THE
MOUNTAINEERS

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My twin passions for nature and photography have grown up together since I was a kid. In the 7th grade I did a project with one of my teachers to produce a multimedia slide show on the effects of overpopulation and pollution on New York City, where I grew up. While in high school, I was a photographer for both the school newspaper and yearbook. I kept being drawn to links between the environment and photography. Color slides from a science project documenting changes in tree species composition in a local park over several decades’ time were used in an educational filmstrip, and the science project, a joint effort with a fellow student, earned a Westinghouse Science Talent Search quarter-finalist award. In college, I was the photographer for the Cornell Concert Commission, and several of my images were used to promote concert tours for the 70’s rock band Renaissance. I studied black and white photography at the renowned Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport, Maine, and was inspired by the original works of such world-famous photographers as George Tice, Jay Maisel and Cole Weston. Eventually, I made photography my hobby and environmental work my career.

I became more serious about photography two years ago, when I became a regular attendee at events sponsored by The Mountaineers Photography Committee. Through classes, workshops and the monthly potlucks where we show each other our work, I have learned a great deal and met a lot of good friends. My photography provides a space within which I can indulge both my obsessive, technically-oriented side (the gadgets and calculations) and my aesthetic side, on those rare occasions when I let it escape (creating images of the places and things I find fascinating, often for reasons unknown). It’s good for the soul, and can produce things of great beauty that can be shared with others.

Portfolio: The themes that connect the five images in this portfolio seem to be a love for the outdoors, the effects of color and composition on setting a mood…and a willingness to endure miserable weather! Many of my favorite images happen to have been taken just before, during or immediately after storms, often with borrowed or rented equipment (sorry, Bill!). After 30 years as an amateur, I have only begun to teach myself to see the world the way photographic film sees it – and to learn to make film record the world the way I see it. It means learning to see light and color, to look for shadows in the rain, to be aware of the effects that slight changes in exposure, composition and the passage of time can make in an image. Thanks for having a look – let me know what you think (jon.shields@quidnunc.net)!