Members Gallery: “Prints” with Stan Bysshe; “Digital” with Tom Schum

Stay Photographically Nimble, Find Your Go To Place By Stan Bysshe

We all love to take pictures. I’d like to think that over the last forty years I have learned something about photography but I keep finding new ways to improve. Traveling to far off photogenic destinations can be inspiring, but those trips, for me, are often separated by long time gaps. So the challenge becomes how to stay photographically nimble. When I was photographing primarily underwater, I loved to visit the same reef time and again. Now, shooting exclusively on land, I have found my go to location near my home, Huntley Meadows. Of course I travel locally to other spots, but I try to get to Huntley at least once a week. Some mornings nature surprises me, some mornings are slow, but in every instance I have a camera in my hands and I have to deal with the conditions and subjects as they present themselves. Besides being outdoors, I love that my time at Huntley is spent finding a special moment in nature and trying to capture it.

All images were taken either with a Nikon D5 or D500. All were on a tripod and with one of two lenses, Nikon 80-400mm and Nikon 500mm f4.

I love to print but try to keep it simple. I use an Epson Sure Color P800 with Epson papers, pre cut mats and mat boards.

Tom Schum (tomschumelectronics.com) Bio

Since I was a teenager, photography has been a hobby.  I shot and developed and printed monochrome 35mm in 1967-1970, but took a long break to raise a family and pursue an electronics engineering career.

Late in my career I was able to re-start the photography hobby, this time digital.  After having a great time with a pocket Minolta Dimage X, I bought a Canon 30D in 2004 and a Sigma point and shoot in 2006.  This was followed by more Sigmas and eventually some Fuji cameras.

Now that I am retired I welcome lots of uncommitted time, the ultimate luxury.  What better way to spend it than to aimlessly wander around town acting like a tourist?

By the time I retired, I had spent way too much time sitting in front of the computer processing hobby images.  I concluded I don’t need to learn more about this end of photography. While I like to look at some of the arty images done by the many gifted members of this club, I prefer to leave electric wires, visual clutter, litter, and bird poop in my own images.  I like the authenticity.

I like to watch and listen as the latest Lightroom and Photoshop techniques are ably explained and demonstrated in full detail at the NVPS meetings.  And, I especially like not having to remember any of it. I’m not progressing in my technical skills. It’s too much like work!

My photographic vision is similarly hap-hazardous, but every hundred or so snaps I get a keeper.  I even print now and then. I used to have an Epson R2000 but threw it out after years spent buying way too many ink cartridges.  I can highly recommend Nations Photo Labs on the web, so long as you turn off their “color correction”.

So, I don’t really have a photographic vision, only just to shoot and enjoy.

I like landscape, street (if I can avoid bothering anybody), some wildlife, standard tourist type photos and, of course, grandchildren (one so far).

I joined NVPS in 2017 and prefer to shoot my Fuji X-T100 with manual lenses.  I have no future goals or plans for the development of my photography.