Rhoda Gerig - The Life Of A Wildlife Photographer
Rhoda Gerig- Photograph by Lorynn Hunt
Rhoda Gerig - Photograph by Lorynn Hunt
Rhoda Gerig has an amazing ability to compose the most intimate and breathtaking wildlife portraits honoring nature's miraculous beauty. Her passion shines through in this interview as she talks about her time spent tracking and studying animal behavior to help submerge the viewer into the scene she captures, as well as cultivating relationships within the community of wildlife photography.
Gerig’s love for photography started when she was gifted a film camera for her birthday to document her family vacation. Encouraged by her father, who too was a photographer, she was given a voice to mold through her lens. From stopping on the side of the road to photograph what she saw was interesting to wildflowers, she was able to flourish in her technique.
“My mom was artistic. My dad was the photographer. And when I was 13, we were taking a trip out west. My birthday was going to happen when we were in California and they gave me my birthday present early that year and it was the camera and two rolls of 24 picture film. So 48 pictures for the whole trip. It was a month long trip. We went down to Louisiana and out to California and then came back the northern states and I remember at the Grand Canyon I took four whole pictures and I thought after I left I maybe shouldn't have taken that many because I'm trying to make this 48 pictures last and now I can take 48 pictures in seconds. It was kind of a fun experience. But my dad, instead of being the kind of dad that gets in the car and says we're not stopping for anything, he said anytime you see something you want to take a picture of, tell me and we'll pull over. That's kind of where I got interest in it.”
After year’s of teaching math, Gerig was given the position to teach art and photography, giving her students an opportunity to bolden their skills and possibly, just possibly discover their abilities as well.
“I loved figuring out a kid's personality and throwing some ideas at them saying, “Have you thought about doing this or that?”, and figuring out the missing piece that they need to kind of go a little bit further. And part of that is people watching and figuring out personalities. But when I would make assignments, especially for the high schoolers, where I would try to leave it open enough that they could do a lot of what they wanted to do but still meet some of the requirements that I wanted them to work on, I would think through the kids that I would have in the class and think, he is never going to be able to do this or that's not going to fit her. And how can I open something up that would be something that they would be interested in”
Even after retirement, Gerig has always seen her photography as more of a hobby than a professional career, though her work doesn’t even whisper “hobbyist .” Her photography has been entered in many competitions and is known beyond just Wabash. Gerig displays her masterpieces on her socials and website, (www.rhodagerig.com), where she also sells prints that can be purchased to bring nature into your own home.
Gerig discussed the barrier to entry on professional wildlife photography, as well as some tips that could help anyone looking to pick up a camera for the first time, and about her mindset shift after her trip to Africa.
Once again, here I go, about to give it all away. Click the links below to listen to today's this new episode with the most talented and ever gracious, Rhoda Gerig. Thank you so much for saying yes and spending the day in my studio.
Contact my guest: http://www.rhodagerig.com/
https://www.facebook.com/rhoda.gerig
https://www.instagram.com/rhoda.gerig/
Contact me:
www.hereinmytime.com
https://www.instagram.com/here.inmytime/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583151527148
https://open.spotify.com/episode/254X9nZDxg9vHkk1u4Ex27?si=c0vo8pVARNGpdRxK9bGV9Q
