4 • DECEMBER 2019
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
MEET THE MERCHANT
Continued from Page 3
LUKE WHITTAKER
Palmer’s interest in photography started during her youth in Rochester, New York, also home to Ko-
dak. “..growing up seeing my hometown’s name stamped on cameras and all the Kodak buildings
everywhere in the city — it was hard not to be interested in photography,” she said.
photos and not computer-generated designs
and have just kept creating more since. I
only recently thought to start using them
as fabric patterns and have been designing
bags and clothing with them. They can be
more traditional wall hangings or wearable
art and I love that. This gave me a whole
new creative outlet and a better way to
share my work with everyone.”
Do you have a favorite subject with
your photography?
“Besides my light-painting photogra-
phy, I’m really into nature and landscape
photography. That’s honestly one of the
main reasons I even moved to Oregon, I
love being outdoors and the scenery here
is so epic.”
How long of an exposure do you typ-
ically do?
“The exposure time usually ranges eight
seconds to 30 depending on how bright the
lights I’m using are and how much line
work I want in the image.”
Where are you from originally, and
how long have you been out here?
“I grew up in Rochester, NY most of
my childhood, which is also where Kodak
started ages ago, so growing up seeing my
hometown’s name stamped on cameras and
all the Kodak buildings everywhere in the
city — it was hard not to be interested in
photography. I left to go to college at 18,
and got my bachelor’s in photography
at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I loved
Pittsburgh so much though; I stayed even
after I finished school. I’d probably still be
there if I hadn’t of fallen in love with the
Oregon coast on a trip with my sister. We
took the 101 down to the Redwoods and
I didn’t want to go home, just didn’t feel
right when I knew such a beautiful place
existed. I moved out here a couple months
after that first visit and have been exploring
Oregon since.”
When was it that you came out here
with your sister?
“My sister goes to school up in Seattle. I
came out to visit and road trip a bit with her
in August 2017.”
Is there an image that stands out as
your favorite?
“My favorite image… that’s got to be
the hardest question. I take so many pic-
tures and like to always push myself and
my skills so my favorite picture is always
changing.”
Did you have a favorite course or
instructor?
“Honestly my favorite photography
teacher was my high school photogra-
phy teacher, Dirk Sipes. He was a tech
teacher but had film photography experi-
ence and ran the dark room and taught film
photo classes. Those classes and that lit-
tle darkroom are where I really started lov-
ing photography. Dirk was a great teacher
too, I think he could see my interest even
at a young age and was always really help-
ful. He even lent me his personal DSLR to
shoot my first digital pictures on and when
I ran out of photography classes junior
year, he let me do independent studies so
I could keep working at it. After school he
even got me my first paid freelance job and
would have me come back and talk to his
classes. That support was really motivating
for me.”
What part of the process do you enjoy
the most?
“Taking the pictures, it’s a bit different
than typical light painting where the camera
is steady on a tripod and the light is moved.
I use stationary light sources, so I move the
camera about during the exposure, proba-
bly looks a bit silly. I always wonder what
people think if they see me in the process.”
Do you have a favorite photographer?
“That’s another tough one. I love Rob-
ert and Shana Parke Harrison’s work, espe-
cially their older books. They do these
really surreal portraits often with props
they make or find and they hunt out the
most interesting landscapes. In their early
work all the surrealness was created in
camera with the sets and scenes they put
together or they would stack film to layer
the scenes and even paint onto the film to
create these new worlds in the darkroom. I
really respect photographers with that type
of creativity and discipline. I loved experi-
menting with film photography in my stud-
ies so their work is very inspiring for me.”
How did your interest in photography
begin?
“As a kid, I was obsessed with dispos-
able cameras and taking pictures of every-
thing. So once I got to high school and got
to start using real cameras and actually
learning technique I was pretty certain I’d
found my thing.”
The most valuable and respected
source of local news, advertising and
information for our communities.
www.eomediagroup.com