On October 20, 2026, Lancaster Photography Association is having a Travel Competition for our members. It will be at 6:00 p.m. at the Antelope Valley Senior Center.

The deadline for entry is October 13, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. All members are eligible to enter up to three photos for the $5.00 entry fee. 

ENTER HERE

Entering a competition is a great way to get feedback on your images and learn how to create stronger photos. We encourage our members to enter, as each image gets a short critique from the judge. 

Travel is a reality-based class, so you will need to follow the rules as given below regarding the photos.

TRAVEL - A Photo Travel image expresses the characteristic or distinctive physical features or distinctive culture of a country, region or continent as they are found naturally. There are no geographic limitations. Images from events or activities arranged specifically for photography or of subjects directed or hired for photography are NOT allowed. Close up pictures of people or objects must include features that provide information about the surrounding environment, so as to indicate they were not taken in a studio. Time exposures are allowed if they do not dominate the image as a special effect (no star trails, etc).

Note: An image taken just while traveling may or may not fit this definition. The primary elements of the image must be distinctive or characteristic with respect to features or culture.

Editing: As with all reality-based divisions (Nature, Photo Travel, and PJ), techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove any element of the original image, except by croppying, are not permitted. The only allowable modifications are the removal of dust, scratches, or digital noise, restoration of the existing appearance of the original scene, sharpening that is not obvious, and complete conversion to grayscale monochrome. Other derivations, including infrared, are not eligible. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. 

Note: Restoration of the appearance of the original scene may include techniques, such as HDR, focus stacking, and dodging/burning, provided they do not alter the contents of the original scene and the result looks natural.

Borders: Borders are optional, but must be 3 or 4 pixels in width and must be white or a shade of gray.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87841523471?pwd=qIF6jx4gDqY9Pu4A5n8xF7qgWEatDV.1

On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Hutch Hutchison will be sharing his methods of creating amazing Monochrome images. The meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. and will be held at the Antelope Valley Senior Center.

What makes a great monochrome image? Is it different from color imagery? Hutch will answer these questions and more along with suggestions for best practice conversions from color to Monochrome.

Hutch will be joining us for an early dinner at Greenhouse Cafe at 4:30 p.m. Those wishing to come to dinner, please RSVP to Kathy or Andrew.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008516530?pwd=zencExsfMb34HnWlrP9HVb8CUEgj3Y.1

Bio - "Hutch" Hutchison's life-long love of photography was inspired at an early age by the magic of his father's camera and darkroom. The advent of more advanced film cameras in the 1980's and digital photography in the 1990's further stimulated and broadened his interest. He primarily shoots for his own pleasure with work ranging across a broad spectrum of genres.

"Hutch" is an active member of the Professional Photographers of California, Professional Photographers of Los Angeles County, Thousand Oaks Photo Group, California Coastal Photographers, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Southern California Council of Camera Clubs (S4C). He is a frequent judge for PSA PPC and other art organizations. 

Over the years, he has received numerous awards and recognition for his photography including being recognized twice as Best of Show with a Monochrome photo in the Ventura County Fair and as Best Black & White image in the Professional Photographers of California State Competition. 

"As a photographer, it is always my hope that my images will move the viewer. Photography is art, and we are all influenced by its impact, color, shape, texture, and beauty."

On August 25, 2026, Lancaster Photography Association is excited to have a specialist in Wildlife Photography speak to us! 

Brent Paull will speak about his photo safaris to Yellowstone National Park. As a seasoned wildlife photographer, he will share photographic tips regarding seasons, subjects, locations, and tactics. He has spent over 2200 days shooting in the park, so he is very knowledgeable about the different species and their

particular field tactics.

Also since he leads safaris, he will go over the do's and don'ts of making a trip successful. 

It should be a great time of learning. Invite your friends!

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Antelope Valley Senior Center.

For those of you who can't attend in person, here is the Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89413180086?pwd=QqqN6Fegk7k8yoJqO0q1yQvgFCqaxN.1

Those who are interested in having dinner at Greenhouse Cafe with Brent at 4:30 p.m. prior to the meeting, please let Andrew or Kathy know.

Check out Brent's bio below!

On Tuesday, July 21, 2026, Lancaster Photography Association will have our first competition of the new club year, Step Into The Past. We are looking forward to seeing all your wonderful photos!

DEADLINE: July 14, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

The Definition is: Historic sites, buildings, antiques, and relics of the past. This can include images of people in period costume. 

All members can enter up to 3 photos for the entry fee of $5.00. 

NOTE: We have changed the pixel size of the entries to a max of 1920 wide and 1080 high. Make sure to change your Export Preset settings in Photoshop or Lightroom!

