FROM THE CHESAPEAKE BAY PORTFOLIO

I was drawn to the Bay when I was a young teenager and it was because of fishing and boating. During the forties, the fish were aplenty and you could go out a short ways in a small boat or a canoe and catch your fill of croaker, spot and trout. The tributaries were loaded with fish. But that was before the commercial fishermen with massive nets and other high tech gadgetry virtually wiped them out. As I grew older, the bay fishing dwindled to nothing. Even the crab and oyster harvests have dwindled.

During the mid seventies I made several photographic trips down to the Reedville area and documented much of the disappearing day to day life of the watermen. I title this image "The last haul" for a good reason. Not only was this family operation coming to an end, but this was literally their last haul before hanging it up for good. They were among the very last to toss in the towel.

This image of Ray Rogers and son was made during August 1975.

FULL STAGE PRODUCTION

In the previous entry, I mentioned the fact that with my grocery cart mobile studio, I could handle most anything including a full-stage production.

Somehow this might have led some folks to say "Baloney". You cannot do that out of a grocery cart.

This is when a picture is worth a thousand words.

Incidentally, this was the annual university production of The Nutcracker utilizing theater students as performers. The lead dancers were brought over from Europe via special invitation.

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JACK JEFFERS; PHOTOGRAPHING FAMOUS PEOPLE

Photographing Arthur Goldberg was more like how I prefer to work with people. In case you don't remember this man, he was, at this point in life, a retired Chief Justice of the United States. He was well known during the Nixon Administration. I remember these sorts of things because I was also at my prime during those years.

I was working at Radford University during the early nineteen eighties into the mid nineties, and it was during that time that the University brought Mr. Goldberg into their ranks as a visiting professor. Our paths crossed numerous times on campus and when it came time to develop a feature story, I was the one to make a formal image to grace the pages of the Radford University Magazine
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I made the arrangements to meet with the professor for a few minutes before planning the photography session. He was one of the nicest people I ever met and I could tell from the second we shook hands that he would be a great person to work with.

We sat a date to meet at a certain preselected spot at the library. It was a fitting place to photograph such a person and the surroundings were comfortable. I made a number of images while we carried on a conversation and this was the one selected for the magazine article.

One of the nicest compliments I ever received came from the family of Mr. Goldberg following his death. They wrote a letter to the president of the university stating that the image used in the magazine was the very finest that anyone had ever made of him. I will never forget that.



For those who want to know what equipment I used, I will briefly tell you. I had a medium size multi -watt strobe system which I carted around campus in a modified rectangular grocery cart.

I had the maintenance crew outfit the cart with a pair of small balloon tires which dampened the vibration when going down sidewalks. There was room for all of my equipment including at least two 35mm film cameras and several lenses. This was still during the days of film. With this rig, I could handle most anything on site including a full stage theater production. I once described this rig and some of my University images in an article for Technical Photography Magazine.

PHOTOGRAPHING FAMOUS PEOPLE

I have always enjoyed photographing people. Funny thing, a lot of folks still refer to me as the guy who walked through the Appalachians "taking" pictures of mountain people. Those images certainly proved to be an assert when I took on a more normal agenda.

Who was my favorite subject? Many have asked that question and it's a tough question to answer. I have picked two interesting images, but more for the story than the accomplishment.

Most everyone knows who Elie Wisel is. If you have never seen his image in the news you have missed one very well-known man. Elie survived the Holocaust and later received the Nobel Peace Price for his many accomplishments.

I had the opportunity to photograph Mr. Wisel at the Roanoke, VA airport. I was on assignment for Radford University and they were looking for a cover image. Normally, I prefer to have a one on one for such an image but this was the only chance I would have because he was scheduled to put on a presentation at the university that evening. This was my only chance to do the "impossible."

There was a very short press conference in a very small airport room and the press was packed in like sardines in a can. I wedged my way through the crowd and planted myself in a spot where I could view this man over the crowd. My six foot four frame and long arms stood well above most of the crowd. The only background I could see that might be useful was the American flag that stood in a corner behind the podium.

Amid the questions and answers; plus flashes going off like an active electrical storm, I made several exposures. I had to push myself along a wall a little to put that flag where I wanted it but my images turned out just fine. I made a few more exposures just to be on the safe side and that was it. I did have a second camera and my B&W followed the color. If I have said it a thousand times, I will say it again: Anticipation, and previsualization is the name of the game. Gut feeling Call it what you want, but I have always felt good about my best images. There is a time to hold back, and there is a time to make your exposure: the decisive moment. This image proved to be a winner.

KODAK BROWNIE BOX

The Brownie that I ultimately wore out was quite similar to this updated version which was on the shelf about the mid forties. Mine was a brown leather-covered model that I cannot identify as to an exact manufacturers date. However, it could go back as far as the turn of the last century.

The release leaver is in the same spot. See lower left top, just under the advance knob. . The size is about the same and there is a bit more shinny metal trim. The aperture setting on the old box was simply a slide out piece of flat metal with three different size holes.

So much for my first camera. I always hesitate to tell people what brand of camera I use because better cameras do not necessarily make better photographs. "Art comes from people, not tools." I dd gravitate to a higher quality level 2 1/4 and a 4 x 5 view camera. These were well made and they have lasted to this day with no broken parts. That represents more than thirty five years of heavy use and being carried around in a home-made back pack when hiking the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains.

THE SAN JUAN RANGE FROM CAMP

Take a short walk of about a hundred yards and this is the view you have from the edge of the mesa. This image was made shortly after the sun rose above the distant horizon.

The lake below is several hundred feet straight down from the edge of the cliff.

These three entrees are representative of a typical camping trip into the nearby hills overlooking the beautiful San Juan Mountain Range in southwest Colorado.

ATOP THE MESA AND BEHIND THE CAMPSITE

When my wife Pat and I stepped out out of the RV, this is what we would see when we walked to the back side of the site.

The forest atop the mesa was made up primarily of pinion pine and juniper trees. This image was made just prior to sunset as the light rays beamed through the trees and highlighted the grass. And yes, I used a tripod as usual.