In conversation with... Elise Wormuth (AKA Mythlady)

[carregwen]

Current Hall of Infamy

Sean T. McHugh (McQ)
Steve O'Neill (Wirefox)
Kay Wilson (wilgk)
Mike (Clactonian)
Colin Southern
Peter Ryan
Donald Mackenzie
Jeroen Kippenberg
Raylee O'Neill
Pops Carter
Katy Noelle

I can't work out where all of these charming, intelligent, thoughtful, and interesting lady members are coming from. I mean, on that other photography forum it's all gear-head-high-testosterone males screaming at one another. Not here. On CiC it's all calm, pax, chill... and I think a lot of that is down to our charming lady members. So, here's yet another...

[carregwen]

©Image, Steve (Wirefox)


In conversation with...Elise Wormuth

Name: Elise Wormuth (mythlady)
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
See my shots: My flickr page is http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythlady/
I'm working on a website at http://ewormuth.smugmug.com/Photogra...02311940_xnaZz (feedback on whether I should actually invest in this appreciated!)

Rob: Thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us today.
Elise: You're more than welcome, Rob.

Perhaps we can start by you telling us something about your general back-ground. What about your work history – anything interesting?

I always loved school, so the only thing to do was to continue on (13 years of higher education!) and become a professor. That way I never had to leave and got to buy school supplies on a regular basis. I'm an English prof and Director of the Writing Program at a large urban university, and I've mostly taught people who want to be either high school or community college teachers. That said, I am actively planning my retirement and wish I could do that tomorrow. Three more years. I'm counting the days.

And what about your family life?

Husband, two kids, one grown, one 13. One 25-lb cat -- we tolerate one another, no more.

If you were staying in tonight, what would you choose as one of your favourite books and/or films to keep you entertained, and what you be having as a favourite meal?

My husband and I are married (literally) because of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, so I'd probably be rereading Quicksilver. He also was a chef for many years, so I'd be eating anything he wants to make for me!

Editor's image pick...


OK, photography is a given, but what about other hobbies or personal interests?

I'm interested in expanding my photography into multimedia/digital art, so currently I'm trying to learn to draw and taking classes in other art forms (like watercolor journaling). I also enjoy needlepoint and playing the piano.

Let's get on to photography - how long have you been a photographer, and what got you interested in the first place?

I've been taking pictures since Xmas of 2006, when my husband gave me a Canon S2. I knew nothing about photography and kept saying I wanted a camera with a "zoom," but smart man that he is, he figured out that what I really wanted was a camera with macro capability, so that's what he got me. The rest is history. I have a loooong commute to work (75 miles) up the California coast road, and I started taking my camera with me every day and taking pictures along the way. Before long, I was hooked. My son told me about flickr and I joined right away and loved it.

What type of photography are you interested in, and why?

I love to photograph birds and flowers and want to get more into macro. I live in an agricultural area and like to take pictures of farms and cows and farm equipment and particularly love the way that the fields go right down to the sea around here. I don't take pictures of people, with the exception of my daughter, whom you cannot take a bad picture of. I wish I were brave enough to take pictures of farm workers, but I'm not.

Any particular photographic influences?

Truth be told, the folks on flickr have had a huge influence on me, especially at the beginning. I had the good fortune to fall into a couple of very congenial groups that included folks who were extremely generous with their help and just enough ahead of me in skill that I could try to emulate them without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated. One group had a weekly challenge for both regular and macro photography, and in trying to meet the challenges week by week, I slowly learned the different functions of my camera. Beyond that, I've worked with a number of local teachers in workshops, some great, some not so much. Professionally, I admire many great photographers, particularly nature photographers like Frans Lanting or Nick Brandt. The Pictorialists (see below).

What do you hope to achieve through your photography - or what have you achieved already?

Well, even though I clearly have a long way to go, I think in the past four years, I have come very far. I've moved up from the S2 to a Rebel and then to a 40D, and while I firmly believe that "it's the photographer, not the equipment," each new level of equipment has presented challenges that I've worked hard to learn (if not master). I very early turned my S2 to manual mode and never took it off. I have a set of pictures on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythlad...7594511010742/) of a lighthouse on my way to work that I photographed almost every day over the course of a year, and I learned a tremendous amount from that. I think at this moment I'm working toward what will make my photographs "me," whether that's a particular theme, or approach, or moving beyond "straight" photography (as in using textures and so on).

