Winter 2005 - University Photographers' Association of America

THE 

CONTACT SHEET 

Journal of the University Photographers Association of America Winter 2005 

www.upaa.org

F-STOP 

“The Prez Sez,” 

by UPAA President, Jim Dusen of SUNY Brockport 

Brockport, NY 2005... 

See you there! 

Each June, I look forward to visiting a campus in another part of 

the country when attending UPAA's Annual Symposium. It's the 

professional development highlight of the year and a chance to have a 

great time with lots of long distance friends. But as much as I enjoy 

getting away from here once in awhile it's great to have friends over for 

a visit. So this time I'll be welcoming you to 

my campus, SUNY Brockport, for the 2005 

Symposium, June 20-24th. 

The registration fee will be $300 and the 

dorm rooms will cost you $30 per night. 

There are motels and B&Bs around the 

village. Yes this is a small village, nothing 

like Houston! They've got levees. We've got 

the Erie Canal. 

The programming includes a lot of 

Photoshop, something asked for in the 

membership survey. We've got a studio 

lighting session with a well known western 

Dusen 

New York photographer. John Huffer from 

Ball State will show off his award winning 

sports photography. And BYU's Mark Philbrick will discuss a wide 

variety of of photos assignments, the results of which have made him a 

multiple UPAA University Photographer of the Year. Gary Harwood 

will come up from Kent State to report on a book he's working on and 

encourage us to pursue our own personal ideas. Of course we'll go to 

the Mecca of photography, the George Eastman House. Our Nikon 

sponsored field trip will be at Genesee Country Village Museum, the 

third largest village restoration in the US. As add on trips we'll try to 

get some people over to Niagara Falls, and after the symposium some 

of us will explore Letchworth State Park with its 600 foot gorge and raft 

rides on the river below. 

That's the report for now. There'll be more as time goes on with 

listserve announcements and the most up to date info on our upaa.org 

web site. And of course you're always welcome to contact me directly. 

Best wishes for the new year! See ya in Brockport this June! 

COVER SHOT... A gondolier in one of the back canals of Venice, Italy. 

See the photographer’s showcase on page 10 to get a glimpse of 

Brenda Ahearn’s photographic journey across Europe. 

Jim 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

President 

Jim Dusen 

SUNY Brockport 

585-395-2133 

jdusen@brockport.edu 

Vice President & 

Symposium Chair 

Dawn Van Hall 

SUNY Cortland 

607-753-4890 

vanhalld@cortland.edu 

Secretary 

Nick Romanenko 

Rutgers University 

732-445-3710 x6109 

nroman@rci.rutgers.edu 

Treasurer & Listserv Chair 

Dean Carothers 

Tennessee Tech University 

931-372-3305 

dcarothers@tntech.edu 

Membership Chair 

Robert Jordan 

University of Mississippi 

662-915-7260 

rjordan@olemiss.edu 

Jay Ferchaud 

University of Mississippi 

Medical Center 

601-984-1973 

jferchaud@pubaffairs.umsmed.edu 

Bruce Fox 

517-355-7505 

foxba@buffalostate.edu 

Contact Sheet Editor 

Tim Webb 

859-623-6797 

timwebb3@msn.com 

Contact Sheet is edited by 

Karen Lynn and is printed at 

Eastern Kentucky University. 

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UPAA Contact Sheet

DEPTH OF FIELD 

A UPAA Feature 

by Nick Romanenko of Rutgers University 

‘Mark Philbrick’s Prints Arrived. 

We can all go home now.’ 

The evening air had cooled things down to a manageable 80 degrees or 

so. UPAA's hospitality room at Houston's Palm Court Inn was in full swing. As 

the Palm is located across the street from the legendary AstroDome, having 

an entire motel room dedicated to large vats of ice holding malt beverages 

wasn't out of the ordinary for management. A crowd of photographers from 

across the country spilled out onto the courtyard, around the pool and into the 

hot tub. Vast quantities of microbrew beer were being consumed. Blending 

into this partying group, conspicuous only by the non-caffeinated soft drink in 

his hand, is this year's Print Competition Photographer of the Year, Mark 

Philbrick. And the legend grows, for this would be Mark's sixth POY honor. 

UPAA Contact Sheet 3


Mark, a practicing Mormon, has 

been the photographer for Brigham 

Young University for so long even 

his university president introduces 

him as"the old guy" to visitors. His 

longevity stems in no small part 

from having started in his current 

position going back to his 

undergraduate days as a 

photography communications 

major at BYU. 

The photography bug actually 

hit Mark in high school when, as a 

sophomore he was tutoring a senior 

who always seemed to be missing 

from class, in trigonometry. Mark, 

who would actually enter BYU as a 

mathematics major, found out that 

this student was on the yearbook 

staff, and school gave him credit for 

class attendance while in the 

pursuit of 'yearbook business.' This 

seemed like a good idea to Mark 

who asked about joining the 

yearbook himself. "I couldn't spell, 

write or sell advertising, so I asked 

what else there was," Mark recalls. 