We encourage all of our members to enter our competitions. It is a great way to get feedback on your images. Attending the competitions also gives you a lot of helpful information from the judges as they critique everyone's images. You can then apply that knowledge to creating your own photographs.

If you have any trouble with entering, please do not hesitate to call or email Kathy Newman. She will be glad to help you navigate the process.

Our judge will be John Powers. He will have some great insights for us, so please plan on attending the competition.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82978478093?pwd=roXE8BYmkzapahrdgsbkERRaZG9zfA.1

On June 16, 2026, Lancaster Photography Association will have our End-Of-Year Competition and Celebration at 6:00 p.m. at the Antelope Valley Senior Center. 

We will be voting on our favorites of all of the first place winners from our competitions from the past year, for the "Best of the Best" in each Division. 

We will also be swearing in our Board of Directors for the coming year and watching a slide show of our activities over the past year. It has been a great year with lots of wonderful speakers, workshops and field trips, and this is a chance to walk down memory lane!.

We will also have refreshments, so put this on your calendar for a great end to our year!

This also means it is time to renew your membership, so make sure to do that on-line or bring your membership fee to one of the meetings this month.

See you there!

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86182697816?pwd=md0aASiQ1DhTUnhqJXykIoqkXCCUaM.1

On May 26, 2026, Lancaster Photography Association will have a Still Life Photography Workshop at 6:00 p.m. at the Antelope Valley Senior Center.

This will be a hands-on workshop, so bring those cameras and close-up lenses (24-70 mm ideally). Kathy will give a short presentation on setting up a still life regarding composition and lighting, as well as a bit about post-processing. Then you will have the opportunity to practice your skills at arranging items for your own still life photos for about an hour and a half.

Please bring items you would enjoy photographing and allowing others to photograph in pleasing arrangements. This could include interesting household items, fruits and vegetables, flowers, books, kitchen tools, vintage items, etc. Bring constant lights to help light your scene. Fabric backdrops, foam board, etc will be available to work as backdrops.

We should have a great time and end up with some interesting results! 

See you there!

Zoom link for presentation: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89488984931?pwd=VAeuJfqkKxfe0Rgccu6QmOcOss3Lku.1

On May 19, 2026, Lancaster Photography Association will be having our last competition of the year. It will be held at the Antelope Valley Senior Center at 6:00 p.m.

The category is Birds.

All members are encouraged to enter up to three images. The cost for entry is $5.00, payable via Paypal at the time of upload, or in cash at the competition. You may enter 1-3 images for the same fee. 

The definition for the category, Birds: Any bird, domesticated (i.e. Chicken), or wild (i.e Falcon)

This is a pictorial category, so any type of editing is permitted, excluding any AI portions on an image.

We are excited to see your great bird photos, so make sure to enter!

Bill Horstick will be our judge for this competition. He is a past president for Ventura County Camera Club and the chairman for the Ventura Fair Photo Exhibit. 

We will be meeting at 4:30 p.m. for dinner at Greenhouse Cafe with our judge. If you would like to come to dinner, please let Kathy or Andrew know.

Zoom link for the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89611537926?pwd=89CZPdADk2FiiAJnVNryrCGZjkxeQj.1

The deadline for entering the competition is May 12, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

You may enter HERE.

We will also be having our Annual Board Election on this night, so please make sure to attend the meeting on May 19, 2026!

 

On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, Bob Young will be joining us to share his knowledge of landscape photography and teach us some great editing skills! We will meet at the Antelope Valley Senior Center at 6:00 p.m. for some in-depth learning.

Think how a painter would approach the scene in front of you. They stay in one spot for hours and most of us take a quick photo and move on. Learn how to turn your image in WOW factor using burn & dodge, non-destructive and non A.I. on a separate layer.

We will be having dinner with Bob at Greenhouse Cafe at 4:30 p.m. if you would like to join us for extra time with our speaker. Please let Kathy or Andrew know if you will be joining us.

Bob Young: http://bobyoungphotography.blogspot.com/     http://byp.smugmug.com

• 2012/13 President of Professional Photographers of Los Angeles County
• Digital Print Comp Chair 2010/11, 14, 15, Moderator 2010/11/12/13
• Qualified Photographic Image Competition Judge
• 2009 Aurora Award winner - PPLAC
• 2010 PPLAC Nature/Landscape Photographer of the Year
• 2012, 2015 PPLAC Landscape Photographer of the Year
• Award-winning Photography, PPC, PPLAC
• Judges Choice Award 2017
• Weddings, Portraits, Headshots, Commercial, Fine Art, Events. (On location printing available)   

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88098528285?pwd=ljHCZ8aoIaetlil2LQbu0yZ3aBsyMY.1