What you think of CiC? Any way it could be improved? Where should it go from here, in your opinion?

I think CIC is great and am happy to have discovered it. I think that as with flickr for me in the beginning, there are very generous folks who are beyond me in their development, and this is what I need to learn and grow. I also belong to Nature Photographers Network, which is another nice group, but CIC has more of a personal feel. (NPN also costs money to join.)

Editor's pick...


Getting more personal if you don't mind...what keeps you awake at night, apart from Photoshop?

You're asking a woman of a certain age about what keeps her awake at night . . . how much time do you have?

I have to ask this…. What photographic gear do you own, and what software do you use for editing?

Canon Rebel XT and 40D, as I said before.
Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens
Canon 100mm f/2.8 L series macro
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L series telephoto
Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 wide angle
a couple of miscellaneous lenses I don't use (i.e. the kit lens, Sigma 70-300)

Kenko tubes and macro rails for macro work
Tripod and monopod (not terribly good ones, unfortunately)

I need a flash but have never done flash work at all so am not sure what to get.

Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS4, Photomatix but I don't know how to use it, Neat Image (ditto)

Canon Pixma Pro 9500 Mark II printer (just got it -- yay!)

It’s a tough one to answer, but how would you rate your photographic skills and ability?

Intermediate. About a year ago, I had a critique done by a professional, and two things he said that I'll never forget were that I was "visually literate" and "clearly in control of my camera." Hearing those things meant the world to me, because they both represented how far I'd come. At the same time, I get frustrated with myself; maybe it's my age, but I'm always forgetting something (gaakh! I left the ISO on 800! gaakh! I had the image stabilization turned off!). People like you look at a picture of mine and say, why did you have your camera set on X, and I think, because I'm a doofus, that's why!! I keep trying to be a better photographer technically, and I think that I'm inching forward in that regard.

Another tough one for you…do you consider photography to be art?

Absolutely -- how could it not be? You are never "just" capturing "what you saw," or "what was there," a photographer is always making choices and those choices become stylistic and at some point, artistic. There's also an art to the processing of photographs, obviously -- and don't get me started on "photoshopping" pictures. There's a reason that the filters in PS are named for darkroom techniques, people! One of the earliest movements in photography was "Pictorialism," in which Alfred Stieglitz and his group sought to elevate photography to the level of fine art (separating it from snapshots, an issue even then) by manipulating photographs in various ways, including texturing photographs in the same way we do digitally now. See Camera Work, a collection of pictures from Stieglitz's publication, for more details.

What single piece of advice do you think is most useful to someone starting out with photography?

Don't give up, and don't be overwhelmed by the technical aspects (my 40D was in danger of becoming a doorstop at one point). Don't sit and try to figure out the manual -- get out there and take pictures and you'll learn as you look at what you got and see what you need to do to get the kind of pictures you want. Digital is very forgiving. Get off auto settings as soon as possible. Shoot RAW. I guess that's more than a single piece of advice.

Can we see two of your shots that mean something special to you, and could you explain why.

This picture of a humble bucket is one of the earliest pictures I took, and it's one of the first ones that I looked at and said, wow, that's something. People love this picture, and I've sold a bunch of prints of it. It's not great, but it will always be my first love



It's hard to choose another one, because my favorite picture is always the one I just took, but this one shows the direction I'm going with my photography. I love using textures, and this particular one I'm thrilled about -- I recently had it printed on metal and it came out just beautifully. What tickles me about this picture is that it was such an ordinary snap taken while on a tour boat with my brother and his new wife, and it became something so different in the processing -- that's kind of magical, to me. I have to acknowledge that it's no longer a photograph but an image, but that's what I was going for.



Finally, can you give us one interesting/weird/silly thing about you that we probably don’t know?

I've been playing computer games (RPGs and RTS games, mostly) since the late 70's, when my ex-husband went into the computer field. This is embarrassing to me as a university professor who is supposed to have more rarified interests. I also have a subscription to People magazine and read Go Fug Yourself and Perez Hilton almost daily. If you tell anyone at my work any of these things, I'll have to hunt you down and kill you.

That's all we have time for, Elise, but I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to us. It’s been a real pleasure, and I'm sure others will enjoy it.

Thank you! This is fun! I'm off to read everyone else's profiles!

[Fit]

Wonderful artwork, Elise. And don't tell anyone, but I'm a gamer too.

