Background

In your profile you indicate that you were born in South America, but have also lived in the US prior to moving to Canada. Can you expand on that?

I was born in Argentina. My parents are Argentinean of German descent. My grandparents immigrated to Argentina; one set (on my mother's side) stayed there, the other (on my father's side) ended up for the most part in the USA. My parents moved to Valparaiso, Chile when I was 1 1/2 years old. They moved back to Argentina (Buenos Aires) when I was 12 years old. I came to the USA at age 21 on a scholarship to study as a teacher. I met my husband at college, we married, and I never returned to Argentina. A few years ago my husband and I decided to emigrate to Canada. We lived in Ottawa, Ontario for a number of years, then moved to British Columbia, where we live now.

Tell us about your family/friends.

I have been married to Ron for 30 years. We have five children, 3 girls and 2 boys. Our oldest is 28 and lives in Wyoming, our youngest is 12 years old. Because of my husband's job we've moved around a lot, so we've never really established deep roots anywhere. We have a lot of acquaintances, but not many friends in the true sense. On top of that, I am a loner, a BIG loner. I have two friends, one in Oregon, the other in Wyoming. Both are like sisters to me.

What is your occupation?

I've worked for the State of Wyoming since 1992 in various capacities (ESOL and ABE Instructor, GED Tester, Database Person). In 1999 I designed the structure for the state database for Adult Education Services, and about at the same time we moved to Canada. Wyoming kept me on as their database person, long-distance, since that time. I've thoroughly enjoyed doing this, but about a year ago we came to the mutual conclusion that it would be better for both them and me to move on. For myself, I can't do it on my own anymore, and I am not interested in hiring anyone to help - I like working by myself too much. For them, the Federal requirements for ABE Programs have grown so much, and they need more security/services than what one person can offer. I am scheduled to end services for them in December.

After that, I don't know what I'll do. I am strongly considering moving into something that would use photography, but I'm still not sure that trying to make an income from something I'm passionate about is a good idea. It's quite beautiful though to have a world of options.

How long have you been involved in photography?

In some ways, all my life, simply because I've always, ever since I was a little girl in Chile, been fascinated with images and the making of images (not only photography, but drawing, watercolors, stuff like that). But I never really gave photography a serious thought until after my husband gave me my first digital camera in 2001 (a Fuji FinePix). It occurred to me that I wanted to do more than just document the kids growing up, places we went on vacation, stuff like that. I remember how it happened. It was January, 2003, in Ottawa, very, very cold, and I was frustrated with the lack of color and light - I decided I was going to make all that grey look beautiful in images. That is when I went from taking snapshots to experimenting in how to make images; that's when I figured out that photography for me was more than just something I enjoyed, I actually was (and am) passionate about it!

Have you won any photographic competitions outside of DPC?

Like many others at DPC, I have won photo of the day and monthly prizes at BetterPhoto and Digital Image Cafe, but I'm not active at either site. I tried a couple other competition sites, but didn't really like any of them. I have not entered any photography competitions in real life.

What's your favorite movie?

Jeremiah Johnson. I've loved that movie ever since it first came out, and I never tire of watching it, I think because the landscape feels just right, and because, when I was younger, that's one of the things I wanted to be, I wanted to live by myself somewhere far away. The other two things I wanted to be were an archaeologist and a concert pianist.
I also really like:
Lawrence of Arabia, because of the beautiful blues and tans;
Amadeus, because it's Mozart, what else can I say;
Night of the Hunter, because it's so corny but beautiful at the same time;
The LOTR Trilogy, because it got me to read more in English.

What kind of music do you listen to?

Classical. I love anything Beethoven. I enjoy most classical music, although I don't care for Howard Hanson. One of my goals in life is to visit Beethoven's tomb and put a red rose on it. I occasionally like folk music, but I'm not well versed in it, so I can't really talk about it. Oh, and I love tangos, the old ones with Gardel singing, nouveau tango Piazzola style, anything tango. My favorite not-entirely classical group is Quartetto Gelatto.

What is your favorite food?

