Welcome to the Thousand Oaks Photo Group

Based in Eastern Ventura County, our camera club serves photographers who are interested in sharing, talking, and learning about photography. We are a creative and supportive group organized to meet the needs of photographers whether they are beginners, highly skilled amateurs or professionals. We conduct meetings, webinars and special interest focus groups every month.

meetup 200x100px We are back to using Meetup for scheduling our field trip and event registration. Connect with us via the Thousand Oaks Photo Group Meetup. If you are not a member of our group yet, look for the Request to Join button. It's simple to join and follow the Thousand Oaks Photo Group Meetup.

S4C 2022-2023 Year-end Competition
Congratulations to TOPG Members!

S4C logoCongratulations are due to TOPG members who received recognition in S4C’s year-end photo competition. All the best images (all images receiving High Merit or Award designation) from the 2022-2023 competition season were judged by a panel of internationally ranked photographers. TOPG did quite well, receiving 73 total recognitions including:

  • 46 Honorable Mention
  • 7 Bronze
  • 9 Silver
  • 7 Gold
  • 4 Gold - Best of Show

Congratulations to TOPG photographers Bridget Bourgon, Steven Friedman, Rich Greene, Hutch Hutchison, Crystal McAbee, Terry Miranda, Michael Reyburn, Peter Scifres, Debora Suterko, and Leonid Shectman. They all did quite well. Special recognition to our Best of Show recipients:

  • Debora Suterko for “Coming to America” (Pictorial – Creative)
  • Terry Miranda for “Vintage Bouquet” (Pictorial – Arranged Color)
  • Pete Scifres for “Delicate Arch Framed” (Photo Travel – General)
  • Hutch Hutchison for “Sliding Home” (Photojournalism – General).

View the catalog of TOPG’s Winning Images

Note, the 2023-2024 S4C Competition Season is just beginning. Images for the first month of competition are due on October 7. Competitions continue monthly through April 2024. If you have not competed in S4C monthly competitions yet, now is the time to get started. It is not hard, and you get compared against other beginners, not seasoned pros. See Hutch Hutchison's S4C Competition Orientation for how to get started. Who know, perhaps your name will be on next year’s recognition list!

Membership Dues Payment Reminder

Membership fees for the Thousand Oaks Photo Group’s (TOPG) are due annually in September. Individual dues are $36.00, and additional members in the same family unit are $10.00 per person, the same as last year. Please see our Membership Page for ways you can renew.

September Photo Challenge Recap

For those of you who did not attend our last photo review meeting and want to view the video replay or see a gallery of the high merit images, please select the following links:

Assigned Topic: Night Photo
Judge: John Powers 


All recent photo challenge galleries can be found at our Competition Winning Images page. Older galleries are in our gallery archives.

TOPG Field Trip

Seaside Oddities Expo
Sunday, October 1

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TOPG This field trip has been cancelled. 

 

  

Monthly Photo Challenge
Monday, October 2 at 7:30 PM

Standard Photo Challenge Rules (Assigned and Open classes)
Zoom Link:  
Judge: Christopher Zsarnay (Christopher Zsarnay's bio)
    Website at https://www.zstudios.com/
    Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/zstudios/
    Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/zstudiosphoto/

Our topic for October: Timing - Wait for the Decisive Moment. Not yet, not yet, now! Many times waiting for a moment (or two) will make the difference between an oh-hum photo and an excellent one. Timing is everything. (Composition and Technique)

Critique and Judging will take place via Zoom at 7:30 PM. See our calendar for details.

Monthly Photo Challenge
Monday, November 6 at 7:30 PM
Our last challenge for the year!

Standard Photo Challenge Rules (Assigned and Open classes)
Zoom Link:  
Judge: Kevin Karzin
    Website at https://kevinkarzinphotography.zenfolio.com/?fbclid=IwAR0rLIPeIueMNp7BE_I772Ihmj7ohd140tI3ovV_QJQs8aBUzNbAFrCKvwM
    Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kevin_karzin/ and https://www.instagram.com/kevinkarzin/
    Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kevinkarzinphotographyllc/

Our topic for November: Lifestyle Photography - Create an image that aims to capture portraits of people in situations, real-life events, or milestones in an artistic manner.[1] The primary goal is to tell stories about people's lives or to inspire people at different times. (Definition from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_photography) Dan Holmes has done a good job defining Lifestyle Photography for the Channel Islands Professional Photographer's Association. View the article at https://www.cippa.org/post/lifestyle-photography-~-it-s-a-thing. (Thematic)

Critique and Judging will take place via Zoom at 7:30 PM. See our calendar for details.

TOPG Field Trip

Neighborhood Christmas Lights
Saturday, December 16

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On Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, the TOPG is taking a field trip to the Gemini Ave. Neighborhood Christmas Lights in Camarillo.

We will then walk around the Gemini Ave neighborhood to photograph the Christmas lights. The Gemini Ave. Neighborhood Christmas lights go back over 30 years. Displays feature tons of cartoon character decorations made from plywood.

This event also draws good crowds for street photographers.

meetup 200x100pxFurther details about the field trip can be found at our Meetup site where you can sign up for this field trip. To participate in this or any TOPG sponsored field trip, you must be an active TOPG member and register for each sponsored event. Find out more about specific field trips at our Meetup page or contact our Field Trip Coordinator, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..