PHOTOGRAPHY : Darkroom of the Masses : For $25 a year and an hourly fee, shooters can develop their prints and trade tips at Encino Photography Center.

Learning about photography can be a solitary and expensive experience, unless you belong to the En cino Photography Center.

For a $25 annual membership fee, anyone can join this San Fernando Valley satellite of the city-operated Los Angeles Photography Center. Members are entitled to rent studio, film processing and darkroom facilities at either center for $2 an hour.

“The center is not a commercial venture. Its purpose is to provide a leisure-time activity,” said Tony Martinez, 48, a photography instructor who has been teaching at various community colleges and adult schools since 1971 and who has run the center, located in Encino Park, for almost five years.

But Martinez made it clear that downright cheap access to photographic equipment is not the only reason to become a member. “People who are interested in photography have a facility where they can meet other people to share their common interest, and learn about photography from beginning to intermediate to advanced levels,” he said. There are about 500 members overall, with 125 signed up in the Valley.

“There are guys here who can tell you about every lens that ever came out, and which lenses fit with what cameras,” said Martinez. “You can learn photography on your own, but you’re not going to grow as fast as you would at a center like ours, where you can bounce ideas off one another and share experiences, both positive and negative.” No pun intended.

Every Friday night, the center invites models to come in for a photo session. Members gain experience shooting in a studio setting with professional lighting equipment. The aspiring fashion models and actresses receive at least one free slide or print from each photographer.

Steve Lester, 42, a register clerk at the Northridge post office, attends every Friday. Lester said he has given away thousands of pictures. “I try to make the model look the best that I can,” he said.

A self-described advanced amateur, Lester has been a member since the Encino branch opened in the late ‘70s. He originally joined because his friends were members.

“We’d meet at the center, talk photography, then go out and eat,” he said. “I’d leave the restaurant about 1 a.m., but some friends wouldn’t leave until 6 a.m.” He added that members still discuss photography till all hours after the Friday-night sessions.

Lori Lackey, 32, a free-lance photographer who lives in Encino, started printing at the Encino center about three years ago. She enjoys being able to talk to Martinez and Herb Lipson, who assists him. “They are extremely nice people, and good at giving advice,” Lackey said. “Herb comes into the darkroom to find out what you’re doing, and offers an open critique.”

The center’s darkroom facilities contain four black-and-white enlarging stations and one color enlarger. Chemicals are provided for black-and-white printing, but not for color. All other materials, including easels, filters and dodgers, are provided. Members need to bring only their negatives and paper.

The small studio comes equipped with incandescent lights and electronic strobes, light stands, umbrellas and four different backdrops.

Over the years Martinez has taught workshops at the center on such subjects as lighting, composition, hand-tinting, using a 4-by-5 view camera and color printing. In the fall, he intends to teach a workshop on outdoor and studio lighting.

There are few city-sponsored art experiences in the Valley, and the Encino Photography Center is one of them. However, Martinez said, “money is a problem. Space is a problem. I wish we could accommodate more hours and more people.”

WHERE AND WHEN TOPPER

What: Encino Photography Center.

Where: 16953 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

Hours: 2 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Price: $25 annual membership plus $2 hourly facilities-rental fee.

Call: (818) 784-7266.