An Open Artists’ Discussion on Creation, Technique & Opportunity
Maureen Theriot – Louisiana State Organization -Alpha Delta Chapter
Briefly, tell me a little bit about yourself as an educator and as a photographer?
I began my career in 1970 as an American Literature teacher but was soon asked to also sponsor the school yearbook. I agreed to do it if I could use the work the students would do as a learning opportunity, having them learn photography, darkroom, journalism, and graphic design along with producing the yearbook. Although I have a journalism certification, I had little formal training in photography. I took a photography course at Tulane and was also fortunate enough to have a couple of professional photographers agree to mentor me, but, as most teachers know, the best way to learn something is to teach it. Those experiences evolved into my writing a photography curriculum which was approved by the state of Louisiana. Midway through my career, I became a gifted resource teacher. In that role, I continued to include photography and darkroom techniques in the activities I offered my students. My own work took off a little over 20 years ago when I retired and bought my first digital camera, a Sony Mavica. It was one of the first serious consumer level digital cameras, recording images on floppy disks. I joined an online group of Mavica using photographers from throughout the world who critiqued each other’s photos and taught each other how to best use our new technology. I learned a great deal from those digital photography pioneers. We have all moved on to more updated cameras, but many of us have remained connected—critiquing work and celebrating each other’s achievements in the field.
As a photographer, where do you find your inspiration?
Henry David Thoreau said, “direct your eye inward, and you’ll find / a thousand regions in your mind / Yet undiscovered. Travel them and be / Expert in home-cosmography” In pursuing photography as my main retirement activity, I have gotten to know my world, especially my immediate world that is my backyard, but also the world that lives inside me.
Do you search for a particular subject, or do you just have your camera ready?
I do both. I always have an eye out for a good photograph. Whether it is something growing in my yard or an interesting bug munching on something growing in my yard, I can entertain myself for hours capturing it. I enjoy birding, so much of my photography involves birds. Watching birds is like looking for good photographs: sometimes they’re in your own backyard, sometimes you must go out looking for them, sometimes you just stumble upon them. ‘Oops’ was such a case.
Do you use any special equipment?
My current camera is a Nikon 750 digital single lens reflex camera. For my closeup work I use a macro lens, and for my bird photos I use a 200 to 500 millimeter zoom lens—affectionately called HerNia because schlepping her around is likely to give me a hernia. I also sometimes use a tripod, a shutter release, a simple lighting setup, light diffusers, or a light table.
When you start framing your subject, is there a process that goes through your mind? As an example, your photograph, “Calla” is photographed in a studio with back lit lighting as opposed to your photograph, “Oops” which is an outdoor nature study.“Oops” and “Calla” definitely represent two entirely different kinds of photography and two entirely different relationships between the photographer and light. In a photo such as “Calla” I have a great deal of control over what I do with light; in that particular case I used a light table. The light table provides some of the strongest backlight, allowing detail to show through almost the way an x-ray shows things that aren’t seen with the naked eye. In the case of “Oops” the light controls me. I must be careful to not let the light washout the subject, causing the subject to become a silhouette, or creating distracting shadows. Attention when shooting wildlife is paramount since the subject is not going to sit still. Learning how shutter speeds work and understanding how the speed works in tandem with time required to record a photo helps, but in the end, light is the boss.
Although cedar waxwings do visit my yard, this one was a chance encounter in a parking lot, and I just happened to have had my camera. A group of cedar waxwings were having a party in a holly tree in the parking lot of my local drugstore one Sunday, and I had my camera in my car because that morning I shot some photos at my church. So, a happy coincidence. My luck has not been so good with a certain bald eagle I’m currently pursuing.
Your use of depth of field is outstanding.
Thanks. My favorites among my photos are those in which I get nice depth of field. Getting it involves paying attention to camera aperture and how it works with speed. My first serious camera came with a lens that had a very wide aperture; I was fascinated with how it allowed me to selectively focus on one thing in a picture and make everything else in the photo almost disappear. I still am fascinated by that.
What is the best piece of artistic advice you’ve been given?
The best piece of artistic advice came from a poem I used to teach my students in the ‘70s, “To Look at Anything” by John Moffitt. It’s about knowing things deeply, looking inside things and becoming one with them. It guides much of what I do, but especially my photography. If I am photographing dahlias, monarch butterflies, or blue jays I learn as much as I can about them from both reading and observation. I hope by deeply knowing my subject, I can guide those who view my work to seeing beyond the subject’s initial attraction into its soul.
Do you have any tips for others looking to take still photos?Another way I like to play with light in still life photos is to shoot an object in almost complete darkness, doing an extended time exposure. That sort of work involves lots of trial and error, but I love the results. You can get very intense color without the distraction of shadows and hotspots as shown in “Blue Vase 3” a photo that was taken in the dark for 30 seconds. Take advantage that digital photography has made it possible to take many shots—experiment. You don’t have to make a large investment in a “studio” setup; a simple piece of black velvet as a backdrop and a hardware store lamp is a good place to start. My best advice to any photographer is to begin where you are; look and you will find it.
Have you entered your work in other competitions?I have. In my role as a gifted resource teacher, I was constantly after my students to enter competitions of various sorts. When I retired, I decided that it was time for me to practice what I preached, so I began entering some of my photos in competitions. I’ve entered contests from local to international, once winning a Digital Photo World sweepstakes prize of $1,000. I also had photos published several years in the LSU Ag Center’s “Get It Growing” calendar and exhibited at New Orleans Museum of Art’s Underexposed. In addition, I have donated framed copies of my photos to various fundraisers. Most often I simply post my photos on my Facebook page for my friends and family to enjoy. Love those Likes!
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