Week 34 - Aug 16 2026 Mike Mercadante Highlights Event Reminders August Newsletter New Members Highlights Q3 Image Competition This quarter, 14 makers submitted 50 images into 10 categories. The final score distribution is shown below. Competition results are posted below, and the gallery will be posted shortly. Best in Show Category - Photojournalism Title - Focus Maker - Bob Turk Second Place Category - Nature Title - The Hunter's Prize Maker - Annie Slagboom Third Place

Finding Beauty in Imperfection For the month of August, Coastal California Photographers invites members to explore a concept that is both deeply artistic and profoundly human: Wabi-Sabi. Rooted in Japanese philosophy and aesthetics, Wabi-Sabi embraces the beauty of imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. It encourages us to see value not in flawless surfaces, but in the marks left by time, weather, use, and experience. A rusted gate, a weathered fishing boat, peeling

Photography is often celebrated as the art of color. Brilliant sunsets, vibrant flowers, colorful city lights, and richly saturated landscapes all compete for our attention. But what happens when color itself becomes nearly invisible? July's Coastal California Photographers challenge invites members to explore that fascinating question with a deceptively difficult theme: Colorless Color Photography. The objective is simple to describe but surprisingly challenging to achieve: