Stan Spiegel joined our camera club in November of 2002 due to the urging of members Bob Long and Roger Kipp.  He plunged right into the competition frenzy almost immediately and so far has won seven ribbons, even though he is only in the desert about four months out of each year.  In addition, he was awarded Best Picture and 2nd place in the Intermediate Division at the January banquet.

Born in a small town in Illinois, he graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in business.  He spent his working years in sales management and company management, importing and manufacturing home textiles for the kitchen, dining room, bed and bath.

Most of his adult life was spent in the San Francisco Bay Area, but five years ago he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, a destination he had been visiting on a yearly basis for 15 years. 

“About three years ago my wife and I decided we wanted to have a place in the sun,” he said.  “Palm Springs was selected as it is a good tradeoff from our Santa Fe residence which can be cold in the winter.”

The photo bug began to bite Spiegel in high school when he used a single frame camera and developed his own black and white film. He has added to his archives many times since then, and still has two 35mm, 20 year old Canons. Today he uses a Sony DSC S70 -3.3, but is toying with the idea of upgrading to a Canon Rebel or another Sony. 

“I find it hard to do custom things with the one I have now,” he said. “I go to the digital meetings as much as I can but have no lap top.  I think you can learn by watching, but hands-on is really the best.”