Wichita Wildlight Photographic Society

09/01/2026

Who loves the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge?! You know we do!

So many of our local photographers spend hours at the refuge snapping incredible wildlife in action or capturing our stunning Oklahoma landscapes.

National Public Lands Day on September 26th is the ultimate opportunity to give back to the place that gives us so much! Whether you want to volunteer for trail cleanups or just get out there and capture the beauty, don't miss it.

Share your favorite refuge photos in the comments below!

Dear Friend of the Refuge,

In 2025, we had a fun and impactful event celebrating National Public Lands Day at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge and the Friends of the Wichitas would like to invite you to attend the 2026 event on Saturday, September 26 at 8:30 am at the Refuge Corrals. This invitation is extended to groups, families, and individuals.

During this fun event, hundreds of volunteers just like you will join hundreds of thousands of Americans at public lands across the country in celebration of our nation’s public lands. This event encourages participants to give back to the lands where we play, learn, exercise, and relax while celebrating the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands.

You with your group or family (or just you!) can come celebrate “Caring for Our Shared America” by removing trash from throughout the public use area of the Refuge. In exchange, we will be giving you lunch, a tee shirt, prizes and a terrific time! We are encouraging organizations, families, and individuals to assemble teams for a friendly competition. Prizes will be given for the Most Trash Collected (heaviest), the Most Recyclables, the Largest Group, and Largest Sign. We’ll even have scales to weigh all the trash brought in!

We will begin “Caring for Our Shared America” at 8:30 am at the Refuge Corrals with a Leave No Trace briefing and area assignments. All teams will return to the Refuge Corrals by 12:00 pm where trash will be weighed, awards given out, games played, and a free lunch provided.

We hope you will join us for this fun-filled day. To guarantee that your group receives both shirts and the provided lunch, you must register using the following link no later than September 16, 2026.
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/dQUXuEPG4i or scanning the QR Code in the attached photograph.

If you have any questions, contact Aaron Bailey at [email protected]. Please RSVP your teams by September 16, 2026.

National Public Lands Days is dedicated to enhancing and restoring America’s public lands for outdoor recreation – it is a day for giving back to the Refuge and the rich legacy of public lands we all enjoy. We hope you will join the Refuge staff and our Friends group for a morning of hiking and trash pickup along our trail system, roads, and lake shores.

09/01/2026

Award-winning landscape and nature photographer Greg Boratyn is best known for his photography skills, but he’s also now putting his background in software development to work with a new digital photography platform, grid.photo, designed to provide passionate photographers an alternative to Instagram that celebrates photos above all else.

Boratyn has been working on grid.photo for the past year alongside his actual photography work, trying to build a great resource for passionate photographers.

The core of grid.photo is its namesake, the grid, an area where users can share and view photos. Boratyn utilizes minimal compression, and the user interface prioritizes the photos themselves. There are likes and comments, but Boratyn is using a custom gravity-ranking engine to surface high-quality work rather than any sort of algorithm.

'Where your best photos get the audience it deserves.'

08/31/2026

When you look at the night sky, how many colors do you see? Most likely, it will be all black to the naked eye. A camera, with the help of a long exposure, however, can capture more. A newly released series of NOIRLab photographs shows Gemini North beneath a colorful night sky on Maunakea in Hawai‘i. Slovak astrophotographer Tomáš Slovinský took these images during the NOIRLab 2022 Photo Expedition.

When you look at the night sky, how many colors do you see? Most likely, it will be all black to the naked eye. A...

08/30/2026

Every photographer knows the drill. You return from a trip, start copying photos from your memory cards, pour a coffee, and begin culling your images. Or some variation of that. And somewhere in that process, something strange begins to happen. The photos you actually traveled to take – the ones that required you to arrive early to get a spot for your tripod – get a quick look, maybe even an edit, and then a shrug before you move on.
Meanwhile, a spontaneous shot of your friends pretending to do a fashion shoot in France gets exported and shared.
I’ve been doing this long enough to recognize the pattern, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

Years from now, you won't care about your version of the shot everyone else has. You'll care about the one only you could take.

08/29/2026

Auto ISO is one of the most useful features on a modern camera. It automatically adjusts ISO as lighting changes, helping you maintain a usable exposure without constantly changing settings.

But there’s a catch.

If Auto ISO isn’t configured correctly, it can quietly contribute to photos that look softer than they should.

And the problem usually isn’t ISO itself.

