Member of the Month
Lacey Cloud is a hobbyist nature photographer from Rockwall, Texas. She enjoys photographing wildlife and landscapes from places as near as North Texas and as far as Kenya. Moments of inspiration come to Lacey throughout the photographic process – the peacefulness of nature, the endorphin rush that comes when she’s searching for her shot, and the surprise of finding something beautiful. As she says, “Even though shooting sometimes also feels like a very heavy zoom lens or stiffness or -30 degree cold, experiencing and sharing the joy of being surprised by nature is well worth it.”
When were you exposed to photography and when did you start taking pictures?
Like many I have always been interested in photography, but it wasn’t until 2012, when I purchased my first DSLR to capture the equestrian action at the London Olympics, that I became passionate about pursuing it. I explored all kinds of photography, largely thinking that I would focus on portraiture, but a trip to Yellowstone National Park in 2017 revealed that nature, wildlife, and landscape photography was what spoke to my soul.
What was your first camera and what do you use now?
Since purchasing that first DSLR – a Canon 5D Mark III – I’ve switched to a mirrorless system and now shoot a Sony α1.
Have you ever made money from your photography?
No, I’m purely a hobbyist.
What makes you pick up your camera and how do you feel when you’re shooting?
Every part of the photography process has moments of inspiration for me that make me want to return to it time and again. Being outside with a camera is to enjoy both the peacefulness of nature and the endorphin rush of the search. Then there’s the surprise of finding something beautiful, be it a bird or a scene; and after getting back home, loading in the card, and seeing what I got, more surprises – shots I thought I missed, details I couldn’t see with my eye alone. Even though shooting sometimes also feels like a very heavy zoom lens or stiffness or -30 degree cold, experiencing and sharing the joy of being surprised by nature is well worth it.
What keeps you busy when you aren’t taking pictures?
Away from my camera, I spend my time managing our family’s horse farm, where I live with my husband, a Great Dane, and some chickens.
View more of Lacey’s photos on her Instagram.
Pedro Oliveira is a Brazil-born, award-winning American editorial, documentary, and advertising still+motion director. He spends his time pretzel-tasting on flights from and to Portland, Orange County, São Paulo, Brazil, and more recently, the lovely Dallas, Texas.
Being only 32 and shooting professionally for a little over six years, Pedro has produced imagery for giants such as Forbes, National Geographic, Vanity Fair, LA Weekly, Volvo, Hyundai, The Guardian, Wine Enthusiast, Johns Hopkins University, the musical Hamilton, Der Spiegel, Almarai, Home Instead Senior Care, APS, among many others.
His rather fast ascending career has warranted Pedro the nomination to the “Top 10 Photographers of 2020” by PhotoPolitic, and winner of the distinguished American Photography Artist Association (APA) Awards in 2021 in the category “lifestyle.” Pedro has been referred to by some as a “wonder kid” and an “up and coming creative.” He has been labeled with equal frequency as a smart-aleck and teller of dad’s jokes to which he agrees and takes more pride than the former.
How do you support your photography habit?
These are expensive habits, aren’t they? (LOL) I have the luck of making my living out of producing imagery. I have been a professional photographer and motion director for the past 6 years.
Where did you learn about photography and how do you continue to grow?
While in college, I took a few classes in photography, but I fell in love with photography after a trip to NYC when a friend of mine lent me his camera. At the time, I was traveling with another friend who became really upset by “how come you cannot take a single good picture, Pedro?” Still, I was fascinated about the idea of framing moments and decided to pursue it initially as a hobby.
To remain inspired is the hardest task for a creative mind. My strategy is what I call “benevolent jealousy.” I constantly expose myself to work of artists who I know are much better than I am: contemporary and legendary photographers; The Old Masters, such as Rebrant and Caravaggio; sculptures; and lots of museum trips, such as the DMA and the Kimbell! Being “jealous” of the quality of such work, makes me itchy, to the point that I have no alternative but to push myself further to create better and more inspiring work.
When did you start taking pictures?
In 2014 after I moved to Portland. I was homesick, bothered by the constant rain, and didn’t know anybody. So, I took up on my friend’s suggestion and purchased myself a little Canon Rebel.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
As I mentioned before, my first camera was a Canon Rebel T3i–I loved it. Currently, it all depends on the campaign/assignment, but my go to camera is still the Canon R5 mirrorless.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
I am a lucky man to make my living out of photography. It’s a very tight and competitive market and being able to make a living out of it is a dream come true. I work in two different (paid) lines of work: A) Editorial/Magazines, which allows me to work in some interesting stories and with big names but pays much less. B) Advertising, which gives the creative no credits but pays immensely more than magazines and newspapers do.
What makes you pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
Picking up a camera makes me feel powerful, in the sense that I can register and record for years to come what was happening at an exact frame of time. If done right, the photographer has the power to share, years to come, the experience he or she felt at that very second and how they perceived the world during such a period. It’s a delightful experience indeed.
View more of Pedro’s work on his website and Instagram.
Over the last 50 years, California based photographer Jonathan Selig has produced bold, intimate, and ephemeral images and media installations that capture the nuance of human experience in the context of relationships, society, nature, and self. Jonathan’s narrative, documentary-like aesthetic transports the viewer directly into a precise moment in a subject’s life and allows them to coexist in that moment with the subject. Simultaneously, his work embodies a collaborative spirit between photographer and subject, exhibiting both reverence and connection between the two parties.
Jonathan began his career at the age of sixteen working as a commissioned photographer for Sports Illustrated. His formative experiences photographing athletes in action gave him an insight into the myriad distinct moments that comprise a human experience. From there, he continued to seek those moments in countless settings all over the world. From the Olympics to politics, the Oscars or a Bar Mitzvah, Jonathan seeks the human narrative in every frame.
When were you exposed to photography and when did you start taking pictures?
Age 5. Began as a hobby for father and son to spend time together. Processing film and making contact prints in the beginning.
What was your first camera and what do you use now?
I started with a Brownie box which I left on a radiator and melted. Current is Nikon Z6.
Have you ever made money from your photography?
Yes, I started around age 14 with family portraits and Bar Mitzvahs to support my photo “habit”. I began working with Sports Illustrated at 16.
What makes you pick up your camera and how do you feel when you’re shooting?
My best incentive is an assignment or travel. Money helps but I do a lot of Pro Bono shoots. I’d give myself a C+ for self-assignments. I feel mentally terrific when I’m shooting and there is definitely an endorphin rush. Physically it’s been tough but once I start shooting, I’m totally engrossed in the subject matter, the environment, and the search for the angle and moment that can make a photograph. As adult human beings most of us view the world from the same vantage point when standing plus or minus about 8 inches. That’s why as viewers we are surprised or intrigued to see a view from much lower, higher, or from inside looking out.
My goal is almost always to give the viewer a new way to ‘see’ what I saw. With my people photography that’s almost always the split-second difference in expression or interaction which reveals something about the subject and photographer. This is often the result of predicting the moment.
What keeps you busy when you aren’t taking pictures?
Music, cooking, my incredible wife, performance art, SCUBA, and ‘life’.
View more of Jonathan’s work on his website.
Sam Rankin was born and raised in Midlothian, TX where she still lives with her husband in her once childhood home. She graduated from UTA in May 2020 with a BFA in Film/Video Production. Sam freelances as a writer and cinematographer for narrative short films and indie music videos, while also camera operating for the Levitt Pavilion in Arlington on weekends throughout their concert season.
When did you start taking pictures?
