Bob Shea with Camera; Photo by Robert Shea.
San Xavier Eclipse; Photo by Robert Shea.
For January, we will have as our speaker at the general meeting the second part of Bob Shea’s talk on “Photographing the National Parks”. Bob wowed the audience at a previous meeting in March 2019, with his selections of photographs from his travels throughout America to our amazing National Parks. His love of hiking and backpacking works to his advantage in being in the right place to catch beautiful lighting during the early morning or in the late afternoon, “golden hours”. Many of his special places took a bit of work to get to and aren’t your usual tourist photos.
Bob Shea was born and raised in Reno, Nevada and earned an engineering degree from the University of Nevada (Reno) in 1969. He then joined the Navy and was sent to pilot training in Pensacola, Florida. After earning his Naval Aviator wings and a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering he was deployed to Vietnam on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, CVA-61 flying the A-7E, “Corsair II” aircraft. He completed two tours of Vietnam duty and was then assigned as a jet flight instructor, again in Pensacola, Florida. After eight years of active duty in the Navy he flew commercial airliners for 25 years with Northwest Airlines, retiring as an Airbus A-320 captain. He also completed his Naval Service with 12 more years flying the A-7B/E with Attack Squadron 205, retiring as a Commander. He and his wife, Peggy, then spent several years living full time in their motor home touring the United States, Canada, and Mexico before settling in Bend, Oregon.
They established a winter home in SaddleBrooke in 2007, and took an active role in the SaddleBrooke Swim Club, Tennis Club, Hiking Club, and Cyclemasters. He was the founder and first president of the SaddleBrooke Adventure Club, which was very active for five years here in SaddleBrooke.
His interest in photography really began after retirement living in Bend, Oregon. Bob established a friendship with a neighbor, and they spent time hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and skiing. He always came back from their adventures with eye-catching photos, and he claims that his were ho-hum, dull, and not very interesting. He learned a lot from his friend, so Bob began studying on his own to elevate his photography skills. Over the next seven years Bob attended numerous photographic workshops in an attempt to take his images to a professional level. He enjoys landscape and wildlife photography with the goal to produce interesting, simple, and engaging images.
SaddleBrooke Photography Club has its general meeting on the third Friday of each month at 3 p.m. in the Sonoran Room at MountainView. Open studio times are every Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m.-noon in the Agate Room in the Arts and Crafts Complex, also at MountainView. Visitors are welcome to drop in and see what we do, and ask photography questions from the many mentors there.