Ted Ringger
When I was nine years old, my grandmother gave me my first camera. That Brownie Hawkeye box camera inspired an interest to document family events and travel that has continued for almost seven decades. Through the years, simple cameras were replaced by 35mm film cameras and finally by the digital gear I use today.
I joined the club in 2009 because there was no organization like it in Columbia. I served a few years as Vice President and Secretary but distance, inertia, Covid, and my computing short-comings have made me one of our least-engaged members. Maybe with this posting, I can snap out of it.
I was born and raised in the Bronx and escaped New York after graduation from City College. Graduate school work in freshwater biology in Wisconsin cemented an appreciation for science and the intricate beauty of the natural world. School was followed by a consulting job that brought me into the electric utility industry where I spent almost thirty years doing environmental issue management and compliance support. It was a satisfying blend of science, nature, government and history.
Retirement has allowed me to travel and document these interests. Since 2011, travels, history and the occasional photographic tip have been posted on the ‘Images and More’ blog. To date, I have photographed the graves of all the American presidents, most of the vice presidents and all the Supreme Court Chief Justices. My collection of major league ballparks is up to twenty-four. In 2023, I completed a quest to photograph all fifty state capitol buildings.
I have never lost interest in what a camera can do to capture and preserve times, moods and places. I see myself more as a documentarian than an artist—and rather than focus on post-production, I have retained the old film directive to “take the best shot with the camera” and not depend on the computer. To that end, I believe the best photographic results are ones that capture the feeling of a space or moment in time.
Besides researching and writing the blog, I like to exercise. Regular gym visits, street biking and bowling are enjoyable activities. I would have to say that ten-pin bowling is my favorite game. I have rolled eleven sanctioned ‘300’ games over the years and met my wife in a bowling center.
I have been to Europe eighteen times and am fascinated by the grand Gothic cathedrals and their appreciation of history. Along with the iconic national parks and preserves of our own country, there will always be much to see and try to capture. My intention is to keep visiting and documenting as much natural and man-made beauty as life allows.
Don Becker
Actually, in addition to being a “new member” of SSCC, I am also probably it’s oldest member. I actually joined the SSCC when I first moved to Silver Spring right out of graduate school in 1961. I continued an active membership for over 40 years, winning many ribbons and medals from the SSCC and other competitions, including becoming a “Star member” about 2000 or so. At about that time, due to my activities both as a nuclear chemist working at NIST and as an instructor and Associate Director of the Washington School of Photography (WSP) (from 1981 to 2016, when it dissolved), I pulled back from the SSCC including not competing and attending fewer and fewer of the meetings.
At WSP I was most active in organizing and teaching workshops on all phases of photography, including portraiture, fashion, studio lighting techniques, architecture, macro photography, nature photography, large format photography, and artistic nude photography. When the school dissolved in 2016, two other instructors and I formed a Maryland non-profit corporation (Maryland Photography Workshops) to continue and complete the certificate program for the 20 or 30 students who were half-way through their MD state approved Certificate in Professional Photography. When this ended in 2018, I continued on my own, teaching workshops using rental studios in the area. Covid put a damper on the workshops for the past several years, as did the passing of the owner of the rental studio I used, in early 2023. But now, with the completion of my friend and workshop partner’s home studio, I am again teaching my workshops. The first one in his studio is April 7, on Photography of the Ballet. Several members of SSCC attend my workshops on a regular basis.
I became particularly interested in photographing ballet dancers in 1981, when there was a general call for photographers to photograph a dress rehearsal of The Washington Ballet (TWB). This was when the TWB was just starting out as a ballet company, and they did not have the funds for hiring photographers for their publicity. I responded to the call, and photographed virtually every dress rehearsal of TWB from 1981 to about 2001. By that time the ballet had become a great success, and when they became unionized about 2002 they no longer allowed me to be a photographer; they only used big name commercial photographers for their photographic needs. In the mid-1990’s I started teaching private studio workshops on photography of the ballet, and have continued to the present. I no longer have access to the dancers at the TWB, but use advanced students from local ballet schools. One of the student dancers used was Maya, shown below.
In addition to my ballet and studio photography, I am interested in many different types of photography (nature, landscapes, abstract, patterns, etc.), and try to pursue them on a regular basis. And, of course, I am interested in and use photoshop for many of my photographs. As a scientist, I was involved with computers for many years prior to the “digital revolution”, so the transformation from film to digital in about 2005 was seamless. I intend to continue with my photography as long as God gives me the strength to hold a camera!