“Ever try taking a picture ? I was 

sent to my first assignment, covering 

a baseball game. They gave me a 

Pentax Spotmatic with a 200 mm 

lens and some TRI-X. Keep in mind 

I had never shot anything before, 

even family stuff. But they ended up 

using some photos I had shot that 

day." And so a career was born. 

Mark became photo editor his first 

year and co-editor of the entire 

yearbook his second. He laughs as 

he adds, "I like to say that I got into 

photography to get out of class." 

Mark has an enviable track 

record over the years in the UPAA 

Print Competition. 

Since joining UPAA in 1983 

(that old man thing again), and 

winning Photographer of the Year 

right out of the gate that same year, 

he has placed a total of 71 prints 

(this includes first, second, third 

place and honorable mentions), six 

of those being also Best of Show. 

That is a remarkable rate of 

placing an average of 3.4 prints in 

every year's competition. As 

someone who can appreciate 

placing one or two prints a year (if 

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UPAA Contact Sheet


any), it was humbling to converse 

with the 'ole master. Philbrick was 

POY in 1983,1990,1994,1995,1999 

and again in 2004. There was no 

POY chosen by UPAA for 1984 or 

1985, as it was not the custom for 

anyone back then to win more than 

once. I had to squeeze these 

numbers out of a somewhat 

embarrassed Mark, who while very 

serious about this competition and 

his work, does not like to toot his 

own horn. In fact, when Mark came 

back from this year's symposium in 

Houston and met with his mostly 

student staff, the thing he was most 

excited about was that BYU had 

won another Best of Show 

print……..For a shot taken by his 

colleague (and another BYU 

student photo intern that made the 

permanent staff) Jaren Wilkey. It 

must be the water or the crisp Utah 

air. Only later in the meeting did 

Mark admit to picking up another 

POY for himself. 

"He's really a humble guy," 

volunteers Jaren about his boss. 

Jaren started working with Mark 

seven years ago, after having been 

photo editor at a community college, 

and then also working on the BYU 

student paper. "When I came on, I 

thought I knew everything. Mark 

gently let me know that I didn't. " 

Jaren and Mark are the two full time 

shooters at BYU, but some 

photography is also handled by two 

student workers. As senior Annie 

Jones adds, “He's wonderful to work 

for. He's blunt but in a very nice way. 

He'll tell you when you've done 

something wrong. He expects a lot 

out of you, and he trusts us to run 

the department when he's away. We 

all want to live up to his 

expectations." 

One of the perks Mark has 

cultivated during his tenure is every 

year following a BYU research, 

student or performance group as 

they travel to distant locales. Mark 

has managed to literally see the 

world by doing so. This summer he 

followed the BYU folk dancers as 

they performed at festivals in France. 

Two research trips resulted in 

award winning photo essays of 

recent memory: Students touring 

volcanic sites in Hawaii, for a field 

geology class and students in a field 

marine science workshop, that also 

resulted in a Best of Show print in 



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UPAA Contact Sheet


last year's Print Competition. That 

photo is a dramatic silhouette of a 

class at the Monterey Aquarium in 

front of a tank with colorful jellyfish. 

As Mark explains, the lighting 

was there and didn't require him to 

change anything on that level. He 

did place the figures where he 

wanted them, and then directed the 

class to ask the professor questions 

using their hands. Manually 

focused at wide open at about 1/ 

125 second, Mark just needed some 

patience for the jellyfish to 

cooperate and swim into the right 

spots. These essays work well with 

Mark's style for as he puts it "The 

majority of what I shoot is 

photojournalistic." 

The Hawaii trip came about due 

to Mark's contacts with a BYU 

professor. When he heard about this 

class, it was an easy sell to the 

administration "Our university has 

a lot of international mentoring and 

outreach programs. They are 

always looking for this kind of 

stuff," Philbrick comments. In fact, 

these photos ran in all sorts of 

publications and posters. The 

travel, while a bit taxing on Mark's 

personal life, is ultimately very 

visually inspiring. "I like anything 

that doesn't look like here (Provo, 

Utah), the third world, wilderness, 

the jungle." 

For his travel kit, Mark usually 

carries three digital Nikon camera 

bodies, lenses in 12mm, 17-35mm, 

28-70mm, 70-200mm, a TC-14 

teleconverter, two or three Nikon 

800 strobes (which he sets up on 

stands and utilizes with Pocket 

Wizard slave units, as he likes to 

stay away from on camera flash). For 

the trip to France, Mark started 

using a Photoware backpack, 

which he's become very fond of. He 

also travels with a Titanium 

Powerbook Mac and a day bag for 

the camera equipment. 

