Tuesday Night Photographers Gather

For the past two years, I and a group of local photographers have been gathering at a Colorado Irish pub on Tuesday nights. If you stop into Mike O’Shays in Longmont, Colorado on any Tuesday evening, you’ll find a gang of photo enthusiasts from amateur snapshooters to seasoned pros sitting around, drinking Guinness pints or other drinks, getting wings, cheeseburgers or shepherds pie and showing a bit of work via prints, ipad or laptop.

It all started in March 2022 when I went to the pub to write. I often write comedy, fiction, screenplays and these blog posts in public settings. It gets me out of the house and keeps me focused on the writing.

On that particular Tuesday, March 12, 2022, I looked over at the 12′ long table that takes up the front of the room and thought that would be a good place for photographers to meet. I was already running a photo gathering in Boulder the first of the month called Beers+Cameras:Boulder | The Photo Show where I bring a projector and photographers display their work on screen. But to have something weekly, I thought that table would be a great place to build camaraderie for the local photographer community.

We just had our second anniversary Tuesday March 12, 2024 of the Photographers Gather: Artists Salon and the restaurant staff brought us an ice cream cake to celebrate.

Two years ago, I was sitting at that upper right window seat the night I had the idea of a photographers gathering spot here.

Even though it’s only guys around that table, it’s attended by both women and men. Rhianna and Ann are a couple of regulars but weren’t there for the photo. We welcome everyone at all levels and ages. It’s a place to discuss all things photography and also to ask questions. To learn from each other.

And drink! I pictured it as like an Algonquin Round Table for photographers, only we wouldn’t get as drunk and would meet weekly instead of daily. I’m a big fan of regularly-scheduled events and places for friends to get together. I’ve met many other photographers here and always enjoy chatting with them.

There are photographers who only shoot digital cameras. Others who use both. Many who use film, from 35mm up to 8×10 large format. There’s certainly a wealth of knowledge in that room.

Now, two years in, we have a good crowd show up every Tuesday night at 5pm. Happy Hour half-priced beers and appetizers ends at 5pm, so many of us get there just before then to get our order in and get the discounted deal!

In recent weeks, there have been more photographers coming, which has made some regulars start to arrive earlier. I asked one photographer who would routinely arrive 30-45 minutes after 5pm, “What are you doing here so early?” He said, “I wanted to make sure I got a seat!”

Jerry with a print of Carhenge in Nebraska with star trails.

In any case, we have a photographers community, a place for folks to gather on a weekly basis. No memorization of complicated calendars or schedules. Nothing to set up (like a projector and screen) and if I can’t be there, they’re there anyway.

There’s a mix of women and men of all ages!

It’s a Tuesday night thing, and for many of us, it’s become a thing. A place to feel included. Welcome. A regular gang gathering together to…be together.

A good thing.

If you’re in Colorado on a Tuesday evening, perhaps you’ll stop by. We’ll be there.

Or perhaps you might start something similar in your own town!