SaddleBrooke Photography Club upcoming events

Nature & Wildlife SIG (11/13/2026)

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 17:30:00 GMT

NATURE AND WILDLIFE SIG
Friday November 13th 2026

Introduction to Bird Photography

In this session we will explore the different aspects of bird photography

Portraits (Birds posing on a branch or water)
Birds in flight
How to prepare for your shooting event.
Camera settings introduction.

Upload one bird photo to the Nature& Wildlife SIG in the Photo submissions events on the club website. We will review some of those photos together during the session.

November General Meeting & Travelogue Slideshow (11/14/2026)

Sat, 14 Nov 2026 16:00:00 GMT

TRAVELOGUE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

This Travelogue show offers a chance to share images from 1 or 2 of your travel destinations.

For this year's Travelogue show, we would like to hear about your photographic experience for your trip or holiday. These do not have to be major tours. The trip can be anything from a major foreign tour to a day spent in the Tucson area photographing. It is your photography that is important.

What prompted you to take the photo? If you used some interesting photographic technique, please tell us about it.

For the current show, you can upload up to a total of 10 photographs combining photos from one or two trips. Of course you can submit fewer photos if you prefer.

Trips from the last 12 month are strongly preferred, but if you haven’t traveled within the last year, or if you have great photos not previously shared with the group from a prior year, that is also acceptable.

Follow these steps for your Travelogue:

1) Pick up to 10 photos, either for one Travelogue or split into two with up to 5 photos each (or fewer photos if you prefer).

2) Name your photos as follows:

(First Name) (Last Name) – (Trip Name) (Photo Number)

For example: Joe Smith - Grand Canyon1. Each photo needs to be numbered in case we have so many entries that we have to cut a few.

Submit Your Photos:

Please submit your photos by no later than October 25 to allow Sharon 2 weeks to create the show since she is leaving November 8.

Upload your photos:
https://SaddleBrookeDIGS.smugmug.com/upload/g8v2fS/26Travelers

Once you are logged in, you can view your photos at:

https://saddlebrookedigs.smugmug.com/Members-Photos-Shows/Travelogues/2026-11-Travelogue

ACCC Fall Roundup (11/14/2026)

Sat, 14 Nov 2026 16:00:00 GMT

ACCC Fall 2026 Roundup

Saturday, November 14, 2026

9:00 AM

Hosted by Grand Photos

Cimarron Center
17100 W Clearview Blvd.
Surprise, AZ, 85387

Guest Speaker: Amy Horn

Roundup Registration is now open. To register and to see more information about the event.

https://arizonacameraclubcouncil.regfox.com/arizona-camera-club-council-2026-fall-roundup

Image Competition entry is CLOSED.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The competition rules have been updated and there are some key updates related to AI usage in processing, as well as category definitions. Please Review the updated rules before entering! Click on the Competitions Tab, then Competition Rules.

Reid Park Zoo Field Trip (11/19/2026)

Thu, 19 Nov 2026 15:15:00 GMT

Looking for an opportunity to see and photograph exotic African and South American animals without the expense and hassles of global travel? Here’s your chance!

Join us for a Photography Club outing to Tucson’s Reid Park Zoo. Called “A Hidden Gem in the center of Tucson”, the zoo has an impressive collection of animals nicely displayed in their native habitats. There are mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects…and, of course, BIRDS!!

We will meet at the usual place in the Mountainview parking lot at 8:15 AM for an 8:30 departure. Some of us will probably want to stop for lunch on the way back to Saddlebrooke.

Questions? Jim Smith jmslopez99@yahoo.com and 520-730-5124

Photoshop & Lightroom SIG (11/21/2026)

Sat, 21 Nov 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Birding Photography Field Trip (12/10/2026)

Thu, 10 Dec 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Plan on a mid-December Photography Club field trip to one of our local Tucson birding hotspots. The actual destination will depend on the results of my scouting the week before the trip. All or at least most of the winter migrants should have arrived by this date, so we should be able to find and photograph water fowl, egrets, herons, winter sparrows and other passerine migrants as well as members of our local permanent bird population.

Bird photography can be challenging. As I have said many times, having their picture taken is not a high priority for most of these birds. That said, a good quality telephoto lens of at least 300-400mm. should get you some nice images at our chosen photography location.

Depending on the weather we will meet in the usual place in the Mountainview parking lot at 8:30 AM for an 8:45 departure…perhaps a bit later if the weather is cold. Some of us will probably want to stop for lunch on the way back to Saddlebrooke.