BYU has been all digital for at 

least three or four years, and Mark 

has used every version of Adobe 

Photoshop since the software was 

created way back when. He likes to 

shoot most everything in Fine JPEG 

format, saying he finds that Nikon 

RAW files just don't give him what 

he's looking for. Mark admits he's 

been very fortunate in being able to 

always obtain whatever was 

needed for him to do his job. With 

Jaren on board fulltime and other 

student shooters, BYU has a Nikon 

arsenal of two D2H's, two D1-X's, 

two D1H's, two D-100's and one D- 

70. Plus all the latest auto-focus 

lenses. Mark makes a common 

observation amongst University 

Photographers when he says 

"Before computers, buying a camera 

was a luxury. A camera was 

expected to last twenty years. The 

paradigm has changed." What also 

helps is that the photo department 

is a on a chargeback system for most 

university work, and Mark and 

Jaren have a nice contract as the 

official photographers for the 

Western Athletic Conference, which 

also brings in some money that can 

be invested in updating equipment. 

Despite his loyalty to (and the 

business associated with) Nikon 

over the years, Mark's department 

has also recently purchased two 

Canon Mark II's to try out, mostly 

because of problems with the Nikon 

autofocus system. These should get 

a good workout as the photo 

department covers a lot of sports, 

including all of BYU football 

games. 

He's got the expensive toys, he's 

got the exotic locations. Even when 

he doesn't travel off campus, he can 

capture a jaw dropping shot like the 

First Place winner in this year's 

Campus Environment category of 

the Print Competition. What really 

puts Mark over the top is his 

relentless quest to push himself 

creatively, never be satisfied with 

what he's done, but to always try 

something new. For example, BYU 

has two graduations annually, so 

Mark figures he's now 

photographed more than fifty. Still, 

each one is different and a new 

challenge for him. "I always try to 

get a few shots that I've never done 

before. Part of my philosophy for 

every day is what can you do that's 

different?" 

An example of this philosophy 

at work can be illustrated by another 

Best of Show shot of two relay 



runners handing off a baton, shot 

from above. He tried this a couple 

of ways, then got a cherry picker to 

shoot down on the runners. It works 

because of the shadows and the 

moment of the baton in both hands. 

Mark had the runners do this a 

number of times, and he figures he 

shot about seven rolls of film to get 

the decisive moment when all the 

elements fell into place naturally. 

What's funny about this photo is 

that Mark originally submitted the 

print to be viewed vertically. When 

he got to the Print Competition 

gallery, he noticed that it was hung 

horizontally by mistake. After the 

initial shock wore off, Mark realized 

that it looked better horizontal. The 

symposium vote reaffirmed the 

lucky mistake. 

For his winning shot of the pole 

vaulter, Mark used a similar 

approach to the relay runners, but 

with a larger cherry picker. He 

positioned himself right over the the 

bed so the crane wouldn't cast a 

shadow into the pit, then shot with 

available light at 5 o'clock in the 

afternoon. Yet another tired BYU 

athlete after Mark went through 

some film on this one to get it 'just 

right.' 

An example of a more 

complicated shot is the famous 

"Quarterback Factory" which was 

done in a closed steel mill in Provo. 

This was shot with a Hasselblad on 

transparency film, after many, many 

Polaroids. Mark utilized five strobes, 

five tungsten lights, and available 

light coming in from a large open 

door on the right side. Mark 

overcame initial safety worries 

about putting live models on the 

conveyer belt by laying down lots 

of 4x8" lumber for the players to 

stand on. The factory folks really 

came through by not only spraying 

down everything and cleaning up 

the space quite a bit from it's raw 

condition, but also painting the hard 

hat for Football head coach Lavell 

Edwards. After all the effort that 

went into this photo, Marks insists 

the hard hat is what made it really 

work. 

Sometimes things don't work 

out on the first try. A graphic 

designer came up with an idea for a 

poster, showing a basketball player 

doing a flying dunk with the BYU 

campus below. This designer also 

wanted the shot to be done on 4x5" 

film. As Mark recounts , using large 

format and hand held strobes 

ended up 'horribly'. They went back 

to this spot overlooking campus "A 

lovers lane" as Mark describes it, 

with studio strobes and a generator, 

along with the trampoline and some 

cushioned bedding stuff. No view 

camera this time, and Mark, bracket 

is my middle name, Philbrick varied 

the background to get the campus 

to glow a little. 

While many of Mark's winning 

shots have been in sports, he really 

enjoys placing prints in other 

categories. One of the more unusual 

shots this year was a handshake 

shot illustrating 'cyber-identity.' 

This showed arms coming out of 

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UPAA Contact Sheet


two facing computers and shaking 

hands. About a half hour to set up 

and shoot, and another 45 minutes 

to put together the images in 

Photoshop. Another striking image 

that got quite a bit of use and 

recognition is the "Blackboard" shot 

for a computer science brochure. 

The board was actually a window 

in a lab that Mark shot through after 

getting someone to draw on it. 

Tim Webb 

Philbrick was scouting shots at 

Churchill Downs, Summer 2003. 

Using a combination of five strobe 

and tungsten lights, Mark was 

skillfully able to render the look of 

natural window light filtering into 

this classroom setting. 

