Member Spotlight

Jan Kellogg

I first became interested in photography many years ago when a friend of mine gave me some basic instruction on how to use manual controls on a 35mm film camera.  I was fascinated by the interaction of aperture, shutter and film speed to get the correct exposure.   Soon afterwards I bought my first 35mm single lens reflex camera using some money I had been given as a gift.  (I couldn’t afford to buy it with my own money!)

In those early years, I experimented taking photos, but rarely got very satisfactory results.  I didn’t have the time or money to concentrate on learning how to take the kind of photos I envisioned when I pressed the shutter. I kept promising myself I would learn more about photography, as my interest was still there.  In the late 1980’s I was finally able to take some photography classes and buy some better equipment.  My images improved with practice.

As the image quality produced by digital cameras improved in the late 1990’s, I made the switch to digital.  I soon learned how to improve my images even more using Photoshop.  As I learned more about photography, I began teaching photography classes and printing images for myself and others.

I take photos of anything that I find interesting – from nature and wildlife to everyday scenes and still life.  I especially like finding patterns in nature and a new angle on overlooked common place subjects.  I also enjoy combining photos using Photoshop to achieve a totally different image.

I found that learning and practicing my photography skills has many side benefits that I hadn’t expected.  I’ve met lots of interesting people, traveled to new amazing places and learned so much about nature and wildlife.   Photography keeps evolving as new technology comes online.  In order to keep up, these changes help me to stay active and engaged.   

It was difficult to choose just a few photos to display on this website.  The ones found here represent a cross-section of my favorite photos taken over the course of the last 30 years.  I hope you enjoy them!