every weekend, and Jon (Rebellious Nature - #2750456) with Society of Model Photographers for variety and classy photoshoots. If there is one person I need to work more with, it would be Rafa (Peripheral Vision - #1312782) and Bay Area Glamour Photoshoots for the sake of improving my Artistic Nude work. If it weren't for him, I would have never been able to make such great shots only using natural lighting. For all three, it's been a great combination of socializing with others and shooting what we love most.

I'm involved in a few, and there's always things going on.  I haven't been doing much lately because of a major flu, but usually it's a case of pick and choose based on time and money - out of the four or five groups I'm in, I could probably keep myself busy for five nights every week, if I wanted to.

OK, now that a few people have chimed in it seems like the groups seem to be more active in other parts of the country.

As I mentioned before, here in LV there's probably about a dozen, most have little or nothing going on.


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The local Smugmug users group seems to be the best one (at least for me).  It's open to anyone interested in photography, smugmug membership isn't required.

So far all of the meetings and events have been free, and usually booked to capacity.
There was a pro photographer that used to give away great prizes (books, printing services, smug mug accounts, and even equipment now and then), but he moved away from the area.
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There are some really good meetups in the area that have many members, but they usually have some sort of workshop or something that cost quite a bit to get into, therefore you can count the attendance on one hand and still have a couple of fingers left over.

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The most popular PHOTOGRAPHY meetup in the LV area is run by a guy that's known to cut other meetups, clubs, and sponsors down (and then ironically he becomes a member of those meetups).  He's also banned or kicked off a few people for pretty lame reasons. 

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I'm friends with a woman that runs one of the most popular meetup groups period!

It's a hiking group.  What I've noticed about her group (and many other popular ones) is that they hold meetups and events fairly often.  It's a large enough group that they now have a meetup every other day.

Every month they have several free meetups (for socializing).   They'll have a few events that cost a few dollars, and one or two large events that cost quite a bit more.  Then, once or twice a year they do a huge event (like a cruise to the Mediterranean)... it seems to be a great combination.

there's a caveat... when first starting off, if there's too many meetups scheduled people will tend to think "oh, they meet so often I'll go tomorrow"... and tomorrow never comes.  If the meetup group is small, there should only be one or two activities planned per month.

The other thing is that there definitely HAS to be a planned meetup event on the roster or everyone loses interest.  At least half of the local photography meetups have no meetups planned either in the near or distant future.

I'm just trying to figure out what a good 'mix' of meetup events to member ratio is.

My gift to you:

I've tried finding one since I moved here a couple months ago, but none of them seem any good. There's only one that I remember being very active, and it just seemed like a way to advertise paid workshops. No thanks!

I've been to a couple of shoots in San Diego that were Meet-up group shoots, they were nicely handled.

The most popular meetups for the llamas and photographers in my area appear to be bodypainting workshops.
In my opinion--
In general, the organizers do need to promote future events, offer reasonable prices to those who attend, have a backup plan if too few llamas appear for an event and offer a variety of types of events. The location must also have a reasonable amount of space for the type of event planned. A good relatiionship with a core group of llamas is definately a plus.

Sadly there is nothing like that around here without driving an hour or so in any direction, though I wish there was something like that here I think it would be fun to learn from some other photographers or work around some others in a workshop or group shoot situation.

Here in the Portland Oregon area meet ups are very active.  They range from groups that shoot mostly landscapes to nude/erotic oriented shoots.  Some sponsor paid workshops.  They are mostly well run with well managed photographer to model ratios.  They appear to be very successful judging from the fact that most fill the available spaces a week or more before the event.  Biggest advantage to me has been expanding my contacts into the local modeling community.

Here in the Roanoke Valley in SW Virginia, two guys - both of whom are great photogs - have used Meetup to start ExposureRoanoke.  These guys are energiser bunnies: they are always proposing and planning different kinds of shoots as education and training exercises.  Both of them love to teach, and do it well.

The meetings range from learning Lightroom to model shoots (usually in cooperation with the local Fashionista group).  They have shot the night sky, hiked up to a local waterfall at night to shoot it with flash, done a portrait shoot using the people who work at a local Goodwill outlet at Christmas, etc.  The shoots are organized to demonstrate a different photographic technique or shooting situation that is out of the ordinary.

The group has more than 200 people signed up, but I estimate that roughly 50 are participating often.  A core group of about 10 are activists in the group, they take a huge load off the organizers.

I don't participate with them much, but I do recognise that they are a wonderful force for training and photographic involvement.  The world needs more of these kinds of people.