Hmmmm .... this is not a constant. Right at the moment I am in love with candied salmon chunks, could eat them all the time. Overall, I think my favorite dish would be a plate of mussels steamed in a creamy beer sauce, with a mug of Kilkenny, a fresh orange and a little square of dark chocolate for dessert. I also really like anything curry. If I were in Argentina I'd order milanesas con papas fritas, and a glass of (gasp!) white - yummy! For everyday eating I like Italian best, because that's what I grew up with and know how to cook.

Do you have a main source of caffeine? If so, is it Tea, Coffee. Chocolate or Other?

Coffee, with a bit of cream. Pilon (Cuban coffee). But I'll drink pretty much anything, except anything with "coffee whitener" in it - that stuff is evil.

Do you have your own web site, if so can I list it here?

I am working on a web site at www.ursulasphotos.com. I really need to work on this.

Indulge us in a bit of "polarizing" personality typing:

Coke or pepsi?

Dr Pepper.

Mac or Windows?

I can say it now, Mac!

Early bird or night owl?

Early bird - I fall asleep too easy to stay up late.

Big crowds or small groups?

No people, I much prefer to be alone. If I have to choose between a small group and a large crowd, it really depends on the situation. Small groups are easier to control, large crowds are easier to get lost in. Both have advantages. In general I really much prefer to be alone.

Perfectionist or slob?

Neither, or both. I'm somewhere in between. I like it there.

Cash or credit?

Interac. That would be "card-cash". I try to avoid credit.

Back to the Mac vs. PC question, did you just recently "switch?"

I have been a Windows user for many years, but decided to switch to Mac a couple months ago. I got my new iMac on Tuesday (August 29, 06 - a 20" 2 Ghz Intel Core Duo), and so far I really like it. It's very graphic, and for someone like me who prefers pictures and diagrams to words, it hits the spot.

Hardware

Take us through a history of your camera purchases, both film and digital.

- 1969: Got my first SLR (Russian-made, can't remember brand)
- 1982: Pentax K1000
- July 2001: Fuji FinePix 2400
- May 2003: Olympus D5050Z
- May 2004: Nikon D70

How happy are you with the D70?

I love it, fits my hands and my style quite well. I use it as a sort of security blanket - it goes with me pretty much everywhere, and it's helped me get over being afraid of heights. It's quite a machine.

Tell us a little about your lens collection: favorites, most and least often used, etc.

I have 4 lenses:
- Sigma 105 F2.8 macro (my favorite, use it all the time, not only for closeups, but for all sorts of stuff)
- Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 (my newest, I like it OK, have been using it for walk-around)
- Nikkor 50mm F1.8 (excellent lens, but gets me no respect in public - love it though)
- Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm F3.5-4.5 (kit lens that came with D70 - use it mainly for landscapes, it's OK)

What size memory cards do you have?

- Two 2 gig SanDisk Extreme III
- One SanDisk 512MB
- One Lexar 256MB

Do you shoot in JPG or RAW mode?

RAW

Have you ever lost any images on memory cards?

No, I never have.

Do you have a home studio setup?

No, I don't have a studio setup. I like to be outdoors, and love natural light. Winters are long and grey here though, and days are so short - I'm seriously thinking about setting up a small studio for winter use, mainly for still life work.

Software

Do you use any software for organizing your digital pictures?

I have been using Picture Project for organizing my digital images, but with the switch to Mac I'm sort of in limbo right now.

Do you use Photoshop or an alternative? If so what version?

I started out with Paint Shop Pro and still use PSP quite a bit. I also have PSCS for Windows, and have been using it more and more, especially since learning how to do contrast masking. Again, with the switch to a Mac, I'm a bit in limbo, but I plan to eventually upgrade to the newest PS (PS3?) when it comes out.

What Photoshop skills do you consider to be essential to digital photography?

I believe that more than anything else the post-processing skill essential to digital photography is a critical eye, what might work for a particular image. That, and trying all sorts of new things - it's way too easy to get stuck in an editing rut.

Out of your own entries on DPC, what photo had the most digital editing?

"fall"

It would have to be "fall." I made that picture one evening while at a conference in Casper, Wyoming. I wanted to show the beautiful fall evening light just right, I wanted to capture the smell and taste of being out on the mountain on a beautiful warm fall evening, but I was short on time and nature wasn't cooperating all the way. Light and location were OK, but not extra-special. I worked and worked on the image to try and enhance it. I have never quite made up my mind if I like the result or not - but it looks pretty good as a large print.

Do you use any other software in relation to digital photos? If so, what?

For RAW conversion I use Nikon Capture. I have Capture installed to the Mac, and it's working nicely. I plan to upgrade to CaptureNX once it's clean for Intel based Macs.

One thing I've found interesting is that since switching to shooting only RAW (in March of this year), I've done a lot less post-processing than before. The bulk of my post-processing is taking place in conversion. What's left usually is a bit of cleanup work.

On the whole, do you prefer a minimalist approach to post editing, a no rules approach, or somewhere in between?

As minimal as possible for the situation, with no rules for what can and can't be done. It just depends so much on the particular image you're trying to create. Overall I think it's much more important to concentrate on composition and artistic vision than on processing skills. The processing skills will come along as you need them, the vision is worth working on.

Photography

I'd like to ask you about a few of your DPC images, both challenge and non-challenge shots. Ive always considered you a master of lighting and your fall shot, mentioned above, is a good example. Dark clouds, deep shadows on the ground, golden illumination on the trees. It's a feast. Here are four more which I find particularly intriguing. These are four very different shots, but all shots in which the lighting is central. Some people might even consider "Inside outside" dubious because you lost so much detail in the dark interior. But that string of colorful lights is beautiful, and I can see why you were attracted to the shot. Tell me about your thoughts in making such pictures, and your approach to light in general.

Well, without light we wouldn't have pictures (or life as we know it for that matter). Light is what makes pictures. Special light makes extraordinary pictures. By nature I'm a bit of a scientist - I like to study things (endlessly, my kids would say). It is fascinating to me to just look at something, anything, and watch how it changes with the changing light from day to night, from season to season. It is also fascinating to try to figure out how to use light to make things look their best. It's almost the same as knowing your camera and lenses - you have to know what you can do with them so that when you're out making pictures you don't have to worry about all those details - light in photography is like that, like a tool, you have to learn how it works, what it can do, how to use it.

"Beginning and end"	Beginning and end was made on the deck in back of our house in Ottawa, the seeds were leftover from the plant that grew up and over the fence (sweet smelling little white flowers in Spring). It was made in the evening, at sundown. This was about the time when the concept of creating defined out of focus areas using shallow DOF first hit me, and I started experimenting with different f-stops. Shortly after this is when I started to think I needed a DSLR for finer control of aperture/shutter speed. I wanted to make an image where just the seeds in front were in focus, and the setting sun would be a big round blur. It didn't quite come out round (the sun area), and I was very frustrated because I didn't know why until after the challenge was over. I did not know that the shape of the defined OOF area depended on the F-stop and the number of blades for the particular lens. I also didn't get the whole of the seed in focus (bummer!). I wasn't really thinking about much of anything else here, just that I'd seen a similar picture somewhere, and wanted to make something like that - blurred sun, seed silhouette, or in other words, black lines/shapes on beautiful colors.
"inside outside"	Inside outside was made on a warm Spring afternoon at the old Muddy Waters (Trinity now, unless it's changed name again) Cafe in downtown Laramie, Wyoming. My oldest son and I were just sitting there with a coffee, talking, not too far from the open back door. The sky was so beautifully blue outside, and all these brick backs of houses and large trash containers were in the alley, and everything was sharp and clear, almost harsh. Inside it was cacoony warm and comfortable, yellows and browns, not sharp at all. Even the lights looked "fuzzy". To me, this is just that kind of a picture, the mood of a warm afternoon in good company, feeling safe and happy no matter how harsh the world is outside.
"the old barn"	The old barn is one image that was very much planned (and I was very lucky to be at the right place at that time). As soon as the challenge was announced, I knew exactly the picture I wanted. My main problem was finding time for it, as the Conference I was attending in Jackson, WY started on the same day the picture needed to be in. So I had only only one morning to make it. The evening before I scouted out the place, so I would know exactly where to go, and next morning got up while it was dark, went there, made the image, and there it is. Fortunately the weather more or less cooperated. Light, once again, was not spectacular, it could be so much better, but it was good enough. Something beautiful that happened that morning was that while making the image a pack of coyotes were howling in back of me. It was fantastic! Just after the image and before driving back to Jackson, I stopped at the last overlook of the Snake river, and there were two wolves down by the water, and a couple elk. They definitely were wolves, not coyotes. It was great! Note, at this place, you have to be there right before the sun comes up. Everything glows then, but it doesn't last long. The old wood has a beautiful quality to it, the early light really brings it out, and you can't go wrong with a backdrop like the Tetons. You also often have to fight for place with other photographers - this is the most photographed barn in the world as far as I know. I hope to go back there again, and try for a better image of the same place (and others around the area). I've seen some spectacular images of this place, much, much better than mine by far.
"plasmic"	Plasmic is another planned image. I have admired Jean's work ever since signing up at DPChallenge. I asked her how she did her beautiful images like this one, and she said it was oil drops on water, reflecting colors. So I tried for a while to get images in that style, but wasn't particularly successful, mainly because I couldn't get my oil drops to reflect colors the way hers did. So, when the Bubbles challenge came up, I thought, here's my chance! I dribbled both oil and detergent onto water in a bowl, a CD at the bottom of the bowl. Used a straw to make bubbles and break up the oil. Used sunshine to reflect light from the CD into the bubbles/drops. The hardest thing was to get the image sharp because (1), I needed a very shallow DOF so I wouldn't show details of the CD, and (2), I needed to keep blowing into the water with a straw to keep the bubbles/drops alive - which meant they moved around a lot, so they were hard to catch. Depending on the angle of camera/CD/sun, the colors changed from very light and bright to almost black at times. Fortunately for me, all the previous experimenting paid off, as I knew by then what didn't work.

And finally, two of the most amazing flower shots I've ever seen anywhere. When I first saw summer during voting and then again a few days later on the front page, it was one of those moments when I asked myself: "how can ANYBODY capture a vision like this," and "what am I doing in photography?" Seriously, I have to ask whether you "see" shots like this and then set out to make them happen, or if you just explore and shoot, and come up with this stuff?

"winter blues"

"summer"

In general, I like to have a concept or situation in mind, and then go with it. Sometimes I'll go out and just try different things, then look at the results and see if any are good and useful, and duplicable in a more controlled fashion. To me this is quite helpful. I've found that in general just going out there and shooting doesn't work all that well. Having some sort of idea in mind is better. An idea could be something simple like, "OK, it's rainy this afternoon, how about going where there's a bunch of pines and exploring drops on pine needles." But then, once you are there, I don't like to limit myself to just one view. That's where the fun starts. Go into the pines and figure out all sorts of different ways to look at them, from further away, close up, into the light, from down below, whatever.

Both of these shots were done indoors. Both were very much planned. Winter blues came about because I had been reading Freeman Patterson, and admiring a lot of his images. I wanted to make something that would be in his style, yet my own. I'm not sure I accomplished it, but I think it is an image that comes close to what I would like my own style to be.

Summer I made pretty much right after the Flowers challenge was announced. I spent the whole week trying to top it, but never did. I love California poppies, and I'd been thinking about what makes them special. I decided it's two things (1) the stem and connector to the petals are just so different from other flowers, so delicate yet so defined that you have to get them into the picture if you want these poppies; (2) the color - there just isn't any orange like the orange of these poppies, you just have to make use of it.

I can't resist tossing in a few of your macro shots from your portfolio as well. As one of your commenters said, "I never imagined how effective such shallow DOF could be." How do you approach your macro work; in the field with camera in hand, or in controlled settings where you can manipulate things to your own ends?

The answer is both. It would be sad to limit oneself to one way of working. In general I prefer to go outside, to get down into the muck and dirt and get close to things as they are in their natural state, but then, I like to also keep a "still-life table" close by, put things on it, rearrange them, watch them in different lights. Where and how you go about making your images depends also on what you're trying to photograph. If you're going to make images of forks and spoons, you're probably better off in a controlled situation. If, on the other hand, you want grasses and river sparkles, you have to get down by the river.

