Nature photography a passion for Naperville woman
The scene is fixed in her mind, a memory as sharp as a crisp photograph.
"I would have been 13 or 14," Maggie Newlin says. "We went to the Danada Fall Festival (in Wheaton). My grandmother handed me my first photography book and my first disposable camera."
Her grandmother's hunch that Newlin might have an eye for photo composition and could develop the technical skills necessary to produce top-notch photographs proved correct.
Newlin, of Naperville, says her grandmother passed away in 2014. To honor her memory, she says she used the money her grandmother left her to buy a 70/300 millimeter lens.
"I credit her for getting me into photography," she says. "I still remember that day."
Newlin went on to acquire her first digital camera from PJ's Camera in Glen Ellyn, taking photography classes as a student at Naperville North High School to expand her knowledge. Later, she invested in a reconditioned DSLR camera.
"I just kind of kept doing it for fun," she says.
With a background in criminal justice and in early childhood education, Newlin says she was in college when she discovered that, while she does a fair amount of portraiture, she has a particular interest in nature photography.
Last May, she and her boyfriend visited Sanibel, Florida. It was on a boat trip into the Gulf of Mexico that Newlin spotted a dolphin and reacted quickly enough to frame the animal as it leapt above the surface.
"We were on a tour of dolphins," she says. "They move pretty quickly. They like the sound of people, they like the excitement of people. They're very social animals."
Her photo is the June winner of the Daily Herald's Photo Finish contest, a distinction that carries with it a prize of a $50 gift certificate good at PJ's Camera.
"Great peak moment of the dolphin leaping out of the water," says Daily Herald DuPage Photo Director Bev Horne.
Newlin says she used a digital Nikon D3300 to take the photo.
"It had autofocus. I think I used a Nikon 40 millimeter lens," she says. "I really like the way it turned out with the dolphin, the way that the waves are in front of the boat. Everything fit very symmetrically."
No color or focus changes were made, aside from a slight sharpening of the image. She says she prefers a Google app called Snapseed to edit her work.
"I take the photo, email it to myself, save it to the photo library on the phone and then edit it on Snapseed," she says.
About our contest
If you'd like to submit a photo, email it in .jpg format with at least 300 dpi resolution to dupagecontest@dailyherald.com. Be sure to include your name, address and a phone number, plus a description of where you took the photo and why you like it. The monthly winner will receive a $50 gift certificate from PJ's Camera. Pickwick Place Plaza, 662 Roosevelt Road, Glen Ellyn.