Stoke Poges Photographic Club meets on Tuesday in the Main Hall at Stoke Poges Village Centre, at 8.00p.m. start.  Previously we met in a small room at the Village Centre and this restricted the numbers of members which we could admit.  The move into the Main Hall allows us to accommodate new members.  The existing membership covers a wide range of photographic skills from beginners to extremely good.  There is no reason why new members need to be either experienced or skilful.  We try hard to be “the friendly club”, so please don’t hesitate to ask one of our members if anything is unclear or if you have any concerns about joining.  

We try to achieve a good balance between competitions, lectures, practical evenings and social events during our season, which runs from September to the following May, and we always welcome any ideas for improvement.  There is no obligation to enter competitions, but many of our members do so and all benefit from viewing their work.

Competitions can seem daunting at first to new members, but please don’t be put off.   Entries are divided into “Advanced” and “Intermediate” level, and the intermediate level welcomes entries from complete beginners as well as those with some experience.   Judges are impartial (they do not know who has entered which piece of work), and the aim is to provide constructive comments to help you and others to improve your technique and pictorial skills.   Committee members and other club members will also be only too pleased to be asked if they can help in any way.   We do not expect to see masterpieces from new members, so even if you think your images are not good enough for competitions, do put them in and see – you might be pleasantly surprised.   However, the final decision on whether or not to enter is entirely up to you. In the wider photographic world, the club participates in external competitions with other photographic clubs in the area.   This is of great value in keeping us in touch with standards and trends outside the confines of our own club.   Members who attend the external competitions find that they learn a great deal from them and gain a lot of enjoyment.

We hope you too will enjoy becoming a regular club member.   Many members have been with us for some years, but new members are essential to help keep the club programmes fresh, and are an invaluable source of new ideas.   We also hope you will find a lot of pleasure from increasing your photographic skills through participating in our programmes, but just enjoying the work of others can be very rewarding too.

If you are interested in joining, and we very much hope you do, the fee is £50 for a single member, and £75 for joint membership (e.g. father and son, husband and wife).

We do hope this gives you the information you require and answers any questions you may have.