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Photographer: Randi Slaughter |
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Genre
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Randi Slaughter started her photography career in an unusual way. She
majored in Physics in college, before switching to Fine Arts, graduating with a
degree in ’General Studies’. When her daughter was born, she picked up
photography, and spent many years simply shooting, reading magazines and
books about photography, then refining her technique the next time she was
shooting.
Her career has taken similar about-faces over the years. She spent 20 years
working in Information Technology, as a programmer, systems programmer,
manager, and finally consultant. Then she got bored with it all and was looking
for something else, when she was hired at the Science Museum of Virginia as a
darkroom assistant, through a contact at a camera club. After about six
months of printing black and white glossy prints in a conventional darkroom,
and doing some Photoshop work for a planetarium show, the museum ’went
digital.’ Suddenly, it all came together: computers, optics, science and art. The
next four years were happily spent photographing people enjoying the museum,
sponsors and donors at events and parties, new exhibits and renovations.
Twice a year, a new show for the planetarium was created, involving slides from
NASA photos, drawings, and photos taken specifically for the show.
Meanwhile, Randi and her husband David had been visiting the West. Over
a period of several years, they spent three weeks in the Four Corners area,
another two weeks in Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado, back to the Four Corners,
and again in Yellowstone. It soon became apparent that once they retired,
Wyoming was where they wanted to be. In 2004, events led to that possibility
sooner than expected, and they moved to Clark in June of 2005.
Now, a pretty day, a promising sunrise, interesting weather, or just
wanderlust will find Randi and David exploring their new neighborhood, which
encompasses a good part of northwest Wyoming. The Clark’s Fork Canyon,
Sunlight Basin, and Heart Mountain are close. With a little more planning, a trip
to Yellowstone National Park, or across the basin to the Yellowtail Wildlife
Management Area, Bighorn Recreation Area, Medicine Wheel Mountain and
Shell Canyon make for a full day trip. Then there are the occasional forays to
Grand Teton National Park, Craters of the Moon in Idaho, and Red Lodge in
Montana by way of the Beartooth Highway. Photography is Randi’s way of
sharing the fleeting moment of perfect light, the glorious color of a new bloom,
or the sweeping and mountainous panoramas that make up this wonderful area
she now calls home.
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