Langley Camera Club

The Langley Camera Club’s own history page admits it does not know exactly when it started. The oldest members can vouch for 1961; there is a theory it goes back to the late fifties, but the person who kept the early records moved to England and took them along. Call it sixty-five years, give or take, of people in Langley arguing pleasantly about exposure.

A month at the club

The club runs on Wednesdays from September to June, and each Wednesday has a job:

• First Wednesday: a learning session, or in alternate months the executive meeting.
• Second Wednesday: Program Night, the one that happens in person at the West Langley Lions hall on 208 Street. Members and guests share techniques and the evening is meant to be interactive.
• Third Wednesday: Evaluation Night. Members submit digital images on a monthly theme and a judge, usually from outside the club, scores them and, if asked, critiques them out loud before the score is read. October 2026’s theme was “Monochrome”.
• Fourth Wednesday: Speaker Night, with a guest presenter on a photographic topic.
• Fifth Wednesday, when there is one: a workshop or special event.

Twice a year a meeting is given over to a Members’ Showcase of slide shows. Special interest groups (creative photography, night photography, critique and technique) meet on their own schedule and are members-only. All of the Zoom meetings are open to anyone curious; email the president and you will be sent the link.

Outings

The calendar is where the club comes alive outside the hall. In October 2026 alone it lists a pop-up outing to Tynehead Park, a night-photography session in North Vancouver’s Shipyards District, and a sunrise shoot at White Rock. Outings run all over the Lower Mainland, including the odd weekend trip, and members register in advance. The club posts a highlights video of each season’s outings on its meetings page.

Competitions and recognition

Beyond the monthly evaluations, the club enters outside competitions through its coordinator, has an advancement-levels system so improving photographers move up through categories, and holds an awards evening each fall (October 14 in 2026). It belongs to the Canadian Association for Photographic Art, the Langley Arts Council and the Arts Council of Surrey, and acknowledges financial support from the Surrey council. Members who reach 25 years are made lifetime members and stop paying dues; ten- and twenty-year members get a certificate.

Joining

The membership year starts September 1, with individual and family rates and a reduced rate if you join in January or April. Membership is handled through the Visual Pursuits platform that hosts the club site: you create an account, request membership in the Langley Camera Club, then pay online, by e-transfer or by cheque. Members agree to a code of conduct and the club’s image criteria. The membership page lays out the steps; it also lists discounts at local retail stores as a perk.

Where it has been

Meetings started in members’ homes, then moved through the basement of the old municipal hall, a church room, Douglas Park Recreation Centre, the Fraser River Art School in Fort Langley and the DC-3 building at Langley Airport. From September 2006 the club met in the Fort Langley Community Hall before settling at the West Langley Lions hall.

Nearby

For the other arts groups in Langley start with the Langley Arts Council, of which the club is a member. Photographers looking for subjects could do worse than our pages on Campbell Valley, Derby Reach and Brae Island.

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