The North Austin Pƒotographic Society is an inclusive, north Austin photo club dedicated to educating, inspiring and motivating its members through frequent face-to-face activities at regular club meetings. The club is open to photographers of all levels from true beginners (no camera required) to professionals. Through regular meetings, NAPƒS builds a community of active photographers, practicing their love for all types of photography. NAPƒS members share their passion and skills through presenting their work at meetings, participating in monthly competitions with live critiques, and exhibiting their work at our socials. We offer monthly presentations with topics of interest to photographers. Club activities are designed to help photographers of all levels grow through active shooting and feedback.
The slideshow on this page includes the winners from the latest month's NAPƒS photo competition.
Upcoming Meetings
NOTE: the meeting announcements are shown below as soon as they are scheduled. Most meetings are held on Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM CT. We have four types of meetings:
The first Thursday of each month (except December) is the competition meeting where image entries are judged and critiqued. The deadline for submitting images is shown in the meeting announcement on this page. These meetings are held both in-person and via Zoom.
The third Thursday of each month (except December) is a presentation or workshop. The presenters come from our club, from the photography industry, or from professional photographers. These meetings are held both in-person and via Zoom.
On the months which have five Thursdays, we normally have a social gathering which is not held at our regular meeting location. Check the announcements below for details on these gatherings. These gatherings are in-person only.
We have a Christmas party sometime in December where we share a potluck dinner and awards are made for the photographers of the year and the photograph of the year. This meeting is in-person only.
In-Person Meeting Location
The in-person location is available from the menu at "Organization > In-Person Meeting Location".
Instructions for joining Zoom meetings
These instructions are available from the menu at "Organization > Virtual Meeting Instruction". Zoom is used only for the first and third Thursday meetings.
Thursday, October 31, 2024, 7:00 PM CT - NO Meeting
This is Halloween, so there will be no meeting on October 31. We normally have a "social gathering" on the fifth Thursday of months that have five Thursdays.
Thursday, November 7, 2024, 7:00 PM CT - November Competition - Theme is "In the Wild"
- Entries are now closed.
- Popular voting is open
- Popular voting ends on Tuesday, November 5 at 5:00 PM.
- The judging and popular results will be at the November 7 meeting.
Thursday, November 21, 2024, 7:00 PM CT - Gary R Hook on "Printing"
Thursday, December 5, 2024, 7:00 PM CT - Annual Potluck Dinner and Awards Ceremony
The date is tentative.
MEETING LOCATION: The meeting location is described in "Organization > In-Person Meeting Location".
This meeting is in-person only. There will be no virtual meeting (Zoom) and no recording.
Thursday, January 16, 2025, 7:00 PM CT - Carol Schiraldi on "Marketing 2.0"
Thursday, February 20, 2025, 7:00 PM CT - David Valdez, Former White House Photographer with G.W. Bush
Upcoming Meetup Events
Meetup.com is a site that coordinates events in which its members might be interested. The NAPfS group will have many events, such as photowalks, photo outings, photo trips, etc. Some events are free; others are not. If you're interested in this type of thing, please join our meetup group at https://www.meetup.com/napfs-outings. It's free to join. Go to the website to see all upcoming and past events. You can post photos and see photos of the events. Virtual events are included whereby participants can participate from home.
If you'd like to host a Meetup event, please contact Gary Hook or Ed Peet and they will make you an organizer.
Photos from past Meetup events can be seen at https://www.meetup.com/napfs-outings/photos/ or on this website at "Galleries > Photowalks".
Saturday, October 26, 2024 - Photowalk: Rio Vista Park in San Marcos
Let's get outside and enjoy the weather while we can, and explore a nearby city.
We'll explore in Rio Vista Park in San Marcos, a central location that includes trees, water, walkways, and easy river access. Here's a google map link to the area.
There appears to be parking at the pool, and off of CM Allen north of the pool. Let's rendezvous in front of the pool building.
After the ramble (at 11:30), we can head over to Ivar's River Pub for some lunch.
If you would like to carpool, let's meet at La Frontera (Round Rock) at 8:00 AM, in front of the Austin Telco Federal Credit Union (behind Applebee's). We can minimize the number of cars and enjoy some social time during our drive to San Marcos.
Please sign up at https://www.meetup.com/napfs-outings/events/304067201/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - Photowalk: Guadalupe River State Park
We invite you to join us for the 6th annual Guadalupe River State Park ramble. We've enjoyed (re)visiting this hill country treasure for the last several years, and anticipate another beautiful morning of excellent weather, beautiful light, and conditions that surprise us.
This state park is about two hours south of Austin. The gate opens at 8:00, and visitors require a day pass. You can get a day pass at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. As of this writing, there are are over 200 passes available for that date. Every attendee is responsible for their own pass.
More information at https://www.meetup.com/napfs-outings/events/304068570/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events. Also use this page to sign up.
Happy Happy!
Joy Joy! People's Choice Awards
We are looking for photos that make you smile, giggle, chuckle, or roar with laughter. Something that brings joy and amusement to those looking at it. It could be someone caught in a funny act, dressed funnily, an animal doing something amusing, etc. Let your imagination go wild.
