Category Archives: People

Photographer’s Choice – Christine McCarty

Simple Can Be Better

Christine McCarty - Hand With Guitar

Christine McCarty - Hand With Guitar

There’s no missing the focal point in this image. The focus is is on the hand, not the guitar but the two go together to tell the gentle story. Christine chose to place the subject in soft, filtered natural light placed against a dark background to prevent any extraneous objects from distracting the eye. A narrow depth of field provided sharp focus on the hand with a gradual softening as the neck with the head and tuning keys points to the upper right. The final touch is to render the scene in black and white adding to the classical look. Overall, a very pleasing image.

Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T3 with an EF-S18-ffmm f/3.5-5.6 ISII Lens
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO: 800

Photographer’s Choice – Kelly Clampitt

Pickin’ and Fiddlin’ at Phipps Store

Kelly Clampitt - Phipps Store near Lansing

Kelly Clampitt - Phipps Store near Lansing

The images above and below are just two great examples of the work by Kelly, one of four ACC members, who recently participated in the “Lansing Project”, an attempt to capture the everyday life of area residents. A total of 36 large black and white images will be displayed at the old Lansing School during June with the proceeds to benefit the Greater Lansing Area Development program.
Instead of sticking with the tried and true approach, Kelly elected to move to the edge with a focal length of only 10mm for some extreme wide angle shots. As in most cases, these images show considerable distortion which, with the right subject matter, only adds to the interest. If you listen carefully, you can hear the mountain music in Phipps Store.
The photo below depicts James “Dawg” Wood, who volunteered to be a subject for the project, with two of his prized rare Crockett Plott hounds whose origins in North Carolina date back to the mid 1700’s. The setting, the signs and the two hounds tell the story of, as Kelly says, ” A vastly talented and unassuming man except when bowing his fiddle, Dawg thought it quite odd that he should be the subject of any documentary. He much prefers to be in the background, so I had challenges getting him “in” some of the shots. My experience working with Dawg gave me a deeper appreciation for the people and bounty of these mountains I now call home.” Quite a statement from an Oklahoma girl by way of California.

Kelly Clampitt - James "Dawg" Wood On His Front Stoop

Kelly Clampitt - James "Dawg" Wood On His Front Stoop