I came to photography later in life. It had been niggling away on the fringes of my life since I was a small child, hints left here and there. My father was into black and white photography when I was very young, developed his own photographs but then inexplicably stopped abruptly. I have his 1950’s film camera on my office shelf.
When I was traveling across the country in the mid-1970’s, we picked up a hitchhiker that ended up leaving his camera and telephoto lens in our car. We only discovered it after we had dropped him off, immediately turned around, backtracked in search of him but no luck. I have often wondered about him, how devastated he must have been when he realized he had forgotten his camera. We decided to sell the camera as we were broke but I've wondered what if? What if I had bothered to keep it, to use it, to take photos.
In the 1990's while working with gorillas I met one of the best wildlife photographers out there - Michael “Nick” Nichols from National Geographic. His photos continue to inspire. Nick is an integral organizer for the annual Look3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia every summer. Please check out Nick's new APP on his Nat Geo web site - bottom of page.
When I was traveling across the country in the mid-1970’s, we picked up a hitchhiker that ended up leaving his camera and telephoto lens in our car. We only discovered it after we had dropped him off, immediately turned around, backtracked in search of him but no luck. I have often wondered about him, how devastated he must have been when he realized he had forgotten his camera. We decided to sell the camera as we were broke but I've wondered what if? What if I had bothered to keep it, to use it, to take photos.
In the 1990's while working with gorillas I met one of the best wildlife photographers out there - Michael “Nick” Nichols from National Geographic. His photos continue to inspire. Nick is an integral organizer for the annual Look3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia every summer. Please check out Nick's new APP on his Nat Geo web site - bottom of page.
It was only a whim on a snowy Montana day in 2007 that I grabbed my husband’s old Canon film camera taking it with me for our back-country drive. I took a photo that showed me the magic of a well done photograph - it was of an abandoned US Fish & Wildlife Service cabin near Nye Montana.
Photography allows me to explore, to be creative, to focus - to shut out the rest of the world while trying to capture that elusive image - most times (and I mean 9 out of 10 times) I don’t succeed but every once in a while you hit it just right. I keep a camera with me at all times because you just never know what you might see or what you might miss - the above photo is of my neighbor's dogs when I pulled up to my house one afternoon - for some reason they just cracked me up, so I took the picture.
Some of the photos posted with this blog were taken from the car (Smith Brothers), or on a meandering weekend drive where I came across a Civil War reenactment event in a small Ohio town, or on a boat coming around a river bend (Elephant & Egrets) in Africa. Even tourist cliches like the Cliffs of Moher - taken by every person who has ever visited Ireland - can still feel mystical and magical with the right light and angle. It is sometimes the the most ordinary of things that catch your eye and at the right angle, just feels right. I love that photos can tell a story, in "Proud Auntie" my sister-in-law is walking in front of our niece who is in the background being made-up by her best friend - the look on my sister-in-law's her face is just lovely - funny but proud - it speaks to the excitement of my niece's wedding day. None of these photos have been enhanced, - some are a bit overexposed, some don't have enough shadows/light contrast but each is taken just as I saw it at that moment.
I’m happy to say that photography seems to be running through the family, a grandson is now taking a photography course at the age of 10, my youngest niece began taking photos at the age of 10 as well and has photos on my web site. Another niece in her 20’s has just started her own photography business and web site - while going to university and working her other job. See web sites below.
Some of the photos posted with this blog were taken from the car (Smith Brothers), or on a meandering weekend drive where I came across a Civil War reenactment event in a small Ohio town, or on a boat coming around a river bend (Elephant & Egrets) in Africa. Even tourist cliches like the Cliffs of Moher - taken by every person who has ever visited Ireland - can still feel mystical and magical with the right light and angle. It is sometimes the the most ordinary of things that catch your eye and at the right angle, just feels right. I love that photos can tell a story, in "Proud Auntie" my sister-in-law is walking in front of our niece who is in the background being made-up by her best friend - the look on my sister-in-law's her face is just lovely - funny but proud - it speaks to the excitement of my niece's wedding day. None of these photos have been enhanced, - some are a bit overexposed, some don't have enough shadows/light contrast but each is taken just as I saw it at that moment.
I’m happy to say that photography seems to be running through the family, a grandson is now taking a photography course at the age of 10, my youngest niece began taking photos at the age of 10 as well and has photos on my web site. Another niece in her 20’s has just started her own photography business and web site - while going to university and working her other job. See web sites below.
My web site: http://www.photosbybetharmstrong.com
On my site click on “The Next Generation” to see photos by my youngest niece
My older niece’s web site: http://www.emmaparkersphotography.com
Nick Nichols: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photographers/photographer-michael-nichols/ See Nick's new App at the bottom of this page
Look3 Festival of the Photograph: http://Look3.org
Good Read:
The Passionate Photographer: Ten Steps Toward Becoming Great by Steve Simon
Good Read:
The Passionate Photographer: Ten Steps Toward Becoming Great by Steve Simon