This competition is now open for entries. The entry deadline is Tuesday, November 19 at 5:30 PM CT. The winner will be announced at our Christmas party (probably December 5).
Entries must have been taken within the last two years.
Competition Results
Click on a button below to see the competition winners and some statistics.
Competition History
The following buttons will take you to the history of our photo competition all the way back to the club's origin in 2015.
Meeting History
These pages include links to meeting announcements, recaps (including videos), competition results, judges and speakers.
The past events pages are at "Organization > About NAPfS > Past Speakers and Judges", or just click on the button above and select the year.
Meeting topics and speakers for 2024 can be viewed by clicking here.
Meeting Videos
NAPƒS has a YouTube Channel. Click on the icon above to see it.
Videos of most of our meetings from 2020 to the present are available on our YouTube channel and on this website at "Organization > News and Information > Meeting Topics > Meeting Recaps". A list of all videos and some statistics are available here.
The chat windows and video event times are available in the "Meeting Recaps" pages but not on YouTube.
To see the latest meeting video, click on the button below:
Photowalk (Meetup) Photos and Announcements
NAPƒS has a Meetup group which organizes outings such as photo walks. Click on the icon above to see the currently scheduled events and to see photos from previous events.
Selected photos from these events are on the Meetup website and on our galleries available at "Galleries > Photowalks"
Here are some links to gallery photos taken at previous events:
Painted Churches (10/19/24)
Slide Show or Tiled Images
Sign Bar (9/29/24)
Slide Show or Tiled Images
Hill Country Water Gardens (6/5/24)
Slide Show or Tiled Images
Instagram
Every month, starting on the day after the competition meeting, the winning images are posted to Instagram at the rate of one winner per day. The first image will be from the basic group and the final image will be from the advanced group. If you'd like to see how your winning photos are received by the "general public", please visit our Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/napfs.club. If you're an Instagram member, you can start following napfs.club; Besides the winning photos, notices about upcoming competitions and meetings and other important notices are posted.
Members' Websites
We have many excellent photographers in our club and many of them have their own websites. To see the links to these websites, go to "Organization > Members' Website Links".
If you're a full member and would like your website's link on this page, please email the Webmaster with a square cover photo which is at least 200x200.
If you already have a link on the page, you can request to change the cover photo, change the link, or remove the link.
We Need Volunteers!
Our club has some excellent volunteers, but we need more in order to keep a healthy, active organization. If you can, please volunteer to help. The current volunteers will be happy to train you in whatever field you choose. Click on the button below to volunteer..
We need help with art shows, membership committee, outings committee, program committee, and competition committee.
And every month (except December) we need three advanced-level judges to judge the basic and intermediate competitions.
Popular Voting Instructions
All full NAPfS members can vote on the competition entries starting at the competition deadline and ending two hours before the competition meeting.
To read the instructions for popular voting, go to "Organization > News and Information", click on the triangle to the left of "Information", then click on "View" next to "Popular Voting Instructions".
Or just click here.
Instructions for Viewing All Competition Critiques
For instructions on viewing the competition entry critiques, go to "Organization > News and Information", click on the triangle to the left of "Information", then click on "View" next to "Instructions on Viewing Competition Critiques".
Or just click here.
How to Submit and Check Competition Photos
Instructions for submitting photos to our monthly competition are at "Competitions > Instructions on Entering Competitions".
To Check that your photo was properly submitted,
go to "Competitions > Submit Images to a Competition" and select the appropriate competition.
If your entry was properly submitted, you'll see it at the bottom of the page under "Images you entered into the Competition".
How to Set or Change Your Competition Level
Instructions for setting your competition level (mainly for new members) or requesting a change to your level are at "Competitions > Setting or Changing Competition Level". New members are not automatically assigned a competition level, but you must be assigned a competition level to submit photos to a competition.
Explanation of Competition Awards
First, Second, Third Place, and Honorable Mention awards come from the judges. These awards count toward the December “Photographer of the Year” awards. See “ Competition > Competition Rules” for the explanation of how the points are calculated. The images which win these awards are posted to Instagram at the rate of one-per-day starting the day after the competition.
Gold, Silver, and Bronze metals come from the Popular Vote. These awards do not count toward the December awards. Gold, silver, and bronze metals are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectively in the popular voting.
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
October 4-12, 2024
Gary Hook organized a trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in 2023 and may do it again in the future. Let him know if you're interested in going.
To see his presentation describing the event, his trip proposal, and photos of the fiesta, click here or on the photo.
Comments, Questions, Concerns?
Do you have questions for the NAPfS members or officers? Do you have comments or concerns that you'd like to share with the other members?
There is a forum topic that is used for this purpose.
Go to "Organization > Discussion Forums" and select "View Topics" under "NAPfS General Comments, Questions, Concerns". You can add a new topic or add a post to an existing topic in this forum.
If you're interested in this sort of thing, even if you don't have anything to post, subscribe to the forum by clicking on the "Subscriptions" button on the right side of the "NAPfS General Comments, Questions, Concerns".
Pƒotographic?
Why do we use "Pfotographic" instead of "Photographic"? Because the club was founded in Pflugerville, Texas, which is just north of Austin. The club history is available from the menu at "Organization > About NAPfS > Club History".