Mark says "Most of my shots I 

try to keep as simple as possible. I 

pay a lot of attention to 

backgrounds . Where is that person 

in relation to the setting. That and 

the timing of a particular moment." 

Mark continues "Part of creating is 

instinct. Just knowing. Everything 

is design. Everything is always 

being designed. When you look into 

the viewfinder, I was taught to 

always look at the four corners, and 

notice anything you don't want in 

the picture". This cropping in the 

camera is why the 70-200mm lens 

is one of Mark's favorites on 

assignment. 

What are Mark's observations 

of the Print Competition, where he 

has shown consistent success over 

a long period of time? What advice 

does he offer to other University 

shooters? "The strength and 

weakness of what (UPAA 

membership) we shoot is the variety 

of what we shoot. We're good at 

everything and not great at 

anything" Marks observes. A big 

mistake many photographers make 

in the Print competition is "They 

don't think. They get too emotionally 

attached to shots,” Mark adds. 

“People get caught up in how much 

effort they put into a shot or the 

importance of the subject matter to 

them, not in what the end results 

are. I throw away a lot of pictures 

that took a lot of effort because they 

just don't connect the way they 

should." Mark's longevity has also 

given him the wisdom of knowing 

his audience. "What are they going 

to see and react to it? Lots of scenes 

people find exotic are very common 

around here." 

And experience also helps in 

the creative process as Mark 

admits" Longevity plays some part. 

People like Jim Dusen and I are 

lucky to be as well respected in our 

own institutions as we are because 

it allows us more freedom in what 

and how we shoot. We can try to do 

different things." 

But Mark may not have all the 

answers, as the shot he had the 

highest hopes for this year didn't 

place at all. The portrait of a female 

student playing the violin was not 

a staged studio shot, but something 

Mark caught in a live rehearsal. 

Again, a very different shot for Mark 

than what he's done in the past. 

Marks tells me, "I always want to 

take (photographic) risks. I like 

having prints win in different 

categories." And he's still looking 

for what he considers the ultimate 

level of success: placing all six 

entries in one year's Print 

Competition. He's had several years 

of placing four, even five. 

Mark, who met his wife Peggy 

on a blind date his roommate setup 

while in college, is also the father of 

five children. The Philbrick family 

spends a lot of time enjoying 

outdoor activities in Utah, including 

hiking, mountain biking and 

skiing. Mark admits what makes his 

professional and home life possible 

is the flexibility he gets in his 

schedule at BYU. Obviously the 

shared faith of the people he works 

with and for helps enormously. 

Mark admits he “can't really 

imagine working anywhere else, 

because all the time you put into the 

university you feel getting more 

promoting a higher purpose". 

Mark has also attended every 

symposium since 1983 except Kent 

State three years ago (apologies to 

Gary, but it was a conflict with one 

of those 'once a year' photo essay 

expeditions), and has also been on 

the UPAA board for many years, 

culminating with serving as 

President from 1990-94. And 

Mark's personal beliefs have never 

gotten in the way of him enjoying 

hospitality rooms or making friends 

with wilder, cussing UPAA 

photographers. As Mark recounts 

"These are my friends. I choose to 

live my life a certain way and I don't 

impose that on anybody. No one in 

UPAA makes me feel uncomfortable. 

In fact they go out of their way to 

make me feel comfortable. That's one 

of the things I really love about this 

group." 

From speaking to a variety of coworkers 

and UPAA members, it's 

obvious the respect people have for 

Mark as "the consummate 

photographer and gentleman." 

Jaren perhaps said it best when 

he told me "I'd like to know how he 

does it too. He's the best. He's what 

a university photographer should 

be: humble, works hard and is 

always trying to be better". 


FOCAL LENGTH 

A Photographer’s Showcase 

by Brenda Ahearn 

European 

Brenda’s 

Vacation 

Brenda Ahearn did the unthinkable in January 2004. She left her job at the Salina 

Journal in Salina, KS, to spend nearly six months backpacking and photographing 

parts of Europe. Her journey began in Greece, and eventually took her to Italy, 

Spain, Portugal, France, England and Ireland. A 

pair of tennis shoes and twenty thousand 

images later Brenda had produced a 

tremenous collection of work that portrayed 

a fly-on-the-wall look at the nuances of 

Europe. Brenda, the former university 

photographer at Northern Arizona Universiy, 

made it back from her jaunt just in time to 

make the Houston Symposium in June. 

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UPAA Contact Sheet

FOCAL LENGTH 

Carnevale - the final weekend of celebraton 

before lent in Bologna, Italy, opposite page. 

A fountain in Naples, Italy, above; the Eiffel 

Tower at sunset, right; a woman enters a Greek 

Orthodox Church on the isle Hyoha, Greece, 

below left; the temple of Poseidon at Cape 

Sounion, Greece, bottom. 


