Know some youth in the community who have an eye for photography?

From Wednesday, May 10 until Saturday, May 20, the Verona Optimist Club will collect submissions for an online photography contest for youth high school age or younger, according to a news release. 

Youth photographers are asked to submit photos that illustrate or exemplify one of the ten verses/lines of “The Optimist Creed.” The Creed, contest application and additional information is available at veronaoptimists.org.  

Photographers or parents/guardians should email photo submissions to veronaoptimists@gmail.com. The event coordinators will then post the photo to the Facebook event page. 

In the email, contestants must include the Creed verse their photo represents and an application signed by the youth and a parent/guardian that is available on the website. 

Photos will be judged by the Verona Optimist Club photo committee for best representing the verse/line of the Creed. An additional people’s choice award will be provided for the image that gets the most likes on Facebook. 

All photo submissions will be on display – and winners will be announced – at the Verona Optimist Guest Meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 25 at the Verona Senior Center. Winners will receive a gift card to a local arts and crafts store.

“The photo contest is a great opportunity for us to share the benefits of the verses of the Optimist Creed with our community and to appreciate the wonderful photography skills of youth,” President Jodi Farritor said in the release.

Optimist International is one of the world’s largest service club organizations with over 80,000 adult and youth members in almost 3,000 clubs throughout the world. Optimist members conduct yearly positive service projects reaching more than six million young people.

“By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in youth, our communities and ourselves,” the organization’s mission statement reads.

PetaPixel saw nature photographer Heike Odermatt’s work featured in the “Gallery” section of the most recent issue of Elements Magazine and was instantly struck by Odermatt’s featured image of a reflection in a harsh, Arctic landscape.

After a quick visit to her website, the positive impression snowballed. Odermatt’s work is rich in detail, incredibly diverse, and sensational.

PetaPixel sees many talented photographers’ work, but Odermatt was a new name despite her excellent photography. PetaPixel contacted Odermatt to learn about her career and excellent portfolio.

Odermatt’s Origin Story

Heike Odermatt got her first camera when she was 17 or 18; she isn’t quite sure anymore. It was a Rollei 35, and she received it on loan. Although she had long been enamored by photography, she could only shoot sporadically with her first camera because film and processing were prohibitively expensive.

“During that time, I mainly tried to photograph horses, my great passion for as long as I can remember,” Odermatt tells PetaPixel. She continues, “Unfortunately, the Rollei with its 35mm wide-angle fixed focal length lens was not ideal for horse photography because the proportions are quickly distorted, which appears unnatural for a horse portrait.”

A few years later, in the early 90s, Odermatt bought her first SLR camera, a Minolta XE1 from the 1970s. She paired 50mm prime and 80-200mm telephoto zoom lenses to her Minolta.

“I taught myself photography with this camera,” Odermatt explains.

In the intervening years, Odermatt worked as a graphic designer for a major newspaper company and even stayed working there after she became serious about the prospect of being a more serious nature photographer in 2002. Odermatt tells PetaPixel that she has “never been a full-time wildlife photographer.”

While nature photography is her passion and primary focus, she has tried her hand at other types of photography over the years, including studio portraiture, reportage, and sports photography.

Even though she’s done many types of photography, “Nature photography still fascinates me the most. It allows me to look for ever-changing motifs and lighting situations while enjoying all the beauty of nature,” Odermatt says.

“Staging an image in a studio with different poses and studio lights was not challenging enough for me, and working with people costs me a lot of energy. I like to work with existing light and changing circumstances and adjust my photography accordingly.

20 Years of Awards and Honors

Over the past two decades, Odermatt has had the honor of receiving numerous awards and being on competition juries herself.

2006 was a special year for Odermatt because it was the first time she entered a competition. She entered the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year, and six of her photos were awarded.

Another significant accomplishment was winning an award in the popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest for the same image.

Winning two awards around the same time with the same photo “made it a double highlight for me,” says Odermatt.

