The Laguna Woods Camera Club held its annual tradition of presenting members’ best photographs. At a ceremony, photos of birds, plants and animals dominated, and awards were handed out in several categories, including pictorial, monochrome, special subject and artistic expression, judges awards and best in show.
In pictorial, Lara Ferraro won first place for her photo “Gone Fishing,” a close-up of a black bear about to nab a fish. Larry Goodman took second place for his photo of a watchful fox in “Red Fox of Pt. Furman Lighthouse,” and Raymond LaBelle placed third for “Heart,” of two seabirds craning their necks into the shape of a heart as a baby bird looks on. That photo also earned LaBelle a judges award.
In the monochrome category, Myra Posner took first place with her interpretation of a plant titled “Nature’s Curves.” The flawless composition also earned her the coveted best in show award.
Second place in monochrome went to Ferraro for “Morning Catch,” of a seabird nabbing a fish out of the water, and third went to Goodman for “Morning Breakfast,” also of a seabird with a fish in its bill.
In the category special subject and artistic expression, George Harper won first place for “Big Leaves.” His wife, Bette Harper, took fourth place in the same category for “All Alone,” a minimalist photo of a lone plant in a sea of white sand.
The photographers recently shared some insights into their winning works, which can be summed up into four words: skill, planning, patience and perseverance. Their equipment ranged from pricey to basic, and at times even a smartphone did the trick. Some have completed Saddleback Emeritus photography classes, others are still enrolled. All have mastered and depend on post-production techniques like Lightroom or Photoshop.
Ferraro’s winning entry “Gone Fishing” was shot in Kake, Alaska, where black bears were feasting on salmon near a fish hatchery.
“We were positioned perfectly when a couple of black bears came through, and one decided to stop right in front of us when I captured the photo,” Ferraro said in an email.
Her penchant for wildlife photography makes weather conditions crucial, and the unpredictability of wildlife behavior is a big factor for consideration, she said.
“But, as they say, luck favors the prepared,” she added.
Goodman captured the red fox in San Pedro. “The fox was posing very nicely,” he recalled.
Goodman has shown his work in at least six galleries in Oregon but never earned a living with it. Instead, he worked as a teacher and school administrator.
“I have a particular style,” he said. “I want to go beyond realism. I want to create images that have emotional impact.”
It took a great amount of perseverance for Goodman to capture the seabird in the monochromatic “Morning Breakfast.”
“The bird flew at great speed, and I had to be really fast, choose a fast shutter speed and also try to capture its beauty and grace,” he said. “I have 100 shots of its right wing position alone and many others where the fish was in the wrong position. Finally, I got the one where the fish’s and the bird’s eye line up perfectly – I must have looked at 1,500 photographs.”
LaBelle stays closer to home for his work. He photographs birds at the San Joaquin Wildlife Preserve in Irvine, where he captured the amorous western grebes with a telephoto lens.
“I was 75 yards away,” he said. “You got to get lucky with wildlife photography.”
Wildlife, flowers and his grandchildren are LaBelle’s specialties, he said. He’s still perfecting his skills by watching YouTube instructional videos, and he has switched to a lighter camera and lenses.
“You can get closer to the animals, and the lenses are a lot less pricey,” he said.
As for post-production work, LaBelle said that birds require a lot of it.
“It’s hard to concentrate on the animals and fill the frame effectively,” he said.
Posner captured the beautifully photographed plant in “Nature’s Curves” in her Village neighborhood.
“I always walk around either with a camera or my iPhone 13. My winner is an iPhone picture. The only change I made to it was to convert it to monochrome,” said Posner, who has been photographing for 15 years. “The light was just right – it was a beautiful picture to start with.”
George Harper started out in videography but switched to photography when he took an Emeritus class with Saddleback College.
“I like wildlife and birds and sport photography, especially surfers in action,” he said.
He took his first-place photo “Big Leaves” not outside but on a field trip to the Orange County Museum of Art with his intermediate photography class.
“This was not a plant. It was a work of art that I first wanted to photograph from above. When that did not work, I took it from below with my phone, a Samsung F9,” he said.
Betty Harper took her photo “All Alone” in New Mexico.
“White Sands National Park is such a beautiful, solitary place,” she said. “I saw this beautiful little plant and its shadow across it, and it was so peaceful.”
She said she took up photography as a hobby after her husband became an enthusiast.
“If you can’t beat them, join them,” she said.
Special mention should go to Ken Furuta, a multiple winner over the years, who tied for third place in the pictorial category for “Contemplation,” a close-up of a pensive looking ape, which he took at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
“I had to wait a considerable time to get that pose,” he recalled.
Furuta particularly enjoys taking action scenes of wildlife and sports, as well as landscape and macro photography.
“Some work requires substantial planning, such as landscape and macro, but chance or luck will often play a significant role when photographing wildlife and sports,” he said.
He took his action shot “Clearing the Rails,” of a horseback rider, at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park. It took fourth place in the special subject and artistic expression category.
He also won third place in monochrome for his architectural photo “The Center for Brain Health,” of the Lou Ruvo building in Las Vegas.
“Many of my photos are captured during vacations, but most are made on planned photo excursions,” Furuta said. “Many also involve local destinations.”