[Katy Noelle]

Well, Elise! I wish that I could sit down with you over a couple of hot cuppas (and a couple of scones?) and just chat away about everything you've mentioned, here. Needlepoint, piano, macro, literature and writing, Santa Cruz, lighthouses - wonderful - the whole thing - wonderful! Lovely to hear from you!

[mythlady]

Thanks very much, Chris and Katy! Chris, are you snowed in today? I grew up in Minnesota, so I feel your pain (or maybe you're enjoying it . . . get out the snowmobile!). Katy, I have the feeling that I would enjoy that too, very much --

[Donald]

Wonderful, Elise. Just wonderful.

Thank you for taking part and sharing some things with us.

[Fit]

Thanks very much, Chris and Katy! Chris, are you snowed in today? I grew up in Minnesota, so I feel your pain (or maybe you're enjoying it . . . get out the snowmobile!). Katy, I have the feeling that I would enjoy that too, very much --

BURIED! Something more than 20" of snow... things at a frigid standstill today. Here we were Saturday out shovelling:

[mythlady]

Looks like home to me --

Thank you, Donald -- this series really gives a personal touch to the website. I really enjoy it.

[Clactonian]

Thanks for baring your soul Elise.
The standard of your work after such a short period is inspirational.

[mythlady]

Thanks very much, Mike -- I appreciate hearing that

[PopsPhotos]

A pleasure, Elise. It is hard to believe you have been shooting for such a short time. As the photographer said, you have the eye. And, you have learned how to see with it.

Pops

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Elise,

An interesting read, thanks for sharing.

You might find this useful for one of your problems; Neat Image, a simple workflow

Just one example where I'm perhaps a step ahead of you, but never the less could learn so much from you in other areas.

Cheers,

[mythlady]

Thanks so much -- Dave, thanks especially for the Neat Image tutorial -- I am still slowly exploring all the rich resources on this website! I'll give it a try.

[Camellia]

Hi Elise

It's nice to hear more about you. Can I join you and Katy for that cuppa?

I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Peter Ryan]

Everything that is to be said has been. I am pleased you joined CiC and thanks for sharing something of yourself with us.

[mythlady]

Thanks very much, Raylee and Peter -- it's good to meet you too!

[wilgk]

I just sent the husband out to do the 'pick up from work' run tonight....i wasn't leaving here till I finished reading this....I feel like we've been just here having a chat
The comment's after your critique that you shared are really interesting to me, as at times I get the 'out of control' feeling, rather than the 'being in control'.
When I'm doing something that's less familiar to me, usually involving that scary flash thingy...It's like I'm not sure what I'm going to get, the camera is in charge a bit.
Perfect reason to keep trying those new things

Oh and I forgot, there is 1 wee rule they forgot to tell you about.....this is an arachnid free zone
I have been known to run screaming from the room or hide under the desk if such images appear.
But Being a fan of the Scotsman, and an exponent of such lovely macro work as the cute bug shown here.....you're forgiven

[mythlady]

Oh and I forgot, there is 1 wee rule they forgot to tell you about.....this is an arachnid free zone

I was not aware of that rule! Don't open my thread that has "spider" in the title! I'm not that fond of bugs myself, and I certainly don't like to see a big spider coming at me from across the room -- but that little bug in the picture Rob chose was very photogenic -- he rode home with me in a bouquet of flowers I bought at a dahlia show, and I really wanted to hang onto him until I got home, because he was so cute. (My gardener says he was a potato bug.)

I'm still very surprised when it all comes together and I get a great pic -- the ones I took to that critique were 10 pretty good pictures out of literally thousands I'd taken. I often think it's like putting a bunch of monkeys in front of typewriters -- as they say, eventually they'll type Shakespeare. I'm hoping that over time, things will come together more and more, and I do see that happening, in that I'm more careful about composing in-camera, I check the edges of the frame (not always), and so on. But it still feels like there are so many balls to keep in the air at once, and I'm not a very good juggler.

Thanks for your comments --

[carregwen]

I just sent the husband out to do the 'pick up from work' run tonight...

I don't think you would do that if it were Donald. You'd be in the kitchen scrubbing the sporran. http://www.bagpipejourney.com/articl...cleaning.shtml

[Donald]

I don't think you would do that if it were Donald. You'd be in the kitchen scrubbing the sporran.

But she would be enjoying it, ... after having cleaned out the coal fire, blackenend the hearth, washed the dishes, done the ironing, got my paper and my slippers ... and poured me a large dram. And then we'd have chatted about our shared belief is sexual equality!