FOCAL LENGTH 

The Carytids of Erechtheion at the Acropolis looking out over Athens, Greece 

Street corner in Denry, Northern Ireland 

Red Collection photos, above and below, 

from Bologna, Italy 

A priest walking through the main hall of St. Peter’s 

Cathedral in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. 

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UPAA Contact Sheet

FOCAL LENGTH 

Giovanni Martini stands among the branches of his olive orchard, 

above; Paddy, Aran Islands, Ireland, right; sunset over Rome, 

below. 


FOCAL LENGTH 

Subway patrons create a candle light vigil at Atocha station 

in Madrid, Spain after the terrorist bombing on March 11. 

Brenda took this photo ten days later. 

The Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy 

Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse Holland 

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UPAA Contact Sheet

FOCAL LENGTH 

A photo illusttraton from Normandy shows the detail of the 

American Cemetary, layed over Omaha Beach, above; Blarney 

Castle near Cork, Ireland, left; High crosses on Inish Mor, Aran 

Island, West Coast of Ireland, below. 


THE 2004 SYMPOSIUM 

SYMPOSIUM 2004 

Bayou 

Shootin’ in the 

HOUSTON 

Tim Webb 

Images from the 

2004 Technical Symposium 

Todd Scarborough 

A turn-of-the-century-photographer, above, 

works the historic district of Galveston. The 

UPAA photogs wait for their assignment 

from Nikon’s Fred Sisson during the 

shootout in Galveston, below. 

Trice Megginson 

Fred Sway and Theres Douglas take a breather near 

the Galviston Beach. 

Tim Webb 

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UPAA Contact Sheet


NEGATIVE BEGINNINGS 

Tim Webb 

Tim Webb 

Tim Webb 

Melanie Ferchaud 

Clockwise from top: Roger Rich grabs a quick shot at Minute 

Maid Stadium during the Astros-Cubs game, while Dean 

Carothers, left, Chris Radcliffe, middle, and Mark Carriveau look 

on; Glenn Carpenter, left, and Bob Elbert look at photos on 

Glenn’s laptop; The group watches as an NBA photographer 

demonstrates how to mount a camera on the backboard during a 

game. 



2004 Print & Publications Competitions 

Best of Show, Jaren Wilkey 

PERSONAL VISION 

HM,Glenn Carpenter 

HM, Bob Elbert 

HM, Mark Carriveau 

Third Place, Donny Crowe 

Second Place, Tim Webb 

First Place, Darren Phillips 

PHOTO FEATURE 

HM, Chris English 

HM, Nancy Evelyn 

Third Place, David Lyko 

Second Place, Nancy Evelyn 

First Place, David Campbell 

SHADOW NEG 

Photographer of The Year 

Mark Philbrick 

Monthly Image Competition 

Overall Points Winner 

Thomas Shea 

PEOPLE & PORTRAITS 

HM, Jeff Shaw 

HM,Thomas Shea 

Third Place, Kurt Stepnitzky 

Second Place, Mark Philbrick 

First Place, Chris English 

First Place, Peter Amland 

ENVIRONMENT & LANDSCAPE 

HM, Roger Rich 

HM, George Tarbay 

Third Place, Ken Bennett 

Second Place, Nick Romanenko 

First Place, Mark Philbrick 

SPORTS 

HM, John Huffer 

HM, Martin Vloet 

HM, John Huffer 

Third Place, Robert Jordan 

Second Place, Robert Jordan 

First Place, Chris Radcliffe 

NEWS & FEATURE 

HM, Mark Philbrick 

HM, George Tarbay 

HM, David Lyko 

Third Place, Darren Phillips 

Second Place, Chris Radcliffe 

First Place, Jim Dusen 

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UPAA Contact Sheet


SCIENCE & RESEARCH 

HM, Jeff Shaw 

HM, Kurt Stepinzky 

Third Place, Jeff Shaw 

Second Place, Mark Carriveau 

First Place, Bob Elbert 

VIEWBOOKS 

•HM, Sheryl Hagen-Booth, 

Western Kentucky University 

•HM, Tom Shea & Mark Lacy 

University of Houston 

•Third Place, Donny Crowe 

Louisiana Tech University 

•Second Place, Glenn 

Carpenter, Moraine Valley CC 

•First Place, Robert Hubner 

Washington State University 

GENERAL PUBLICATIONS 

•HM, Tom Shea & Mark Lacy 

University of Houston 

•HM, Chris English & David 

Wilson, University of North 

Carolina Greensboro 

•Third Place, Jeff Etheridge & 


Auburn University 

•Second Place, Auburn University 

Mongomery 

•First Place, Michelle Powers, 

Marquette Univesity 

COVERS 

•HM, Kurt Stepinsky 

Michigan State University 

•HM, Nancy Evelyn 

University of Georgia 

•Third Place,Chris English & 

David Wilson, North Carolina 

Greensboro 

•Second Place, Jim Dusen 


•First Place, Glen Carpenter 

Moraine Valley CC 

POSTERS 

•HM, Donny Crowe, 

Louisiana Tech 

• HM, Pete Ambler, 

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee 

•Third Place, Greg Koberth, 

Michigan State 

•Second Place, Jim Dusen, 


•First Place, Jeff Etheridge & 

Trice Megginson, Auburn 

University 


Host Mark Lacy, above, goes over 

the details of the symposium 

during the opening reception. 