I bought my first camera freshman year of high school. My mom matched me to help cover the full cost of a very basic Kodak DSLR point and shoot with minimal manual settings and a built-in zoom lens. But this very basic digital camera really helped me find my eye as a visual artist and got me through Photojournalism my senior year, solidifying my place behind a camera. I dropped all plans of becoming a teacher, began looking into colleges with film/video and photography programs, and used my graduation money to buy a new Nikon D5000 and a laptop. Haven’t put the camera down since, however now I’m mostly analogue in my photo endeavors.
Current camera?
Majority of the time nowadays you will see me shooting either 35mm film in my Olympus XA3 point and shoot I scored at DCP’s last swap meet, or PolaroidOriginals600 film through my dad’s old Polaroid JobPro 2 he gave me last year.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
During my time as a student, I won the Barnett Scholarship twice, being awarded $650 my first time and $1000 my second. Since graduation I have been featured in one Analogue Forever magazine online exhibition and two DCP exhibitions, one of which (Picturing Home) I was awarded 3rd place. I’m going to continue to submit to any and all calls for entry I find that interest and apply to me. One day I would like to sell some of my work as prints or even have people commission personal or fine art series.
What makes you pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
My friend recently told me that when she thinks of me and photography, she thinks of the word compulsion, and she is pretty accurate. I shoot photos because I need to. It is almost therapeutic; a need I feel to go out and make something. Knowing that I can satisfy that need quickly, if not immediately, helps give me a release from any other stressor I may be experiencing in life. Because of this compulsion to shoot for meditation, my extreme impatience, and my need for tactile/tangible art that I can create with my hands, I now shoot, process, and scan all of my own film. I have even been accused of treating a roll of 35mm film as if it’s instant film, because of how quickly I will shoot, process, and scan a roll all in a matter of hours. For me, the meditative part of my photography therapy is process driven, from loading the film to setting up the shoot whatever it may be; but all of my compulsion isn’t satisfied until I’m holding the created image(s).
View more of Sam’s work on Instagram.
When Rebecca Gruchalla isn’t bustling around the campus of UT Southwestern Medical Center where she works in Allergy and Immunology, she enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling internationally. Her camera is a constant companion. From quiet moments spent with hummingbirds to evening walks in Salzburg, Rebecca uses photography to freeze a magical moment to be revisited forever.
How do you support your photography habit?
I have been fortunate to work at the same place my entire career. I went to UT Southwestern for graduate and medical training and later joined the faculty there. I feel the same sense of exhilaration today when I go to work as I did when I was a graduate student. When I’m on the campus it’s exciting to hear chattering students gathered around the lecture halls, to see inquisitive scientists busy at work in their labs, and to witness hard-working students, residents and faculty caring for patients at the various hospitals.
Where did you learn about photography and how do you continue to grow?
I have memories of my dad taking movies of me when I was a baby and throughout childhood – at EVERY memorable event! On Christmas mornings my first sight was not of the tree as I rounded the corner and bounded into the den, but of the bright lights from the movie camera. When I was older, I remember my brother developing pictures in the bathroom and me walking in unexpectedly. As you could imagine, my brother had a few choice words for me when I did!
For years I admired the fabulous pictures and photography skills of several of my family members. It wasn’t until I started traveling internationally that I became interested in photography on my own. I started with a simple camera, convinced that I would be forever satisfied. In 2019 a photographer friend gave me a DSLR camera, and I had to overcome my fear and intimidation of new equipment when I traveled to Kenya and Tanzania. Luckily, there was a fantastic photographer in our group who mentored me throughout the trip. He introduced me to Lightroom and when I returned home I connected with DCP for photography and Lightroom classes, including ongoing tutoring sessions. I look forward to being a life-long learner!
When did you start taking pictures?
It wasn’t until I started traveling internationally in 2014 that I really thought much about taking pictures and I still think of myself as a novice. Traveling has given me amazing subjects and locations to better my skills with. When I return home I love looking at the pictures and recalling all the memories. I started making Shutterfly photo books for each trip. It would take me months to do, since I agonized over choosing just the right pictures and layout. When completed I give a copy to my travel companion. We still love to browse through the pages of our trips together over cups of coffee or glasses of wine and laugh (or sometimes cry) over the many adventures we had together.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
My first camera was a small point-and-shoot Kodak film camera. Later I received a Panasonic Lumix, as a gift, and I used it for all my travel up until my trip to Kenya and Tanzania when I bought my current DSLR, a Nikon D3400. I also use my iPhone X.
Have you ever made money from your photos?
No.
What makes you pick up your camera?
I pick up my camera for anything that I marvel at – nature, beautiful scenes, interesting people, people doing interesting things. During the pandemic, I worked a great deal from home. Sometimes I’d work at my kitchen table but found that I’d get little work done because I’d jump up every couple of minutes to capture one or more of my backyard friends hopping, flying, nesting, or singing. When the hummingbirds came last summer, I was captivated. Many days, I simply shut the laptop, grabbed my camera and sat in the garden waiting for my next shot!
How do you feel when you’re shooting?
I feel incredible joy when I’m shooting. I feel like I have been transported to a magical place – a place where I get to capture an amazing moment that I get to relive forever. Several years ago, a couple of my students gave me a coffee mug that captures the essence of both life and photography: “Focus on what’s important. Develop from the negatives. Capture the good times…and, if things don’t work out, take another shot.”
Clinton Kemp grew up in Victoria, Texas. He attended Stephen F. Austin State University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design and Photography. Being self-employed in graphic design, marketing and printing services for the past 30 years in Dallas has afforded him a lot of flexibility to travel and practice his love of photography.
How do you support your photography habit?
Photography can be an expensive hobby. I love finding deals and taking advantage of sales that maximize the equipment I’m able to afford.
Where did you learn about photography and how do you continue to grow?
I learned the basics of photography as a teenager from my father before I pursued a BFA in Advertising Design where I also learned film photography and darkroom processing. Since then I’ve continued to grow by trying new things and taking advantage of tutorials online as well as attending photo workshops at Shutterfest, Imaging USA, Texas School and at Dallas Center for Photography. A few years ago I also joined the Dallas Camera Club where I’ve benefited greatly from the extensive training they provide as well as from guest speaker presentations and feedback from judges on the images I enter into the club’s print and projected competitions. I’ve also been taking more film photographs using a Nikon FM2 and a vintage medium format Rolleiflex. I look forward to getting back into the darkroom at Dallas Center for Photography.
When did you start taking pictures?
I started taking photos seriously as a teenager in my mid-teens. One of my first photographic projects was documenting a trip to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. I still have that photo album.
What was your first camera? Current Camera?
My first camera was a Minolta SLR film camera given to me by my father. Over the years, I transitioned from Canon film cameras to digital Canon PowerShots before I switched to Nikons DSLRs in 2008. My favorite camera today is the Nikon D850.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
Several years ago, I worked as a contract photographer for a commercial real estate data firm. I’ve also won a few monetary awards over the years and donated a few prints to non-profit auctions. Currently I do not earn an income from photography but I hope to return doing so at some point in the future.
What makes you pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
Photography allows me to express myself and fulfill my never-ending urge to create. I enjoy using my skills to document important family events and share with family and friends. Photographing wildlife, landscapes and different cultures while traveling allows me to feel more connected to those experiences and the act of photographing itself adds to and enhances my memories of the moment. Depending on what I am shooting, I can feel a range of emotions while photographing. My goal is to create images that capture what I felt when I took the shot. And hopefully those emotions will come through to others who viewmy images.
View more of Clinton’s work on his website and Instagram.