"The optimist"	An experiment with seed pods, water and CDs. Window light for illumination. I do these when I'm bored. There really isn't that much to them, but often, when playing around like this, I talk to myself and make up stories, and pretty soon it's like the pods talk to the drops and the drops to the CD, and it just becomes a lot of fun to work with them.
"vegas dandelion gone to seed"	This is a little seed, from a dandelion. It is one of the earlier experiments in CDs and seed pods, and it wasn't really planned. I was trying to get a whole dandelion head with drops, and I was trying to get some color into it with light reflected from a CD, but the dandelion fell apart, and some of the seeds got stuck to the CD. So I started looking at it through the viewfinder with the macro lens on, and it looked nice. I liked the way the drops look like a fancy dress of sorts. Actually, the idea of playing with individual pods and CDs came from this session.
"the big fork"	This image was made because I wanted to learn how to get a background perfectly white, while controlling reflections/glare on metal. This is a big fork, a dough mixing fork that I keep in shiny condition for photos. It makes fantastic shadows. Over time I learned that setting white balance to the background, then overexposing by about 1 full f-stop, works quite nicely for these shots.
"water sparkles"	This one is an accident (or an accidental image). I was walking by the Columbia river, I forget what I was looking for, but not grasses. There is a little inlet with quite a bit of green stuff on it, and the sun was shining on it just so. The sparkles on the water were bright, but not so bright that they overpowered the picture (stagnant water helped with that). I'm not sure what to say about this image. It's one of my own favorites, but I never expected people to like it - it doesn't really have a story or an idea, it's just a bunch of beautiful colors and shapes, but to me it gives the feel of a walk in the hazy heat of a Summer afternoon.
"yellow daisy"	This is a study in extremely shallow DOF. In my opinion, to make extremely shallow DOF work, you need to have some sort of shape or edge that is interesting so that the eye can find a place to rest. Yellow daisies are good for this, because they have beautiful sharp edges. Aperture is measured on the outside of the petals in front. The hardest part of these images is to keep both camera and flower steady (tripods are difficult to use when you're crawling on the ground, I usually forget mine). One little trick is to set the camera to whatever focusing distance you want, then get closer/farther away from the subject until it is clear, then shoot a couple images in quick succession. Something else to remember in closeup photography is backgrounds, it's quite important to actually look at it, to see if it is what you want, both for shapes and colors.

I love the fact that you keep a fork in 'photo ready condition.' What other oddities might one find around your house that give away your passion for photography?

Oddities? Doesn't everyone keep a dough fork in photo ready condition? :)

I have a small, but growing, collection of transparent fabrics, both prints and solids, that I keep for backgrounds; an empty cereal box with fallen apart seeds; a pair of red leather pumps I found in good condition at the Salvation Army; a small collection of vintage hats and beaded purses; a growing collection of vases, bottles and glasses in various shapes, sizes and colors; and 3 bendy pencils (a red one, a yellow one, and a sparkle blue one).

A few questions back, you mentioned your admiration for Jean's work. Who else among DPCers have you found inspiring and worthy of copying -- or at least drawing inspiration?

"Fall colors"

"Curves, stripes and colors"

"Symmetry"

Besides Jean, whose work I really love (here are three more of her images that are just superb), I really like the work of (in alphabetical order):

"moves"

"peel"

arngrimur, because he is very good with color and is the best I know at making square images that don't look square at all. He does people in squares and they look like they're ready to just bounce out of them. He makes fascinating abstracts out of mundane objects. He makes poster-like images like this one. He has a way of making fantastic images out of ordinary situations. I sometimes just look at his pictures to get ideas for stuff to do, and then I hope he doesn't notice that I might be copying his work.

"The Face of a Thousand Tales"

"Break Time"

BradP, the guy who gets easily bored in hospitals, because he has a real feel for all that's good and important in life and he manages to show it in his images. One of my all-time favourites at DPC is "The Face of a Thousand Tales," a superb character study, just right. Brad has the ability to make these images of people who are total strangers to the viewer, but who, through his pictures, become acquaintances, and sometimes friends. Brad also makes the most delicate bird images and not so delicate bird images. I love both kinds. I also really like his motion blur/panning shots.

"Spring Tale"

"Amarcord"

Dax-, because she puts her heart into her images and she has a great sense of design. Bea has a unique style, her images look so easy, but are difficult to pull off. She has a fantastic eye for composition. She is the only DPCer that consistently uses wide white borders with great effect. Her use of colour is outstanding. Again, I go to her portfolio for inspiration, although frequently I'll just go there because it's so pleasant to be there.

by JPR

"Another Rainy Day"

JPR, because he's quirky, creative, has a great eye, and doesn't seem to mind going out on a limb. He has one of my favorite wedding images at DPC. He also has one of my favorite water images. I wish I could come up with stuff like that.