Odermatt tells PetaPixel that it’s not always her newest photos that win awards. For example, the picture below, “When the Ice Melts,” had long been tucked away in Odermatt’s archives. “I had somehow overlooked this image for a long time,” she laments. It caught her eye long after she captured the photo, and it ended up winning second place in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in 2017.

“It’s good that you look through your archive from time to time. Photos often come to light that you overlook shortly after taking the photo or because you have not yet had a personal bond with them. For me, the photos often must mature in the archive for a while, just like good whisky,” Odermatt says.

“Finally, I would like to highlight my latest award, which was an important stimulation for me personally to continue fighting to be more active in photography again,” Odermatt says.

She’s been struggling with an ongoing illness and has been able to take photos only sporadically “for many years.” The image, “Heather in the Last Light of the Sun,” is one of Odermatt’s newer images and was awarded in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition two years ago.

Having been part of juries, Odermatt knows firsthand the factors affecting which photos win awards.

“Which photos ultimately achieve the placements depends, among other things, on the composition of the jury, the respective trends in nature photography, and the number of new, good, and well-implemented picture ideas that have been submitted,” Odermatt explains.

She tells PetaPixel that as digital photography has become commonplace over the past couple of decades, the quality of submitted photos has continually improved.

“Cameras have become technically more sophisticated, and it’s much easier to travel nowadays,” Odermatt says.

She adds that because so many amazing photos are entered into competitions these days, photographers shouldn’t feel discouraged if they don’t win. However, she says, “It’s always a great honor to get awarded at photo contests.”

A Changing Style or an Evolving Workflow

Alongside the diversity featured in Odermatt’s portfolio, there appears to be a shifting photographic style. However, when PetaPixel asked Odermatt if her style has changed over time, she replied that she doesn’t think it’s changed much in the past 20 years.

“Actually, I don’t think my photographic style has changed that much in the last 20 years, I still listen to my gut feeling. On the one hand, what has changed is the technology. The digital makes a lot more possible. In the analog era, I must have thought about whether I should press the shutter button 10 times for every photo. Each press of the shutter button costs money. Digital cameras have made it possible for me to implement my creative ideas, which I already had before, but couldn’t always bring to life,” Odermatt says.

She made the transition to fully digital photography between 2006 and 2008. At this time, Odermatt began photographing northern gannets using intentional camera movement when the birds were trying to land.

“I certainly hadn’t seen similar photos from other photographers during that time or before. These photos then became popular through social media, and today, gannet photography with intentional camera movement has become a popular workshop highlight for other photographers,” Odermatt says.

That said, while Odermatt’s style, and the types of photographs she wanted to capture, may not have changed much, her ability to express herself has evolved with improved technology and the affordability of shooting with digital cameras.

“On the other hand, in all these years, I was mostly only able to photograph during my travels, and I tended to leave out the very creative photography because I always felt like I didn’t have enough time,” Odermatt says.

She tells PetaPixel it’s much easier to be creative at home. However, she rarely had time at home because of work and other commitments. Her illness has made travel much more challenging, so she mostly only captures new photos in her immediate surroundings, “which has led to more abstract photos.”

“Also, because I usually can’t choose the best light and location, I must let myself be guided when it’s physically feasible. One deals a little more creatively with the subjects that one finds at this moment,” Odermatt says.

Further, where Odermatt lives in the Netherlands isn’t especially rural. Nature is less extensive than in other areas where Odermatt has always loved to photograph, which adds an extra challenge. To overcome these difficulties, “I tend to try to get into details or take very intimate landscape shots,” Odermatt explains.

“What appeals to me most about abstract photography is that I can move away from pure documentation and give the photos a different dimension. I want to capture the secrets that seem hidden in nature for most people and then hope that these images will show the viewer a different perspective of nature, but without the images being digitally manipulated,” she says.

She enjoys experimenting with warm versus cool color contrasts, which is prevalent throughout her portfolio.

“For me, graphic lines, patterns, and textures bring a certain calmness and harmony to a photo. A good balance in the image is important to me, the “chaos” wants to be ordered, and I achieve this by paying attention to colors, lines, and the like,”

Awakening Imagination through Wildlife Photography

Alongside landscape photography, Heike Odermatt’s portfolio features a lot of wildlife photography.

