Writings & Photography of Jim Murtagh

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The Writings & Photography of Jim Murtagh

my Photography

During my senior year in college, I presented the faculty advisor for the school newspaper, The Bucknellian, with a unique proposal. Engineering majors typically don't get the opportunity to take many elective courses, and I wanted desperately to explore my options as an outdoor writer. Since my sophomore year, I had been writing monthly fishing articles for Fish Finder magazine, and felt optimistic that my growing collection of published work might convince the English dean to let me write a weekly outdoor column highlighting the incredible opportunities surrounding the central Pennsylvania campus. Intrigued by the idea, but staying true to academic rigor, it was decided that if I could shoot and develop photographs to accompany my writing, then the project would be accepted.

I didn't own a camera, and had never been inside a darkroom, but eagerly agreed. From that moment forward, my writing and photography became inseparable.

Sports and nature photography account for most of my time behind the lens. While it may not be obvious, these subjects require similar photographic techniques and skills. Both require patience, waiting for a decisive play to unfurl in a lacrosse match, or for an Eastern Bluebird to land on a Flowering Dogwood branch, and both require quick reflexes, following a long touch-down pass, or tracking a Roseate Tern dive bombing bait fish on a high tide..

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Jim Murtagh