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:
- Regular Monthly Meetings with programs taught by professional photographers and workshops taught by advanced Club members.
- Frequent Learning Sessions designed to assist beginning, intermediate and advanced photographers in adavancing their knowledge and to improve their skills.
- 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.
- Working cooperatively with other community organizations to provide artistic exhibitions that benefit club members and the community as a whole.
- Club Trips (local photoshoots or multi-day photo trips) and Special Events including workshops.
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President's Message
Hello all. I hope you’re having a good summer. All of us here in Sedona are sending our best wishes to the men and women who are fighting the pocket Fire and the many other wildfires currently occurring. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Between now and the August club meeting, be on the watch for different club events happening, particularly some member-led trips. These will be osted on the website and possibly by email, so keep an eye out. And check the listing of local events that may be of interest, also posted on the website.
Our first club meeting of the next year will be on August 31 starting at 6 pm at Christ Lutheran Church. Our first speaker is Rad Drew who will discuss mobile phone photography and post-processing. The standard phrase is “the best camera is the one you have in your hand”, and these days the smart phone is generally the only camera we’ve got on hand. Rad will help us better understand just how that camera/computer can be used to capture and process some powerful images.
One major change that has happened this summer is that we have made some modifications of the peer review process for member images. Keep an eye out for further information about this change, although you can see some of those changes on the club website using the “Peer Reviewer Training” link that is available from the Members dropdown menu at the top of the club website home page. Let me know if you have any questions.
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
Next Meeting
Monday, August 31st @ 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
Learning Sessions
Members may sign up for learning sessions HERE.
If you have any suggestions for future learning sessions, please contact Darby Tatsak 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.
Aug. 22nd 2-4PM: Self-Critique Your Photographs with Tim See
- Tim See will lead a session on Critiquing your photographs. He will discuss how to evaluate images based upon the image’s:
- Impact and Story
- Technical Quality and Post Processing
- Composition and Creativity
- The approach will follow our updated approach for our monthly critiques
- Following the initial discussion, Tim will focus most of the session on applying the approach to images submitted by members. If you want to have one of your images included, please forward an image to Tim at past_president@sedonacamera.club.
- Any one interested in learning more about the critiquing process used by our Peer Reviewers can visit our Peer Reviewer Training page.
- Use the link below to register for this learning session.
Sept. 12th - Night Sky Photography with Michelle Wheatcraft
- Join Michelle Wheatcraft for an evening of Night Sky Photography. The session will start with an indoor presentation (at the church) followed by a hands-on photoshoot of the night sky.
Time and outdoor location to be determined. Use the link above to register for this session.
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
Salt River Wild Horses - Day Trip
Jul. 28th, 2026
Join Michell Wheatcraft on a day trip to photograph the Salt River Wild Horses.
Destination and Travel Plan: Car pool or drive separately; leave Sedona around 4am to arrive at the Salt River around 6am. Coordinate with participants – I’ll send a separate email on Sunday. We will start at Coon Bluff, then maybe work our way down towards Granite Reef.
Suggested Photography Equipment: 70-200mm or other zoom (probably no longer than 400mm); tripod; water shoes (we may get in the water but not too close); ND filter
Additional Notes: Monsoon season is in full gear, so shooting in the morning gives us a better chance of outrunning the storms. If river is too high we may only shoot from the cliffs above the river.
Current members may contact Michelle at communications@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.
Opportunities for All Photographers
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.
Arizona Wildlife Photo Contest
Celebrate the 20th year of the Arizona wildlife photo contest by entering your favorite Arizona wildlife photos. One best in show and 11 winners will be featured in the 2027 calendar, published in the November/December 2026 issue of Arizona Wildlife Views. This is your chance to have your photography featured on the cover of the magazine!
Images maybe submitted through 5p.m. on Aug 14, 2026. 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.
July 2026 Events
- July 10-11, 24-25, 31 – 7:30. Williams Night Rodeo. every Friday and Saturday night in July and August at the Williams Rodeo Ground, Williams, AZ. Events: Ranch Bronc Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, Breakaway Roping, Barrel Racing and Bull Riding.
August 2026 Events
- Aug 1, Aug 7-8, Aug 14-15, Aug 21-22, Aug 28-29 – 7:30. Williams Night Rodeo. every Friday and Saturday night in July and August at the Williams Rodeo Ground, Williams, AZ. Events: Ranch Bronc Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, Breakaway Roping, Barrel Racing and Bull Riding.
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.
Photo Contest Calendar 2026
- List of various photo contests and awards. Check out this website for a listing of multiple opportunities.
Decode Gallery - Exhibitions and Challenges
Decode is a submission based photography gallery dedicated to giving fine art photographers the important opportunity to show their work. Check out this website for a listing of current opportunities.
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
Greg Griffin
Congratulations to Greg Griffin for his image, The Jewel. Greg’s image has been featured in the magazine Birds and Blooms. Greg captured the image in a neighbor’s back yard. What can you capture in your neighbor’s back yard?