When professional photographer and teacher at Millsaps College Ron Blaylock arrived in Vicksburg Thursday morning, he visited the Old Courthouse Museum here to explore its contents. He was impressed with what he saw.
“The collection of pictures there are absolutely incredible. It is an amazing record of Vicksburg. It really is a treasure of the city’s history,” said Blaylock.
Blaylock gave an overview of his beloved profession at the weekly Rotary meeting on Thursday afternoon. The Jackson native and 15 year professional specializes in editorial photography, wedding portraits and a variety of other photographic fields.
Blaylock has also experienced taking photographs on movie and commercial sets; something that he said is becoming more prevalent in Mississippi.
“Mississippi is slowly growing into a place where films and commercials are shot. Hopefully the film industry will grow here so that our state can compete with Louisiana. There is a lot of interesting work that happens on those sets.”
Blaylock explained that he enjoys photography because of how unpredictable the industry can become.
“This industry is fun because there are so many variables in it. It’s constantly changing. No matter how much you prepare, every photography job ends up changing. It makes for an exciting job that allows you to be very creative.”
Blaylock said that despite the advancement of technology, the basic principles of photography are still the same.
“All of the technical photography terms like aperture, depth of field, capturing of lines and motion hasn’t changed. The only differences are how it is delivered and how we see the pictures. The same principals that made a good photograph in 1910 can still make a good photograph today.”
Blaylock said that this is a great time to be a photographer because of the new gadgets that can boost the quality of pictures.
“This is a really exciting time for photography because of all the new technology that’s available. We live in a time where digital cameras have taken the place of film.”