<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[ShutterProf]]></title><description><![CDATA[Capturing Moments, Sharing Stories]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 17:39:34 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.shutterprof.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Backyard Safari]]></title><description><![CDATA[We are fortunate to live in a building that backs up to the edge of woods that border Gunpowder Falls State Park. We also put out birdseed and food for the squirrels. All sorts of animals have figured this out, so we get a whole host of birds, deer, rabbits, turtles, foxes, and raccoons coming down out of the forest. The windows facing the woods are like a running nature documentary. Yesterday, I went out with the Nikon N80 with the 70-300mm zoom. The camera was loaded with Kodak Gold that I...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/backyard-safari</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a550ef5af57c5abb39d1f8f</guid><pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:32:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_81b574ce18394312aa310cfc6346edab~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Battle of Bull Creek Bridge]]></title><description><![CDATA[Mighty misadventures finally result in satisfying frames.  This past week was my last week of photography class, which was being held on the Catonsville campus of the Community College of Baltimore County. The campus was a Civil War-era plantation, and many historic structures still stand. One that has long captivated me is known as the Bull Creek Bridge, formerly the bridge that was along the main entrance road to the plantation. The arched, stonework bridge has been preserved, though it is...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/battle-of-bull-creek-bridge</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a522f5f56137d3301130a80</guid><pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2026 12:34:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_6f366e210f80416a8ac874e8bd3e81a3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Narrative Project: An Ode to John Muir]]></title><description><![CDATA[This is not one of my darkroom prints as I do not have the capacity to print color, but I did shoot, develop, and scan it.  On my right forearm is the text that is the basis for the narrative project and is taken from an essay by John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, entitled "Mormon Lilies."  It reads, "In every walk with Nature, one receives far more than she seeks." I slightly edited the original to read "she" instead of "he." Our final project for this summer's course involves shooting,...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/the-narrative-project-an-ode-to-john-muir</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4acbd266d1ba6042d3fc73</guid><pubDate>Sun, 05 Jul 2026 22:11:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_d32d1927a3324ab093d368cf1bd8689b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Summer Class Wrap-Up]]></title><description><![CDATA[My summer photography class ends this coming week, with students presenting a final project and doing a final critique. I'm still in the process of printing that final project, but I finally got all the film I took for the class scanned, so I could share more of it online. I posted earlier that I wasn't loving much of what I shooting and printing for the class, but as I was scanning, I took a second look. I made myself choose a few images that I actually liked from among the various...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/summer-class-wrap-up</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a47ed2a0e6d46569495a622</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 17:50:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_e9e283874e9d4ac2bd85354f3e078b6b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Summer in the Suburbs, Part II]]></title><description><![CDATA[Summer in Baltimore County, Maryland, isn't complete without the water. The County abuts the Chesapeake Bay, and there are several county and state parks with river and Bay access. One such park is Rocky Point Park and Beach. I stopped by on a recent weekend and got some images of folks enjoying the water -- swimming, boating, fishing, paddleboarding, riding bicycles, you name it. On my way back home from the beach, I encountered a car show and couldn't help but stop and take a few photos....]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/summer-in-the-suburbs-part-ii</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3fea14ad71d3b6876b0f2c</guid><pubDate>Sat, 27 Jun 2026 15:28:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_25ab6b8b90c747188e43b074a650097a~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Another zine!]]></title><description><![CDATA[I created another zine using The Dirty Little Zine maker. This one is a product of my Summer in the Suburbs film photography project. There will be more of this project forthcoming.  If you want to download and print this zine or any one of many others, you can do so at the Dirty Little Library. These images were mostly taken with my Nikon N80 on Kodak Gold 200 in and around Baltimore County, Maryland, during June, 2026. I developed and scanned the film myself.  They were printed on a Canon...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/another-zine</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3e7edb50f05851ad3f7a10</guid><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:40:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_9235e6d9675741d9987df8525e813d0e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[No Bangers Here]]></title><description><![CDATA[I’ve been taking, developing, and printing a LOT of photos lately — between the photography course I am enrolled in and the summer project I am working on. And despite having put maybe a dozen rolls of film or more through the dev tanks this past 2-3 weeks, there is hardly a single image I have produced that I really love or am genuinely excited about. I’ve been trying to understand why that is. I think the pressure is on in my photography class to take pictures that meet assignment...