Wendy Kates moved to the D.C. area from Syracuse, New York last September.  She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and then moved to Chicago for college and graduate school.  She really loved the vibrance, diversity, community theater scene, and architecture that Chicago offered, but after 19 years the family moved to Columbia, Maryland for her husband’s work.  They lived in Columbia for about 15 years and then moved to Syracuse for her work.  Wendy is a professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University.  Her research focuses on brain development in children with genetic and neurodevelopment disorders.

Wendy’s interest in photography developed gradually.  Around 1992 she began losing her hearing due to a progressive hearing impairment.  This forced her to rely less on auditory skills and more on visual input, which impacted both her career and leisure activities.  She feels photography is the perfect adaptation for someone with impaired hearing.

Wendy has always appreciated the beauty in nature so capturing images of birds or flowers allows her to spend time in the places she enjoys most.  She also enjoys architectural photography and is excited about the opportunities that the D.C. offers in that area.

Wendy and her husband have visited Costa Rica and eastern and central Europe, and spent six months in Israel.  These travels allowed her to photograph everything from birds to landscapes and architecture.  She describes her trip through Israel as seeing the entire country through her camera lens.

Her primary camera is a Canon 7D Mark II; she owns various lenses for different scenarios, but recently purchased an Olympus mirrorless camera that she hopes to use on her urban excursions.

In preparation for her move to the D.C. area, Wendy researched the various local camera clubs. SSCC is the one that appealed to her the most because of the varied activities and our award-winning Cable Release newsletter.

Since becoming a member of SSCC, Wendy has enjoyed meeting members of the club, and looks forward to learning from and participating in our photographic adventures.  She has already won an award in the February macro competition for Frosted Leaves, which you will find later in this edition.

As she gets closer to full retirement, she would like to become more involved and contribute more to SSCC activities.  Please take a moment to welcome Wendy to SSCC, and visit her impressive photo gallery at: http://wendykatesphotography.zenfolio.com