The Group Experience........

A few months ago I was honored and happy to be invited by Egmont van Dyck, founder of the site The iPhone Arts, to join a group of other "iPhoneographers" for monthly outings, inspiration and community. I have always known that I am not really a "group" person, but I pride myself on stepping out of my comfort zone when the opportunity presents itself, so with gratitude, I accepted the invitation.

This past Sunday I joined them at Fort Point in San Francisco for a few hours of shooting, lunch and lively conversation. I had fun, met many great new people, learned some things and took a few photos I was happy with.

©2013 Dianne Poinski

©2013 Dianne Poinski

While it was a great day, I found myself thinking about the experience of photographing in a group setting. I have always found it fascinating that so many different images can be created by a group of photographers shooting at the same place, but I don't feel I do my best work in those situations.

For me, photography is a deeply personal and meditative experience. Even though shooting with my iPhone has loosened me up, I still find it difficult to get into the flow of things when I am shooting with other people. We all went our separate ways many times during the hours we were there, but it still felt like a group experience.

On my way home, I stopped at an orchard that had caught my eye while driving west that morning. The sun was going down quickly, but the 20 minutes I was there confirmed what I had been feeling. I was more relaxed and found more joy in that short time of solitary shooting than I had during the day at Fort Point.

  

©2013 Dianne PoinskiThis image is manipulated past the point I usually feel comfortable with, but I have been playing
 with the "Distressed FX" app,  and the texture I used also added the birds.......

I have to stress that this has nothing to do with who I was with. They were all generous and warm people, so I am wondering what is it? Is it distraction? Am I being overly self conscious? Could there be a little competition?

Or could it be that's just who I am? Do I need a reason?

I am curious about how other photographers/artists feel about this? Do you thrive in a group setting or do better on your own?