Welcome to the Stony Brook Camera Club

For over 50 years SBCC's mission statement has been “To promote enjoyment and proficiency in all aspects of photography through education, fellowship, exchange of knowledge and experience; and a broad appreciation of nature and environment.”  

SBCC includes and welcomes members of all abilities. Whether a casual smartphone shooter or an advanced photographer, everyone grows in knowledge and experience through SBCC’s many programs and workshops.

The Stony Brook Camera Club meets in-person and/or virtually on Thursdays at 7:30pm from September to June. In-person social hour begins at 6:30pm and zoom social hour is 7:00pm.  In person meetings are held at the Anglican Church of the Redeemer, 195 Main St, Franklin, MA.  See our calendar for the schedule of events. Our meetings feature competitions, speakers, image studies and discussions of general interest. We also sponsor a number of photography activities all year.

Anyone is welcome to attend and experience what we are about, although participation in competitions and our many activities requires membership (see the Membership menu item in the Main Menu above).

We hope you enjoy this site and your time with us all.

The Slideshow to the right features Winning Images from our 2025-2026 Competitions.

     Interested in seeing what Stony Brook Camera Club is all about? You are welcome to join as a Guest Member for 30 days. 

     Just fill out this FORM and you will be added to the attendee list for the next 30 days. 

Upcoming Meetings

September 23, 2025 - Image Study with Ray Guillette on Zoom and in person

September 30, 2025 - Conservation Photography with Soren Goldsmith on Zoom

In this session, Soren will share his journey and expertise in using photography to protect ecosystems and inspire action. You’ll discover how your own photography can make a difference, learn the essentials of project design for impactful storytelling, and explore how to create images that resonate emotionally with audiences.

BIO: Soren Goldsmith is a National Geographic Explorer, conservation photographer, and storyteller from Massachusetts. Since receiving a grant from the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 2021, he has protected threatened urban ecosystems through photographic storytelling. By utilizing custom-built camera traps, he captures the elusive wildlife of New England’s cities and salt marshes, helping communities and policy makers form connections with critical yet often overlooked habitats. His work highlights the resilience of these ecosystems, fostering awareness and inspiring conservation action. Goldsmith was selected as a 2023 winner of the National Geographic Slingshot Challenge for his work documenting an urban forest under threat of destruction. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in geological engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Goldsmith is inspired by the wonder of the natural world, especially urban wildernesses that are often overlooked, and envisions a future where old growth forests, wetlands, and native ecosystems thrive harmoniously with humanity.

You can find more info at @sorengoldsmith

November 6, 2025 - Competition: Color Prints, B&W Prints, Digital Open on Zoom and in person

November 13, 2025 - Digital Apps for Planning Photo Shoots with Paul Nguyen on Zoom

In the past, the only way for photographers to prepare for a sunrise or sunset shoot in a particular location was to show up in person and scout the terrain in advance.  But in the modern day, smartphone apps can save you time by enabling you to “virtually scout” a shooting location for any time of day or night, before you even arrive. This presentation covers the use of various apps such as Sun Surveyor and Photopills for predicting sun and moon events and forecasting photo opportunities; Starwalk for constellations and celestial events; Google Earth for visualizing terrain and landscapes in advance; and several different apps for weather, tide, and aurora forecasting.

BIO: Paul Nguyen has lived and worked from coast to coast across the U.S. and has over 35 years of experience in film and digital photography. Hailing from Massachusetts and now based out of Flagstaff, AZ, Paul spends most of the year exploring the western U.S. to research photo tour destinations and create video content. You may run into him, his Jeep, his trailer, and his cat somewhere along your own travels. 

He specializes in digital photography of natural landscapes and wildlife and capturing the authentic and often comical experience of outdoor adventure and exploration through his video series. His noteworthy image-making and teaching in the realm of photography have gained him sponsorships from Tamron USA and Sun Surveyor.  In April 2017, he served in the prestigious National Park Artist in Residence program at Petrified Forest, Arizona, and continues to create programs for the National Park Service. His accomplishments also include an exclusive assignment as a photographer for the Boston Museum of Science, and a position as a program guide and brand ambassador for Swedish outfitter Fjällräven.

You can find more info at www.paulnguyenphoto.com and www.bluehourusa.com

November 29, 2025 - Image Study with Ray Guillette on Zoom and in person 

Workshops 

9:30 am -12:30 pm Rain date Sun Nov 2

Participants: 12 max, $15 per member

Location: Stony Brook Audubon Sanctuary, Norfolk

Registration opens October 9th at 5 pm

Click HERE for more info

February 7, 2026 - Camera Basics with Tom Amsterburg and Jim West

more info to follow

Women vs Men Challenge 2025-26

 Registration opens Oct 9th at 7:00 pm!

Registration is first come first served for the first 23 women and 23 men and will close on November 10th. Drawing for the pairs and categories is scheduled for November 20th.

One woman will be paired randomly with a man and a category. The pair will each take one photo that meets their category. There are no time restrictions. Two judges will decide the winner of the category on our June 4th meeting. The team with the most points wins bragging rights for the year. 

Women click HERE to sign up

Men click HERE to sign up

Multi-Club Competition May 13, 2026

The 7^th Annual Multi-Club Competition will be hosted online on May 13, 2026.  Members may choose to submit two digital photographic images taken between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026 in any or all of the eight categories. 

All the information regarding this competition between Boston, Gateway and Stony Brook Camera Clubs can be found HERE

Events of Interest

SBCC members can join the SBCC Meetup group for FREE. We schedule photo walks and field trips via Meetup.

This is the  LINK to Meetup. How to schedule a Meetup - click HERE

 

 

Our award-winning newsletter, Reflections, has been in existence since September 2003. You can check out past issues HERE.

Tom Amsterburg is now the editor of Reflections. He is always looking for contributions from our membership.  If you would like to submit a travelogue, how-to article, review of favorite editing software, "how I made this image", or anything else you think would be of interest to our members, please reach out to him with your images and any article ideas. Below is the link to his email address.

Tom's EMAIL 

Need suggestions for places to go out and shoot?

Check out our information on Photo Shoot Locations at /d/b56444bf-9b6e-4ac3-a22d-b3e2f5f766be   or Click on the “Resources & Links” tab and then Click on “Photo Shoot Locations”.

  

SBCC COVID-19 Policy

    1. Face masks are optional.

    2. SBCC is pleased to offer a hybrid format for those meetings that will be held in-person this season.  
        Any members not comfortable attending will always have the option of joining remotely via Zoom or a similar streaming format.

3. We will keep current with trends and regulations and may change our policy as needed.

 

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© Stony Brook Camera Club - All rights reserve 1969 - 2025.  All images on this web site are copyright the maker and may not be copied or used in any manner without the express  written consent of the maker.