Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Murdock.
Linda, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
How to start? I have always been interested in art and making things. For years, crafts and gardening and even remodeling houses satisfied my creative urge. But this latest chapter began when I started thinking about retirement. How to fill my days and stay active? In the 70s, when I lived in California, I had enjoyed birdwatching. It seemed a fun activity to resurrect. This time, I wasn’t a poor student and I could afford good binoculars, books, phone apps for identification and classes. And Texas is about the best place for finding birds year round. We are on the flyway for Spring and Fall Migration and there are many resident birds.
To share my new hobby, I started writing email “Nature Reports” to friends and family. Since they all were positive, I was taking the pictures I umm… borrowed off the internet to illustrate my adventures no matter how many disclaimers I noted, I started thinking about photography. I bought a simple bridge camera and began documenting my journeys. It was fun and I was rather good at it.
And then some of my friends encouraged me to start a blog and share these adventures and my own pictures with the whole innerwebs. I kept diaries and journals for years; my last career was as a Technical Writer so blogging came easy to me. Now that I am retired I am a full-time wildlife photographer and blogger. And learning Photoshop opened up a new world of making digital art from my images.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Successful bird or wildlife photography has several requirements. As with any photographic subject, understanding the light is paramount. I prefer overcast days as the bird is evenly illuminated with no harsh shadows. Second, knowing your subject (where and when to find), and anticipating movement or behavior helps to capture an interesting image instead of the boring bird-on-a-stick. And gear is very important for birds. You need a camera that will take multiple shots per second (for action) and a telephoto lens (for magnification or ‘reach’). All this along with a willingness to get hot, sweaty, dirty and muddy as you chase the birds.
Post-processing your images is a chore for some, but I love it. To me, it is just the last step in showcasing and presenting what you have captured. I am not a purist as some photographers are adamant their work be “straight-out-of-the-camera” and I will often remove distracting elements or make changes. To me, good editing is subtle, unobtrusive and enhances a great image. You cannot save a poor photo with tricks or hacks.
But then… digital art and fantasy Photoshop creations are fun and aren’t meant to be realistic. It is a great activity on days too sunny and hot to get out from under the a/c. Houston has so many great places to photograph and I love putting my birds in new habitats.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
Artists have always felt compelled to create, express themselves and leave a mark on the world from the time of cave paintings to yesterday’s Instagram post. What has changed is the technology/medium and the ease of self-expression. Now we can share our creations instantaneously, publish blogs, books, videos via online/social media without permission from the established gatekeepers. As an artist today, you are free to inspire or incite, educate or bore, annoy or amuse any number of audiences. It is up to you.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My blog gustaviatex.com is well into its sixth year now. I publish almost every Friday except for summer vacation. Often I write the story in my head if I have a particularly good day in the field. Sometimes the photos ARE the story; other times they illustrate bird behavior, migration events or even interesting anatomy. Some avian topics I have written about are siblicide in Great Egrets chicks (the runt is at the mercy of the older nest-mates), promiscuity among colonial birds (DNA shows they sometimes cheat on their mates!) and even a pair of Ospreys I found playing tag. Nature is endlessly fascinating to me. All my blog posts are hyperlinked to sources for further information. As my own knowledge has progressed I often include post useful for photography: light, editing, perspective and exposure for example.
When I chose the name for my blog (Gustavia was an old name I used playing City Building games) I purposely avoided any association with birds; I wanted the freedom to write about whatever interested me. That is why you will also find articles about the long-lost subdivision of Brownwood and the Start-up of 1836. And my readers found out what Jersey Barriers are when I found a stack of them on the east side of Houston.
I post on Facebook, have Flickr and Instagram accounts but the blog is my main focus. I do sell prints through FineArtAmerica and will be happy to meet requests. Writing is just as much a part of my life as photography. The two activities reinforce and support each other. Maybe when I get too old to chase birds, I will turn the blog into a book!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://gustaviatex.com/
- Email: gustavia@sbcglobal.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gustaviatex/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MurdockLindaPhotography/
- Other: https://fineartamerica.com/artists/linda+murdock/photographs
Image Credit:
Cover photo by Bill Maroldo
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