Photographer Sue Fitterman uses digital photography to record bits of nature in and around Harvard and wherever she travels with her family and friends. She is outside almost every day trying to capture aspects in landscapes that intrigue her, looking for unusual patterns, reflections, and textures. Her intention is to show nature as it exists, without staging scenes or digitally enhancing images. Sue marvels at the surprises in nature, "I like to photograph what’s small, quiet and hidden like a grasshopper in a dahlia as well as what’s eye-grabbing like an orange sky."

Buildings are another of her favorite subjects because of their many angles and details. "I like the extremes – either ultra-modern mirrored skyscrapers that reflect their surroundings, or really old rustic barns and sheds with vines growing everywhere. My goal is to have one distinct subject for each photograph - something that can be described in one or two words - rather than just a scene with many different features." Any kind of repetitive pattern that shows up in nature is interesting to her. "One of my favorite photos is a sand bar at Crane Beach in Ipswich with dozens of ridges formed by ocean waves. I love close ups of the different textures found in nature, anything from birch bark to dragonfly wings. I also like any view with water and reflections. The colors blue and green seem to find their way into most of my photos, and unusual color always grabs my attention. When the clouds turn purple or pink, I head outside with my camera."

Sue tries to keep a small digital camera with her at all times. "Last winter I drove down Stow Road after a big snowstorm and saw three red mailboxes piled high with snow. I took a few photos and one of them was published in the 2008-2009 Harvard Community Calendar.  My kids are so used to me randomly pulling over to the side of the road to take pictures, they don’t even complain any more – they just roll their eyes at each other!"

Since she started taking nature photos, she checks the weather every night to see what’s coming. "If fog is predicted for the next morning, I’ll be at Bare Hill Pond to see how it looks. I pay more attention to the first signs of a changing season-- the first yellow leaf, the first snowfall, the first green sprout in spring. In my own garden, I watch for little things like spider webs and unusual flower buds and seedpods. Living in New England, especially in a beautiful place like Harvard, gives me a changing, never-ending supply of material to photograph."

Sue has been interested in nature photography from as far back as she can remember. Her grandmother was a talented landscape painter and a gifted photographer. Although Sue does not use a darkroom she has fond childhood memories of watching her grandmother work in the darkroom of the photography studio she ran with her grandfather. Since switching from film to digital photography about four years ago, her small interest in nature photography has developed into a real passion. She explains, "Now I can take dozens of shots of a grassy dune, trying out different angles and techniques, and simply delete what I don’t want without the expense of film and processing. I use Picassa or Photoshop to crop photos and make minor adjustments for brightness and contrast, but I don’t significantly change any images with software."

For inspiration and new ideas, she visits art museums and photography exhibits and loves to read travel books, especially ones by National Geographic, to see how expert photographers capture the essential character of a place. Every day, she also visits Flickr, an online photo-sharing website, to see their most interesting posts over the last seven days from photographers all over the world. Two years ago she started a small home-based business called Falling Chair Prints to make and sell handmade greeting cards using her photographs. Her cards are for sale through local craft shows, the General Store, and Westward Orchards and she hopes to have a website soon to sell her prints and cards online.

You’ll also find Sue’s photos in the Harvard Press and in the PTO’s Harvard Community Calendar.  Her work was featured in the For Art’s Sake Made in Harvard exhibit and was part of the exhibit Harvard 2007: A Photo History at the Harvard Historical Society. One of her photographs was selected to be sold as a large, framed giclee print to benefit the HHS.  Recently, Sue has begun submitting photographs to local juried art shows. She is currently working on what her family calls ‘the pond project’ which involves going to Bare Hill Pond every day during 2009 to take photographs of the pond and surrounding area. She recounts, "I have been amazed at how different a place can look from one day to the next.  I hope to end up with over 350 pictures by the end of the year, and the next challenge will be to come up with something creative to do with all those photographs, possibly a book or an exhibit."

Sue’s fascination with photography and nature has had many benefits that have enriched her daily life and she recognizes, "…being involved in digital photography has given me a chance to be creative and do something different from my corporate background in business and accounting. It’s given me better computer skills and the opportunity to become involved with local art groups like For Art’s Sake. It’s a great activity to share with my family and friends. Together with my husband, I’m learning how to take detailed photos of the moon and the night sky by combining my love of photography with his interest in astronomy. Taking photographs has become part of my daily life, like driving my kids around and figuring out what to cook for dinner!" For more  information about Sue’s photography, contact her at sue.fitterman@pobox.com.