Kathleen Donovan is a retired elementary Teaching Assistant, having worked 26 years with every challenge and joy that children can present. She loved them and every moment as they taught her how to be a better human being.
When did you start taking pictures?
My interest in photography began at age sixteen in the basement of my West Texas home where my father showed me the magic of developing photographic prints. He also bought me my very first camera, a Nikkormat, which I still have. I went on to study art and photography at the University of New Mexico. It was a wonderful place to study photography. In fact, I return to New Mexico each summer to spend time soaking up its beautiful light and spirituality, each of which helps me to see more clearly through the camera lens.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
After a long run with Canon cameras and their wonderful lenses I have landed on Sony’s Alpha a7RII camera and the Sony Distagon T* FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA lens. I am happy using my retirement time in Dallas, Texas to use them both.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
While I am grateful for my father’s influence, and I am aware that even my own images capture memories as did his, photography also reveals to me the oddities that life presents – a kind of balance versus unbalance. Balance is peaceful, unbalance scary and disruptive, and the space in between can be somewhat illuminating and ironic at times. I had a friend once ask me why I didn’t just put down the camera so I could see life better. I do not think he understood that photography actually makes me see better.
View more of Kathleen’s work on her website and Instagram.
Steve grew up in Denton, TX and has lived in Dallas since 1986. At age 10 in 1970, he convinced his dad to let him use his Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex. With lots of help from his father, he developed his own film and shared prints with friends. In junior high he shot photos for the yearbook and at 16 was hired by the now-sculptor, photographer, and artist Nic Nicosia at his camera store, Denton Photo. At the photo store he met photographers from the Denton Record-Chronicle, which led to his working as a stringer for the Chronicle. As a stringer he shot Friday night football games in small towns near Denton.
After 1983 Steve shot photos only sporadically—until 2017. In 2017 he went to hear a favorite musician play in Deep Ellum and shot some photos, remembering how much fun it was. Beginning in late 2018 he shot live event photos at a weekly show called Lock Johnson’s Playground. His images are of musicians at many levels, from students to nine-time Grammy winners. Steve loves the music, and many musicians have told him how much they appreciate his photos. He says that “when I connect with the music, some really good photos happen.”
Steve is thrilled to have begun shooting again as venues open back up. He works extensively with Gino Iglehart (aka Lock Johnson), who makes a lot of the music performances in Deep Ellum happen.
Steve has worked in IT since 1983 and is an IT director at Dallas College where he’s worked for 33 years.
If you aren’t a full-time professional photographer, how do you support your photography habit?
Photography can be expensive—I buy most gear used to make it less so. I put money away when I can and then convince my wife that I really need a lens or whatever it is.
When did you start taking pictures?
I began taking photos in 4th grade in 1969. My dad had a Rolleiflex he let me use sometimes. I shot black & white film and developed it in my bedroom closet and made contact sheets. The film was 2 ¼” x 2 ¼” so the contact sheet’s images were big enough to look at easily.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
The first camera I bought was an Olympus OM-1 in 1976 0r ’77. I bought it at a photo store in Denton owned by the now-sculptor, artist and photographer Nic Nicosia. Nic eventually hired me for after-school hours at the store, Denton Photo, where I also met Peter Poulides, now DCP’s Executive Director, around this time.
Currently I shoot with Nikon D600, D500 and D850 cameras. I’ve hung on to my Nikon F100 bodies but I haven’t shot film in years. I also use a range of lenses, flash gear, and I do my own printing.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
I very seldom make money—the last time I did was in the late 1970s when I shot Friday Night Football as a stringer for the Denton Record-Chronicle ($25 to shoot outside in cold, rainy small-town football stadiums). Today I’m building my brand and hope to transition to making money when I retire in a few years.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
The music motivates me to shoot. A sequence of fairly random events ended up with my meeting Grammy-winning guitarist Mark Lettieri. He didn’t tour much a few years ago for about 18 months and instead had a residency; he played every 1-2 weeks in a small room in the back of a now-defunct bar. I rarely missed a show. Mark encouraged me to keep shooting and over time, I became better. That led to my meeting Gino Iglehart (Lock Johnson) who had a weekly live music show, Lock Johnson’s Playground. I shot a few times from my table and Gino welcomed me to shoot again, eventually asking me to shoot for him on a regular basis. I shot nearly every Sunday night for about 18 months, until the pandemic changed the world in mid-March 2020. I’m cautiously beginning to shoot live shows again—being fully vaccinated is wonderful.
View more of Steve’s work on his Instagram.
Sydney Harter is a kindergarten teacher in Bakersfield, California who considers herself lucky to be able to combine photography with her job. This hobby has deep roots in her life starting with her dad who never left the house without a camera. As a kid Sydney remembers Saturday nights on the couch with her family viewing his images on a slideshow. Although her dad gave Sydney and her sister cameras to take pictures of friends and trips, it was only when digital came around that she got ‘the bug’. She likes the fact she can see her images instantly and learn right away what is working (or not)! Although Sydney has made a little money off photography, it’s the need to document her life that drives her. She sees photography as a way to slow down and marvel at Christ’s creation.
Currently retired, I began my career teaching Spanish and French to high school students. Following a brief stint in education, I owned a high tech recruiting and consulting business in Dallas. Selling the business and retiring after 20 years, I first volunteered for and then served the community in a paid capacity for The Family Place, recruiting volunteers and soliciting in-kind donations for victims of domestic violence. In 2017, after returning to executive recruiting for 4 years, I entered my second and final retirement.
That year, my husband and I began our Vagabond Life. After selling our home and possessions, we began pursuing an active traveling life in the Americas and Europe. This prompted me to retire my old Nikon DSLR and, upon the advice of Peter at DCP, purchased a Sony A6500 mirrorless camera to use in our travels. I have used this camera to document adventures in our blog, ourvagabondlife.org, a hobby I pursue to help my family and friends keep up with us. Prior to 2017 and participating in two DSLR camera workshops at DCP, I had only used my Nikon on auto. Now, I love carrying my camera, buying new lenses, trying new angles, and keeping up visually with our life on the move.
The Vagabond Life photos are an effort to bring together the sights and spirits of the adventure of living without permanent roots. They document monuments, sights, markets, friendships, and general daily living. I hope this hobby will preserve the memories of our travels for the next phase of our life together.
View more of Karen’s work on Instagram.
Paul Sokal grew up in Buffalo, NY. In middle school he received an enlarger for his birthday and built a darkroom in his basement. While his friends were up to no good, he was playing under the safe light. After attending medical school, he moved to Dallas in 1978 to do a residency in internal medicine. He stayed in his newly adopted home, practicing for 42 years before retiring at the end of 2019.
If you aren’t a full-time professional photographer, how do you support your photography habit?
I shot weddings for about five years and used that income to support my gear acquisition syndrome, but then I decided I couldn’t be a wedding photographer and a doctor at the same time. At that point I chose to focus on fine art photography, whatever that is. I used my office as a gallery and began to sell prints.
Where did you learn about photography and how do you continue to grow?
My photography life was inspired by my father whose work took him all over the world, always with a camera. I have had no formal photography education and have learned mostly through shooting, trial and error. In middle school I spent a lot of time in the darkroom I built in my basement. I would buy 100 ft rolls of 35mm Tri-X and roll my own so I could shoot to my heart’s content. More recently I have participated in some targeted workshops and of course learn from the Internet.
When did you start taking pictures?