More details to follow.

Questions? Jim Smith jmslopez99@yahoo.com and 520-730-5124

Nature & Wildlife SIG (12/11/2026)

Fri, 11 Dec 2026 17:30:00 GMT

NATURE AND WILDLIFE SIG

Join us for our Nature & Wildlife Photography SIG! Whether you love photographing birds and wildlife, sweeping landscapes, wildflowers, or the small details found in nature, this group is a place to share ideas, learn from one another, and get inspired. All skill levels and nature photography interests are welcome!

We encourage you to upload one photo prior to this session by visiting the Photo Submission Events > Nature & Wildlife SIG page on our website. Look for this particular session.

Facilitated by Daniel Lacroix and Roger Bivens.

December General Meeting & Alan Shapiro Street Portraiture Presentation (12/12/2026)

Sat, 12 Dec 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Alan Shapiro will be presenting on Street Portraiture: It can change your life. And maybe someone else’s.

Alan Shapiro is a lifelong storyteller and a story gatherer. These days, he just happens to always carry a camera. When he talks about street (or environmental) portraiture, people immediately get anxious…intimidated. His response is simple:

What if all this is about sharing good karma?

Finding and Sharing gratitude?

Finding and Sharing joy and delight?

What if this practice could fix things?

Amplify things that needed more attention?

Help someone overlooked feel seen?

What if your interaction with a perfect stranger made them feel a little more perfect…and was the highlight of their day?

Join Alan for a presentation of stories, tips, and techniques about his experiences making portraits with perfect strangers and his cameras on (and off) city streets all over the world.

Alan Shapiro Bio:
Alan grew up on the creative side of the advertising world, working with clients around the world; telling their unique stories in very unique ways. He had the pleasure of collaborating with many, talented photographers and film directors. He became envious of their art and craft. At first, he saw it as a means of reducing his stress-filled life. As a Chief Creative Officer at the world’s largest Advertising Agency Network Omnicom, he needed a distraction. A friend gave him a camera. Then he bought another and another. His new hobby and daily “creative exercise regimen” turned into a joy-filled and all-consuming passion. Then, his first photo client called, followed by many more.

His work can be seen throughout the entire hospital set on ABC’s The Good Doctor, in launch campaigns for the Apple iPhone and Nikon as well as for Cadillac, OnStar, Lockheed Martin, Die Zeit, Ricoh, Cotton Incorporated, Scholastic and numerous others. His work fills entire walls in Bose stores and Ritz Carlton Hotels worldwide and hangs in numerous private and corporate art collections. His macro, food and still life work can be seen in countless editorial publications and products from housewares to clothing to puzzles.

As much as Alan loves creating images, he genuinely loves to teach; sharing his workflow from capture through post-processing and printing. He is a super high-energy instructor with a knack for getting people out of their comfort zone as well as helping them discover and capture beautifully simple things in beautifully unexpected ways.

More Thoughts from Alan on Street Portraiture:

When I tell people how much I love street portraiture, environmental portraiture, whatever you want to call it…walking up to complete strangers and asking to make their picture, I watch something happen to their faces. Anxiety. A flinch. Abject fear. Like I just described jumping out of a plane.

Here's what I wish they understood instead: for me, this whole thing is just an excuse to share good karma. To go looking for gratitude, for joy, for delight, and then hand it to someone else like a gift no one knew I was carrying.

What if this practice could fix something? Amplify something that's been waiting too long for attention? Help someone who's gone unseen all day to feel seen, if just for a second?

Russell didn't speak much. I asked if I might spend a few moments capturing him, and he nodded. That was it. The entire negotiation, conducted in a single gesture.

There's something I always remind myself as I'm walking out and about with my camera: the bigger the smile you give, the bigger the smile you get. Don't get me wrong. I'm rarely fishing for a smile. Russell never smiled. I want to believe he tried once or twice.

But the smile isn't a request. It's a disclosure. It's me saying, before I even raise the camera: here's my heart. You can see it plainly. Now it's your turn to show me something true.

With Russell, what came back wasn't joy. It was something quieter. A kind of dignity that looked like it had been waiting all day, maybe longer, for someone to notice it was there.

That's the part nobody warns you about. The photograph isn't really the point. The photograph is what's left over after the actual thing happens, which is two strangers sitting on a park bench in the shadow of the Flatiron building, agreeing without saying so, that this moment…this face…this person, counts.

