Your house is on fire! Besides your family members (pets included), what’s the one item you would try to save on the way out? My answer: My photo album. Okay, albums—as many as possible. My firefighter brother would frown upon my answer as he constantly warns people not to grab anything when fleeing a burning building, but then again photography is not his passion like it is mine.
My name is Michele Cheplic and I will be joining Nicole Humphrey (who, by the way is doing an incredible job) here in the photography blog. Some of you may know me from the Travel and Pop Culture blogs. Interestingly, both of those topics have roots in photography as well and I will be writing more about them in future blogs. But for now, I wanted to give you some background on my photography skills.
My grandfather owned and operated his own professional photo studio in Hawaii. He has since passed away, but not before getting me hooked on photography. He was my mentor and inspiration. When he died I inherited his vast collection of professional photography equipment. I stored much of it away, but kept out (and use) some of the more “modern” equipment, which I will detail in a future blog.
My grandfather was a photo nut. I don’t remember many times when he didn’t have a camera strapped to his neck waiting to capture the perfect Kodak moment—be it a stunning Hawaiian sunset, a close up of one of his prize winning roses, or a candid shot of one of us (his nine grandchildren). My grandfather would be thrilled to know that the countless hours he spent teaching me the finer points of photography was not done in vain. Getting the chance to share his lessons with you is an incredible opportunity.
In addition to still photography I also have a background in videography. Prior to giving birth to my daughter I spent more than a decade as a television news reporter. I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I was required to take classes in videography in order to obtain my degree in broadcast journalism. Upon graduating I had the chance to fine tune my videography skills when I took my first reporting job. Smaller television markets require reporters to not only write the stories that air on the evening news, but they are also required to shoot them as well. I began shooting on 3/4″ tape, moved to BETA and Hi-8, and eventually advanced to larger markets where I was able to team up with a “real” photographer. Which is not to say I lost interest in videography, it just meant that I was able to concentrate strictly on reporting instead of having to split my time between shooting and reporting.
These days my number one photo subject (both still photos and video) is my 3-year-old daughter. I have more than 5,000 pictures of her filed chronologically in massive photo albums (the same ones I would grab should my house go up in flames). I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge of the world of photography with you–from tips on getting grumpy kids to smile to reviews of my personal camera equipment—and, of course, addressing any questions you may have along the way.