The Projects of the club serve three purposes. First it gives club members a reason to stay involved with the club. Second, having projects encourages us to take photos instead of just thinking about what we want to shoot someday. The last reason to have projects is to learn. We learn from having to take photos by a certain set of guide lines, while using our own creative styles and forms of expression. We also learn from viewing how others approach a particualr theme. The technique projects are meant to educate us on the different forms of photography. Hopefully this will teach us the strengths and weaknesses of the various techniques.
The thematic projects of the photo club are simmilar to the competitions one often sees in magazines or photo clubs. Quite simply, there is a word or phrase that is meant to be the theme of the photograph one submits. Common examples of these themes are: old, blue, silhouette, rivers, dawn/dusk, texture, lines. etc. The purpose of the thematic project is too encourage on to go out and shoot with a prompted concept in mind. The purpose is not to go through old photos to try to find something to fit the theme.
The technique projects of the photo club are probably unfamiliar to many. The basic concept is to introduce or expand on a form of photography that is not commonly practiced, and to try to get members to try out this technique. Some examples of this are: pinhole photography, multiple exposures, Polaroid Image/ Emulsion Transfer, alternative processes for development, homemade cameras &/or lenses, 3D photos, etc. I feel these projects will take the most effort to participate in, but I hope people give at least some projects they find interesting a try.