Sedona Camera Club

The Sedona Camera Club has been meeting, learning and enjoying photography since 1952.

As a club, our mission is to educate members of the Club, the general public, and students in Sedona, the Verde Valley, and beyond about the art of photography.

We strive to achieve our mission through:

  1. Regular Monthly Meetings with programs taught by professional photographers and workshops taught by advanced Club members.
  2. Frequent Learning Sessions designed to assist beginning, intermediate and advanced photographers in adavancing their knowledge and to improve their skills.
  3. Providing members Monthly Opportunities to submit photos for critiques, member feedback or to simply share with other club members.  Our critique program allows participating members to receive individualized critiques of their submissions to improve their photographic skills.
  4. Working cooperatively with other community organizations to provide artistic exhibitions that benefit club members and the community as a whole.
  5. Club Trips (local photoshoots or multi-day photo trips) and Special Events including workshops.

President's Message

Hello all. We are moving well into spring now. Some blooms are showing, and I hope you all are getting out there with your cameras. Our next speaker, Bev Pettit, will talk with us about equine photography. Also, our last learning session of the club year is coming soon – Priscilla Burgers and Tim See are doing one on rodeo and other action photography. The details are below.

At the March club meeting, I presented our slate of candidates for next year’s board. Online voting has started. There is a quick link on the website that takes you to the ballot, but ONLY if you are logged into your club account. We need a quorum of the paid membership to cast ballots by the April club meeting to have an official election, so please vote soon.

The other big event we have coming is the end-of-year party, which will take place on Monday, May 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Sedona Community Center. Tickets are $25 and are available online (you need to log into your account!) and in person at the April club meeting.

As always, if you have any comments about improving what we do as a club, please feel free to speak with any board member.

Thank you for your support,

Mark Schmitz
President

Next Meeting

Monday, August 31st 27th @ 6:00 PM

Rad Drew

iPhone Photography and Snapseed
(a mobile-only photo editing application)

**** Location: A Virtual Presentation ****
Christ Lutheran Church
25 Chapel Road
Sedona, AZ 86336

Rad Drew

Learning Sessions

Members may sign up for learning sessions HERE.

If you have any suggestions for future learning sessions, please contact Sally Nelson at education@sedonacamera.club.

Upcoming Learning Sessions

2026 -2027 Club Year

Be on the lookout for future announcements as our new Education Director, Darby Tatsak organizes another year of learning sessions for club members.
In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for Darby, use the link below to suggest a topic or better yet, volunteer to present a topic.

Click HERE to register, suggest or volunteer to present a learning session.

Club Trips

Spontaneous trips happen all the time.  Submit the details  of a trip or  photo shoot you would like to invite other club members to join you.  Details will be forwarded to other club members.

Club trips promote learning and bonding with other club members. To appreciate many of the trips the club has taken, view our Trip Galleries.

To suggest a club trip or club photo shoot, click  HERE.  To add a suggested photo opportunity (non club-sponsored) that you would like others to be aware of, click HERE.

Upcoming Trips

Sandhill Cranes in Flight
Sandhill Cranes

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

Dec 16-18th, 2025

Photographing tens of thousands of snow geese taking off at once at sunrise, followed by just as many sandhill cranes, is an experience not to be missed!  Join us on a 3-day trip to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, NM. 

We will photograph the sandhill cranes landing in the Wetland Roost ponds both evenings and photograph the takeoff of the snow geese and sandhill cranes from the flight deck both mornings. During the day, there are refuge drives where the cranes, other bird species and mammals can be photographed.  

Recommended photography supplies include camera, long lens, and a shorter lens. A tripod or monopod is highly recommended.  It’s very cold on the flight deck before sunrise, but it warms up during the day. Bring warm boots, gloves, coat, hat, and layers.   For more information about photographing at Bosche del Apache, click HERE.

We will meet at Clark’s Market in VOC at 7:30 AM on December 16, returning late afternoon on the 18th.  We will caravan the 6 hours to Socorro, NM.  Members should book their own lodging.  Recommended lodging is Comfort Suites, Socorro. (At the time of writing, they are offering an excellent discount for their chain members.)

Current members may contact Priscilla Burgers at special_events@sedonacamera.club to sign up for the trip or request more information.

Upcoming Workshops

Night Sky Workshop with Kevin Floerke

April 26th, 2025 - Afternoon and Evening Programs Available

One of our newest members, Kevin Floerke is leading workshops as part of the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival.  The festival is a multi-day event.  For the full agenda of the festival and workshop, click HERE.

This program and festival is not sponsored by the Sedona Camera Club but special pricing is available to Sedona Camera Club members:

Workshop (open to all) 1:30pm – 2:30pm – $25

One-on-One (required for evening workshop) 2:30pm (free for eve attendees)
Night Sky In the Field workshop 9pm Sat-1:30am Sun – $150

There is a Registration fee of $15/day or $35 for the weekend.