Robert Jordan, below, braves the 

Houston heat sun to get a shot. 

Steve Mangione was the winner of the Nikon Shootout in Galveston, with 

a theme of reflection. 



Robert Jordan 

Tim Webb 

Clockwise from top: Chuck Barry, left, Sheryl 

Hagen-Booth, Chris Radcliffe and Mark 

Philbrick walk along the Galveston Beach; 

George Tarbay makes his selections during 

the print competition; Jim Dusen, left, talks 

with Dawn Van Hall and Tina Miller; Bill 

Bitzinger takes notes during one of the 

educational sessions. Joe Ruh shoots Frank 

Circchio as Frank shoots his model, Sarah, 

on the beach; The group observes during 

Circchio lighting sessions. 

Tim Webb 

Tim Webb 

Tom Shea 

Tim Webb 

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UPAA Contact Sheet

BITS & CHIPS 

A UPAA Technical Column 

by Dean Carothers of Tennessee Technological University 

Piecing Together Digital Workflow 

Digital workflow is one of the 

favorite terms for consultants and 

$1,500-a-day seminar promoters. 

There are lots of software packages 

that purport to improve our digital 

workflow, automate it or make it all 

easy and fast -- for a fee. 

For those of us that remember 

the days of labeling slide mounts 

and filing negatives and contact 

sheets digital workflow may sound 

more like hype and hucksterism 

than something that we need. While 

most of us can do without the fifty 

thousand dollar solutions there are 

some real issues and the way we 

choose to handle these issues now 

will have a major effect on how 

valuable our images will be in the 

future. 

I spoke with Dr. Patrick Reagan 

on my campus at Tennessee Tech 

about what historians think of 

digital photography. I will skip his 

more succinct reply and tell you that 

he, and other historians worldwide, 

are shall we say, highly concerned. 

One aspect that I had not considered 

was that when we saved our 

negatives or slides we generally 

kept all, or at least most, of the 

images we made. Researchers often 

find that they can glean a lot of 

information from the outtakes and 

duplicates. Think of Joseph Stalin's 

fondness for having anyone that he 

was on the outs with retouched out 

of official photos. The historians are 

very concerned that only the final 

"corrected" images will be saved. 

While it sounds like all of us are 

taking the need to archive our 

images pretty seriously (that was a 

good session at the Symposium) 

there is still the issue of obsolescent 

storage systems. That is the official 

way of saying "where do think you 

will have to go in twenty years to 

find a working CD drive?" If you 

are not worried about 20 years think 

about 100 years. That probably 

won't be our problem but it may be 

a big one for someone. 

All the variations of chemical 

based photography are still 

viewable with nothing more than a 

light source and our eyes. You don't 

see lantern slide projectors around 

much anymore but the images are 

still easily viewed. That means that 

it is very likely that the negatives 

from Aunt Sue's point and shoot 

may be more accessible in the future 

than the finely crafted photographs 

that we make with our Nikon D7x 

35MP pro cameras. Based on the 

discussion at the Symposium here 

are some things that I think we can 

all work on to make our work more 

accessible and useful. 

Metadata 

This is all the stuff that our 

digital cameras save with each 

photo in case we need to know that 

a photo was made a 1/160th of a 

second at f8.7 using a 24-85mm lens 

at 31.2mm focal length. That stuff 

really can be useful, but what we 

are really interested in is the IPTC 

data that we add to each image. 

IPTC data is a format proposed by 

the International Press 

Telecommunications Council to 

allow newspapers, magazines and 

wire services to send and receive 

data along with images that are 

transmitted electronically 

(www.iptc.org). 

Embedding the Who, What, 

Where, When data into each data 

file that we archive goes a long way 

toward making our photos more 

useful in the future. For some of us 

that future is not that far away 

either. Software like Canto Cumulus 

can index and allow searches on 

metadata. The last time I checked 

Cumulus only indexed some fields 

of the IPTC data and that feature 

was not on by default but it is there 

if you want it. 

Apple says that the next version 

of OS X will include metadata 

search as part of the operating 

system. If this proves to be 

implemented in a way that is useful 

to photographers it might be 

enough reason to keep paying the 

price for Apple computers all on it's 

own (www.apple.com/macosx/ 

tiger/). 

Many software packages let you 

edit and embed the metadata 

including Photoshop. Common 

packages like ACDSee: 

(www.acdsystems.com/English/ 

Products/ACDSee/index.htm). 

F o t o s t a t i o n : 

(www.acdsystems.com/English/ 

Products/ACDSee/index.htm and 

iView Mediapro). Www.iviewmultimedia.com 

make the job of 

editing your shoot and embedding 

data easier. We really don't have 

much excuse for not captioning our 

photos with the best information 

that we have. 

