Mark Buckler, program director at the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education and nationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Sandhills Photography Club on Monday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. at Christ Fellowship Church at the corner of Midland and Pee Dee Roads in Southern Pines.

Buckler is "back by popular demand." Last winter his slideshow of nature photos was very well received, and in May he provided a guided three-day photo shoot on the Outer Banks for club members. During his second visit to the Sandhills, Buckler will do a Saturday workshop, as well as the much anticipated Monday evening slideshow. His work can be seen at www.markbucklerphotography.com.

The election of officers for 2009 will be held during the meeting. The slate of officers includes Don Hiscott, of Pinehurst, president; Len Bernard, of Seven Lakes, vice president, programs; Donna Ford, of Carthage, secretary; and Denis Smetana, of Southern Pines, treasurer.

Members will also hear a brief report on the recent three-day fall field trip to the Boone-Blowing Rock area of North Carolina, which featured an orientation to the area and an optional guided photo shoot to Grandfather Mountain by professional photographer Vinny Colucci.

The October digital competition on "Nature" included 25 Class A entries and 28 Class B entries. Kudos go to Competition Chair Brady Smith, of Carthage, who devised a new, more sophisticated program that showed each photograph with accompanying title and scoring range from 5 to 9.

Gary Magee of Pinehurst introduced the judge for the competition, Scott Hotaling, an outstanding nature photographer who is currently a senior at N.C. State. Hotaling was the guest presenter in September, providing a warm-up for the competition with a selection of his own natural landscapes.

Before beginning the competition, Hotaling stated four points on which he would be judging each photograph -- composition, technical difficulty, what it took to create the photograph ("beyond a snapshot!"), and "how much I like it!"

During the judging process, his positive comments on the impact and creativity of each photo, plus how it might be improved by a different time of day, perspective, checking the histogram, or additional context or cropping, were of great interest to the audience.

Winning photographs in Class B are: 1. "Catch of the Day" by Tom Reedy; 2. "Picture 1" (a close-up of a mountain lion) by Dave Verchick; 3. "Special Delivery" by Jim Davis; plus three honorable mentions: "Graceful Landing" by Tom Reedy, "Picture 2" (mother bird feeding babies) by Dave Verchick, and "Niagara Dawn" by Glenn Gilchrist.

Class A winners are: 1. "Oyster Catcher" by Jill Margeson; 2. "Black-Eyed Beauty" by Gisela Danielson; 3. "Sally Lightfoot Crab and Iguana" by Jill Margeson; plus two honorable mentions: "Spring Beauty" by June White and "Breakfast Buffet" by Betty Hendrix.

Seasonal refreshments were served while SPC members and guests mingled and discussed an evening well spent.

The annual Christmas banquet will be the final club event of the year.

It will be held Dec. 8 at Table on the Green and will feature a slide show of photographs taken by members throughout the year, the presentation of the prestigious Stoffel Award to the two members who have accumulated the highest number of competition points at the Class A and Class B levels, respectively, and the installation of new officers for 2009.

Visitors are always welcome at SPC meetings, which are informative and fun.

Additional information about the club can be seen on the club Web site, www.sandhillsphotoclub.org.