Recent Club Trips and Events

Members participating in club trips are encouraged to upload photos to our trip galleries

End of Year Celebration

May 2026

Nikon Group Meetup

May 2026

Bosque del Apache

Dec 2025

Southern New Mexico

Oct 2025

Sunset Crater & Flagstaff

Sept 2025

Trip Photo Galleries

Prior Trips

Opportunities for All Photographers

"Elegance" by Anand Paranjpe
"Elegance" by Anand Paranjpe

Hummingbird Print Photo Contest

Sedona Hummingbird Festival - July 24-26, 2026

The Sedona Hummingbird Festival is hosting a Photo Print Contest.

Share your hummingbird photo(s) with more than 1,000 hummingbird enthusiasts during the festival.  Prints will be displayed at the Hummingbird Hangout throughout the festival.

Entry is $5 per photo.  Awards will be given in 9 categories. 

Register on-line before July 16th.  For more information, visit photo-contest.

Additional Events and Photo Opportunities

The following is a list of upcoming photo opportunities in Arizona.  They are not club-sponsored events.  To suggest any additional opportunity be added click HERE.

May 2026 Events
  • May 2 – Cinco de Mayo Fiesta- Tlaquepaque
  • May 9-10- Yavapai Junior Rodeo: Jackpot Ranch, 2025 Reservation Loop Rd, Camp Verde
  • May 23-24- AZ JR Rodeo Finals – Jackpot Ranch, 2025 Reservation Loop Rd, Camp Verde 8AM
  • June 5-6 – Williams Historic Rt 66 Car Show- Williams; 600 vehicles
  • June 6 – Arizona Cowboy Mounted Shooting. Marshall Knoles Memorial Arena, 2446 Foot Tuthill Loop, Flagstaff
  • June 20-21 – Yavapai County Junior Rodeo. Jackpot Ranch, 2025 Reservation Loop Rd, Camp Verde
  • June 20-21 – Cowboy Mounted Shooting.  Northern AZ Riding Stables. 2090 Old Munds HWY. Flagstaff, AZ 86005
  • June 27-28 – Cowpunchers Reunion Rodeo – 1:00 PM Williams Rodeo Grounds $20. Bring a seat.  Click HERE for more details. Submitted by: Priscilla Burgers
Gallery - Image by Alexas Fotos

Opportunities to Showcase Your Art

CAFE - CAll for Entries

CaFE, Call For Entry, is a website that serves essentially as a clearinghouse for art submissions and shows.  Its mission is “to make art opportunities available to all by offering arts organizations an affordable submission platform and artists and easy way to apply.”  All types of art are included, but there are usually a large number of exhibits for photographers.  See their website to find out how to get your own work out there.

Annual Awards 2025-2026

Annually the club provides two awards at year end named the Ray Reed and Ellsworth Schnebly Awards.  Over the years the specific reasons for these awards have been changed to keep current with the club’s changes in focus; for example identifying the individual winners of first place Digital and Print images was used recently.  Over the past few years, the club changed our primary focus from competition to learning.  The awards have been updated to reflect our focus on learning.

Ray Reed Award: Tim See

The Ray Reed Award recipient is selected for the most ‘Outstanding Work to Help Others Improve‘ their photography.  Since joining the club, Tim has served as Digital Chair and President.  He has also led trips for club members and has presented several learning sessions.

Ellsworth Schnebly Award: Janel Cox

The Ellsworth Schnebly Award is for the ‘Most Improved Photographer‘ as measured by their photo critique scores over the last three years.  Janel’s photography has focused on birds and wildlife.  She has also shown her versatility by sharing landscapes, flora, and even abstract compositions.  We have all enjoyed her monthly submissions.

Members' Favorite Images 2025-2026

Members' Favorite Digital Image

Face Off - Janel Cox

Members' Favorite Print Images

A Mother's Love - Priscilla Burgers

Jumping High - Priscilla Burgers

Best of April 2026 Critiques

The Best of Critiques Galleries includes images from our monthly critiques since April 2019.  Separate Competition Winners Galleries are avaialable for prior months in which the club had monthly competitions instead of critiques.
Members may review the critiques (comments and scores) for their images or for all of the monthly submissions by visiting the  Critique Website and selecting an option under the Critique Results menu.

Member Recognition

Mark Schmitz

Blazing Flowers

Congratulations to Mark Schmitz for his image, Blazing Flowers.  Mark’s image has been accepted by AbstractZone 2026, a juried, international, on-line exibition of abstract art.  This exhibition, which presents a variety of forms of abstract art, will bring widespread exposure to Mark’s art which we have been enjoying for year.i

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