Fine art photographer Larry Calof spices up the Park City Library with an exhibit fittingly called “Seasons.” The Parkite’s work will show through May 29 alongside Lehi resident and fellow photographer Rylee Olsen’s exhibit “Echoes of the American West.” (See accompanying story on pa ge B-3.) Calof, a member of the Park City Artist Association, selected upward of 21 pieces for the library showing. “I picked the title ‘Seasons’ because there are pictures from each of the four seasons, although that wasn’t necessarily the driving force of the exhibit,” he said. “It allowed me to have creative freedom in terms of what ended up going into the show.”The works span Calof’s career as a photographer, which he started back in 2005 after retiring from his day job as a securities and mergers lawyer, along with a stint in the venture capital industry. “There are a couple of photographs that were taken early in my career, and the latest one was this past fall,” he said. “The fall colors at Guardsman Pass and other places this past year were spectacular.” In addition to landscapes, Calof turns his lens on wildlife. When shooting (photos of) wildlife, you’re still trying to capture emotion or a particular view of (say) an antelope herd that will tell the story of the herd,” he said. Calof learned about storytelling during a workshop he took when he started taking photographs. “I was getting ready to compose a picture, and the fellow who was leading the workshop came over and asked if he could look through my viewfinder,” he said. “He looked through, turned to me and said, ‘What is the story you’re trying to tell to whoever will look at this picture?’” That was the first time Calof thought of photography as a means to tell stories. “That really changed the way I looked at things, and that’s how I ended up looking at how I composed my images,” he said. “I don’t do that all the time. There are people who can do that, and I’m not one of them. But I try to think about that.” Calof continues to think about telling tales when he’s editing the photos.  “I want them to see what the story is, and I still continue to try and learn how to do that better,” he said. Calof is dedicated to improving his craft, which means signing up for more workshops. “A year or two ago, I was in a workshop with a company called Muench,” he said. “They take you to fabulous places, and their workshop leaders are fabulous.”This particular class took place in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness in Mexico, according to Calof. “We ended up in this one place where there was an ancient Navajo defensive ruin, a small castle on a hill,” he said. “We photographed that at night with the Milky Way rising in the background.” At the time, Calof hadn’t experimented a lot with nighttime photography. “You can’t just take one picture, so you’re shooting over a period of several hours,” he said. “That way you can get the lighting in the foreground as well as the sky. That was probably when I started to learn how to really use digital equipment, and it was probably the hardest thing I’ve done.” Photographing birds is also a welcome challenge for Calof. “I spent a week up in Canada photographing snow owls,” he said. “That was tough, but really rewarding. We got some wonderful images of these beautiful creatures flying. One of those photographs is in the show.” Parkite Larry Calof, a member of the Park City Artist Association, began his path as a fine art photographer after he retired from his 30-year career as a securities and mergers lawyer. Credit: Photo courtesy of Larry Calof Calof’s parents instilled his love of nature. “It started out when I was a kid when my parents put me into summer camp,” he said. “I remember spending a week in Yosemite (National Park).” This was during the late 1960s when concerns for the environment weren’t as strong as they are today, and he watched rangers participate in what was known as the Yosemite Firefall, where rangers would push burning bonfire embers from the top of Glacier Point to the Valley floor. “It was terrible for the environment but so beautiful,” he said. Since those summer-camp days, Calof became a scuba diver, an avid hiker and a white-water rafter. “I would raft all over the world,” he said. “I’m a little more limited now with my knees, but what the heck.” Once Calof discovered photography, he entered his works into national contests, and the awards he won let him know he at least had a decent eye for taking pictures. “As I go through the images I try to get a sense of what I’m trying to say,” he said. “Occasionally I ask my wife, Susy, what she thinks. She knows my photography.” Going through the photographs is always a challenge. “The last trip I was on was in January, and we were down at a wildlife preserve called Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, where they had snowgeese and sandhill cranes,” Calof said. “I would guess I took 4,000 frames, and I’ve been going through those since. I think I’ve gone from 4,000 to 21.” While none of those photographs are in the library show, Calof has sifted through enough to know there were at least a couple that could be included in the future. “I’m getting closer and closer to the final (field),” he said.  Calof remembers when he applied for the Park City Library exhibit. “I had been part of the library exhibits a couple of years ago through the Park City Artist Association, and they had showcased two works in the exhibits,” he said. “I applied and completely forgot about it.” Calof and his wife live in California three months out of the year, and the library reached out when they returned to Park City last summer. Showing “Seasons” at the Park City Library is an honor for Calof. “(Art) gallery shows usually show three or four pieces as most, so to be able to assemble this many pieces and put them in a public place is quite special,” he said. “I’ve been retired for a long time, and I don’t look to my art to make a living. But to be out in nature and share what I’ve seen and tell the stories I want to tell and put this show together has been fun.” ‘Seasons’ by Larry Calof When: Through May 29 Where: Park City Library, 1255 Park Ave. Cost: Free Web: parkcitylibrary.org and Classvimages.com The post Photographer’s ‘Seasons’ exhibit adds flavor to the Park City Library appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less