“My approach to wildlife photography isn’t that different from landscape photography. My gut feeling is always very important to me. A photo must speak for itself,” Odermatt says.

It can sometimes be easy to capture a captivating landscape image in a spectacular location, but with wildlife photography, it’s less about the place and more about the moment.

“If a wildlife photo tells a little story or awakens the viewer’s imagination, then it suits me,” Odermatt says.

Part of capturing these all-important moments is being familiar with the animals someone wants to photograph. Odermatt enjoys learning more about animals through observation. She tries to disturb her subjects as little as possible and believes that the experience of wildlife is just as important as her photographs.

“Photographing from hides or feeding wild animals is not my way of photographing animals, even if this type of wildlife photography would make it much easier for me today.”

There are many wildlife photos in Odermatt’s portfolio captured on the Falkland Islands, and few animals have quite as much personality as penguins.

“I really like the penguins. After two trips to the Falkland Islands many years ago, I still feel a certain homesickness. It feels good when animals are not afraid or stressed by humans,” Odermatt says of her experience there.

She fulfilled another wildlife photography dream a few years ago when she saw wild polar bears in Svalbard.

“I always wanted to see a polar bear. On Svalbard, we were lucky enough to meet several polar bears during a sailing trip. One polar bear we were able to observe for a few hours. I immediately fell in love with this charismatic animal, and I hope that I can experience this again,” Odermatt explains.

Macro Photography Utilizes the Same Photographic Skills in a Much Different Way

Sometimes a landscape doesn’t grab Heike Odermatt. During some of these unlucky outings, she’s taken the opportunity to do macro photography.

“I don’t have any special equipment for macro photography. Most macro photographers probably have a larger selection of lenses, but I only own one, an older Sigma 150mm f/2.8 APO Macro DG HSM, and a set of extension tubes,” Odermatt says.

She also does a lot of macro photography using telephoto lenses, ranging from the shorter, classic 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom to longer lenses like a 100-400mm zoom or a 500mm f/4 prime. In these cases, she tells PetaPixel that she often uses a teleconverter or extension rings.

“I think that every genre in photography stands and falls with a good photographic eye. Starting with the correct composition of the photo, what do you include, and what do you leave out? How does the level of sharpness progress? For me, the following always applies, I only try to include the essentials into the composition and try to frame out everything else,” says Odermatt.

Like with her wildlife photography, she finds that macro photography requires a very good background.

“For me, macro photography feels like a slightly less demanding type of photography than landscape photography. In landscape photography, you are completely dependent on the situation on-site: weather, light, and atmosphere. Disturbing human factors are also an aspect for me as a nature photographer that I pay attention to. Even though one could easily stamp away such disturbing elements with an image editing program today, I prefer not to take these photos at all, or I search for a certain composition for so long that all disturbing factors are eliminated from the picture,” explains Odermatt.

The idea of patience and even the idea of not capturing a photo at all came up a few times during PetaPixel’s chat with Odermatt. She greatly emphasizes leaving things alone and waiting for the right moment. If the right moment doesn’t come, she won’t force it.

“I simply try to make the best of the situation that nature offers me,” she says.

The Arctic’s Unyielding Hold on Odermatt

Although her health has negatively impacted Odermatt’s ability to travel these days, she has been to many places over the years.

“I have lost my heart in the world’s cold regions where nature still dominates,” Odermatt says. “It makes me feel very small and humble and shows nature’s power.”

These wild places stand in strong contrast to Odermatt’s home, the Netherlands, where she’s lived for the past 40 years after growing up in Germany.

Odermatt still hopes to visit more new locations in the coming years. “Greenland is still a big wish of mine, which I hope will come true sometime in the next few years. A very big dream is the Antarctic, which I could have almost fulfilled in 2012 on a sailing boat with a handful of nature photographers, but unfortunately, my health didn’t allow it. This dream still wants to come true. Who knows what the future will bring?”

