So if you have been reading my most recent posts from my trip to Tokyo in August of this year, it will become clear that I enjoy a good quality ice cold beer. Especially when accompanied by great food. For further insight into this check out my blog about food in Japan right here! It may also become clear to you that since my return from that trip I have been in a creative slump as far as my photography is concerned. Fairly depressed actually. Not motivated to get out and take street images or any images lately. Especially after being in such a visually dynamic place like Tokyo, other places feel kind of dull. So that has been really tough to deal with. Perhaps now that the good weather has set in here in Melbourne I will start to feel a bit different.

So what to do? How can I motivate myself to get involved in photography at a more productive level again? I love photography and the photographic communities that I am a part of are fantastic. I love helping my peers with issues they have with gear they own or with making a decision about which lens is best for the style they wish to pursue. Creating discussions around images that someone has recently captured and talking about their approach or style or technique. Or just interacting with fellow photographers that love sharing their joy for acquiring new gear and all things photography. With these things in mind I decided to embark on a new endeavour. To create opportunities that are more socially driven where photographers can get together and be camera nerds whilst enjoying a few beers.

This idea is not unique and I am in no way taking credit for it. In fact one of my current photography heroes, Take from Big Head Taco, got me thinking about it.  Take is friends with a guy that runs a Beers And Cameras event in California and they recently put together a couple of YouTube videos talking about the concept and showing some of the images and footage captured at one of the events. And sure enough it was a bunch of camera nerds getting together to talk photography and show some of their gear off. It was relaxed and they enjoyed some locally produced craft beer during the event. It sat really well with me. A regular social opportunity for photographers to get together and enjoy some fine beer whilst talking about, bragging about, whinging about photography. It didn’t matter what brand of camera you have or how good a photographer you were, it was more about community.

And that is really important for me. A community that supports one another, encourages one another, helps each other out with problems or challenges. That is what I wanted to harness. So why me? Well why not? I love photography and love the positive communities that can be fostered through photography. I love beer and the movement for craft beer to be a creative medium. Craft beer is pretty big here in Melbourne and I have a few friends that do their own home brewing as well as some people I know that work with micro-brewing at a more serious level. So why not combine the two? At this stage I have set up an Instagram account and am using it to publish teaser posts about Beers With Cameras. With Christmas less than two weeks away the reality is that I will not be able to hold our first BWC event until the new year. And I intend to blog about the events and perhaps even get a couple of friends to vlog. Stay tuned and stay hydrated. G