I shot my first photographs around age six but my real start was at age eleven when my family spent the summer touring Europe.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
My first camera was a Kodak Brownie and my first “real” camera, a Voigtländer 35mm. I am now a Fuji lover and I shoot with an XT-3 for family and travel, and GFX 100 and 50R medium format for fine art work.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
In 2011 I committed to going big and began shooting digital medium format and acquired a large format printer. I have been fortunate to sell a number of large prints, participate in several exhibitions, and have my work included in two museum collections. When I retired from medicine at the end of 2019, my intent was to focus on photography full-time, but the pandemic has derailed many of my plans. I’ve been using the time to develop new photography skills and experiment in my small home studio, with the hope of increasing sales in 2021.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
The camera has always been a tool for me to explore my environment. I identify with Ansel Adams’ description of photography as an analytic art. Shooting is an opportunity to step outside your surroundings and observe the world in an independent and personal way. But as so much of landscape photography has been commoditized by the Internet, my focus is now turning more towards conceptual projects. My most recent, 21 November, is part of an exhibit, Art Reframes History, at the Sixth Floor Museum through April 4, 2021.
View more of Paul’s work on his website.
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- Trinity Sunrise – I first saw this image driving to West Dallas across the old Hampton St. bridge. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera. I returned every weekend and finally, on the fifth try, the temperature and humidity were just right again.
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- Dallas Shifted – I shot this in 2008 using a Nikkor tilt-shift lens. Fortunately, back then there weren’t as many residents downtown so the sidewalks were empty.
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- Calatrava+Sky – I used to live in a high-rise overlooking the Calatrava designed bridge and our balcony was the perfect place to shoot a series of photographs of the bridge against the ever-changing sky. This was one of my favorites.
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- Lightening – While living in a high-rise downtown, I experienced the most intense thunderstorm I had ever witnessed. I had left my tripod in our garage, 13 floors down. Assuming I wouldn’t have time to retrieve it, I shot this handheld bracing against the balcony railing. Turns out the storm raged for a good 30 minutes.
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- Arts District Bird – I love shooting in the Dallas Arts District and this bird posed perfectly for me.
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- JFK Memorial – I used to offer money for anyone who could identify this object but never had to pay up. This was a thirty second exposure shooting straight up in one of the entries to the JFK Memorial in Downtown Dallas.
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- Texaco – This shot from Marfa reminds me of images from the early and mid-twentieth century. I was struck by the way the light wrapped around the tank.
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- Onion – This onion was on a shelf by a kitchen window when it sprouted and just kept growing. The window light gave it a three-dimensional quality and the Zeiss Otus lens I used revealed exquisite detail. My homage to Edward Weston.
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- The Republic – The old Republic Bank tower is my favorite building in Dallas. With this shot the light, reflections, shadows, and geometry all came together.
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- Downtown Light – I enjoy walking downtown and exploring the light. Shooting this cross street in the late afternoon sun with a telephoto lens compressed the three buildings and the play of light and shadow showed off the detail in their different styles.
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- Marfa – The morning we were to leave Marfa on my last trip there we finally got this amazing light. Then mother nature got out her brush and painted these incredible clouds in the sky. It’s good to be a photographer.
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- Walking down Main Street past the Neiman Marcus windows, and the hands just aligned. Right place at the right time.
Constance Jaeggi has always had a fascination with horses which in part stems from her interest in the essential role they played in the development of modern civilizations. At the heart of the relationship between horses and humans is a large paradox. At once a tool in conquests and war because of their tremendous power and capacity for speed, they remain a herd and prey animal. Through photography both inside and outside of the studio, Constance explores the duality of these flighty yet mighty animals, as well as their relationships with humans, particularly women whose livelihoods still depend on these animals. Over the past year, she has been documenting Camilla Naprous of the Devil’s Horsemen with her film cameras. The Devil’s Horsemen is a leading supplier of horses and stunt men and women in the film industry and Camilla is a second generation horse master and leads the company.
Constance splits her time between Texas and the UK where she is currently finishing the documentary photography project as well as completing her masters in Art History.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
I first picked up a “proper” camera in 2013. My mother gifted me a Canon 70D for my college graduation. As I got more serious about my photography and doing it professionally, I switched to a Canon 5D SR and the Hasselblad 907x which is what I use when shooting horses in the studio. I eventually taught myself to use film, and today my real love is for my film cameras, and the time they allow me to spend in the darkroom! I switch between my Hasselblad 503cw and my Mamiya 6 (both medium, square format cameras), my Contax 645 and my Rollei35.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
I sell prints from my first project of studio portraits of horses called “Aspects of Power, Light and Motion” which was the subject of a solo exhibition at the National Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth. I’m hoping to have more exhibitions of some of my more recent work shot on film of the Devil’s Horsemen and am also working with a book editor on making my first book! So stay tuned!
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
There’s no better feeling to me than working with my camera. When shooting, I am completely absorbed in the present moment and focused on my subject and the story I am telling. Photography gives me purpose and is also a tool to communicate my passions and the stories that fascinate me. Horses have always been a huge part of that and therefore have a presence in most of my work.
View more of Constance’s work on Instagram.
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- The Ratpack – Three young quarter horse stallions fighting, shot in my makeshift horse studio in Weatherford, TX.
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- Arabesque – Portrait of a young quarter horse stallion, shot in my makeshift studio in Weatherford, TX.
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- Helios – Portrait of an Andalusian stallion in my makeshift studio at the Devil’s Horsemen headquarters, in Buckinghamshire, England. This stallion has starred on the big screen in Game of Thrones and Star Wars.
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- Horsemaster – Horsemaster Camilla Naprous trains one of her horses at The Devil’s Horsemen in Buckinghamshire, England. The Devil’s Horsemen is a leading supplier of horses and stunt men and women in the film industry, based in the United Kingdom. Camilla is a second-generation horsemaster and leads the company. Shot on film.
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- Backwards Dive – British stunt woman and trick rider Karis McKabe during training. Karis has performed stunts for the first two Wonder Woman films amongst others. Shot on film.
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- Trick Riders 1 – Stunt women and trick riders Karis and Colette train together as they prepare for an upcoming film. Despite government restrictions and many businesses being completely halted in the UK, the film industry has started to pick up again and some productions are able to go forward. Physical training, both on and off horses, is an important part of these stunt women’s daily routines. Shot on film.
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- Trick Riders 2 – Stunt women and trick riders Karis and Colette assist each other during training. Due to the dangerous nature of this sport and the unpredictable factor of the horse, this training is rarely done alone. These women train together, spotting and adjusting each other during stunts and offering feedback on performance. Shot on film.
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- Snowdonia – Four Friesian stallions become one with the landscape. Shot on film in Snowdonia, Wales whilst on set.
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- New shoes – Horse shoer puts a new pair of shoes on one of the Devil’s Horsemen horses. Over the past year, I have been documenting the daily activities of the Devil’s horsemen with my film cameras. During the government imposed lockdowns in the UK, businesses across the country were forced to shutdown, countless people lost their jobs and many lost their lives. But the activities at the farm continued because horses must still be cared for, fed and exercised.
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- Untitled – Over the past year I have been documenting the daily activities of the Devil’s horsemen with my film cameras. Despite government imposed lockdowns, the activities at the farm continued because horses must still be cared for, fed and exercised. Here, horses are being rigged up for driving. The horses at the Devil’s Horsemen perform a variety of jobs from stunts, to driving, to teaching actors to ride.
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- Untitled – Horsemaster Camilla Naprous and stallion Vendeval take a cigarette break in between takes.
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- Untitled – Groom and stuntman Robert cares for and washes Gaspar after a sweaty exercise session on one of the milder British winter days.