"Soft Radiance"

"Acadia Rocks!"

nshapiro, because he has the soul of a poet. He paints with his pictures. I love his work because he isn't afraid to experiment and consider new ways to look at the world.

"The Stalker"

"Vantage"

xion, because he is a master at putting movement into images. He is constantly playing with shadow and light. He really seems like a great observer. His work is a real inspiration to me.

There are many others whose work I love and admire, this is just a short sampling.

Are there any type of photographic styles/techniques that you don't like?

There are some I like less, but I don't really dislike them, it's more that I personally am not particularly interested in them. In general I don't much care for most dark or scary images. I also don't think I would want to ever be a wedding (or similar situations) photographer - I think you'd have to cater too much to what people want at the expense of what I'd like to do. I find a lot of formal portraiture quite uninspired, and I frequently get bored when looking at wide landscapes. That doesn't leave a lot I like now, does it? Actually, it does - there's so much else out there. Plus, every time I say you don't like something, along comes an image in that style or technique, and I just love it.

I realize this is probably asking the impossible, but name your top 5 favorite DPC images (shot by others, that is) and why they speak to you.

"Martial Talk"	Martial Talk by jjbeguin - because I could be that woman; JJ captured the moment perfectly, you can just hear the policeman saying something to the woman, you don't really know what it is, but you can see her reaction, she is just breaking out in a big happy laugh. I love this image. This is probably my overall favorite at DPChallenge.
"Cowspace"	Cowspace by remie - this just has to be the best use of negative space ever at DPChallenge. I can always remember this image, and I've tried to imitate it many times, without success.
"soft sun"	soft sun by DrJones - because of Martin's unabashed love for his subject and his excellent presentation. This particular image is a joy to look at.
"Maple in Tree Minor"	Maple in Tree Minor by Ivo - because I can hear the music when I see this image, and it's lovely music.
"reluctant models2"	reluctant models2 by geewhy - because it's one of the most tender and gentle mother/daughter images at DPChallenge.
"Fantasia"	And one last one, Fantasia by Gordon, the picture that inspired a thousand imitations - technique and creativity all in one. Love it.

What are the 5 favorite shots that you have taken, and why?

"I'm hungry!"	Because I think it came out just right. It was fun to work on this shot. I was trying to imitate Gordon's Fantasia but without using a paintbrush. I think that, even though it is a rather obvious imitation, it has a different feel to it than the original.
"remembering irma"	Nobody's favorite but my own, he, he. I was stuck at the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming for a couple days that I had intended to spend at Yellowstone, but the East entrance was closed because of a snow storm. This is one of the windows at the Irma, from the inside. The glow on the steamed up window is from the neon sign outside.
"old ways, highways"	This was a snapshot made through the windshield of our car, driving into Cody, WY from the north (the road through Belfry). I like the way it looks, it's the Wyoming I know from living there, rather plain and dreadful in some ways, always having to drive long distances, endless ranch fences. But there always are mountains in the distance, and the sky is to die for. That's Wyoming. Where else can you find a cowboy with sunglasses on the highway?
"escape"	This image, together with the above mentioned water sparkles, comes close to defining the style I'd like to have for my nature images. It's not so much a picture of something in nature, but an image that tries to give back a feeling, or a connection if you wish, to what we all see, but never really "see." My pine needles and swiftly flowing are other examples of what I'm trying to get at and having great difficulty putting into words.
"glassware"	A composite of a bunch of images of the same couple glasses laid out on white poster-board, indirect sunshine for light. I made a series, each image a bit further away. Stacked the images as layers, and blended in normal at decreasing percentages of opacity. Flattened the image after that. Finally, cloned out a couple distractions, worked on colour and contrast, and voila. I like experimenting with the concept of multis. I am quite happy with the outcome in this case. In some ways, even though in pictures such as this one you can see the subject less clearly, you can at the same time see it more clearly, because the image is an impression of the subject. Impressions last longer than actual shapes.

What is your most under-rated entry?

"life is mostly water"

"power"

Life is mostly water, although power is also waaaaay underrated (and even I can see why, he, he!).

What do you consider to be important aspects of photography?

