“The best camera is the one you have with you,” or so the saying goes. But, until recently, I’ve been nervous to trust my iPhone camera for anything other than selfies, food, and cat pictures. Unless I am being paid to shoot, the hassle of taking DSLR camera gear through airports and the strain on my neck caused by carrying my large camera around does not make it a good camera for vacations. Since upgrading to an iPhone 7, I am much happier with the quality of pictures and have decided never to take my DSLR on vacation again, unless I am specifically going on a photography tour. The apps on my camera help me control the camera on my smartphone to achieve the results I want. I also have some other apps that help when taking pictures with my DSLR.

It was tough picking out a winner this month, from many stunning entries. It took the judges quite awhile to narrow it down. Victoria DeLaney won with this excellent picture of a grasshopper.

The January Group shoot will take place on Sunday January 26 at 9:00 am in Heritage Park and Old Town Cemetery. Please go to the Registration page and sign up for the free group shoot to receive meeting instructions. All site members are welcome to attend along with their guests. We will shoot for a couple of hours and then meet for lunch, for those interested, at Fred's Mexican Cafe. Please note that this is not a teaching event, but a chance to practice your photography and meet other photographers.

Between Christmas and New Year we took a trip to San Juan Capistrano to vist the mission there. The mission was founded in 1776 and is one of the best known and most beautiful missions of Alta California. Contained in the grounds of the mission is the oldest building in California still in use, a chapel built in 1782.

Yesterday, I was taken on a tour of the the photography program facilities at San Diego City College. Tony from Nelson Photo is on the advisory board for the program and helped specify the equipment needs for the labs. He showed me around in the company of lab technician Gerson.

On two afternoons in July 2017, I led two small groups of photographers on a boat trip on San Diego Bay. We spent three hours touring the bay and snapping up all the photo opportunities we could find.

Last Sunday, a group of around 10 photographers met at Old Town Heritage Park in San Diego for some photography and socializing.

The winner of the November/December competition with the theme "motion" was Kevin Caruso with his compostion entitled "Monster Truck in Motion."

Group shoots are starting up again. Site members should register for the November 2 Group Shoot in Little Italy on the events registration page.