Jim Bird was born and raised in Fort Worth, TX. During his youth, he traveled the country and worked in the screen printing industry making t-shirts, Willie Nelson for President bandanas, circuit boards and signs. Jim settled in Garland, TX and started a successful commercial paint contracting company that grew and thrived for 30 years. A few years before selling his company in 2014 and retiring, he started entering the local On My Own Time competitions with shots he’d taken with his Minolta film camera. Winning several blue ribbons, Jim decided to make the leap to digital and has been improving his art since then.
If you aren’t a full time professional photographer, how do you support your photography habit?
During my working years, I had the good fortune of being able to invest and save enough to support this not so inexpensive hobby.
When did you start taking pictures?
I didn’t really take my first steps into serious photography work until my retirement years, around 2014. I’ve always had artistic interests and photography really filled the need for me.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
Initially, I started with a Minolta film camera but when I transitioned to digital my first one was a Nikon D90. I’m currently shooting with a full frame Nikon D750 but still enjoy shooting with my D90 as well.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
I’ve been given a few small monetary awards in competitions and some sporadic payments but not anything that would be considered an income. The majority of my work is for non-profits such as my church, our local symphony orchestra and local fundraising events. I plan to continue shooting as long as I’m able to do so.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
Photography fills the need to create on a personal level. My creative work includes street, still life and studio work, which is still evolving. Shooting for non-profits gives me the sense of doing something with purpose and value in my retirement years.
View more of Jim’s work on Instagram.
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- Taken at Broken Bow Lake, OK. As an avid angler and photographer, it’s a struggle for me since the best time of day for both fishing and photography is in the early morning and late afternoon. I’m torn between the two since I can’t do both at the same time. One wins out and the other is neglected.
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- This was an early, foggy morning shot. Searching for different perspectives, I captured it from a bridge over Rowlett Creek. I’m always trying to find shots from a different angle.
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- This was a construction site of a Catholic church in my community. After 30 years in the construction business, I still had a hard hat in my truck and was able to walk right into the site without any resistance. It allowed me to capture these two gentlemen as they worked on the roof.
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- I was asked to capture individual shots of the staff of my church. The request was please shoot them as they perform their work for the church, not “the usual mug shots”. This individual is the Associate Director of Music Ministry as he plays the piano.
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- This parakeet was photographed at White Rock and submitted to White Rock Lake Conservancy for a calendar competition. It was selected as a feature in one of the months. Money raised from these calendar sales go to enhancement and safety projects for the lake.
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- This shot was captured at Ridin’ High Cowboy church in east Texas. This cowboy was also the church’s pastor.
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- I was given a gift certificate to Dallas Center for Photography and used it to take an all-day class. This photo was taken during the class that was instructed by Peter Poulides. This was my introduction to DCP.
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- I captured this while shooting for the White Rock calendar even though this would not satisfy their preference of color or landscape orientation. I still thought it was a great image for my personal collection.
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- This is a lesson in always having your camera with you. I caught this out of the corner of my eye while crossing Ray Hubbard Lake, on the way to the grocery store. I dropped the grocery list, made a U-turn and stopped and asked the pastor if I could shoot some images. His only response was if I would share them with him.
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- This photo is special to me because it’s my granddaughter, her husband, their son and my first great-grandson. At the time of this photo, he was 5 days old. It reminds me of the importance of having printed images as well as digital. I still like to look at old photos of my loved ones.
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- This was taken at the traveling Vietnam Healing Wall when it stopped in Garland. This gentlemen appears to have a personal connection to the wall, its memories and/or some of the names on the wall.
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- Prior to the pandemic, I’d not had much practice with still life. The pandemic gave me an opportunity to explore it. When I shared this image publicly, I posted this Aristotle quote: “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light”.
Jim Pollock was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to a Dad that was an engineer for the Manhattan Project and a Mom that cared for all as a nurse. He defected to Boston for an engineering degree at MIT and worked at Hewlett-Packard before getting the startup bug with 8 early stage companies since. He just started his latest in June by licensing a patent from the University of Colorado where he has been an Entrepreneur-in-Residence for several years working with faculty to commercialize their science.
If you aren’t a full time professional photographer, how do you support your photography habit?
Photography has always been a side passion. I’m fortunate to have real life support for my addiction.
When did you start taking pictures?
After I graduated from college, I took a job with Hewlett-Packard and immediately flew to Palo Alto for 2 weeks of training. One of my new fellow HP workmates took me hiking in Yosemite Valley for the weekend and we hiked to the top of Half Dome. Right then I knew that my life was going to be filled with interesting adventures and I needed a camera to capture them. I picked up a Canon AE-1 in 1977 and thus started the addiction.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
I had a Kodak instamatic for my last couple of years in college and captured some of the usual antics of living with my fraternity bro’s. But I never even thought of it as photography or a hobby. Just took snapshots. It was after my trip to Yosemite that I knew I needed to get more into photography as a necessary companion for my travels and love of the outdoors. The Canon AE-1 was my first camera. I substituted a fixed 35mm lens for the stock 50mm as someone told me “you’ll like a wider angle lens if you do a lot of outdoor shooting.” Currently I have a Canon 6D Mark II, but I have to say that each year I have become more dependent on my iPhone camera as it is always in my pocket and rivals the quality of the DSLR. I also have recently added a ZWO 2600 color CMOS camera dedicated to astrophotography. It has built-in cooling to -20°C to keep the noise down for exposures of 5 minutes and more of really dim stuff!
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
Nope. All for the joy and sharing.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
It has evolved over the years. I have always gravitated towards outdoor imagery of where I’ve hiked or biked, people in my life, and astrophotography. This last year with COVID-19 has changed my style to staying home centric, not traveling and not being around people other than my wife and dad-in-law who lives with us. I’ve ended up doing more with my telescope and camera. The astrophotography is fascinating as it combines two passions: astronomy and photography. There is much beauty to be found in what would appear otherwise as nothingness. I just love the concept of poking a camera into an unknown closet and pushing the trigger and seeing something magical and unknowable appearing – which is my analogy to astrophotography. One of my favorite images and least impressive aesthetically is a picture of a quasar. It looks exactly like… a star. Except that it is 2.4 billion light years away. The very few photons that landed on my camera started their journey 2.4 billion years ago to end their life on my camera chip. Kind of humbling. Maybe I should have stayed out of the way and let it continue its journey!
View more of Jim’s work on Instagram.
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- Me at 2 years old by my dad | When my dad passed away, all his Kodachromes were neatly stored in carousels chronologically. He was a snapshot family photographer. Rarely a scenic shot unless a family member was in it. Always shot landscape format, never turned the camera. Easter, summer vacation, birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, then repeat… for 50 years. All are precious for documenting our family’s lives but occasionally he nailed the lighting and the intimacy like a pro.
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- Dad | A shot of my dad the weekend I bought my first digital camera, The Nikon E990. My friend, Peter Poulides, had always preached to lose the flash and use whatever light happened to be there. This shot was just a couple of years before my Dad passed away at 85. I love the picture. But my Mom hates it! “He looks too serious and sad”. My Dad had this habit of never looking at a camera taking his picture, and he looked right at me when I snapped this.
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- Baling Hay at Sunset | My wife and I moved to a farm just north of Boulder in 2015 where “we do our own hay”. Lots of opportunity for light and patterns of grass and bales at every phase of haying. A small curve in the field turns into gorgeous wavy patterns of cut grass, then windrows, and finally bales. Throw in a backlit dusty baler and you can have some fun. Apple iPhone X
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- M51 Whirlpool Galaxy | Always love to mix hobbies and in this case, photography and astronomy. This is the Whirlpool Galaxy. Two galaxies that have collided and passed through each other several times over the last couple billion years. Artistry in (slow) motion! My 11” diameter telescope is effectively a 2000mm f/7 lens attached to my Canon 6D. 43 frames of 30 seconds each, “stacked” with software as the equivalent of a single 22 minute long exposure. The 22 minutes of photons left that galaxy 22 million years ago to land on my sensor. Guess I was pretty lucky.
