Contests and Portfolio reviews are a good idea, especially if you want to try and get your work in front of magazine editors, curators or gallerists. Entry fees for contests are usually under $100. Portfolio reviews can be much pricier.
Photo Alliance: A Bay Area based org dedicated to contemporary photography. Lots of workshops: http://www.photoalliance.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=63
SF Cameraworks: http://www.sfcamerawork.org
Local photo collective with photo related gatherings and exhibits
This blog is an amazing resource, updated regularly. It has current listings for national photo related events and contests via photography marketer Mary Virginia Swanson: http://mvswanson.com/category/mvs-marketing-blog
PDN is a photo industry magazine with annual contests (PDN Photo Annual is very well respected in the field)
Critical Mass/ Photolucida: http://www.photolucida.org/current.php
Photo organization offering contests and portfolio reviews
(Current contest open through July 16)
For photo business resources:
APA - American Photographic Artists
ASMP- American Society of Media Photographers
Photo Festivals and Portfolio Reviews
Photo Lucida
Photo NOLA
PDN Photo Plus
Review Santa Fe
Powerhouse Portfolio Review in Brooklyn
New York Photo Festival (events and reviews)
Women in Photography has ongoing Calls for Submission
Exhibiting your work: A lot of galleries have annual calls for submission where you pay an entry fee in the hope of getting chosen to have your work in a group show. Look on the website of a favorite local gallery to see if they offer this. Several galleries in Half Moon Bay offer juried shows, including the Coastside Land Trust.
Artist collectives like Gallery House in Palo Alto can be a good way to be part of the larger local artist community
Residencies are available worldwide for serious photographic artists. One coveted one is this Paris Residency.
Selling prints of your work on etsy.com is another outlet.
