Jan. 2000
President's
Message
Portrait of ...
Portrait Of ...
Jane Strobach
When Bob Coffey asked me to write a portrait of myself for The Reflector I thought he must have confused me with someone else. I had read all of the glowing love-at-first-click-happily-moving-on-to-beautiful-photos and success-ever-after accounts of other members and this definitely didn't describe me. Instead I have bumbled through several phases and still feel like a beginner.
"Butterfly"
Copyright © J. Strobach
Phase one: Young Girl Meets Camera began and ended with a single roll of film. I ventured out with an old Brownie and a roll of black and white film. What caught my eye was a green bottle fly (there isn't a whole lot of breathtaking scenery in Indiana) and I happily chased after it snapping as I ran. Imagine my disappointment when I saw the dark gray blobs that came back. Photography and I were through!
Phase two: How to Fill Albums and Anesthetize your Friends began much later with a trip west. A friend of mine, who couldn't stand the idea of my traveling unencumbered, sent me off with a camera she'd picked up at a yard sale for $.25. This time the blobs were in color and bigger (prairie dogs) and there were even a few recognizable shots of my daughter, mountains rising in the background, that I could stick in an album and show to friends. Photography was looking a bit better so I bought a little point and shoot camera (one that wasn't held together with duct tape) and discovered that if I bribed my friends with dinner (I can cook) they were willing to sit through travel slides and even murmur a few pleasant comments before dozing off.
Phase three: Photo for Photo's Sake came still later when my at-that-time-love-interest handed me his SLR and said essentially, "I'm busy; go amuse yourself and stay out of my hair for a while." It was spring and I spent the day trying to photograph some of the flowers in Valley Garden Park. I had a wonderful time, took some pictures that I liked and was finally hooked. I bought a "real" camera, joined DCC and began the often rewarding often frustrating pursuit of photography. I can't claim to have progressed evenly (or to have even progressed). I backslide frequently. I still chase bugs around my yard (now with my Nikon 8008s and my favorite lens, a 105 macro) and end up with blurs. Sometimes I toss my point and shoot camera in my suitcase or backpack and settle for a few memory shots. I still have days when I look at the piece of equipment in my hands as though it were an alien life form and wonder how it got there and what I'm supposed to be doing with it anyway. And at times I still look at the results I get back with disgust, decide "Photography and I are through", and shove my camera and tripod to the back of the closet. Then I see the golden tones of a late afternoon sun (which I didn't truly notice before I started taking pictures), or I remember one of those wonderful days when I set out with my camera and became so absorbed in the moment that it didn't much matter about the final results, or I think of those love-at-first-click-happily-moving-on-to-beautiful-photos-and success-ever-after club members who are always there to instruct and encourage those of us who are still struggling and I drag everything out of the closet and start all over again.