Ideas and information for future meets and shoots

Hi Gang!

First of all I'd like to say how much I enjoyed my first meeting last night. From what I saw this is a very talented group of photographers, but more importantly a very friendly group. Thanks to everyone for making me and other first timers feel very welcome.

I'm looking forward to the trip to the Everglades in May that was discussed. Shark Valley can be quite a good spot, but gets overrun by tourists very quickly (and doesn't open until 8:30 am if we were hoping for a dawn shoot). The Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo Trails are quiet and peaceful early on, but by 9 or 10 am suffer from the aforementioned touristic hordes. Further in, Long Pine Key Trail may be quieter for a little longer.

Entrance to the Park is $10 per private vehicle and allows re-entry within a 7 day period. It may be a good idea to consider meeting up somewhere and then car-pooling to reduce costs (for information an annual pass to Everglades National Park is only $25, I'm planning on purchasing one this week).

I'm sure everyone has ideas and suggestions for future shoots. As far as I'm concerened, the more the merrier! As I said last night, Fairchild Tropical Garden is one of my current favourite places. The garden is open from 9:30 am to 5:00pm every day of the year except the 25th December and entry is $20 for adults, annual membership is $70.

South Beach is a treasure trove, from architectural shots in the Art Deco district to street and candid portraiture along Lincoln Road. It's a great place to catch a sunrise, and one of my plans is a series of shots featuring the lifeguard stations along the beach.

How do people feel about more informal, smaller meetups between ourselves? I try to get out to shoot as often as I can at the weekend, and am very open to joining up with other members of the group to form a small "expeditionary force" to get out and scout possible locations for future full group meets.

What are your ideas?

David

Hi David, Thanks for the post. I too wanted to discuss somethings about Monday's meetup event at Books and Books. Clearly our group has grown and for that I am very happy. I appreciate everybody?s comments and suggestions. I agree with everyone on the point that too many photographs were shown. As you may all recall, at the beginning of our meeting I asked the group to raise their hand if you had photos to show and no more than 5 people said they had photos. Once the viewing started more and more members wanted to show work. From now on we will be implementing a signing sheet at the beginning of the meeting where members can indicate that they will be showing work. We will limit the images to no more than 10 per member (depending on the amount on the list we may have more or less images show).

There is a lot of planning when it comes to these meeting and I try to do my best.
I had no idea we were going to have so many members show up and like I mention in the beginning of the meeting, we will now have to have our meeting in another location that could accommodate more people. I would love to have more people help out. If anyone is interested in becoming an assistant organizer, PLEASE send me an email. Running a group with over 270 members is hard work. Regarding the venue place, we have no control over the food or the service at Books & Books, as a matter of fact I am grateful that we do have places like these that give groups like ours the space to meet and the equipment to use.

May events for Shoot Miami:
I did mention that I want Shoot Miami to go to the Everglades this month (David, thanks for the info on your post). It would be extremely hot to go in June or after. Thanks to all the members who mention that they will be sending me emails of locations were our group can meet. Also, Thanks to Jessica for informing us about the photography exhibit at UM. Another activity for the month of May will be a second Night Shoot event. A lot of members want to do this again and other members that were not able to go the first time are planning to attend this one.

Well, again I want to thank everyone for attending and all the suggestions are welcome. This is how our group will become better and grow stronger. Hope to see and hear from all of you soon.

ZiZi

Hi, I will try to keep it brief.

1. I enjoyed the meeting tremendously. The synergy was great. I would expect more criticism from you guys about my pics, once I show any.

2. I'm up for shooting almost anything, as long as I get some early notice. I really want to learn from you and taking shots will get me there!

3. Loop road is good, the board walks along Tamiami are good, Fakahachee strand is good (kinda far!), I even shot along some of the culverts around the cypress tree areas (after the Mickosukee town).

Wellington

Zizi, there is a place on Red Road across from Sunset place that has a huge open area. I'll get you the details and email you. There are bistros and stuff downstairs so if anyone wants to eat they can (i would suggest that they get there early to do so).

For David, I don't know if you've been to Biscayne National Park down by Homestead Speedway, but there are alot of birds and fish to shoot, and a lovely museum and trail. (also let me know when you want to get together to go to fairchild to shoot together)

There is also a large grassy area so that all the members can go and picnic, just an idea. Alot of windsurfers, and dog owners go out to this park as well.

I was one of the culprits who shared and didnt raise my hand, but I also didnt realize I was going to be able to hook up my laptop and show my stuff, so I apologize for that, and will come with my flash drive for next time.

I know of other places to go but would like to go with a smaller group as well to shoot first and see what we can get.

I am definitely getting better from all these meetups and appreciate all the help you guys have given me. I do want more critiques though, I think it'll help with the newbies like myself improve.

Speaking of critique... I've noticed several members have expressed interest in receiving more constructive comments on their work rather than just the usual "oh, that's nice!"

How about a regular meeting (once or twice a month) that can be a forum which is dedicated specifically for critique and tips/advice? Perhaps some of the more experienced members can offer constructive criticism and/or advice for anyone interested? We could even offer some basic lessons and such...

I would be willing to share my experience with others... and I would certainly enjoy learning from others that have more experience in areas of photography I'm not as familiar with.

Neil

That sounds great to me. One of the things that interested me in this group was to learn from others as well as broaden my interests and talents. I believe we learn from both the pros and the beginners. I can tell you from experience some of my best lessons were learned from teaching someone else.

So please count me in on any of these future meets.

Eli

Sounds like a great idea to get together to "critique/help" one another on our photos. Count me in.

Alex

I agree with you Neil about that, and you already know I am eager to learn so The moment we start these small meeting I'm definitely up for it.

Well the month is almost over and no meeting posted. Just wanted to liven up the posts since there has been no activity around here.

I agree - it's been a little quiet... too quiet. =)

Actually, all three photography meetups I'm signed up for have no events planned =( However, you shouldn't let that stop you from going out to take pictures! I'm overdue for another visit to Fairchild. With the fires in the Everglades (I'm not sure where the fires are exactly), it might not be the best time to head out there (perhaps it's cleared up by now).

As I walk around outside during the day, I can't help but think, "it's a perfect month for night shooting because honestly, it's the only time of day that's bearable." I was out taking pictures on Sunday, and at 6:00PM it was brutally bright/hot. By 7:30PM, it was cool enough to be somewhat pleasant outside. Maybe something to keep on mind as you're planning the times for your photo adventures.

The next couple places I'm personally planning to visit:

Fairchild Tropical Gardens
Ancient Spanish Monastery
Shark Valley, Everglades National Park
Miami MetroZoo

I'd like to get some macro or abstract b&w at Fairchild (time to dust off the RB67, Neil will be excited), explore the monastery for a potential location for a photo shoot, get back into landscapes (and almost die of dehydration and heat stroke, I swear it happens every time I go there) at Shark Valley, and try my hand at "trying super hard not to get zoo snapshots" at the MetroZoo. There was an interesting popular photography article about taking pictures of animals... I'll post up the link once their website starts cooperating again.

Somewhere down the road, I'd like to visit:

Morikami Gardens
The Florida Keys

Where do you plan on going to take pictures, or what's your next subject of interest?

Oh, and it's something on my mind, but summer in Miami is pretty uncomfortable outside - anyone have interesting ideas for indoor photography? Perhaps it would be interesting to be able to shoot indoor architectural stuff at like the performing arts center or inside other buildings with interesting design elements.

In any case, get to shooting =) Look forward to seeing your best at the next main meetup event!

Andrew