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Join the Darkroomers Photographic Club for an Artists’ Reception celebrating the work of our members.

This exhibition features photographic prints juried from Darkroomers exhibitions held from April through June. The selected images represent a wide range of subjects, styles, and creative approaches, showcasing the talent and vision of our club members.

This event is open to the public and is a great opportunity to meet the artists, view the photographs in person, and celebrate the creative work happening within the Darkroomers community.

Racing at Del Mar begins this weekend, which also means DayBreak at Del Mar is back! Let’s meet up this weekend, Sunday, July 19th, and enjoy some time at the track.

Daybreak at Del Mar opens at 7:30 am. We’ll meet at 7:30 am at the main gate into the grounds and then head into the racing venue.

Check the weather forecast. If there’s a heavy marine layer in the morning, it can be chilly. However, dress in layers because the sun can get hot if it comes out.

Bring the lens you’re most comfortable with, but you’ll also want a telephoto lens.

Interclub competitions connect us with photographers beyond our own club. Selected images represent Darkroomers and are judged alongside work from other camera clubs in the region through the Southern California Association of Camera Clubs (SCACC).

For submission instructions, please visit the Darkroomers Member Handbook.

For this meeting we are going to try something a little different. We hope you will find it both interesting and inspiring. Afterward, we’d would love to hear your thoughts–what you enjoyed, what you did not, and whether you’would like to see more meetings like this in the future.

This is not intended to replace our Member Spotlight presentations or our regular critiques. Instead, it is an opportunity to explore photography from a different perspective and add another type of program to our schedule.

This will be an informal, interactive group discussion centered around two activities:

1. Share an Image

If you would like to participate, bring one or two photographs–either printed or in digital form (on your laptop or a flash drive).

The photographer may ask specific questions or simply invite discussion. From there, we will open it up to the group. Comments might include what draws you to the image, questions it raises, what could be strengthened, the story it tells, the emotions it evokes, or even the experience of creating it. The conversation will go wherever the image leads us.

Think of it as something between a traditional critique and a conversation about photography.

2. Explore Photography Through Others’ Eyes

I subscribe to an extensive online collection of photographic articles, essays, podcasts, interviews, and photo books. I will select a few pieces for us to explore together, and wee will discuss the ideas they present, the photographs they contain, and the different perspectives they offer.

Rather than analyzing whether an image is “good” or “bad,” we will consider why it affects us, what the photographer may have intended, and what we each take away from it.

A Different Way of Looking

If you’ve attended one of Bernard Mendoza’s presentations or workshops, you will have an idea of the spirit We’d like to capture. Bernard approaches photography in a thoughtful, philosophical way. He emphasizes the art of photography–the story, meaning, emotion, and personal vision behind an image–far more than the technical details.

While technical discussions are certainly welcome if they naturally arise, we would like our primary focus to be on the artistic side of photography: what makes an image meaningful, memorable, or emotionally engaging.

Our hope is that this meeting will encourage all of us to think a little differently about photography, to hear perspectives we may not have considered before, and to enjoy a lively conversation with fellow photographers.