Odermatt is also painfully aware of how climate change harms the beautiful places she’s been to and still wants to go. She hopes that people become more thoughtful about the polar regions and the danger they face.

The Nature Photographer’s Goal

Heike Odermatt describes her photographic style to PetaPixel as “always looking for a certain harmony and stillness, perhaps because I need it myself.”

“For me, less is usually more, and sometimes I photograph with a wink. Images that speak for themselves are important, but sometimes I like to puzzle the viewer,” Odermatt explains.

“With my photography, I want to bring nature and its beauty, but also its vulnerability, closer to the viewer,” she says.

She wants her photography to provide viewers with a stronger feeling toward nature and to help people see its beauty and learn to love nature. It’s so important that people value nature and the environment, as it’s the first step toward taking better care of the planet. Odermatt considers this her mission as a photographer.

Odermatt Reflections on her Photography

While Odermatt has many more photographic goals to accomplish, it’s always worthwhile for artists to reflect on where they’ve been when charting the course for where to go next.

“My favorite photos have changed regularly through the years, and I can’t point to any real favorites now, but I want to highlight two older photos. They were important for me at the beginning of my nature photography career.”

“In 2002, I visited Iceland for the first time, and this was also my first trip purely aimed at nature photography. In 2004 I visited Iceland again, this time with a small group of photographers, still using analog technology. During this trip, we hardly had any snow, and the temperature was mostly above freezing,” Odermatt recalls.

“On the way to the Gullfoss waterfall, all we had was rain and, as a result, very green surroundings. Due to the water flying up, it was difficult to see across to the other side, the side covered with ‘cauliflower,’” she continues.

“I took advantage of the few seconds it was visible through the mist of water. Sometimes you make a photo that you think you will be really proud of. The photo you cannot wait to see developed. This was one of those photos. To me, this was the most important photo of this journey, and I could hardly wait until I got the slides of the photo lab back in the hope that this particular slide roll was not damaged. I made this photo at the beginning of my career, but to me, it still signifies all I love, a wintery, fairytale-like image that takes you into another reality.”

“I like this photo because it’s more than just a photo of a Northern Gannet. Because of the long shutter speed and the special movement of the wings and tail, it becomes a more picturesque image of an angelic bird. The last rays of sunshine give the photo a warm look,” Odermatt says about the image above.

“There is a longer fragment in this image, which shows how the wings and tail move while landing. For me, this photo reflects the freedom and happiness that I felt the night that I took this photo.”

Odermatt captured this photo in the Lummenfelsen in Helgoland, Germany. It’s a popular area that tourists and photographers frequent. However, patience won the day. During dusk, the area became quieter, and finally, Odermatt was the last person left.

“I was all alone in an area that is usually very busy and felt the freedom,” Odermatt explains.

She enjoyed the experience and was rewarded with a last bit of light that burst through the heavy clouds, allowing her to capture this beautiful photo.

Heike Odermatt’s Portfolio Reflects Talent, Creativity, and Patience

No matter when Odermatt captured a particular photo in her portfolio or what equipment she used, some themes run through all her work. She expertly captures wonderful moments in nature. Sometimes they’re outwardly spectacular. Other times they’re quiet and serene. In every case, her photos are beautiful.

While she can no longer travel like she once could and doesn’t capture as many photos anymore, Odermatt has remained committed to sharing the beauty she sees in nature to spectacular effect.

A photographer’s most essential tool isn’t their camera; it’s what’s just behind the camera. In Heike Odermatt’s case, her mind and photographer’s eye have proven remarkably powerful.

She has repeatedly proven the importance of patience, persistence, and readiness for the moments that don’t always materialize. Great photography cannot be forced. It must be given the time and space to happen. When these amazing moments occur, Odermatt is ready.

More of Heike Odermatt’s incredible work can be seen on her website. She is also on Instagram, where followers can keep up with her latest work.