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/no-bangers-here</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a39844a4283eb4b71fc3b43</guid><pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2026 19:16:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_36535a5377884245b9503ba88729ee9b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Discovering Photo Zines]]></title><description><![CDATA[I recently discovered a web-based app called Dirty Little Zine. It's a simple drag-and-drop zine maker that creates a full-bleed PDF file that can be downloaded and printed on the paper of your choice. You can upload art, insert whatever text you like, print, execute a few folds, a single cut, and BAM! You have an eight-page zine! It's magical, really. You can go from idea to fully-realized, tangible artifact in a matter of minutes. The creator behind this is a guy named Rick Vega, a...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/discovering-photo-zines</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a2c59d1ac42b101a9d4b198</guid><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 19:42:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_c0ecd27be5094dda87eda83e92f64162~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Tale of Two Darkrooms]]></title><description><![CDATA[On Tuesday, we spent nearly the entire class in the darkroom printing our depth of field assignment, and I struggled mightily. I already had developed the negatives and made a contact sheet and knew which images I wanted to print, so went straight to it. I made half a dozen test strips at least and five prints but none of them were ever satisfactory, no matter what I did. I tried different contrast filters, adding more time, even tried using different paper. The one thing I did NOT do was try...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/a-tale-of-two-darkrooms</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a2a5f5d5dee6d736f23b429</guid><pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2026 07:38:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_68f972ae42e1453ebf24107b513da874~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Shutter Speed Assignment]]></title><description><![CDATA[Our second assignment in this summer's photography class is to submit one image showing blurred motion and one showing stopped motion. I wasn't feeling physically well nor terribly creative today, and the light was flat and uninspiring outside. As a result, my submissions for this assignment are not going to be exactly groundbreaking. Still, I did the thing, and that counts for something. I asked my husband to come outside with me and mill his arm about while I sat the Yashica FX-7 loaded...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/shutter-speed-assignment</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a2719514f1a88116951bf18</guid><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:52:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_52a5c62efdea4ec9a9705cddb6d77692~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Who Even Does Business Cards Anymore?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Good question. Who even does film photography anymore? Or blogs, for that matter? Apparently, I do now. Go full old school or go home, I suppose. I used a website called GotPrint to make some really corny cards announcing myself as a photographer to whomever might ask what I am up to when I am out and about with my cameras.  You might be surprised how often that happens. Some people want to know why I am taking pictures. Others have curiosity about the old cameras and why film in the digital...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/who-even-does-business-cards-anymore</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a26c2690846f79adfea648c</guid><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:52:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_2d892745a5f2405690be91f3ec878cd8~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Accidental Photowalk]]></title><description><![CDATA[Last weekend, I went down to the Canton waterfront in Baltimore thinking I would take some photos for a project I am working on about what summer feels like. When I got there, it turned out that about 100 photographers were already there for an organized photowalk that included folks from Baltimore and DC. In fact, Hannah, my photography instructor, was among the photowalkers. I decided to join the group, and for about an hour or so, we walked around and captured pictures of the Harbor. ...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/accidental-photowalk</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a258fb60846f79adfea0d9c</guid><pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 15:55:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_2db5623e70b9448fb155b2655b315b4a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Summer School]]></title><description><![CDATA[I'm a full-time faculty member at a community college. One of the perks of that job is that I can take classes at the college tuition-free. I have taken so many classes at my college that I actually earned an associate's degree in general studies last year! This past year, the college hired a new photography faculty member, Hannah Price, who has a passion for film photography, and she is trying to revitalize the film photography course offerings which have dwindled over the years. To that...]]></description><link>https://www.shutterprof.com/post/summer-school</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a256e4f1f44c606b37bb6b3</guid><pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 13:43:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0aa3c_0edad30db5db493e81b6dbd768f3e3c0~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_995,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mary Jo Richards</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>