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~ Wildlife photography a matter . of patience, knowhow and luck | { | | VAL » Spends *100's on birds: oO ~ by John Gast Siebe Rekker of 220 Cochrane St., Port Perry, spends hundreds of dollars a year, takes weeks off work, walks mile upon mile, and spends a lot of his free time looking through the tele- photo lens on a tripod- mounted camera. And it's all for the birds..... literally. A member of the Photo- graphic Society of America, a » world-wide organization of photographers, Siebe has established for himself quite a reputation when it comes to nature photography. In fact, hundreds of his shots have been accepted in photo salons from Taiwan to Belgium. Typical of Siebe's excellent "photographic "abilities is a shot of a family of Least Bitterns, the mother feeding her family of four chicks with a small fish in her beak. That particular picture, enlarged into a poster-size colour print, captures each of the chicks in perfect profile and the parent in the midst of the feeding. Unlike other kinds of photo- graphy, Siebe cannot arrange his subjects, so a good shot becomes a matter of patience, technical and wildlife knowhow, and an element of luck. A shot like the Least Bittern can be a matter of five minutes of luck or five hours of patience in a blind. The minute of truth--when each of the birds is in perfect camera angle--many come only once and last only a split second. Always interested in nature Siebe has been adapting photography to this interest for about six years now with considerable results. He's had photos (colour trans- parancies) accepted by salons in over a dozen countries around the world and is probably one of the top 20 photographers in his cate- gory in Canada. - He's earned five "stars" with the PSA now (the result of 96 different pictures accepted 288 times at salons) He's shooting for his Diamond Star, which means Little Britain man injured One man was injured and damage totalled $2,000 in a single-vehicle accident Tues- 'day, October 5, about 8:10 p.m. on Victoria County Road 2, just north of Sea- grave. Lindsay OPP say Ronald Bruce Wallace, 29, of R.R. 1, Little Britain, driver of a 1974 pick-up truck, was taken to Port Perry hospital with cuts and bruises. The truck is reported to have been northbound on County Road 2, when it at- tempted to pass another northbound vehicle, went into the west ditch, skidded across the roadway into the "east ditch, struck an em- bankment and rolled over. Constable Grant Peters investigated. -he'll have to earn 640 accept- ances with 194 different pictures. Competition in the field of nature photography is extremely keen, so Siebe has taken on quite a challenge when he says he'd like to - break into the top 15 of his class. "It's a progressive thing," he said. 'You're never satisfied.' Mr. Rekker has also won numerous awards from organizations such as the Federation of Ontario Natur- alists; and has had shots of his used in publications such as Weekend and the Sunday Milwaukee Journal. But perhaps the hardest competition, thinks Siebe, is with yourself. Pictures he once thought were good, he now considers mediocre. "You never stop learning and improving," he said. Siebe sees his hobby as an escape from a good but sometimes-boring job at the General Motors plant in Oshawa. He has mixed feel- ings about going into photo- graphy on a fullgtime basis, but doesn't want to throw out 19 years of seniority at the plant. Not that the job doesn't allow enough time for Siebe's hobby. Last year, he took two weeks off work to go to the far north with three other photographers. He returned with 600 pictures. Poor weather this year resulted in a ~less-than- successful week long outing at Algonquin Park. With sales of some nature pictures and a bit of wedding photography on the side, Siebe says he makes enough money to keep his hobby going. But for Siebe, it isn't a money-making thing. Before that there's his love of nature a growing love for photo- graphy, friendly competition, and much more. His special interest has become a cause for Mr. Rekker as well. He talks to school classes and presents some of his pictures, and likes to think he's contribut- ing to a growing awareness of nature and the environ- ment. The hobby is also well- suited as a family activity. His daughter has already established a keen interest in photography and nature, and the family often goes out on camping or picture-taking outings. Although he doesn't classify himself as a *'loner" in the stricktest sense of the word, he admits a certain satisfaction from the solitude of a canoe trip or hike through the bush. And it's not only a hobby of solitude and calm. On most days, you'll find Siebe nerv- ously awaiting a "report card' from photo salons. Siebe regularly gets extremely high marks, earning a high number of acceptances in some of the best salons. Or 'there's the nervous anticipation of a recently sent roll of film. 'You never know just what you've got on film. It surprises you. It can be quite exciting," he said. Judging from some of Siebe's shots, that would an understatement. : AS EH AOA EA A ATIF IRSEW RE HOI SFE TRONS 3 REAR ESAT War S58 SUT SALA GAA ESF FIT EA ROA ' N r 9 ud 4 ME ER lL. PERRY IDLY PORT PERRY, ONTARIO -- THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1976 -- PAGE 17 SECOND Ld SECTION Contravens Bird Act, fined *100 A Port Perry man, his son, and a friend were found guilty Tuesday, October 6, of contravening the Migratory Birds Convention Act by hunting near a baited pond. Charles W. Grainger, 66, and Thomas Grainger, 25, both of Port Perry, and Thomas Kirby, 29, of 960 Glen St., Oshawa, were each fined $100 for the offence. Hunting within one quarter mile of a baited area is an offence under the act. The trio was found hunting by RCMP officers near a pond behind the Grainger's residence on September 25. The RCMP also discovered four ducks in the possession of the hunters who admitted they were aware the pond was baited. Judge N. H. Edmondson gave the men the altern- ative, in Oshawa provincial court, of 10 days in jail if fines were not paid Teachers reach tentative agreement with Durham The Durham Board of Education has reached a tentative contract settle- ment with more than 950 secondary school teachers in the region. Bargainers for the school board and the Ontario Secon- dary School Teachers' Fed- eration reached agreement on terms of a new one-year contract at a meeting late last week. The chief negotiator for the teachers' federation Erend Dekker, says details of the agreement won't be released until after ratific- ation later this week. He said he foresees no difficulty in having the monetary package approved by the Anti-Inflation Board. A new contract covering 1,400 elementary teachers employed by the Durham Board of Education was ratified last week. £ '