For those who are nearby, the URL is www.exposureroanoke.org

I'm a member of one in London, the problem is 99% of the photog ones are glamour focused and even the ones that aren't won't use decent model or a decent team because they can't get them for group shoots. I have been to a couple and use them as a low cost way of trying out ideas with lighting or perhaps meeting someone decent at hair/makeup. Expecting something that can be used in a portfolio is far far too high an expectation.

They are best for new photographers who can learn from others and get pictures without needing loads of gear and cash.

Jay and Adam,

I highly recommend the LV Smug User Group.  It's a good mix of photographers of all levels, each meeting is a learning experience and their meetups are also tied in with some local photography related events like WPPI and Photoshop World.
http://www.meetup.com/Las-Vegas-SMUG .   So far all of their events have been free, and most have been 'sold out / waiting list only'.

There's also a brand new group that I think shows promise. I met with the organizer and her assistant yesterday... her vibrant personality and enthusiasm is infectious and she's got some real good things planned for the near future (not posted on the meetup at this time).  http://www.meetup.com/Models-Inc/

Most of the other local meetups are run by people with good intentions, but they just don't have enough activities.  It's really a sin to have an activity group with no activities!

I'm not a fan of the biggest meetup for various reasons (mainly too many people were getting kicked out or insulted for no valid reason).  I also remember a few photographers complaining about a rental studio owner that would never return their inquiries.  It's the same guy that runs both.

there are several active glamour groups in portland. i went to a meet&greet for one of them and met a soon-to-be playboy model. i think it's a good way for someone to get started working with models.

When I lived in CA there were lots...they almost all focused on model photography, and they would post 1 or two events (always paid, the cheapest being $60 and invariably put on by someone who didn't know what they were doing in studio) and then they would die off.

The couple that were successful there always had some free events, and they didn't focus solely on model photography/portraiture.  They either had a focus on art photography or they focused on education (classes on how to use flash, or LR, or some technique or other) with a few model sessions thrown in every once in a while.

Here I have only found one photography group on MU, and it seems to be very successful.  It focuses on art photography, education, and critique (an in-person feedback meeting every month or two.)  This one does mostly free events, lets all members set up events, and has an optional $25 yearly donation.

I have went to a couple of workshops with http://www.meetup.com/Glamor-and-Pinup- … tup-Group/ , this is a good group to join which is ran be a very experienced photographer. This group teaches various styles and lighting setups, this is for Models and Photographers.

I have gone to two group shoots with http://www.meetup.com/Portland-Glamour- … graphers/. This group has mostly nude shoots, and occasionally bikini models.

I have joined http://www.meetup.com/Portland-Westside … phy-Group/ , but have not attended any shoots yet. I am going to try to make there upcoming meet and greet.

I used to be part of one. It was great at the time but I grew out of the group. It was more for newbies so it was no longer productive for me. I had tons of fun and met some great people.

To add: I did pay a yearly fee of $20. It costs money to start a group, fees that you pay every year to keep it. I think its around $150.

I belong to several one being a local camera club which is very active and some from the Bay area and Sacramento that are active but I've never been to any of there activities because it seems when they have something I'm interested in the timing is bad. there are a few south of me run by a guy that seems to use the meets as a way of getting other people to pay for the nude models and he kicks out anyone who talks to the model about work or even give them a card he told me he goes to a lot of trouble finding models and the meets are an event like a concert and nobody should ever talk to the the talent at a concert about other work.

My experience with Meetup.com is it's a bunch of people using loss leader techniques..free to meet..then ask for $$ for services, future meeting, instruction, etc. I was just looking for a good M&G for photographers and other creatives NOT to be hustled for $$ by people, many of whom had little to no creative talents to share let alone ask $$ for. I tried 12 different groups. A couple never got a meet together. One morphed into a gang bang shoot facilitator and the other decided she needed to charge for her services after she got about 20 people interested in a group meet.

Interesting... with days after this thread was started the largest all photographer meetup group in Vegas announced it was shutting down.

Wow.  That's interesting.  I wonder why?

I just went and checked, you must be a member of that group to see anything so I didn't notice anything except their membership dropped from over 500 people to 380 people.  He must have either kicked out a whole lotta people or there must have been quite a lot of 'dead weight' (people that join but never attend)... or a combination of both.

Well, it looks like the LV Smug user group will end up being the largest photo meetup group after all and rightffully so.  It's really one of the best run groups that I've seen, period.

Yup, The email I got from him said he is removing everyone before closing the group, a few minutes later I got a second email saying I was removed from the group. 

Only thing that makes sense is he does not want anyone else to be able to take the group over as they would be able to if he just stepped down as organizer.

I joined the Smug group...

Tampa Bay, Fl... more than 1 great group.  What makes the difference // shocking // the people in the group.

Most are $5 per YEAR or FREE.