The Unwanted Guest by Bodhisatya Bhaduri
We’re widening the lens on some of our longstanding photo contest participants.
September marks one of my favorite times of year as the editor of Plymouth Magazine. Submissions for our Picture Plymouth photo contest have closed, and in just a few clicks, I get to access a year’s worth of creativity.
The Last Glance, which is always found as the final page of our magazine (page 40 of this issue), serves as a showcase for these creative endeavors. But while the focus is (rightfully) on the image, I often find myself wanting to know more about the photographers. For this year’s Editor’s Pick, I sat down with some of our perennial Last Glance photographers to learn more about their creative practice—plus, they share never-before-entered shots from their files.
“I bought my first camera somewhere around 15 years back. Since then, I’ve never stopped taking pictures.”—Bodhisatya Bhaduri
If you’ve noticed a long exposure shot of fireworks lighting up the silhouette of the Hilde Performance Center, there’s a good chance you’re looking at the work of Bodhisatya Bhaduri. It can be difficult to capture these ephemeral displays, he says, which is why he usually uses a tripod. “Sometimes, I take multiple shots and combine them. Sometimes, it’s just one long exposure,” he says.
Bhaduri says that photography has changed the way he looks at things in his daily life. “If I’m walking or even if I’m getting groceries, I would always see things and think, ‘OK, would this look better at this angle?’” And although he laughs saying this, he adds that he enjoys these sudden bursts of inspiration. “Sometimes, if I have the camera or even if I have the phone handy, I would just take a shot and see how it looks.”
“When you see an image that is interesting or beautiful or just creative, it just makes you excited about wanting to see new places, visit new parts.”—Cathy Milostan
Blue boats ready for another fun day at Medicine Lake in Plymouth by Cathy Milostan
Cathy Milostan says one of the things she loves about living in Plymouth is the multitude of parks and lakes. The busy trails at Clifton E. French Regional Park are a particular favorite for the resident and have appeared in a number of her Picture Plymouth submissions. “It’s just a lot going on,” Milostan says, citing natural elements like brooks and ponds but also architectural elements, including bridges and boat launches.
A hallmark of Milostan’s work is the contrast between natural elements and manmade structures. “I just like looking at how you can develop different angles, different ways of looking at the same view,” Milostan says. The ethos of her photography is capturing the excitement of discovering something new. “It could be a situation where the clouds are just right, or there’s a bird that happens to wander in your view, and you realize this is something really interesting and unusual that you normally wouldn’t see,” she says.
“I treat it like a treasure hunt. For me, the biggest thing is just get out there, and you’ll find something.”—Larry Paulson
Sunrise in French Park by Larry Paulson
Retiree Larry Paulson says that throughout his career as an engineer, he was constantly working with the analytical side of his brain. “When I retired, I wanted to flip the script and spend the rest of my years working more on the creative side of the brain,” he says. “Photography has been one of the main ways that I’ve pursued that.”
Paulson describes his work as nature photography. “That can include, for me, anything like sunrises and sunsets or moonrises and moonsets, landscapes or cityscapes,” he says, noting he’s also started pursuing more wildlife photography. “I guess the thing that ties them all together is it’s a great excuse to get outdoors,” he says.
Nature can be a fickle subject, especially when you have a certain shot in mind. Clouds don’t always cooperate; you miss the moonrise. “But invariably, something else will turn up,” Paulson says. “You might not find what you left the house to find, but you’ll probably find something else.”
“The nice thing about photography is that it’s very straightforward to get into. There’s a set of best practices in how you take pictures, and if you follow them, you’re halfway there.”—Matthew Prior
Winter Sunbeam by Matthew Prior
Although he started out predominantly interested in wildlife photography, Matthew Prior says he’s become increasingly diverse in his subjects. “I enjoy trying to capture beautiful images,” he says. This has evolved over time into what Prior describes as a more planned stage of his photography. “I see something in my life, I visualize the image, and then I go back and capture the image,” he says.
Many of these images are captured on the Luce Line State Trail, which Prior says offers up a host of subjects from wildlife to light manufacturing, residential homes to views of Medicine Lake. “It’s a lovely place to be,” he says. “There’s no traffic; there’s no noise. It’s just a wonderful, peaceful place where you can see all different parts of Plymouth.”
“For me, it’s all about getting a decent picture, and it doesn’t matter how many different species [I see]. I would rather have one good one than 20 lousy ones.”—Jan Speak
Whooo are you looking at? by Jan Speak
Although she guesstimates that her photography files are 95 percent birds, Jan Speak draws a distinction between herself and birders. “As long as they can see it or even hear it, they record that as, ‘Yup, got this bird today,’” Speak says. “For me, it has to be a good picture.” But even though the end goal is different, Speak still shares a similar passion for knowledge. “Over the years, I’m just learning more and more about their habitat, sound, where you can find them, where they migrate and how big they are,” she says. “It’s fascinating.”
For Speak, there’s a particular sense of accomplishment that comes from capturing rare or particularly flighty subjects. “If I find a bird that’s hard to get, and I just happen to get really lucky and get a good picture for that millisecond that it’s sitting there, and it’s clear and in focus, that would be a success for me,” she says.
Catching the Bug
Through the process of interviewing these local shutterbugs, it was impossible not to find their enthusiasm for photography infectious. Over the course of this winter and spring, I took to the parks and trails of Plymouth with an eye out for aesthetic opportunities.
Setting out with a specific intention changed the way I viewed my surroundings. A pretty moonrise at Millennium Garden became a practice in framing. A particularly gnarled tree hollow at Lake Camelot became an experiment in lighting.
My favorite outing was to the Luce Line State Trail around the golden hour. I tried my (shaky) hand at macro photography, capturing clusters of shell-like mushrooms on a thin trunk. I documented a fallen birdfeeder with the inscription, “Come eat at Northern Taphouse.” I looked for unique ways to contrast industrial concrete pipes with the budding purple leaves of a nearby bush.
Overall, my biggest takeaway from my photography adventures was to just get out there, and try. You never know what you might find, and there’s fun to be had in the process.
