Shutterbugs

Featuring Elizabeth Haslam

In this monthly feature some of our best local photographers share their passion for capturing beautiful and fascinating images. You will find more of their work on various photo sites, like Flickr, and in our own Great Shots section. This month Elizabeth Haslam has been invited to talk about her interest in photography and to share some of her work with you.

Click on any image to see larger version on Elizabeth's Flickr pages.

Ansel Adams allegedly said that the magic of photography is in the darkroom.  The negative is the score; the print is the performance.  When people complain about photographs that don't exactly reflect what the camera recorded, I spew the words of the master in their defense.  Still Ansel was a photo realist, not a pictorialist who was trying to create a painting out of a photograph.  He was in favor of depicting what the camera saw even if he fooled around with dodging and burning in his darkroom, repairing the tonality that "God didn't get quite right*," he said.   I doubt he would approve of the license I take in the performance of photography, but the digital darkroom is indeed a magical place for me.  

A modern camera is a sophisticated computer that records an image.  In my judgment, the emotion, drama, spirit or essence of the subject is not often apparent when the photo is downloaded on the computer.  The image may be perfectly composed and well lighted,  but it often doesn't draw the viewer's eye into its depths because there is no depth—yet.  With a little bit of prodding in the digital darkroom the drama and essence of the scene will emerge as well as the personality of the photographer.   

Adobe Lightroom, Nik Silver Efex Pro and Nik Viveza  are the heart and soul of my digital darkroom.   I play occasionally in Photoshop and with Photomatix and Nik HDR programs, but I try to keep my darkroom simple.   I may take a shot of raindrops on tulips or dancing flowers that evoke an internal gasp and "wow" as I press the shutter. But the joy of producing an image that "works" for me occurs in the evening hours when I settle down with my computer and the shots of the day.  I never quite know what will work, so I play like a child with finger paints.  

Sometimes the sliders are my friends. Sometimes they evoke a gag reflex.  More saturation, vibrance, brilliant color, and sharpening are not always a good thing.  Moving the software sliders to soften and desaturate sometimes makes the image pop.

As I play, I remind myself that no one gets hurt if I make radical moves.  There are no rules.  Richard Avedon said his portraits are more about himself than his subjects. That notion is a little frightening. Are we photographers exposing some deep psychological truth about ourselves when we share our work with the world, especially after fooling around with tools that can add or subtract color, add or subtract contrast or structure, and accentuate and deaccentuate light and dark?

My first camera was a Canon single reflex, purchased with a small inheritance in 1972.  My husband was in graduate school in Los Angeles and I taught 8th grade English.  We lived a block away from  a "photography park" where anyone could develop monochrome photographs in the park's chemical darkroom for free.  So while my husband studied at night, I relieved my anxiety of a day trying to teach young juvenile delinquents. In the darkroom, gasping as images miraculously appeared under the watery bath,  I was in heaven.  When we moved back to Utah, I could not quite replicate the sophisticated darkroom of the photography park, so my camera was shelved.  Law school and work life more than occupied my time.

Flash forward nearly 40 years. The photo bug had returned with my Nikon D90 and digital darkroom.   

For the last four years,  I have lived a portion of the year on the Central Coast.  A few years ago , I joined a photographic field trip with co-leaders Mike Baird and Jerry Kirkhart.  These excellent photographers were also really good guys who generously shared their knowledge with the group.  Steve Corey, who was also on the field trip, teased and prodded me to download photos on a web program called "Flickr." I credit that field trip with the beginning of a new photo mania fueled  by a social circle  of fantastic photographers who inspire and teach.  

May I suggest that the Central Coast of California is to photographers as Paris was to the literary set in the 1930s.   I dare say (and have heard others say) that the Central Coast probably has the greatest number of excellent photographers per capita than any geographic area. Not only are we photographers blessed to live in one of the most photogenic places in the world, but we also  share our passion with like-minded  artists.  Spend a  few hours photographing with Beth Sargent and feel the quiver of excitement she exudes as a White-tailed Kite ite drops a mouse to its mate in a mid air exchange.  See the world from the perspective of Kevin Cole who is always experimenting and pushing the creative boundaries.  Watch to see where Pam Link disappears.  She  returns with images of grebes dancing on golden waters or a White Egret flying against black water.  Follow Howard Ignatius on a photo journey to Yosemite in winter and learn the secret pullouts and icy trails leading to reflections of El Capitan.  Be careful you don't trip over Ashala Tylor as she lies down in the middle of the road to get a shot of a hawk flying across the moon.  Note where Steve Corey aims his camera.  He  sees thingst no one else does—like flower reflections in a string of raindrops or a sexy curves of a classic car.  Don't follow Jerry Kirkhart.  You might slip in the mossy rocks in search of a colorful sea creature at low tide.  Hang out for a day with Linda Tanner and  visit back roads  where eagles nest and owls occupy tree cavities.   Mike Baird will take you on a photo hike or organize a photo shoot. Join the incredibly active SLO Camera Club and meet for field trips with a whole new cadre of serious photographers.  It is hard to be a bored in photographic pursuits on the Central Coast.

With the encouragement, inspiration, and expert advice of my new found photo pals, I have taken off running, playing, and not caring if I break rules.  The camera is off the shelf and near at hand  If I see flowers dancing or a surfer doing a yoga pose or a girl posing nude or swallows singing Christmas carols, I take the shot and enjoy sharing it on Flickr.   I ascribe to Ricky Nelson's admonition in his song Garden Party.  You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself.  Sometimes, it is a little scary to press the button making a photo available to the world.   I have no stories of great success, just a personal story of enjoying the magical world of photography and the people in it.

Contact Elizabeth

*Ansel Adams quote: Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.

        Journal Twitter

This column was originally run in August, 2011
Previous Shutterbugs featured here include Dorothy Cutter, Aiden Briggs, Devra Cooper, Ashala Tylor, Marlin Harms, Howard Ignatius, Elizabeth Haslam, Mike Baird, and Linda Tanner.

Monarch Butterfly on Banner by Mike Baird