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- Totality 2017 | One of great astronomical experiences of my life was to finally witness a total eclipse 62 years into my life. Drove from Denver onto a long, straight, lonely county road that was dead in the center of the eclipse path. My expectations were extremely high and were exceeded by the experience. I had a Canon 6D with a rented Canon 400mm telephoto riding on my 11” telescope. The scope was for live visual, the camera was on autopilot bracketing multiple exposures continuously. I set it on auto, pushed start and swore I would not check until the event was over. Being the geek that I am, I didn’t want to spend the 8 minutes of totality troubleshooting an intervalometer!
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- M42 The Great Orion Nebula | On a clear, dark winter night, if you look at the middle star of Orion’s belt, you might see that it looks a touch fuzzy. It’s actually one of the brightest and most spectacular nebulae in our sky. Only 1500 light years away, it covers 4 times the apparent width of the full moon. It’s huge! The little hot white spot in the lower is a present day star factory. The spot is 4 stars called the Trapezium which are slowing sucking the red hydrogen and blue oxygen into themselves and growing. In 100,000 years they will be teenager stars and the nebula we see now will have disappeared. Canon 6D with Celestron 11” Telescope, 25 minutes of exposure (110 frames of 15sec).
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- 1954 Ford Tractor | When we bought our farm, it came with a few old Ford and John Deere implements including this 1954 tractor with a 6-volt battery that still works great. They don’t make them like they used to. We still use this tractor to pull a massive iron grid (a harrow) along the ground to breakup horse and cow manure at the start of the spring growing season. The most fun you can have at 3 mph.
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- Hay to Market, Bamako Mali | They say “Vacation in Belgium? Meh! Travel to Africa? Adventure!!” I had 3 trips to sub-Saharan Africa while working for an ag-tech company. I was at a workshop in Mali the day the coop started in 2013. I was able to sneak out slumped in the back seat of a taxi and was on the last plane that took off for over a month. But, while I was there, I was amazed at the wonderful people and quiet while still bustling life just outside the capital, Bamako. The few roads (and fewer paved ones) are shared equally by occasional cars, lots of motorcycles, donkeys, carts, bicycles and walkers.
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- Great Sand Dunes in Colorado | Who knew? That you could find a Sahara-like spot in the middle of Colorado. A unique alignment of mountains and wind patterns have created this fantastical scene of ever changing sands. Using the technique inspired by Georgia O’Keefe to zoom close into a subject… the character is changed by not knowing the boundary conditions which provide the context of the image.
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- Lone Elephant | Massai Mara, Kenya From a business trip to Africa. My penchant for big scenes with a lone distant object. Puts a giant elephant into perspective of where she lives.
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- Fall Biking thru Aspen | My staged “Fall biking in Colorado” photo. I took my bike group up a great converted railway track up to the Continental Divide above Breckenridge, hoping for a shot of one of our bikers, alone. A perfect representation of the emotion of the day. However, on that weekend, they also allowed cars up the road. We sent Rachel down the road every time it got clear only to have a car appear at one end or the other before we could get the shot. Finally, we had a clear shot, and our bike gang stood in the road to block cars from behind us. Sent Rachel scurrying. And hoped no-one would appear from the far end. And got the shot!
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- The Sailors of Dubai | On a trip to Dubai, I was stunned by the incredible array of massively tall buildings rising out of the sand. But I was soon numb from the cold structures and people in air conditioned Mercedes. Someone described Dubai as “like Las Vegas without a soul”. (Las Vegas has a soul?) Fortunately, I blundered into the old original dock area that seems to be unchanged by progress, still vibrant with wooden ships bringing goods from China and sending them back out all along the African coast. These veteran sailors are taking a break before heading out to ports down the coast. All had stories they were more than willing to share about their encounters with Somali Pirates.
KC Frost lives in Dallas with her husband, daughter and two dogs. Her professional background is in HR and recruiting. She currently helps connect companies with young talent at Southern Methodist University as the Assistant Director for Employer Relations in the Cox School of Business Career Center.
Where did you learn about photography and how do you continue to grow?
I like to support my photography habit with private tutoring and taking a few classes throughout the year. I also enjoy printing books of our pictures from our trips and a year in the review. Creating these books always makes me want to shoot more.
When did you start taking pictures?
I grew up watching my dad document big events in my life with his Canon Rebel camera and having the pictures printed. At some point later in elementary school I remember asking to use his camera and the rest is history.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
My first camera was my dad’s Canon film SLR. I currently shoot with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
No, I only shoot for my personal collection.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
I have very few memories or pictures from my early childhood and treasure the photos I have with my late parents. Ever since having my daughter, I find myself wanting to document the moments that are so special to me to share with her one day. There are many moments when I see a scene and think to myself this would make a great picture. Shooting helps me slow down and be completely present in the moment.
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- This image was taken at 4 in the morning two days after giving birth. I had just gone to the bathroom in our hospital room and walked back to my husband taking this picture of our daughter. I quickly grabbed my phone and captured this moment.
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- My daughter is about to enter the terrible twos and this moment captures her big emotions. My husband is in the background feeding one of our two dogs and she is holding on to the cup of dog food for our second dog.
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- My husband traveled nearly every week for work prior to March 2020. Since COVID entered our lives he has been working from home and has built an incredible bond with our daughter. I have fallen even more in love with him watching him as a father and I love to photograph their relationship. Here, she is helping him with yard duties.
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- I was sitting on the floor of my daughter’s room waiting for a moment to capture. She loves to play with her sound machine and when I saw her little hand reach out from behind the chair I clicked the button. Photography has been teaching me many lessons of patience, especially throughout the year 2020.
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- Another picture documenting the relationship between my husband and daughter. I love capturing their playful relationship and her curiosity. I shot this photo for a 4-week class series that I took at DCP this summer focused on capturing life at home. For this particular photo, I was concentrating on how the light hit both of them.
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- Photographing dogs and capturing who they are is not as easy as it sounds. This is one of my favorite pictures that I have taken of our dog Rosie. This is her favorite spot on the corner of our bed to rest yet still be able to watch over the yard.
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- I recently finished a documentary photography workshop led by Kirsten Lewis. This is a photo I took for an assignment on capturing emotion. For me this photo captures not only a moment between my daughter and husband but also a strong sense of trust. I waited until I saw my daughter look up at him to snap the shutter.
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- I lived in Sydney, Australia for 3 months in 2018. Every week I would take a bus to the Iceberg Pool at Bondi Beach for swim lessons. I am drawn to the mood in this picture. The dark clouds and the lights shining through as the waves crash in to the pool. It’s rare to see the pool so empty during the summer.
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- During my time in Australia, my husband and I traveled to Uluru in the middle of the country. We rode camels and learned about the rich history of the Aboriginal people in this area. I didn’t realize how tall camels are until I rode one and the shadows represent how high I felt.
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- A couple months into COVID I realized that spending so much time at home together would be our new norm. I have used my camera as a way to be an observer in my own home. Capturing our mundane life has filled me with joy and made me both grateful and keenly aware of the simple things in life that we took for granted.
