Just a quick post about yesterday’s first PhotoCamp Utah. It was a great event. Above is the crowd just before my presentation, which I recorded and will put together with my photographs so you can check it out if you weren’t there.

The thing that sticks in my mind after PhotoCamp is that there are so many photographers and groups of photographers out there that I’ve never met. And I think that a lot of the attendees were unfamiliar with my work, which made it a great opportunity to evangelize photojournalism. One twittered this before I went on: “The chief photographer of the Salt Lake Tribune is the keynote speaker at the closing session of #photocamput I thought newspapers are dead.”

After yesterday I realize that I need to pay more attention to the passionate photographers working in other disciplines. It’s not enough to know all the photojournalists. As for us photojournalists, we need to spread the word about what we do outside of our own incestuous world. I can tell you that our work is very well received out there, and there are millions who share our love of the still camera.

The talent and skill on display yesterday was inspiring. After the eight-hour event, about thirty photographers turned out for a photo walk in downtown Provo. That’s dedication. You can see their work by clicking here.

Can’t wait to see what happens next. I’m predicting attendance to the next PhotoCamp will be more than double the 300 or so who were there for the first one.

Here are some links from the PhotoCamp site to a few of the Utah photography groups I’m talking about:

Photowalking Utah
Provo Area Digital Photography Meetup Group
Utah Photo Safari
Wasatch Camera Club
Photographix Camera Club
SLC Photo Club
Utah Strobists
Utah Creative Freelancers