Featured Photographer King Davis

King Davis is the Featured Photographer for March 2015.  You can view his bio and sample photographs here.

Featured Photographer Melba Brown

Photo by Johnnie Gaskill

Our featured photographer for January 2015 is Melba Brown, who has been a member of Shutterbugs since the group started in 2006 and has held various leadership positions. She has been especially helpful with the two exhibits the Shutterbugs have held at Callaway Gardens.

After retiring from the Georgia Department of Transportation in 2001 with 34 years of service, she rekindled her love for photography. She has taken photography classes from Jim Henderson, John Reed, and also traveled with John Baker on his photography tours to Vermont and the Palouse (Washington State).

Several of her photos have been chosen for United Bank calendars, including one on the July page in the 2015 calendar. Her photos have been exhibited at Callaway Gardens, TUAC, A Novel Experience  and The Williamson LEAF (Library, Educational and Art Facility). She has won many awards at the Georgia National Fair, as well as on her online gallery at Better Photo.
  
She enjoys traveling, reading and gardening. She is a member of the Upson Historical Society and served on the publication committee for the book, “Upson County - A Pictorial History”. She has presented many programs to local civic and church groups to show photos of her travel adventures and also to share her love and knowledge of gardening she acquired as a Master Gardener.

Featured Photographer Don Brown

Don Brown

I retired in 2006 from the Federal Aviation Administration after serving as an air traffic controller for 25 years. I was a founding member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and wrote a column for AvWeb (an internet-based aviation magazine) for 5 years. My retirement gift from my wife was a Nikon D80.

I started taking photographs on my first visit to the Rocky Mountains when I was 28 years old. A brief association with a stock photography company convinced me that I didn't want to be a commercial photographer. After drifting away from it for a few years, I was glad to pick up the hobby again when I retired. Learning the digital side of photography is still a challenge.

Photography -- like all my hobbies -- is an excuse to get outside. I photograph the sunrise virtually every morning. Being alone in the darkness, watching the stars fade into daylight is my favorite time of day. Besides the sunrise, my favorite subjects are mountains and rodeos. I'd love to photograph every sunset but there are other demands on my time.

I'm currently the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Pike County. I sing in the choir at St. George's Episcopal Church in Griffin. I live in Williamson with my wife and daughter. After the first of the year, I will start working on a large, long-term project -- creating the world's first photography park.

You can find me most mornings, walking and taking pictures at the neighborhood lake while I try to get comfortable with the word "artist" and taking a compliment.

Featured Photographer Dianne Kelly

Photo by Ellen Tew

Dianne Kelly is our featured photographer for November 2014 as she loves the colors of the changing leaves in the fall. Dianne has served in several positions as an officer of West Central Georgia Shutterbugs and is also a member of Georgia Nature Photographers' Association (GNPA)--since nature, landscape, macro/closeup photography is her specialty.

Her work has been chosen for several issues of United Bank's annual calendar; has won awards at the Georgia National Fair; has been exhibited in several locations, including Callaway gardens, Thomaston-Upson Arts Council (TUAC), A Novel Experience, the Williamson LEAF (Library, Educational, and Art Facility), among others. She says, "Just being able to get out with other photographers to learn and have fun is a wonderful experience!"

Featured Photographer Marcia Fisher

Marcia Sue Fisher, our October photographer of the month, is a charter member of the W.C. Georgia Shutterbugs. The first meeting was held in her home in Jan. 2006. She has served the group as recording secretary.

Marcia enjoys nature and travel photography. She is also a member of the Georgia Nature Photographers Association. Her work has won various awards at the Georgia National Fair, GNPA competitions, and the Tobler Mill Art Fest, and she has been juried into Slow Exposures and Atlanta Celebrates Photography.

Marcia is a native of California and a graduate of the University of California in Berkeley. She has a Master's degree in Social Welfare. Marcia moved to Georgia in 1997 and she works part time for Be in Health as a teacher. Marcia has an autobiography entitled A New Song for Marcia which gives testimony to the transforming power of God in her life.

After moving to Thomaston Marcia took up photography following in her father’s footsteps. She loves to photograph at nearby Callaway Gardens and other beautiful sites in Georgia. She also is a world traveler and has included two photographs taken in Israel. Her trip to Israel in 2007 was a high light in her life.

 

 

Featured Photographer, Johnnie Ann Gaskill

August 2014

Our featured photographer for August 2014 is Johnnie Ann Gaskill. She helped organize the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs in January 2006 and has served in various leadership roles since then. In 2012, she, along with five other Shutterbugs, helped organize GNPA (Georgia Nature Photographers’ Association)—Central Chapter, which meets in Zebulon. She continues to be an active member of that group.

She likes to photograph a variety of subjects, edit them in Lightroom, and then put a creative spin on those she uses on the greeting cards and magnets she designs and sells. Her work has won awards in various venues, including the Georgia National Fair, Atlanta Celebrates Photography (at Arts Clayton in Jonesboro), and SlowExposures, as well as on online at Better Photo. Her images grace the walls of homes and businesses, including Upson Regional Medical Center. Samples of her photography and writing are found on her blog: www.jgaskill.com

In addition to photography, Johnnie enjoys learning new things, traveling, reading, writing, and walking two or more miles a day. Since October 2013, she has walked enough miles to reach Little Rock! She was a newspaper columnist for over 25 years and still writes a monthly column for a magazine (Chapel Hill News and Views) in Douglas County. She and her husband are the proud parents of two daughters (and two “sons-in-love”) and grandparents to four terrific “kiddos.”