Kifus: Are you currently a full-time photographer?

Hennessey: No, I’m not. I am an amateur photographer, it’s my retirement hobby.

I read that you have a degree in biology, what inspired you to pursue photography as well? Did that play into your interest in nature photography?

It did. I did a little bit of photography in college, actually, with some of the things we were doing in biology. We had to take photos of things. We were using an electronic microscope and so you end up with a photograph that you had to then develop and print, and I thought that was interesting. After college, while I was working, I decided to pursue photography part-time. I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh to study photography at night school. That was back in the 35 millimeter days and for awhile I had a dark room at home that I used to do all of that. I ended up eventually taking a job where I was traveling pretty much full-time, so the photography fell to the wayside.

What drew you back into it?

I often would carry around a little digital camera with me when I traveled, just to help me with my job and take pictures of things that I was doing for my reports. Then, back in about 2011, I was at a friend’s house and they had just had their house remodeled, and he had asked me to take a couple of pictures of him and his wife. He handed me his Canon digital 35 millimeter camera and I was like, “Oh, this is pretty nice. I kind of like this,”. So, I thought maybe I could get back into this. I bought one of my own back in 2011 and I’ve been working at it ever sense.

I was reading your profile and I saw that you prefer minimal editing. What led to this preference?

Well, the goal is to take a photograph that right out of the camera doesn’t need anything. Back when I was doing the 35 millimeter, when I did a lot of color work, I was doing color slides. With color slides, you send them off to be developed, you get them back and then you have what you have, there was no post-processing. So, I kind of like, as much as possible, to get the result without having to do a whole lot to it. I mean, I will edit, I’m pretty good with Lightroom [photo editing software]. However, what I don’t like is when people do so much photo shopping and you can’t tell what a real photograph from what’s fake is. I see people with photographs where it’s obvious that they took a picture of something, like the sky, and then they take that sky and edit it into another photo. It’s a nice image, but it’s not what I want to do. I want to take a picture with the sky that’s there at the time. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. You’ve got to do the best with what you can and try other things.

What drew you to Crossroads Art Center?

Back after I bought my camera, I was taking these photographs and a friend of my wife’s mentioned Crossroads Art Center and another place where they have art shows. I thought, “Well, that’s interesting,” so I entered what they call their Media Show. They happen about every two months and it includes photography, painting and sculpture. Back in 2012, I entered one of their shows and a print I had was accepted and it sold. I thought that was a pretty cool thing, so I continued entering the shows and a lot of that is because it drives me to try to do better. They’ve gotten bigger and more and more people entering the shows and I still enter. I have a piece that was accepted for the September show and won second prize. So, you know, I’m happy about that and doing that. I now have a space at Crossroads where I sell my photography.

You recently received an honorable mention in the Audubon Nature Photo Contest. What sparked your interest in submitting your work there and what was that experience like?

A friend of mine had sent me a link to it and I thought, “Hey, that looks good,” so I entered. Then I heard from them that I received an honorable mention and that felt good to be recognized. I enjoy entering contest and I got to be the judge for one as well. I know it’s a very difficult thing to do because the judge is always wrong. Everybody who has entered a contest has experienced going and seeing something that won and thinking, “Oh, that’s not the best in the show,” because everyone has a different take on it. I felt very much that way when I judged a show a few years ago. It’s stressful. There’s a lot of things here and every time I look at them I have a different opinion of what I think is the best. So, I was aware of that going into it, but it’s always nice to be recognized. Whether it be first place, second place, honorable mention, it’s nice to have the recognition on something you worked on. You get a sense of accomplishment with it.

What is the story behind the photograph that received the honorable mention?

The photograph I took is a sunrise at Bear Rocks Preserve, which is an area in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. I went there with my wife a few years ago. It’s a really nice rocky place. We didn’t get there until mid-morning the first time we went there, so the sun was up in the sky, but I could tell from where I was that that would be a really nice location for a sunrise. Last year, we went back there and I knew I wanted to go back to that spot for sunrise. It takes about an hour to get there from where we were staying and the sunrise was supposed to be at about 7 a.m., which means having to get there at 6:30 a.m., so we left around 5 a.m. to drive there. The last five miles are up a steep and windy gravel road, and when we were about a mile from where we needed to get, there was a tree across the road that had blown down during the night. My wife and I had managed to drag the tree off the road so that we could continue to get where we needed to get. We eventually set up and got to see a very nice sunrise. I took some photographs from different angles and that one I was very happy with.

Hennessy will have another piece of his work featured at the Crossroads Art Center show on November 17. To see more of his work, visit https://tomhennessy.zenfolio.com/all-photographs

For more information about Crossroads Art Center, visit https://www.crossroadsartcenter.com/.