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- Our daughter had a 15 second head start running into our bathroom. We found her climbing on her train to reach forbidden sink items. My favorite part of this picture is her standing on her tippy toes and how relaxed my husband looks.
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- During our time in Australia we traveled to Lady Elliot Island for 4 nights. This off the grid island is surrounded by coral reefs and home to 4 different types of turtles. Each morning, we went snorkeling right outside our cabin with the turtles. This picture was taken with a GoPro.
Christine Cluff currently resides in Old East Dallas and spent time living in New York City (where she was born) and spent over five years living abroad in England. She supports a private equity team in her current role at a finance firm, coordinating and executing administrative functions, and strategic initiatives. Christine spent most of her career as a marketing professional in the architecture and design industry. While in New York, she worked at the International Center of Photography, supporting the One-Year Certificate and MFA Programs and Penumbra Foundation, where she applied her experience to help cultivate its brand and growth.
If you aren’t a full-time professional photographer, how do you support your photography habit?
I feel lucky to have a company that supports work/life balance and allows me the flexibility to enjoy my passion for fine art photography and travel.
When did you start taking pictures?
I don’t really have a unique story. Photography began as a hobby following an interest in the arts (drawing, painting, writing). In my early twenties, I attended an introduction to black and white film photography and darkroom class. I will never forget how it felt the first time I saw one of my images develop. This is where my lifelong passion for photography began.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
My first camera was a Minolta SR-T 101 that had belonged to my father. My current cameras are a Canon 6D for digital, a Hasselblad 500cm and Standard 4×5 view camera for analog.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
I have done some paid work for wedding, portraiture, and lifestyle projects in the past. I have also sold a few of my prints. I am currently working on a website to showcase my work and having limited prints available for sale.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
I am an introvert, and the medium of photography is a way for me to visually contemplate ideas around connection, identity, memory, presence, and experience. Most of the time, the photographs I am producing reflect the state of mind I am in or help me work through something internal. I think in many ways, photography, for me, is a form of meditation. When I am shooting, it changes the way I see or notice things, and I have more profound engagement with my surroundings. Of course, photography is also capturing a moment in time, a place, or something beautiful I want to remember – for the pure joy of it!
View more of Christine’s work on Instagram.
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- We All Become Stories. This image is part of a series of self-portraits I have been exploring and was taken during a stay in Vinalhaven, a town located on the larger of the two Fox Islands about 10-miles off the coast of Maine.
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- Untitled, Self-Portrait. I began making a set of images at home during a workshop earlier this year with Madeleine Morlet, just after entering into quarantine. The ultimate takeaway was how constraints create freedom, and planning can help encourage creativity.
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- Untitled, Self-Portrait – This image is part of a series of self-portraits I have been exploring taken in Camden, Maine.
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- Still Life of Peonies. I recently started exploring still life photography. I make these images using natural window light in my small studio room at home. With these images, I share my sense of wonder at the beauty of flowers, interacting with their delicate architecture. It fosters a deep respect for the miraculous ways of nature. I always save a few and press them in pages of my art books or carry them in a locket to preserve the emotion I felt while creating them.
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- Still Life of a White Rose. More from my exploration into still life photography.
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- The Mirror Doesn’t Lie. This image is part of a series of self-portraits I have been exploring and was taken in an old schoolhouse in Rockport, Maine.
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- Floral Memento Mori. A slightly different take on my other still life photographs.
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- Untitled, Self-Portrait. Another image from the series I made at home during a workshop earlier this year with Madeleine Morlet, just after entering into quarantine. The ultimate takeaway was how constraints create freedom, and planning can help encourage creativity.
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- Untitled. One more image from the series I made at home during a workshop earlier this year with Madeleine Morlet, just after entering into quarantine. The ultimate takeaway was how constraints create freedom, and planning can help encourage creativity.
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- Untitled, Self-Portrait. This image is part of a series of self-portraits I have been exploring taken in Vinalhaven, Maine.
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- Untitled. From the series I made at home during a workshop earlier this year with Madeleine Morlet, just after entering into quarantine. The ultimate takeaway was how constraints create freedom, and planning can help encourage creativity.
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- Untitled, Self-Portrait. One more image from the series I made at home during a workshop earlier this year with Madeleine Morlet, just after entering into quarantine. The ultimate takeaway was how constraints create freedom, and planning can help encourage creativity.
Originally from Maine, Michael Girard currently lives in the Dallas area. He retired from the US Navy after 24 years of service and continues to serve in a defense contractor role supporting the Navy. He always enjoyed photography but only seriously pursued it as a hobby beginning in 2014. Michael enjoys exploring abandoned places and photographing them after dark. He likes the relaxed feeling of waiting three or four minutes to capture one image and the peaceful surroundings these places usually offer. He also enjoys shooting landscapes and city lights.
How do you support your photography habit?
Retired from the Navy, I have a military pension and currently work full-time in the defense industry.
When did you start taking pictures?
I’ve always liked taking pictures but never realized that there were “rules” involved. A Navy photographer taught me the rule of thirds in the late 90’s, and that was the only rule I was aware of until another friend taught me the exposure triangle and how to use my Nikon D3100 in manual mode in 2011. I took my first class with DCP (then Spot Studio) in 2014. That was when I really started taking it seriously.
What was your first camera? Current camera?
I’ve had multiple cameras over the years, but I started taking it more seriously when I got my Nikon D3100. I upgraded to the D7100 shortly after which I still use today. I still want to make one more upgrade, but I’ll wait until I know for sure because that should be my last camera.
Have you ever made money from your photos? Is it something you plan to continue?
I’ve sold a few prints here and there, mostly to friends at work. I had planned to attend a couple of art fairs this year to check out how photographers sell their prints with plans to try that out next year. Eventually I plan to build a website but not for a couple more years. I may also start contributing to a stock site.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
Now that I have a few years of practice, I’m usually able to capture what I intended to capture. But every once in a while, I’ll get an image that seems to look better than the scene I was shooting. It’s hard to describe but I look forward to those magical captures even though they don’t happen too often.
View more of Michael’s work on Instagram.
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- Multistrobe Futuro – With multiple exposures and some help from photoshop, I achieved the desired result of each window being lit a different color.
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- Red Wood – Recipe for this image: A dead tree in Lake Ray Hubbard, a red colored flashlight, a bright moon, an aircraft in the holding pattern, and let it set about three minutes.
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- Forgotten Fill-Ups – A long abandoned chalet-style gas station along Route 66 in Texola, Oklahoma on the Texas / Oklahoma border.
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- Contrabando Adobe Noche – This adobe structure is the only one remaining from the Contrabando movie set along the Rio Grande in Big Bend Ranch State Park.
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- Dallas Pyramids – Walking from one planned composition to the next while taking some night shots in downtown Dallas, I looked to my left and saw this. It turned out to be my best shot of the night!
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- Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge – This is another unplanned shot that I took walking back to my truck after completing a planned shot of this bridge from further along the levee.
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- Special Delivery – I don’t know this van’s story but I bet it’s a good one. It is abandoned near the Chinati Mountains not far from the Mexican border.
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- Rock House – The clouds make this shot. Ironically these same clouds kept the moon mostly hidden making me work hard to get the scene lit with a flashlight.
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- Last Lap – A young go-kart racer comes into turn three with a nice sunset in the background.
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- Truck Stop – The best sunsets I’ve seen are in west Texas. Sometimes it seems the entire sky is lit orange. This sunset is framed by the canopy of a long abandoned truck stop.
