Our feature photo by our member -
John Roemer (from the 'State Fair' event)
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The Photographer's Edge is not accepting any new members right now, and all future events will be suspended until further notice. - the Organizer
Greetings everyone, and welcome to the 'adopted' meetup group for photographers in the Dallas-Ft Worth area. The co-organizers and I will be primarily coordinating events in the Tarrant county area, but if you're willing to travel from Dallas to attend and participate, then we'll be glad to have you as part of the group. Some isolated events may be scheduled outside the metroplex on occasion. Be sure to check out some of our member's images over the last year
Membership
If at any time our events become too crowded or our popularity exceeds our ability to host and coordinate events, we may put a freeze to new members. On the same token, if a member does not attend/participate any events for a certain period of time, the Organizers may remove that member from the list to allow others to join. This policy is NOT in effect at this time, and we will formally notify everyone here if it does become an issue and subsequently implemented.
We do have annual dues of $5 (gasp!) that cover many of the basic costs to operate and run this meetup group. It also helps us to provide some free stuff from time to time. Please read our Membership Dues page for more details.
Monthly Social
We will be scheduling one night each month as our social get together, separate from our photographic opportunity, probably rotating amongst the chain restaurants, nothing too expensive, in a centralized area – Ft Worth and North, around the N Loop area most likely, and give everyone a chance to talk on a more personal basis about our love for photography, gear, techniques and anything else that comes up.
In addition to a meal and conversation, our monthly social typically includes a short lesson on a technical issue related to photography, camera gear, or understanding some of the more advanced terminology. Its a great place to educate oneself while providing the body some sustenance. (sp?)
Monthly Photography Meetup
For the event, we will have at least one opportunity for our members to practice their skills and test their creative eye. On those months where we don’t, or can’t, for one reason or another due to weather, schedule, etc, I would like to assign a homework task to our participating members that will be rather easy to accomplish on your own time and not location specific. After the event is completed (or assignment), at least one week after the photographic outing, we will be holding a comments and critique (C&C) session at either a classroom location, conference room, or large personal living area, where we will display up to 3 of your best images and collectively discuss the composition, lighting, post-processing techniques and hopefully give each photographer or member some technical and artistic tips to help us all become better photographers. The review session will be done in total anonymity, so nobody will know which photos are yours, if you choose to do so. I will be giving details of how this will be accomplished if it is your first C&C meetup.
Equipment
Most of our members will have a digital SLR to use, but this meetup group will not be limited to owning a high end SLR; a point and shoot will be acceptable for most of the events we will be shooting. Obviously, any studio tutorial or strobist session will not be applicable due to equipment limitations. However, I would recommend if you shoot with a point and shoot camera, at least purchase or borrow a tripod to take advantage of those longer shutter speeds needed for a lot of the sessions you will be practicing. These point and shoot cameras will also be limited to the maximum aperture potential, so you may not be able to produce extremely shallow depth of fields to isolate your subjects nor will they have the longer focal lengths necessary to capture objects at distances, but again, as long as you know your limits, you are still welcome to come to all events. As your experience improves, and you see other member’s images, you may find yourself desiring to upgrade camera systems, lenses, or adding a flash or two into your equipment bag. This meetup group will be the perfect opportunity to see the results of these different camera/lens combination that you wish to achieve yourself. Some of the events and location venues may require us to limit the number of participants, so I recommend if you want to attend, you sign up early. The meetup announcement details will show any maximum attendees set for the event.
Also, please read and review the policies that apply to this group in the About section of the meetup home page. By requesting an invitation to join, you agree to comply with all current policies at the time of your membership. Thanks!
Sponsors and Support
Our Group has two sponsors, and without a doubt, the two best camera stores this side of the Trinity River -> Arlington Camera & Fort Worth Camera. Each of these organizations have outstanding service staff, are extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and I have personally done business with them for many years. One of the most important selling points to visiting one of these local photography stores is the ability to test a camera body, lens or flash before purchase, and comparing it to its competition. In addition, these retailers stock almost every item you could want/need, and each has an extensive selection of rental equipment to select from -> camera bodies, lenses, teleconverters, battery packs, lights, bags, filters, backdrops, tripods, monopods, software, umbrellas and flashes.