THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501050183
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Gallery
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
In March 1989, Steve MacDonald, his wife April and their 6 1/2-year-old redheaded twins Graham and James moved from southern Maryland to start a new life on the Outer Banks.
MacDonald left behind an engineering career to become a photo-finisher. Truth motivated him to make the switch.
Working as a government contractor in an engineering firm, MacDonald - a stickler for ``doing things right'' - said he was asked to make minor changes in reports that he wasn't comfortable with. It was enough to make him leave the business.
``You have to have awful thick skin to be a government contractor,'' he said.
The MacDonalds opened Lenscape in Kitty Hawk that same year. When the business began they just processed film, but customers kept asking, ``Do you take pictures?''
As a result of having the lab, MacDonald started accepting portrait jobs. He is entirely self-taught, and because he processes countless photos he can observe a lot of work. ``I read a lot, and I have a leg up on being able to see what everybody else does,'' he said.
Most children participating in the county athletic program have probably met MacDonald. He's that smiley guy with the full dark beard and kind eyes who tries to make the kids smile, stand still and keep their eyes to the camera.
He's photographed children ages 6-13 who play soccer, basketball and T-ball, or who participate in dance or gymnastics. In basketball alone, there are 64 teams. And all these photos are processed at Lenscape - on time.
Going along with MacDonald's desire to ``do things right,'' he sends very little work off to be processed. His assistant, Jennifer Wooten, does most of the printing. If the color balance is off, they will print the photos again.
With copy work in particular, special attention can make a lot of difference. At least twice a week, MacDonald has requests to copy old photographs. ``We see black-and-white images that have got to be 100 years old,'' he said.
MacDonald loves doing the copy work. ``It's fun. I appreciate the technology,'' he said. ``All the black-and-white work is done manually. I still use a tray, agitate every minute, use three different chemicals and washing and drying and the actual image making.
``If a photo is washed out you can bring out detail by dodging and burning, and restore original character. The hands-on makes black-and-white my favorite.''
One can also expect a personal touch while having a portrait taken by MacDonald. ``I try to take as much time as I need,'' he said, adding that he has to be quicker when dealing with kids. ``If you don't get it in 10 minutes, forget it,'' he said.
MacDonald uses squeaky toys and bubbles, and he also suggests that parents bring along the child's favorite toy to comfort them. ``I also have a paper cone that I play peep eye with,'' he said.
Humor also works well. ``If you can get them to smile at a joke . . . humor is probably the easiest way to get people to relax,'' he said.
MacDonald would love to carry humor into his fine art photography. He laughs when he thinks of the signs posted on most restaurant doors: ``Shirts and Shoes Required.''
``I can see someone walking into a bar bottomless,'' he said. These confusing phrases are creative fodder for MacDonald, but he has little time to turn them into visual images.
But creativity does play a part in MacDonald's commercial portraits. While many wedding pictures are shot in a straightforward photo-journalistic style, if a couple wants something different, MacDonald will comply.
The backgrounds he uses in his studio work also add a personal touch. He projects slides behind his subjects, immediately placing them in a wide variety of scenes. Lifelike foliage lends an earthy feel to one picture; wooden backgrounds with sun and shadows give warmth to another.
These are not your standard ``let's instantly take you to the tundra'' shots. They look and feel real.
MacDonald used ingenuity to shoot a dreamlike photo of a young dancer. Seated with a flower in her hand, she gazes toward it with a dreamy smile. Her loop earring lends a hint of sophistication, illustrating a move toward adulthood.
By using a pair of torn stockings he found tossed in a corner, MacDonald created a filter. He sandwiched the material between two UV filters, then shot through it. The homemade filter gave the photo a hazy feeling, echoing the dream-like expression on her face.
The photo is one of MacDonald's favorites. He calls it ``Contemplating a Flower,'' but perhaps ``Budding Flower,'' by a blooming photographer, would be more appropriate.
From this photo alone, one can see the stuff Steve MacDonald is capable of. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Steve MacDonald, who owns Lenscape photography lab in Kitty Hawk, is
a salf-taught portrait photographer.
by CNB