The Durango Photography Club

PRESIDENT: Howard Rachlin
rachnews@mydurango.net 970-375-0114

After spending his life within 60 miles of New York City, he and his wife, Christine decided to retire to Durango 2001. After quickly finding out, much to his surprise, that Durango didn't have a photography club, he started one in February of 2003. The club has grown to over 100 members and welcomes anyone with an interest in photography in the Four Corners area. Howards award winning photographs hang in homes and offices across the country and have been published numerous times in Durango Magazine, the Durango Herald and Arts Perspective. They have also been used commercially in advertisements, brochures and website design. His photography has been exhibited in many galleries, exhibits and juried shows in the Four Corners area.

He shares his knowledge and experience with members of the Durango Photography Club , as well as with the Boys and Girls Club and Kids Kamp. Howard has often been chosen to judge photographic competitions and has presented many seminars on photography in the region.

Presently his "main camera" is a Sony Alpha 700 DSLR.

VICE PRESIDENT / PROGRAM DIRECTOR: JERRY BAUMANN
gsbaumann@msn.com

Jerry Baumann has lived in Colorado for 40 years, photographing historic trains, landscapes, Puebloan ruins, wild flowers, and children. He resides in Durango, Colorado.

HOSPITALITY CHAIRMAN, MARYANNE NELSON

COMMUNICATIONS CHAIRPERSON: YVONNE LASHMETT

FIELD TRIP CHAIRMAN:

WEBMASTER: VERN RUCKER
admin@cortezkids.com.org

TREASURER / MEMBERSHIP CHAIRPERSON: LINDA PAMPINELLA
lpampin@mindspring.com

The Durango Photography Club was my inspiration for switching from film to digital. The Club has introduced me to many talented photographers who have become good friends, and it has turned my mere interest in photography into a real passion. Thanks, DPC!

I grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and lived in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and The Colony, Texas, before moving to Bayfield, Colorado, in 1999 with my husband, Tom, and son, Thomas. My work regularly appears in DURANGO MAGAZINE as well as various galleries in the Durango area. I have won numerous awards, including Grand Champion of bo th the Archuleta County Fair and the La Plata County Fair, and Honorable Mention at the Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College. For 2007 I am honored to have been selected as a Durango Area Tourism Office “Chosen Artist”. My camera is a Nikon D200.

SECRETARY, ROSS WORLEY

Decades ago, I took a couple of photography classes in college. That whetted my appetite for photography, especially landscape photography. Work and family intervened, however, and I didn’t do much shooting for a long time. I worked for many years in the Audiovisual Center at Fort Lewis College, and even though most of our work there involved classroom playback and projection support, I was around photography and never lost my admiration for an exceptional image.

In the last six or eight years, I have read, reread and pored over John Fielder’s book Photographing the Landscape: The Art of Seeing and a few other landscape photography books. About four years ago, I took a short vacation to Creede, Lake City, Ridgeway, and Dolores. I shot a couple hundred images on that trip and, although I had only a few images that I really liked, I felt renewed. On that and subsequent photo shoots, I’ve realized that landscape photography not only gets me out of doors, but connects me with my spiritual life more deeply than many other activities. Just learning to see what’s actually out there is a skill in itself.

Today, I’m still shooting with my original Nikkormat 35mm camera, several lenses and assorted peripheral equipment. I feel my skills are that of an intermediate amateur. I have plenty to learn about the art of creating a pleasing image – compositional features of texture, line, color, framing, lighting, perspective, light and shadow, and so forth – and what I call the craft of photography – depth of focus, exposure, aperture, lens characteristics, film characteristics, use of filters, etc. I expect I’ll move to digital imaging some time, but of course that introduces new technology and new ways of operating a camera, not to mention a computer and software.

In the meantime, I shoot when I can just for the fun, experience, and camaraderie of it. The Durango Photography Club is a terrific club; there are folks of many different skill levels and interests participating, but everyone is treated with respect, the speakers are very interesting, and a variety of activities are possible.