Important aspects of photography? I suppose, keep looking, keep shooting. Don't forget the extra battery when you go on a long hike.

Some critics still don't think photography is a form of art. What is your response to this?

"rolls eyes"

I'd think, "Where is Slippy and his little pictures when I need him?" But I would say, "Oh, well, what do they know anyway." Or maybe, if I felt sorta-sophisticated for the day, I'd say something like, "Oh, yes, it is. The sensor is my canvas, the world my box of paints." He, he, he, that should get them to quiet down.

Are you planning any photo trips in the future? If so, where?

No, not planning, just wishing. My husband and I want to visit Europe in the near future, we are saving up for a trip to Portugal/Spain/Italy and maybe Greece and a couple other places. I would also really like to go to Norway, Ireland, Poland and Hungary. I also would love to go back to the places where I grew up in South America, and see how they have changed. And, I'd love to get to know my adopted country better; Canada is so big, and so beautiful!
Actually, given a chance, I would travel pretty much anywhere - I love to travel.

Do you have any photographic projects outside of DPC?

A couple, but they are long term, "on and off."

There is a group of seniors in town here, many of them quite old in numbers, but they are very young at heart. They get together once a week to dance for two hours. I've been making pictures of them on and off. I would like to eventually make enough good images to have a show in town and maybe a book for them and their family/friends. It's my "Dancing Seniors" project.

Also, I love wildflowers, and I've wanted to make beautiful images of all the wildflowers in the area, and find out their names. Not flower-guidebook type images, but "flower character studies." They all are so different, and, like people, each has their own personality. So, I guess I'm going to have to start making somewhat grainy, edgy, tack sharp, high contrast, black and white images of flowers.

DPC

If you could change one thing about DPChallenge, what would it be?

If it were possible I'd like to make it impossible for anyone to cheat in challenges. Cheating really bothers me. But, of things that are possible, I've sometimes thought I'd like to get rid of the obligatory 1 pixel black border for all images, and have a white background/no obligatory border instead (not sure about it though).

What is your earliest recollection of perusing the site as a visitor? What made you decide to join?

I remember thinking, "Hey, I can do this!" So I joined. Then I found out pretty quick that it wasn't nearly as easy as it seemed.

If you could offer some advice to somebody who is new to DPC and submitting to DPC challenges, what would it be?

It's a dangerous thing to give advice in my opinion. It rarely works. I don't much care to do it. But .... if I have to I would probably say: Enjoy yourself! And, if someone leaves you a comment that is not just flattery, pay attention to it, even if at first you think, how dare he/she not appreciate my vision, my art! It's often these comments, the ones that tell you how others see your images, that help the most in the long run."

Since challenge entries are pretty much a part of your "permanent record", in retrospect, are there any pictures you wish you hadn't submitted to a challenge?

Yes, a couple. I'd rather not talk about them though.

How do you decide which challenges you are going to enter and which ones you'll skip?

I pick and choose based on whether the challenge topic sounds interesting to think about and whether I have time to shoot something for it.

Do you ever seek assistance outside of the DPC community in trying to determine which of your photos you should submit?

Sometimes I ask my family for their opinion. I've also asked opinions from a couple other DPCers a few times. I have learned though that most of the time it is better to trust my own instincts over outside opinions.

What other DPCers have you met? Any you get together with on a regular basis?

Besides two daughters that also have accounts at DPC (both rather inactive), I have met Pam (frisca). She is really nice! I live too far away from most other DPCers to get together with anyone on a regular basis.

If you could personally ask Drew & Langdon for one new site feature or enhancement, what would it be?

We now have better forum and image search features, and a monthly Free Study (yipee!!!), and right now I can't think of anything else. I think I would mainly like to thank Drew and Langdon for designing and running the site, it's really a beautiful community to be part of.

Final Question

Why photography?

Why? Because to me, just like music and poetry, or a plate of spaghetti and a glass of wine, it is essential to life. It is one of the good things in life. It is joy and beauty, it is giving glory to God and communicating with fellow human beings. I have a very hard time imagining life without it.

Ursula, thanks so much for spending this time "sitting down" with me. It's been fascinating and I appreciate your candor and willingness to share your passion

Thank you, John, very much! I also enjoyed this time. It's really good of you to do these interviews.