Study Group 9

Fred Drury

Bill Thompson
Brian Swinyard
Beverly Caine
Fred Drury
John Larson
Shaikh Amin

Mayra Pau

January      Image - " Sable Pass"

How I did it -This is another image from my Alaskan adventure this past August-September. Sable Pass is one of several passes crossed by the 94 mile park road in Denali. In this case we were traveling back from the mountain towards the Park office. Coming over the pass, which can be a bit of a white knuckled drive because of the narrow road and the numerous tour buses, I was struck by the way in which the limited light defined and augmented the color of the hills surrounding this valley. We managed to find a spot to pull off and spent about an hour shooting the scene from different perspectives.

Comments
Bill Thompson A striking image. How I envy your trip. I have been in every state except Alaska, and in spite of several tries, I just have never made it.
Brian Swinyard This is another of your stunning landscape images Fred which I presume is an HDR variant? The interplay of light on the hillsides is lovely and makes the viewer want to journey through the creases and folds of the mountains.
Beverly Caine You make Alaska sound better every month. I never got these kind of shots when I was there. Super
John Larson This is a beautiful image. I think that makes it so dramatic are the storm clouds. The only thing I could think of is if there were a person or some kind of object in the foreground so that one could get an idea of the dramatic size of these mountains.
Shaikh Amin  It worthed pulling off and capturing this beautiful scenic view. Was this single shot or used HDR method? I liked the thick clouds hovering over the mountains which make it more dramatic.
Mayra Pau I love what you did, I really like the clouds, it looks more like a Pastel painting, really nice. There is not much to critic in that photography.
 
Member Biography
Fred Drury
I started making images shortly after graduating from McGills University in Montreal, Canada when I attended its World Fair, EXPO67. My first SLR was an Olympus OM-1, which I used to document many of the mining and construction operations I visited in my work providing technical support to explosives users throughout North America. I eventually switched to Nikon, starting out with an 8008, then an N90 and eventually an F5.
In the 80’s my wife and I both became SCUBA certified and shortly thereafter I bought my first underwater camera, a Nikonos V. Within a couple of years, underwater photography became my passion. In the early 90’s, I was an early-adopter of the Nikonos RS system … the first full-function 35mm SLR made for use underwater (not in a housing). I used this system to photograph coral reefs and their inhabitants in all of the world’s tropical seas. In the mid-90’s, following the sale of my business, I was invited to join the senior management team of the purchaser who was based in Oslo, Norway. Traveling internationally to its operations, especially those in southern Asia and Australia, provided lots of opportunities to dive and photograph in exotic locations. I regularly shared my underwater images at the annual conference of Our World Underwater, the major dive-expo here in the US Midwest (i.e. Chicago). My work was recognized with local, national and international awards, including a first prize in the annual Papua New Guinea Photo Contest.

Following my retirement in 1998, I became a member of the faculty at the College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, IL teaching underwater photography. I also began to lecture on the subject of Color Management, which I’d been very much forced into learning as I sought for quality inkjet reproductions of my images. In those ‘early days’, inkjet prints were certainly not noted for their archival properties, nor were the printer manufacturers interested in the ‘photo print’ market. For example, I found it pretty much impossible to find anyone at Epson who would admit to knowing anything about a printer profile.

My teaching activities have expanded. In addition to underwater photography, I now instruct advanced Photoshop. I also teach a variety of Photoshop and Digital classes at The Morton Arboretum. I am a regular presenter at regional ‘Camera Club Council’ events in Michigan (SWMCCC) and Massachusetts (NECCC). At the PSA conference this year, I conducted a Photoshop seminar and presented a program entitled ‘Profiling Digital Projectors for International Competitions’.

My images, both underwater and surface, are in galleries here in the Chicago area as well as in Door County, Wisconsin. The Shedd Aquarium has used more than 30 of my images in the ‘Wild Reef’ exhibit. I do all of my own printing on an Epson 7600. ‘Markland Imaging’, my studio operation, prints editions for area artists and provides additional services including slides, cards, matting and framing. I have just added one of the new Canon iPF5000 printers and I’m looking forward to seeing how it performs. My current computer is a Dell Precision 670 workstation (PC).

Over the past five years I have gradually transitioned from film to digital. I began using a D100 and housing for my underwater macro work in 2003 and found the experience ‘liberating’. Being able to check a histogram and know that I’d ‘nailed’ the underwater exposure was a great relief compared to the bracketing necessary with film. Liberating too was no longer being constrained by the 36 exposure limitation of film. The results were a very pleasant surprise … I found I consistently was able to achieve better images with digital than had ever been possible with film … images were just plain sharper!

This spring I made the big switch from Nikon to Canon for my above water work. I sold my underwater RS equipment and invested in a Canon 1DS Mkll, and I’ve been most happy with the results. Lately, I’ve been making a lot of HDR images and I’m excited about how this method helps me obtain increased shadow detail.

Having been a practicing engineer for more than 40 years, I’m very much enjoying creating new challenges for the right side of my brain. I look forward to sharing my images and my thoughts on image-making with the group.

'You can view my images at our Markland website at www.marklandimaging.com'