Using standard descriptors 

wherever you can is another good 

idea. If I tag a photo as being made 

of the ‘admin bldg’ and you spell 

out the correct name, 

‘administration building,’ you 

won't ever find my photos using a 

search tool. Most schools have 

naming conventions for places and 

buildings. Likewise, tagging a 

photo as 'Dr Harrison' may be 

following protocol but a tag of 

'Susan Harrison' or 'George 

Harrison' will avoid all sorts of 

confusion later. 

What do we archive? 

'Best practices' say that our 

archive system should keep the 

original camera files as the main 

archival source. Do we delete the 

duds and the technical flaws? Like 

many of us, I do delete the truly 

awful shots but if we want to be a 

true archivist we should keep the 

whole shoot, duds and all. That 

doesn't mean that we have to show 


BITS & CHIPS 

anyone else the pictures of our feet 

or the ceiling, just that we keep them. 

Right now 

JPEG and TIFF seem to be the 

most common formats that everyone 

can open and I guess we just have 

to hope that someone keeps that old 

copy of Photoshop 3 running on a 

computer somewhere so the person 

that is still working from your old 

Eisenhower era desk can open your 

campus photos in the year 2067. 

What about archiving RAW 

files? The general thinking seems 

to be that we should keep the 

original camera files but if we shoot 

RAW format we should also archive 

a set in TIFF or JPEG format also. I 

am glad that DVDs are under a buck 

each now (www.rima.com), as a 

Shakespeare In The Park 

production that I just shot in RAW 

format was 9.7 GB of data once I 

converted it to TIFF files. 

Where do we store the data? 

A folder on our desktop is mighty 

handy but I have yet to find a hard 

drive that wasn't looking for a 

reason to loose my files. The 

Technical Advisory Service for 

Images in the UK has done quite a 

bit of research (see, not all 

government grant money is wasted). 

You can get the results of the TASI 

study at www.tasi.ac.uk/ In short, 

use high quality, gold discs, make 

two copies of everything and plan 

to copy everything over to new 

media every 5 years. 

Making two copies does not do 

much good if we put them both in 

the same desk drawer so we should 

really have a system that keeps at 

least one set in a fire vault, 

preferable somewhere off site. 

And while we are at it, throw 

out the Sharpie markers, the stick 

on labels and even the inkjet 

printable discs. The solvents in the 

markers and labels have already 

been shown to have long term 

etching effects on the surface of the 

disc. To be considered archival 

don't mark the disc at all or confine 

yourself to a fine point Sharpie on 

the clear inner ring of the disc. 

At my shop we keep one copy 

of the original files on our server's 

hard drives because it is so handy 

and a second copy on a gold DVD 

in a fire safe. This seems to be about 

the midpoint from what I heard at 

the Symposium. After considering 

the risks and the costs I have 

decided that a good work-study 

student job will be making a second 

set of verified discs that I can store 

off campus. 

One issue where there seemed 

to be little consensus was delivering 

the files for publication or other 

uses. Most of us seem to want to 

release only corrected files that are 

tuned for the intended use but many 

also said that time and insistent 

customers sometimes prevailed. 

Some university photographers are 

in a position that allows them very 

close control of the files while many 

of us have less control and some 

have situations where the designers 

just dig through the hard drive and 

pick whatever they want. It looks 

like this part of digital workflow is 

still a long way from being settled 

on many campuses. 

Do you have a portable USB 

drive for transferring batches of files 

or making important backups? As 

handy as that can be there are now 

several cheap adapters out there for 

transferring data from a digital 

camera directly to any USB device 

including that USB drive. The 

adapters cost about $40 vs the $400 

for a Nikon Coolwalker. The 

Macally Syncbox is the one that I 

drooled over. The various digital 

wallets like the Coolwalker do have 

other features like a LCD to view 

your images but if you have a USB 

drive on hand this might save you 

some bucks. 

If your boss really loves you 

then you might try ordering a $300 

iPod and the $100 Belkin adapter 

that lets you move files from a 

Compact Flash card to the iPod. At 

least you could listen to your tunes 

while you work at your new job 

vacuuming the V-Ps office! 

Mark Philbrick/BYU 

22 

UPAA Contact Sheet

LATENT IMAGE 

Vanderbilt Photographer Gerald Holly dies 

Gerald Holly, who captured on 

film 15 years of Vanderbilt growth, 

beauty and history after retiring from 

a lengthy and distinguished career 

in journalism that included publication 

of pictures in some of the 

nation’s top magazines, died May 

19 at his Nashville home after a long 

battle with Parkinson’s disease. 

Holly, 87, was considered an 

artist at “composing” a photograph 

and was especially fond of including 

people in his pictures. 

Wearing his 

trademark beret, 

Holly was often seen 

roaming the campus 

with his camera, 

looking for unusual 

pictures. His perceptive 

eye was responsible 

for some of the 

most creative photographs 

ever made at 

Vanderbilt. 

