Shutterbugs - Featuring Linda Tanner
In this new monthly feature, some of our best local photographers will share with you 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. We begin this series with Linda Tanner, who has been invited to talk about her interest in photography.
In my most recent career of selling real estate I found it interesting how people came to choose the Central Coast as their home. Some stumbled across it serendipitously, while others found it as an ideal place to raise children or to live out their golden years of retirement.
I also am curious as to how people get hooked on photography. Hooked as in I won't leave home without my camera.
As a beginning birder—and being near-sighted—I thought I was at a disadvantage for ever becoming a seriously credible birder. But when I found an inexpensive digital point-and-shoot camera (second-hand on eBay), it was the start of my ever-increasing interest in photography and it became the single most important aid to my becoming a better birder. With a 10 times zoom lens, I could snap an image of a tiny bird, load it onto the computer, and finally get a really good look at what I was only barely able to see in the field. Individual markings became apparent and soon I could put names to the tiny birds I'd always wondered about.
As my computer filled with one bird image after another, it dawned on me how much of a rut I was getting into with the birds. I began to broaden my search for other subjects, but nature continues to hold a special appeal to me.
Inevitably, my eye for art and love of nature have led me to seek out pleasing ways to frame my subjects, most of which continue to be found in the wild. Rather than shooting for identification purposes, I now have the thought in mind of snapping an interesting angle or catching certain behaviors of my subjects. I have become what I consider to be an opportunistic photographer.
My camera gear is basic and easy to carry. It is almost always within quick reach. Whatever appears in my field of view, I can usually be ready to snap a shot within a matter of seconds. I don't necessarily plan photo shoots. Instead, opportunities appear and I take advantage of them.
By posting my photographs on Flickr, they are made available for anyone to view. From this popular public site I have been contacted by numerous multi-national agencies and various individuals asking permission to use my photography. As a result, my images have been published in magazine articles, books, several government publications, and on websites. A Los Angeles television station, KTLA, used one of my photos in "The 50 Highest Causes of Death," a featured story. To me, the highest honor was to have a photograph (the Corn Snake image above) placed on the cover of a high-end scientific magazine.
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Manicured Muskrat
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But what does photography really do for me? It gets me outdoors, it causes me to be alert to my surroundings and to be prepared for what I might find in my pathway. It has brought me closer to the animals and birds that live their lives in the same place I call home. And through photography I've developed a greater respect for these animals who live day-to-day with us as their neighbors.
What does it take to be a serious photographer? A camera. Any camera will do. And a desire to create an interesting image or to document any event. It doesn't matter if it is a point-and-shoot or a digital SLR, I would encourage you to get a camera, to learn what that camera is capable of, and then to get out there and start shooting.
Photography—whether as an inexpensive hobby, as a career path, or as entertainment for an avid enthusiast like myself, it's something anyone can enjoy.
Please visit my Flickr site or enjoy the samples of my work on this page. Feel free to if you have comments or questions.
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Monarch Butterfly on Banner by Mike Baird
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Don't Shoot!
