Welcome to the DSAL Photography Club, the photography and camera club in Dripping Springs, Texas.
HomeMeetings
Our exhibition “Through The Lens” is being hung on Tuesdayafternoon and there will be a reception at 6pm on Wednesday, November 4th for all who would like to see the show. Join us for a chat with the photographers and a glass of wine in Primal Gallery, Dripping Springs.
Our November meeting sees us welcome our very own Warren Capps. In July Warren attended a photo tour of Mongolia which focused primarily on the Naadam Festival and eagle hunters. While on the tour he faced numerous technical challenges such as photographing eagles on the wing, night sky photography, athletic events, natural portraiture, running horses, etc. He will discuss the techniques he used to capture these images – both his successes and his failures. Additionally, he will share photos of his journey and the astounding beauty of Mongolia.
Warren has been using a camera for over 50 years primarily as a hobbyist, but occasionally venturing into professional work. His photography education is haphazard and desultory at best, although he has expressed a particular fondness for travel workshops and tours, having attended many over the years. He has also served as a photography judge for the Hays County Livestock Show and the Texas State 4-H photography division. His work has been selected for recognition by the Photographers of Dripping Springs (PODS), the Amanda Smith Gallery in Johnson City, the Hive in Bee Cave, Texas Tech University shows and the Hill Country Alliance annual calendar. He has had two shows at the Mercer St Gallery in Dripping Springs. He is a past President of Photographers of Dripping Springs.
He has traveled to and photographed in all 50 states, 9 Canadian provinces and over 40 countries (many of them courtesy of the US Navy). His equipment specialty is Olympus (OM Systems) gear, going back to the first OM-1n camera he bought back in 1979 (which he still has and uses).
We frequently get asked which camera folks should buy and everyone has an opinion. To help in these discussions, our next meeting at Primal Gallery at 6:30pm on Thursday, October 8th will feature several members of the club discussing the pros and cons of their own camera systems. Nikon, Canon, OM System and Sony users will discuss price, features, lens availability, support and as many other topics as we can fit into the 90 minutes or so that we have available. If you are a fervent user of some other brand (any Fuji, Leica or Hasselblad fans out there?) and want to join in, drop us a line at dsal.photo.club@gmail.com in the next couple of weeks and we’ll add you to the fun.
POSTPONED: Unfortunately, due to unexpected business travel, Miguel won’t be able to present on August 13th. We’ll reschedule his presentation for some time in the Spring of 2027. Our own Vince Curletta will step on and give a talk on sport photography instead.
Puerto Rico raised, Austin-based commercial and fine art photographer Miguel Salas will join us on Thursday, August 13th 2026 to present his talk “Extraordinary World” illustrated by images from his many years of travels around the globe.
Miguel is currently Director of Photography, Co-Founder and Creative Director of CincoDoce Media based in Austin, Texas. He is passionate about taking people on his journey and having them truly feel a profound emotional connection, transporting the viewer to that moment and place through his images.
The meeting will take place starting at 6:30pm in our new regular meeting location of Primal Gallery, 246 American Way, Dripping Springs (on the south side of 290 behind the Rent Equip location, just east of the Sleep Inn).
Continuing our vacation time social meetings, and moving back to our regular 2nd Thursday time slot, we’ll be meeting at 6:00pm at Vista Brewing on FM150 for a chance to talk about recent photography, vacations taken, projects being worked on, and generally anything folks want to chat about over a beer and some food.
This month, with many members likely off on vacation, we’ll be meeting at 6pm on Thursday, June 25th at Fitzhugh Brewing on Fitzhugh Road for a social evening. Come along, have a pint, grab some dinner and chat photography with those of us not traveling during June.
February’s monthly meeting, the first of the new era as DSAL Photography Club, will be at 7pm on Thursday, February 26th, 2026. At our planning meeting a couple of weeks ago, people were very keen to have more opportunities to see and show member images so this month we’re having a “Show and Tell” at the home of Dave Wilson, 14000 Robin’s Run, Austin TX 78737 (just off Nutty Brown Road). Members are encouraged to send up to 15 of their favorite images on any topic they choose. These will be shown at the meeting and the owner will be encouraged to tell their story as the slideshow progresses. In case anyone is worried, this is not a critique session although, if you request feedback, other members will be available to provide it.
Send your images, sized at least 2048 pixels on the long side, to Dave via the club email account, dsal.photo.club@gmail.com. You can either attach the images directly to the email if they are not too large (remembering that some email programs will automatically downscale!) or, better, upload them to DropBox or a similar file sharing site and send the link.
This month, PODS member Darrell Carder will deliver an informative talk on night photography. Darrell is one of the best photographers in PODS and our first-place winner in the latest photo hunt. Night photography has undergone significant changes over the past 15 years with the advent of high ISO cameras, offering a wealth of new learning opportunities.
Our next meeting will be another photo critique evening with participation from attendees encouraged. If you plan on attending, please send at least two photos to fcerkan@gmail.com. They don’t need to be your best or worst – just grab two photos. Remember, we are learning to critique photos, not assessing anyone’s skills as a photographer.
PODS members Dave and Drew Wilson took a bucket list trip to South Georgia and Antarctica last Christmas and ended up visiting many of the key locations involved in the rescue of the 28 members of the Imperial Transantarctica Expedition, marooned on the sea ice in 1914 after their ship Endurance was frozen in and crushed. Dave will give a presentation illustrated by his photos from the 2024 expedition and from Endurance photographer Frank Hurley, describing the trials and tribulations of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the rest of the crew as they survived for over 18 months on the ice and afloat on the Southern Ocean.