Holly 

”Gerald’s excellence 

as a photographer 

complemented Vanderbilt’s excellence 

as a University,” said Jeff 

Carr, vice chancellor for university 

relations, emeritus; general counsel, 

emeritus; and secretary of the university, 

emeritus. “His superb photographs 

recorded the campus and 

its people in an enduring way that 

will forever be a part of the 

University’s history.” 

Holly was hired as a photographer 

for Vanderbilt University Publications 

and Design in September 

of 1983. He took pictures for countless 

University periodicals, brochures 

and catalogues over the 

years. His last photos for Publications 

and Design were taken in December 

1997, when Parkinson’s disease 

forced him to take disability 

status. 

A number of his framed shots 

remain on the walls in Suite 850 of 

the Baker Building. There is even a 

1995 photo of the entire staff of Publications 

and Design, including 

Holly, that he took with a self-timer 

on the roof of the Baker Building, 

according to Judy Orr, assistant vice 

chancellor for Creative Services. His 

photographs can also be seen in a 

number of offices around campus 

and throughout Nashville. 

Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, Holly 

Wearing his trademark 

beret, Holly was 

often seen roaming 

the campus with his 

camera, looking for 

unusual pictures. 

worked as a staff photographer for 

The Tennessean for 30 years. Holly 

also was a 15-year stringer for the 

Black Star Agency in New York. He 

was one of the photographers commissioned 

for the 1986 book Tennessee: 

A Homecoming. 

One of Holly’s pictures appeared 

on the cover of Time magazine. 

His photos also made the 

pages of National Geographic, Life, 

Newsweek and Forbes magazines. 

In January of 1987, the 

Vanderbilt Department of Fine Arts 

presented an exhibit of Holly’s photographs. 

The exhibition was retrospective, 

with some 50 photographs 

made throughout his professional 

career. The exhibit included portraits, 

feature shots and nature pictures. 

About half the pictures were 

of Vanderbilt campus subjects. The 

same exhibit was shown later at the 

Cobblestone Gallery and Mills 

Bookstore in Hillsboro Village. 

Two of Holly’s photographs 

were awarded medals in annual 

competitions sponsored by the 

Council for Advancement and Support 

of Education (CASE). One 

award-winning photo appeared in 

the spring 1987 issue of the 

Vanderbilt Magazine and the other 

appeared in the 1987-88 

Law School catalogue. 

In 1991 Holly received 

a President’s 

Publication Award in 

the annual University 

Photographers of 

America print competition 

for photos that appeared 

in a group of 

Vanderbilt brochures 

and posters. 

Holly once taught at a 

University of Missouri 

workshop for photojournalism 

and also 

taught photography classes at 

Nashville Tech. 

A native of Marshall County, 

Holly was born on May 7, 1917 to 

T.C. and Flossie Luna Holly. He 

graduated from Cornersville High 

School and attended Watkins Institute 

in Nashville. He also served in 

the U.S. Navy. Holly is survived by 

his wife of 36 years, Paulette Burger 

Holly. He also has three daughters, 

Alice Carlyn McGhee, Joy Holly and 

Carol Ann Scarborough; and two 

sons, Thomas Holly Jr. and Joshua 

Holly. In addition, he has a sister, 

Lurline Turner, and four 

grandchildren. 

Printed with permission from the 

Vanderbilt Register. The original publication 

date was May 24, 2004. 


Special Thanks From UPAA 

We would like to thank to our sponsors for this year's symposium in 

Houston. We were happy to have Fred Sisson from Nikon with us. He showed 

off the new D-70, which many of us are now lusting over. And Steve Mangione 

was sure glad when he won the Nikon 5700 for his images of reflections in 

Galveston. Canon was a new sponsor this year and sent an EOS 10D for the 

Photographer of the Year, which was Mark Philbrick. Will this change Mark 

into a Canon user or will he stick with Nikon? Epson sent us Doug Fehr to do 

a presentation and a R300 printer, which Dave Campbell hap pily took home. 

Fuji sent Frank Circchio to continue his lighting workshop, but I think the 

guys were watching the model more than Frank. There was some chatter on 

the list later, so I guess some lighting techniques were learned. Kodak sent us 

Dennis Guyitt who brought along some film for us to try (yes, some of us still 

use film) and a Dye sub printer, which Lyndon Baker won. Olympus sent 

Michael Lewis to do a presentation of his travel photography work. Ilford sent 

us some nice sample packets of paper for our digital printers. Light 

Impressions sent us 2 gift certificates and catalogs with discounts. Adobe sent 

some CDs of software training videos. 

UPAA wants to thank these sponsors for their support and the prizes they 

contributed for drawings and awards. These little "extras" are appreciated by 

the members and make the conference more successful and fun. If anyone 

has contacts for more sponsors for next year's symposium, please let me 

know. 

Dawn Van Hall 

Symposium Chair

Winter 2005 - University Photographers' Association of America

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