Image credits: All images © Heike Odermatt

Tim Walker’s images can feel more like elaborate, otherworldly Renaissance paintings than pictures snapped through a fish eye lens. The photographer has honed a Baroque photographic style that sets him apart from any other shooter working today—and he constantly creates work that toes the line between fine art and fashion photography. That singular approach to image-making has made Walker stand apart, and has cemented his legacy—prompting the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to open a retrospective dedicated to the photographer’s work (many of which have run in the pages of this very magazine) from 2019 to 2020.

Now, a slightly different version of “Tim Walker: Wonderful Things” is on view at The Getty Museum in Los Angeles. “Walker brings something real to elaborately staged compositions that are all about artifice,” Paul Martineau, curator of photographs at The Getty, told W in an e-mail. “That something is hard to define: sometimes it’s intellectual, at other times, it’s emotional—it is the essence, I think, of what makes people want to study the image.” This iteration of “Wonderful Things,” which will be mounted at The Getty through August 2023, features greater clarity on the conceptual aspects of the exhibition, taking note of the inspirations Walker gleaned while combing through the V&A archives and paying homage to the photographer’s team of collaborators, without whom none of these images would come to light. Along with a team of curators, Martineau selected 10 brand-new sections from nine photo shoots to accompany the mini retrospective that introduces the show.

The range of work on view is vast—and includes a handful of shoots from the pages of W. When asked which image from the exhibition is his favorite, Martineau admitted it was “a difficult question to answer. At this moment, I am drawn to the picture scrolls found in Soldiers of Tomorrow,” he said. “With multiple images collaged together on a long clear support, they remind me of looking at a reel of old fashioned motion picture film. But next week, I will be turning over a different set of photographs in my mind.” Below, a look at some of the most eye-catching and brilliant works featured in “Wonderful Things.”

Tim Walker, Illuminations (2018). Models Sara Grace Wallerstedt, Ana Viktoria, and Zuzanna Bartoszek all wear Valentino.

Tim Walker, Blue Satin, 2022. Amphibian, Lewis Walker, and Salvia with blue satin.

Tim Walker, Cloud 9, 2018. Radhika Nair, Chawntell Kulkarni, and Kiran Kandola wear Richard Quinn.

Tim Walker, Pen and Ink, 2017. Duckie Thot wears Saint Laurent.

Tim Walker, Tree Dance: Amphibian, 2022.

Tim Walker, Soldiers of Tomorrow, 2018. Model: Sethu Ncise; styling by Jack Appleyard; knitting by Josephine Cowell London.

Tim Walker, The Land of the Living Men, 2018. Model: Jérôme Thompson with Mad March Hare London.

Tim Walker, Handle with Care, 2018. Sgàire Wood, James Crewe, and Karen Elson wear The Row, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Daniela Geraci, Sarah Bruylant, and Molly Goddard.

Tim Walker, Box of Delights, 2018. James Spencer wears a hat by Philip Treacy. Styled by Walter Van Beirendonck.

Tim Walker, Cloud 9, 2018. Radhika Nair wears Halpern and Dolce & Gabbana.

Tim Walker, Box of Delights, 2018. Fashion: Ludovic de Saint Sernin; styled by Shona Heath.

Owners of local photography studio T+T Natural Elegance, Tory Hebert and Treva Breaux, have put together a business endeavor that is not only a creative outlet, but has become a way for them to honor Breaux’s family heritage as well. 

The story of their business began with Treva Breaux, who took an interest in photography at an early age. His grandfather, Eustace Breaux, ran a photography studio in the local area for many years called Eustace Inc., which is where Treva gained early exposure to working with cameras. He learned basic photography skills as a child from both his grandfather and his parent who was also a photographer. As a young boy he was given an opportunity to experiment, borrow cameras for practice work, and learned how to use each new camera his grandfather purchased.  

“My grandpa [primarily focused on high school] seniors, families and wedding photography,” Breaux said. “The idea of photography was always in the back of my mind. Taking pictures was part of growing up because my grandpa was such a big photographer.” 

