Photography as a Social Event

When I first moved to Portland, Oregon somebody told me about Meetup.com as a way to meet people and learn about the city. In case you don’t know about Meetup.com it’s a website that connects you with other people in your area that share similar interests, no matter what they are.

I joined the local Portland/Vancouver Photography Meetup group and have belonged to it for five years. Most groups are informal. It’s more about the social than the photography sometimes. We frequently have Meetups where somebody picks a location and we meet, shoot photos for a while and then head to a bar or restaurant.

Meetup.com provides a website where photos can be posted according to each event or in a general album. There is more than likely a Photo Meetup group or two in you area or it’s easy to start one. I’m normally not a group photo shooter but I’ve meet great people and gone places that I didn’t know about.

The above photo was taken at a sunrise Meetup last week where the sun decided not to rise so we had to look for other things to photograph.—Mark Toal