Huge thanks for watching — this one will divide opinion! Quick question for you: Has a camera club competition critique ever genuinely helped you improve a photo — or put you off entering again? Tell me your best AND worst experience below — I read every comment. — Huw

I participated in the local camera club's photo competitions. However, I quickly noticed that the members favoured the photographs of three specific individuals who always won. So I learned to shoot in the style these favourites preferred—and, against the members' wishes, I was named Photographer of the Year.
The local club has a very narrow worldview. In my opinion, you don't learn much there—only a little.
I received the best training from the National Geographic YourShot community. There, images from all over the world were compared with one another. Submitting photos there was a great learning experience, as photographers from around the globe could comment on them.

Very interesting!  I also attended a judging seminar, not necessarily out of bad experience but to try and understand what judging was about.  
I use to get disheartened around competitions but I think once you realise that it is just 1 person's opinion then it becomes a lot easier.  i.e. "If you don't like the result then change the judge".  And there is an element of truth in that.  However, if you can be receptive to feedback then there are things to learn.
I'm a big advocate for camera clubs, and competitions.  They can definitely improve your photography, but just be careful not to try and chase a formula for competitions.  Not every shadow needs detail/every subject placed on a third etc

Good points raised Huw. I think that 3 things need to be part of the feedback provided on each image submitted;
i) What is good about the image;
ii) What is not so good; and
iii) A suggestion of what can be improved upon.
Just my 5c, subscribed!

Very good talk Huw 👍

Good subject for a video and well presented, was so worried your own nightmare review might come not from a club, but a workshop.  I have not been a member of a camera club for years, tried it for a while when I began and yes perhaps it helped. I also have not ever entered many competitions, I have never entered landscape photographer of the year for example, but I have in the last few years entered Natural Landscape Photography Awards because I liked the  philosophy of that competition, and just taking part is inspirational, it encourages me to take more pictures than I otherwise might, makes me think about a theme, I have enjoyed the process.

I generally enjoyed entering competitions, though I found that what the judge wants to see and what you want to show don't always match.

Good talk. Personally I think i would have thought ok that's just one person's opinion. I will always keep my honor high up there so I would have went to him and say that he could buy the print 😅 but yeah horror story like we spoke about last time you did a talk about ohoto clubs. In the end the only opinion that matters is your own. If you find it a great image then dont let anyone tell you different. I rarely compete in competitions these days due to that. I simply dont care what others think although it can be good career boosters. Now we all know what your wife's hobby is 😉 or is that your second hobby in the background? Get guido

Sold my Sigma gear; the BF, 35mm & 45mm contemporary lenses.
All gone now so I'm now just a one-camera photographer using a Lumix S1R2 and Lumix lenses.
I loved my time owning the BF but it had to go.
You see, I needed the cash to put towards a new phone; the iPhone Duo.
I have the 17 Pro model which I have hated for a good while now plus I've hunkered after a folding phone but wouldn't step over to the dark side but now that there's an iOS folding phone: well, it's a no-brainer.
The BF was equally enjoyable and frustrating to use for my street photography.
It was just the right size especially with the Lumix S 40mm lens attached but its poor battery life (needed two spare batteries with it) and its constant switching off meant the S1R2 won. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I have been taking part in club competitions for a few years, and they do help to give you confidence. I have not had any really bad experiences YET, but others have. This is usually through the judge being a little blinkered, or the member entering the type of over saturated etc image than usual do badly  given the traditional nature of most judges. Recently I am doing a lot of film photography and this is going nowhere near the comps. Because this is for me and I don’t feel the need for anyone else’s opinion. PS, I invite the judges and sometimes them not returning is not due to them being bad but just slipping the old memory, I am sorry to say!

He he he! You will, I'm sure, be expecting my response to your question Huw, and i don't really need to type it out 😊 But, your initial question, YES! being a member of a camera club unquestionably helps anyone improve their photography, but only if they are open minded and prepared to listen, especially to judges/assessors of internal competitions, but again, it depends on the club/association/group you are a member of, maybe i've been lucky to have been a member of clubs where no one thinks they are better than anyone else, and everyone is happy to share advice and expertise, without that then there is no point in being in a club full of people with superiority complexes because it will just put you off and demoralise you. and this is unfortunately is the general feeling in the wider photography world of camera clubs in general and why the younger generation are not becoming members of photography clubs etc. But you outlined all the ups and downs of entering competitions and the possibilities of assessment being taken as personal criticism of a shot you have entered, instead of taking what is said as constructive and learning from what has been said. Personally I agonise every time I select pictures for our club competitions, because I am never sure that I'm picking the best possible pictures, just because I feel that I like one over another, and when perhaps it doesnt do as well I'm disheartened by my choice, not on what the judge has said, if that makes sense. But without being a member of a club, and having better photographers than me to aspire to equal the quality of their pictures and from their help and encouragement, and also from your videos and talks at our club, I feel that I'm a better photographer now than I was when I joined in 2008, that is until the next internal competition
Thanks for yet another worthy and thought provoking TOG talk

I had a poor critic of an image, and that is what made decide to become a judge, 15+ years later, not a lot has changed. For me 99% of my time at the club I am an appraiser, when they scores then the 1% I am now the judge. If you are interested I have sent a new competition idea to a few clubs close to me to see if they are willing to trial the idea and see how it works, if you want to have conversation and see what it is like let me know and we can sort something out.

Member of a camera club for 14 years now and the judging is always biased towards to top few photographers in the club, however on this occasion I will be walking away with a couple of trophies on this occasion. I will not be naming the Camera Club in question on this occasion. The problem is with camera club competition it creates elitism and this is what fractures the club. Way too many snobs and people who are way above there station who have it in their mind they are much better than everyone else. In reality it should be a level playing field however on numerous occasions it is not the case.