Shortly after getting married in 2021, Breaux and his husband Tory Hebert – who were both working as full-time high school teachers at the time – decided to create a photography business to share the creative photography passion they both loved. Both Tory and Treva have theater backgrounds, and it was their love of the creative process in theater that finally led them back to photography. 

“[Photography] fills that need to stage something and have this artsy take on portraying ideas into a final product,” Breaux said of his business. 

The pair took care in naming their new studio, wanting in their business’ name something that would aptly describe the way they planned to capture their clients’ images.

“We chose T+T Natural Elegance [because of the style we wanted it to reflect]; we want it to be very natural,” Breaux said. “We’re not trying to over-edit pictures or over-edit people. We’re trying to catch the raw beauty of people.”

Much like Treva Breaux’s grandfather Eustace did in his studio, T+T Natural Elegance focuses primarily on wedding, senior portrait and special event photography and now videography. As their business has progressed, the business owners have come to discover more of what drives them through each photo shoot. 

“What we’ve realized is that we really enjoy seeing people celebrate the milestones of their lives,” Breaux said. 

The business has expanded into special events and cultural events such as quinceaneras, along with engagement and weddings, family portraits and the senior high school portrait photography they’ve typically pursued. 

With their backgrounds both as high school educators, Breaux says he and his husband Tory’s work in high school senior portraits tend to be particularly rewarding.

“When we [take senior portraits], that’s meaningful to us…many of the pictures we take either Tory or I taught the student,” Breaux said. “I love seeing students realize all of their work paid off whenever we’re taking their pictures.”

Breaux recently left his job as a high school teacher and now runs much of the day-to-day business operations full time for T+T Natural Elegance, while his husband and partner Tory Hebert continues hard at work in what Treva says are two full time jobs – both teaching high school students and working in the studio after classes end each day. 

Just as in life, the photography duo shares duties in their business, particularly editing work.

“We’re kind of like Yin and Yang in a sense, we balance each other out,” Breaux explained. “[Tory] is really good at editing photos, I’m really good at editing video…we really do have a nice balance.”

To learn more about Tory Hebert and Treva Breaux’s work, or for booking information, visit T+T Natural Elegance’s website at www.ttnaturalelegance.com or contact them via their Facebook page.    

A photographer will get a $105,000 payout from the City of Atlanta after being arrested during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest in 2020.

Photojournalist Sharif Hassan was photographing the BLM protests in downtown Atlanta on the night of June 1, 2020 — a few days after the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis.

Hassan’s attorneys say he photographed Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers arresting an individual at the protests.

His attorneys say that after officers spotted him taking photographs, Hassan was immediately forced to the ground and handcuffed.

Despite repeatedly identifying himself as a photojournalist covering the protests to several APD officers, Hassan was taken into custody and put in jail overnight.

Hassan also claimed that APD officers seized his camera’s memory cards and never returned them.

The APD officers allegedly used the city’s curfew which was at 21:00 as an excuse for the photographer’s arrest.

According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Hassan allegedly faced criminal and curfew violation charges for over six months until the city dismissed all charges against him for “evidentiary reasons.”

The photographer sued the city of Atlanta on First Amendment grounds. This week, it was announced that the city of Atlanta would pay Hassan $105,000 to settle his lawsuit.

The City of Atlanta and police officers involved in the arrest reportedly made no admission of wrongdoing by settling with Hassan.

“I brought this lawsuit to hold the City accountable for hastily creating a police state while leaving our rights as journalists as an afterthought,” Hassan says in a statement released to the media.

“Unlawful arrest while being separated and handcuffed through the night is something that should not happen to members of the press. The goal is to ensure that our rights are protected in the future.”

Hassan’s case is one of several instances where photographers were injured or mistreated during the BLM protests in 2020.

Photojournalist Linda Tirado was blinded by a foam bullet fired by police while covering the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis.

Footage also emerged of a Denver police officer shoving a photographer into a fire as the George Floyd protests raged.

Meanwhile, in October, photographer Trevor Hughes received a $350,000 payout from Denver Police after he nearly lost his finger while covering the protests in 2020.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.