Auto ISO is one of the most useful features on a modern camera. It automatically adjusts ISO as lighting changes, helping you maintain a usable exposure without constantly changing settings. But there's a catch. If Auto ISO isn't configured correctly, it can quietly contribute to photos that look so...

08/28/2026

“Where were you on 9/11?” The answer to that question for many Americans, including myself, is that we were watching the events unfold across our television screens. But for photojournalists, the answer is quite different: they were watching history unfold from behind a camera.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, more than 30 photographers are coming together to share their stories of what it was like to photograph the event that changed modern American history.

Projections NYC is bringing together the photographers, photojournalists and photo editors who witnessed 9/11 and the events that followed firsthand. For 6 days, the organization will broadcast live interviews with the photographers, beginning on September 06 at 19:00 EST.

Across six days, more than 30 photographers will tell the story of photographing 9/11 ahead of the 25th anniversary

08/27/2026

Next Meeting Information

Thursday, September 10th , 2026 - 6:30 PM

Meetings and programs are free and open to the public without obligation.

LOCATION: Meetings are held at the Old Carnegie Library Building at 5th & B Ave, 425 SW B Ave, Lawton. Enter through the “tunnel” on the Southeast corner of the building at ground level, near the bus stop. The gate is locked, so press the doorbell button. Someone will buzz open the lock so you can get in. For a photo of the building and entrance, click here
For more information, email: [email protected]

1. PROGRAM:
Sports Photography with Jeff L. Dixon
Capture the action with a legend! Join Jeff L. Dixon, a Hall of Fame photographer with over 45 years of experience at the Lawton Constitution, for an exclusive sports photography lesson.
Since starting his career in 1965, Dixon has documented history—from President Gerald Ford’s visit to the frontlines of the Oklahoma City Bombing. Now, the 2024 Lawton Public Schools Lifetime Service Award winner is sharing his professional secrets. Whether you want to master high-speed shutter settings or find the perfect creative angle, Dixon will guide you through the technical demands of the field to help you elevate your game.

2. PHOTO SHOW AND TELL:
If you’d like to share a few of your photos for the group to enjoy, please email them to [email protected] no later than two days before the meeting. Don’t forget a title for each photo. Send your photos as .jpg files, if possible, and be sure to include the word SHOW & TELL in the subject line—otherwise, we might miss your email!

3. CHALLEGE:
We will roll out the next challenge at this meeting – you don’t want to miss it!

08/26/2026

National Dog Day photography tips from a professional pet photographer!

Interview with Christine O'Brien, owner of Ruff Life Photography....

08/25/2026

Imagine you see a beautiful scene that you know you’d like to photograph. So you take a few different shots, and maybe adjust your tripod and shoot again. Eventually, you get something you think you like. Sound familiar? Actually, I think this process is great for refining your composition. But sometimes, it might be worth it to take just one shot instead. I’ll tell you why.

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

08/24/2026

Local Non-Profits - This is for you!

Arts for All, Inc. is offering a great workshop in September!

Hope to see you there!

Are you a non-profit director, staff member, or board member? You are invited to join fellow non-profit leaders for two inspiring 1/2 days of learning, connection, and practical tools to strengthen your organization and create an even greater impact in our community.

Non-Profit Success Academy Summit
Stronger Non-Profits. Stronger Community. Greater Impact.
Arts For All, Inc. invites your organization to a practical and inspiring two-day academy designed especially for non-profit leaders, board members, staff, and emerging leaders.

Come learn, connect, and grow with fellow community organizations while gaining practical tools to:
Strengthen fundraising
Improve programs and operations
Build community connections
Increase visibility
Create greater impact

September 22 | 12:30–5:30 PM
September 23 | 8:30 AM–12:30 PM
$100 per organization
Registration includes up to 3 participants from your organization, plus a light lunch, breakfast, and an end-of-day social.
Whether your non-profit is just getting started or has served our community for decades, there’s a place for you at the table.
This summit marks the first in a new series of Non-Profit Success Academy events hosted by Arts For All, Inc., created to bring local non-profits together to learn, connect, share resources, and grow stronger. We look forward to building on each academy with new topics, practical tools, and opportunities that help organizations strengthen their missions and increase their impact throughout our community.

✅Join us. Grow stronger. Make a greater impact.
🚨Space is limited; reserve your team’s seats today!

📲Call 580-248-5384 or 📧email us at [email protected] to register or get more information.
We truly are excited to share this learning opportunity with you and your organization.
LawtonArtsForAll.org