The De Anza College California History Center and Los Gatos-Saratoga Camera Club have teamed up to co-sponsor “Water Ways: a Lens on Culture and Nature from River to Bay to Ocean,” an exhibit featuring work from local photographers.

The submissions stretched from Sacramento to Big Sur, with the majority of photographs focusing on the Bay Area.

Photographers were allowed to choose what they wanted to photograph, but it had to center around the theme of water, since it’s a big issue right now, said California History Center curator Tom Izu.

This is the second time the California History Center has exhibited the club’s photographs and the theme was picked in coordination with the California History Center.

Some photographers focused on the effects of a drought as in in “Autumn Mosaic” by Barry Grivett, photographed in September 2004 at Alum Rock Park in East San Jose. It was inspired by a similar image created by his wife, who is a longtime photographer and visual artist.

Other photographers chose to focus on the vivid wildlife that inhabits the water, like Roberta Schwartz’s “Star of Half Moon Bay.” Schwartz said the photo was taken at a low tide, which provided her the opportunity of seeing many creatures underwater.

Schwartz said she had been eyeing this particular starfish because “It was colorful, really large and the second largest type of starfish in the world, with 20 tentacles.”

“Pier Under the Sun,” taken by Serena Hartoog, captures a beautiful sunset and its reflection on the water, creating vivid colors and depicting the vastness of the ocean.

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Camera Club encourages the development of skills, as the submissions were by high-level photographers.

The exhibit is open until June 19 in the California History Center, Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and on select Saturdays: May 16, and June 13, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.