Photo Group Guidance
The Photography Group meets every other month to discuss member images on the current theme. These images are stored in a shared album, dedicated to the theme, on AOPR's Google Photos account.
Two people run the meeting: the Theme Host and the Producer.
The Theme Host leads the meeting and the discussion. The Producer keeps strict time and displays the images.
Meeting Flow
After some brief Photo Group business, the Theme Host starts the Lightning Round: five minutes for each attendee, in random order.
Our goal is to ensure that all attendees have an opportunity to discuss their work.
We do not have to go the full five minutes on a single image. One minute is often sufficient; in five minutes we might look at two or three images. But if a lively discussion threatens to run long, the Producer should arrange for the group to circle back after the Lightning Round.
With ten minutes remaining, we pick a new theme and new Theme Host for the next meeting and set a date and time.
All images and discussion must adhere to the AOPR Code of Conduct.
Themes
A theme could be an idea, a subject, a technique - anything that catches fire with the group. Most importantly, (a) it must be specific and (b) have won the heart of someone who agrees to be the Theme Host.
Theme choice doesn't have to be unanimous. If it doesn't move you, sit it out; you don't have to submit an image although you may find that attending the next meeting yields surprising insights.
Theme Host
The Theme Host "owns" the theme; tasks include
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attend and lead the next meeting,
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create a blurb explaining the theme for the web master to post on the site,
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ask the web master to create a shared album for this theme on Google Photos and provide its link,
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help publicize the meeting, e.g, posting in AOPR newsletter and sending notification emails,
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curate the images by encouraging members to stay on theme and select their primary images.
The Theme Host is a temporary position that changes with each new theme.
Meeting Producer
The Producer handles the meeting logistics such as
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starting the zoom call (when appropriate),
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keeping time and the meeting on schedule,
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picking names in random order for the Lightning Round,
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displaying the album images
The Producer is a semi-permanent role; it may be delegated to another person when the regular producer is unavailable.
Create Your Images
To fully participate in the meeting, you should upload your own images (max of 3 images please) to the theme's shared album (see how below).
Creating new images is the best way to actively engage with the theme. If you have a great existing image in your archive, go ahead and include it.
Whether new or old, every image must relate to the theme. You will be asked how your image relates to the theme if it is not abundantly obvious so think about that carefully before you upload it.
Upload Your Images
The web master created the album for this theme on AOPR's Google Photos account. A link to the album is in the theme description on the Photography Group page.
The following YouTube video explains how to upload your images to the album.
You're not locked-in to your first set of images.
When a better image comes along, upload it. Then remove an image that no longer feels right - or when you're over the quota.
Remove an image
To remove an image, (1) select it and (2) press the "#" key; a menu pops up to confirm that you really want to do that.
Note these steps remove the image from the album but do not delete the source image; you could easily upload it again.
Go ahead ... try adding and removing a test image until you are comfortable with the process.
Please only remove your own images.
Identify Your Primary Image for the Lightning Round
The "primary image" is the one image that you most want to talk about in the Lightning Round. Add a comment to that image that says "My Primary" ; start a comment by clicking the icon in the lower right corner of a selected image in Google Photos:
Give proper image credit
We assume the image is yours if you uploaded it. If it is not your image, you must add a proper attribution which you can do in a comment.