CCoH Mini-Workshop Series

Presenter Biographies:

Werner Bonitz

Our brain is programmed to see “the big picture” which allows us to go efficiently through our daily lives, undistracted by small details. Our memory also shapes our expectation of what we ought to see and what it is supposed to mean, excluding other alternatives.

By looking at my surroundings as if I had never seen them before, I try to suppress any memory of what it is that I am looking at, the names of things and their significance. That leaves me free to interpret a scene solely through my perception. Ultimately, I can “see” and extract specific elements, that become the building blocks for something entirely different.

J.D. Hannis

My first ‘real’ piece of gear was a 35mm SLR Minolta SRT-101 film camera, circa 1975, which I still have today. After retiring from a long career in IT and moving from the midwest to WNC in 2016, I decided it was time to get off the ‘A’ mode on my Canon Rebel and take the plunge into what I hope will be a life-long learning experience of creating images. I especially enjoy landscape, travel and family photography.

My best move to improve my photography was to join the Camera Club of Hendersonville (CCoH) in October of 2018 and participate in their varied programs, field trips, workshops and print competitions. The CCoH provides training, mentoring, inspiration and opportunities to learn from some very talented photographers and artists. To give back to the CCoH, I served as the Program Director from 2021 to 2023.

David Day

I first became interested in photography in the 1990’s when my sons, Devin, Collin, and Ben began to show an interest in the graphic arts. It was a way for us to do something together and learn from one another. After Collin talked me into converting a spare bathroom into a darkroom for his high-school photography work, I got hooked on making images and have been doing so ever since.

My background is in pharmacy, and my career was in outcomes research and post-marketing product surveillance for Pfizer. Photography was one of those things that helped keep work stress at a manageable level. I guess as a consequence of my research background, I look at the camera as a digital imaging experimentation device. I like to see how much I can push the technology to make unusual and interesting photographs. Most of my photographic exploration is in infrared, pinhole, and specialty lens utilization with a digital camera converted to full spectrum capability. Most of my photographs undergo a fair amount of post-processing in a variety of software packages.
 

Updated: December 27, 2024