Connie Carr is based in Dallas and travels frequently in her role as a national account manager for an Italian company. She enjoys the hectic travel aspect of her career, feeling lucky to visit so many places and enjoy local culture. To balance that busy schedule, Connie appreciates spending quiet, meditative time in nature for photography. By observing the lines, structure, and rhythm in nature and adding artistic camera techniques, she hopes to capture a little bit of nature’s magic in her fine art images.
If you aren’t a full-time professional photographer, how do you support your photography habit?
My job allows me a great deal of flexibility to enjoy photography. Even though my photography work is “part time”, it is growing into a full-time profession.
When did you start taking pictures?
Technically, I was four years old. My first photo, which I still have, was of white ducks and a bridge. My mom thought I was wasting film. I remember thinking I was creating a masterpiece! The more real answer is 17, when I was editor of the high school yearbook. I wasn’t a fan of the photos that had been submitted for consideration, so I borrowed the principal’s 35mm camera. I had no idea what I was doing, so he taped the wheels and buttons of the camera in place and told me not to move them. It worked! I got my shots!
What was your first camera? Current camera?
Kodak Instamatic? First “real” camera was a Canon AE1. My current systems are Nikon and Fuji.
Have you ever made money from your photos? If so, is it something you plan to continue?
Yes, I have done dance, sports, portrait, product and lifestyle shoots for many clients. My focus going forward is very different. I’m focused on nature photography with final images intended for print, either for a wall or to be included in a photo book.
What motivates you to pick up your camera? How do you feel when you’re shooting?
I actually stopped shooting two years ago. Most of my work at that time was product and lifestyle photography for corporate clients and it wasn’t fun for me anymore. It was probably more about burnout, but I needed a break so I stopped. A year into that pause, I very randomly decided to join a group of photographers on a trip to the Palouse area of Washington state during the harvest season. I had never shot landscapes before and I really don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to go on that trip. But I went and was awestruck with the jaw dropping scenery in that area of the country. The calmness, serenity and enjoyment of photography returned to me during that trip. Fast forward to today and I continue to focus on nature photography.
View more of Connie’s work on her website or Instagram.
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- I shot this in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and it will always be one of my favorite images, because I love sitting on a beach, watching and listening to the waves. Also, because this is the first image that I ever entered into a photography competition. It placed third in its category, out of more than seventy entries. I was thrilled!
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- This image was made during my trip to the Palouse area of Washington state in the midst of fall harvest season. Standing on a small country road, we were completely surrounded by rolling wheat fields and fluffy cherub clouds. The lone grouping of trees is the only thing that broke the line the sight line for miles.
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- The view from the vantage point of Steptoe Butte State Park near Colfax, Washington is one not to be missed. The colors of the rolling fields of farmland seemed to shift and change in the light. At dusk, I was very excited to capture that last kiss of sunset as it cast highlights across the tops of the mounds.
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- Caddo Lake is a magical, near mythical, natural lake and bayou in east Texas. The shallow lake has hundreds, if not thousands, of giant cypress trees covered in Spanish moss both along the shore and in the water swamps. Wanting to capture the trees’ reflections in the water, so I was there at sunrise, hoping for few boaters and still waters. I got my wish with a lake surface that looked like glass.
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- The wind was blowing while I was trying to shoot my neighbor’s bird of paradise plant. Rather than giving up on getting a perfectly in-focus shot, I decided to embrace the plant’s movement and try an abstract look. The movement gave the image an overall softness that I think works well in this abstract look.
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- I’ve tried to become more observant of lines, structure, and colors of nature. My neighbor’s plants offered great examples of those qualities.
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- This shot is of a small section of a large coleus shrub. It’s one of those plants that you can easily walk past and not really notice the details of the leaves, but once you do notice, you don’t forget. The leaves seem to dance around one another and create a lovely natural rhythm.
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- Lagniappe is that little something extra and that’s exactly what I got with the little green frog. During the early morning hours and under the shadow of several trees, the water garden was very dark. So dark, I didn’t immediately notice the frog! I’m very grateful he was there and that he remained quite still for several minutes.
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- At first glance, this may look like a typical water lily floating on water. It’s actually an American lotus and the stem reaches about three feet above the water. The telephoto lens compressed the background leaf to appear a bit closer than it actually was, but it works nicely as a background for the blossom.
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- I enjoy macro flower photography, but I couldn’t get quite that close to this lotus since it was several feet into the pond. Using a telephoto lens and then cropping a bit, I got this detail image of a lotus petal.
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- I was mesmerized with the many layers and details in this water garden. Where to focus? The flower, the buds, the oversized leaves? When the wind blew, the large leaves would rise and fall, the flowers would sway, and the scene would constantly change. I stayed two hours photographing and simply enjoying this special place.
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- I used different techniques to capture this abstract image of a koi pond. I combined a slow shutter speed with a small intentional camera movement while the fish swam around. It took several attempts and each image was certainly different. This one has three different koi swimming through the frame.
Born in Saskatchewan, raised in North Dakota and Montana. I started messing around with photography early on, shooting black and white film with a Kodak Instamatic and learning to process my own film in the bathroom, which in turn I converted into a makeshift darkroom. When I was about 14 my older brother who was in the service during the Vietnam war finished up his tour of duty and decided to take a trip to Europe for several months. He shipped all his belongings home and spent the next several months abroad. All his stuff was stored in the basement of our house and I just started digging through boxes where I found two 35mm cameras, a Walz Envoy 35 which was a knockoff of a Leica Rangefinder and a Minolta SRT 101 single lens reflex. I appropriated both, and was on my way to a career in photography.
I attended Montana State University and received a degree in Film and Television. While going to school, I was photo-editor of both the Yearbook and the newspaper, and worked summers for a portrait studio and held a second job as a Ranger for the Forest Service. At the ripe old age of 21, I started my first photo studio with a close friend and we began shooting advertising work for DANA Corp, Sharp’s Firearms and Big Sky Ski Resorts to name a few. The major bonus of this was never having to pay to ski (Awesome)!
In 1980, I moved to Dallas and began working at a large commercial photo studio, where I shot annual reports, catalogs and advertising for a varied clientele. After a few years working as a shooter, I moved on to running the studio portion of the business as well as shooting. In 1985, I started Anderson Studio and have had three different studio locations over the years. Currently, I specialize in people, fashion and oddly enough, motorsports. To those who know me and my penchant for Hotrods, not too surprising.
In 2005, I purchased a building and built a 5000 sq. ft. live work studio situation that has drive-in access for shooting cars and other large sets. Currently married to professional make-up artist, Paige Anderson, we shoot together when we can and we sometimes still speak to each other. Check it out at www.andersonstudio.com.
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- The Miller Light Dragster leaves the starting line in the finals of the 2001 US Nationals. Larry Dixon was the driver and won the race, the biggest drag race of the year. One of those pictures where the light and everything came together.
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- The driver at the top of the photograph is Eric Medlin and his team before a race. Eric was killed in a racing accident in 2007. Great driver and person, as well as a friend.
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- Adam Sorokin heating up the tires of his dragster before an elimination run.
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- BMW Z in downtown Dallas.
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- Rides at the State Fair of Texas.
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- Headshot portrait of Esmerelda for her portfolio.
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- Fashion work for ON Magazine.
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- Fashion work for ON Magazine.
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- Portrait of Gloria Mayfield-Banks, one of Mary Kay’s Elite Executive National Sales Directors.
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- Portrait of Racing crew chief, John Medlin.
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- Early Morning on a Backroad in Bowling Green, KY. An entrant in the Holley Hotrod Reunion bringing his car into the car show.
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- George Poteet’s “Speed Demon” streamliner which just set a land speed record in its class of over 480 mph.
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