Calendar
The meeting will start promptly at 7 pm, but we’ll open the building at 6 pm for setup and social hour.
Join us for our Monthly Critique Night!
Our judge for February will be Willie Sakai.
On the third Wednesday of each month, members bring in prints for critique. Prints accepted by the Judge will hang for up to 2 months in the Photographic Arts Building gallery.
Image critiques are available for members only. If you’d like more information about joining Darkroomers, please check out our membership page and email us if you have any questions.
About Willie Sakai
A photographer for over 45 years, Willie Sakai caught the photo bug as a yearbook staff photographer in high school, developing and printing Kodak Plus-X and Tri-X in a darkroom. In 2005, he switched to DSLR to capture better photos of his daughter, who had started competitive dancing at an early age. As volunteer photographers for their daughter’s high school dance team, Willie and his wife Lois acquired more gear and taught themselves to capture fast-moving subjects in less-than-ideal light.
After their daughter’s high school graduation, Willie and Lois founded Jade Coast Photography, specializing in portraiture for dancers, seniors, and families. To continue improving his skills, Willie joined the Professional Photographers of San Diego County (PPSDC), where he served as webmaster for five years.
Although a Lightroom user since version 1.0, participating in PPSDC image competitions forced him to learn Photoshop. These hard-won Photoshop skills led to an interest in digital art, as well as recent recognition, including the following:
- PPSDC Photographer of the Year (2020, 2022)
- PPSDC Image of the Year (2020, 2021)
- PPSDC Photojournalism Photographer of the Year (2022)
- PPSDC Digital Artist of the Year (2020, 2021, 2022)
- PPSDC Illustrative Photographer of the Year (2019, 2020)
- Ribbons at the Del Mar Fair’s International Exhibition of Photography
Willie has trained as a Judge by Professional Photographers of California.
Lately, he can be found chasing after his grandson with a retro-looking Fuji rangefinder, which digitally simulates analog film looks. The circle is complete – what was old is new again.
Join us for our First Wednesday Monthly Meeting as Ron Garrison of the San Diego Zoo presents his Journey through Papua New Guinea. If you are an avid bird photographer then this presentation is for you. Ron shows photographs of nearly 100 animals including Birds of Paradise.
Members will receive the meeting link the week of the meeting.
Non-members can contact us for the link at the email listed in this event.
The meeting will start promptly at 7 pm, but we’ll open the building at 6 pm for setup and social hour.
Join us for our Monthly Critique Night!
Our judge for March is Monica Royal.
On the third Wednesday of each month, members bring in prints for critique. Prints accepted by the Judge will hang for up to 2 months in the Photographic Arts Building gallery.
Image critiques are available for members only. If you’d like more information about joining Darkroomers, please check out our membership page and email us if you have any questions.
About Monica Royal
Monica Royal’s obsession with macro started, like many others, with water on flowers and quickly grew to advanced abstract image design. She especially enjoys photographing ordinary objects and making them completely unrecognizable. “It makes for some really fun conversations!”
Her macro imagery is widely recognized as unique and innovative. She’s won Illustrative Photographer of the Year with Professional Photographers of San Diego for 5 consecutive years. Her artwork has been published in magazines and was most recently on the cover of Tamron’s National Magazine. Monica’s articles and podcasts have been shared on numerous web pages. She has taught in several states and continues to produce new artwork that leaves people asking, “what IS that?”
As a social and entertaining artist, as well as an expert in visual design, she has become a sought-after speaker & private teacher. Monica travels the country speaking and teaching with the sponsorship of Tamron USA and Miller’s Professional Imaging behind her.
Monica speaks and teaches internationally, and her fine art photography hangs in permanent installations in commercial establishments and in private collections across North America.
Monica Royal Fine Art Photography
858-449-5424
www.monicaroyal.com
FB: monica.royal3
TW: @monica_royal
Instagram: monicaroyal
About Mickey
Mickey is a retired Navy Photographers Mate, Chief Petty Officer, and the Leading Chief of the Navy’s elite Combat Camera Group Pacific. Mickey’s current focus is the Veterans Portrait Series, which documents veterans’ stories of service. He is focused on our Worlds’ Greatest Generation. The veterans of World War II.
Mickey interviews each Veteran, collecting and writing their service stories, archiving these amazing historic figures and their stories for generations to come. Mickey has collected and displayed images and stories from over 100 warriors that at one point, signed the dotted line when our country needed their sacrifice of service most.
Mickey continues to collect Veterans from all services for the Veterans Portrait Series. In 2019 the work was displayed at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre Museum from Nov 11, 2019 – to March 1, 2020.
Mickey and the project were in the national spotlight, featured on the Sunday Today show with Harry Smith Today Show Link to YouTube.
In 2022 Mickey has photographed over 25 more WW2 Veterans and will be hosting a print show in San Diego in November with an open house on Veterans Day.