So, I will once again put these two questions into the universe:

What if your few minutes with a stranger were the best part of their day?

What if it was the best part of yours?

To find Alan and his work, go to:

AlanShapiroPhotography.com

Instagram: @alanshapiro515

Facebook: @alanwshapiro

Photoshop & Lightroom SIG (12/19/2026)

Sat, 19 Dec 2026 16:00:00 GMT

January General Meeting & Presentation by Daniel LaCroix (01/09/2027)

Sat, 09 Jan 2027 16:00:00 GMT

This will be the January 2027 general meeting including a presentation by club member, Daniel LaCroix. Speaker information and presentation content will be updated in Fall 2026.

Photoshop & Lightroom SIG (01/16/2027)

Sat, 16 Jan 2027 16:00:00 GMT

February 2027 General Meeting & Colleen Miniuk Presentation: In-Depth on Depth: Creating Dimension in Landscape Photographs (02/13/2027)

Sat, 13 Feb 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Colleen Miniuk presenting

Depth on Depth: Creating Dimension in Landscape Photographs

About Colleen:

Colleen Miniuk is a full‑time freelance outdoor photographer, author, instructor, and speaker from Chandler, Arizona, known for her nature and outdoor recreation work, award‑winning guidebooks, and “Sheography” women’s photography workshops. Colleen is a corporate‑America‑escapee turned outdoor communicator, with a background in software project management at Intel before leaving in 2007 to pursue photography and writing full‑time. She specializes in nature, outdoor recreation, and travel photography, and her work has appeared in National Geographic calendars, Arizona Highways, AAA VIA, On Landscape, National Parks Traveler, and other publications.

Presentation Information :

While humans see the world in three dimensions, a photographer can render an image of a scene through our camera in only two. Not only do our cameras "see" differently than our eyes and brains do, but also our own eyes can deceive us: what we see and what we think we see doesn't always line up. If we understand how humans see depth, we can consciously create a sense of shape and dimension in our visual compositions.

Get new ideas for transforming those uninspiring arrangements into engaging photographs during outdoor photographer Colleen's presentation entitled "In Depth on Depth: Creating Dimension in Landscape Photographs". Hear how to mindfully incorporate the three L’s (lines, layers, and light)—and even optical illusions to gain a more 3D look with your landscape images. Get your viewers to feel like they are IN your photograph!

If you'd like to check out Colleen's gorgeous work, please go to her website:

https://www.colleenminiuk.com/

Photoshop & Lightroom SIG (02/20/2027)

Sat, 20 Feb 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Monument Valley & Moab Field Trip (03/04/2027)

Thu, 04 Mar 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Join the club for a multiday trip into the beautiful and incredibly photogenic areas of northern Arizona and southern Utah. Although there are multiple areas of photographic interest our trip will focus on Monument Valley and the National Parks around Moab, Utah. The event is planned for March 4-9^th, 2027 but many photographers will likely want to extend their trip a few days either before or after these dates.

While commonly referred to as Monument Valley, the area's Navajo name, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, offers a more authentic reflection of its character, roughly translating into “the valley of the rocks”. The terrain is ancient, resilient, and breathtaking in its beauty. This distinctive landscape came into being through the erosion of sandstone deposits and geologic uplift, and was further shaped by the relentless forces of wind and water over many centuries.

The area is a Navajo Tribal Park, with strict regulations. Navajo guides are available for hire to get you “off the beaten paths” and into prime photographic locations. Lodging is available in the park at The Views, just outside the park at Gould’s Lodge, and in nearby Kayenta, AZ and Bluff, Utah.

Several attractions are just off the road between Monument Valley and Moab, including the Valley of the Gods, Sand Island Petroglyphs, and Goosenecks State Park.

In Moab we will concentrate on Arches National Park. The park features over 2000 natural stone arches, hundreds of pinnacles, massive rock fins, and huge balanced rocks. Also, the timing of the trip is planned to allow for amazing astrophotography.

We plan to have a predeparture meeting and we can discuss ride sharing when we know who is planning to join us. You should make reservations ASAP as rooms in the local lodges are limited.

Questions? Jim Smith jmslopez99@yahoo.com

Photoshop & Lightroom SIG (03/20/2027)

Sat, 20 Mar 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Photoshop & Lightroom SIG (04/17/2027)

Sat, 17 Apr 2027 16:00:00 GMT