Page 72 - Australian Photography - September 2017

APS GALLERY

THE ALL-ROUNDER

With his wife and fellow APS
member Georgie, Ron McKie
has spent more than fifty years

working to refine his craft.
This is his story.

WITH RON MCKIE

hile generally known as a nature
photographer, I consider myself an
all-rounder. Landscape is my first
W love and I enjoy seeking out tex-
tures and patterns in nature. I also enjoy the
challenge of sports photography and seeking
out unusual events. When my father joined
his local camera club in the early 1960s I
trailed along. I soon acquired a second hand
Practika camera which allowed me to use
my father’s Pentax telephoto lens. Through
my student years I was a member of several
clubs which offered summer field trips to
the mountains and this is where my appre-
ciation of alpine plants bloomed. My wife
and I moved to Papua New Guinea in 1985,
staying for eighteen years. However travel-
ling around PNG for photography was diffi-
cult due to a lack of security. Landscape op-
portunities were limited so we concentrated
on documenting the many diverse lifestyles.
This resulted in the publication of our book
“Reflections of the Sepik” in 1993.
During our time in PNG we were able
to undertake international travel to many
places including the USA. After the limited
opportunities in PNG we really enjoyed the
freedom to explore the many aspects of the
US landscape. There is an incredible variety
of subject matter, the best of which is con-
tained in the many national parks.
We returned to New Zealand in late 2003
and resumed club membership. I was in-
volved at all levels as a lecturer, judge and ad-
ministrator and enjoying retirement until the
Christchurch earthquakes commenced in
2010. These are still going on, so after three
years and 13,000 shakes we moved to Devon-
port, Tasmania, and I rejoined the APS.
We are still trying to come to grips with
the Tasmanian landscape which is quite dif-
ferent to New Zealand.

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