Benny Westcott
It’s never too late to chase your dreams.
Photographer Craig Fentiman has captured open-space adventures on film since his adolescence. But after retiring last year, he decided to pursue this lifelong passion on a more full-time basis.
And now, 22 of his works over the last half-decade can be seen in a Sweet Home Coalition for Artistic and Scholastic Enrichment exhibit, which opened Sept. 12 for a six-week run at City Hall. (An artist reception was held Friday, Sept. 16.)
Fentiman, a longtime outdoors enthusiast, first became interested in photography while living in California about a half-century ago, during hiking and fishing trips in his teens. He began taking pictures in 1972 and even has old slides from backpacking in Yosemite National Park.
He graduated from La Cañada High School in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif., in 1974, then moved to Oregon to attend Oregon State University, where he graduated in 1981 with a bachelor of science degree in forest management with an emphasis in business.
He arrived in Sweet Home shortly thereafter, working as a Farmers Insurance agent from 1981 until his April 2021 retirement.
(In between, he was a fixture in local government, serving as Sweet Home’s mayor in multiple stints, from 1991 to 1995, 2001 to 2002 and 2004 to 2012, and as a city councilor from June 1988 to Dec. 2014. Therefore, he’s no stranger to City Hall.)
Despite decades of dabbling in photography, however, he didn’t start “getting photos out there” until he was in the process of selling his insurance agency and retiring.
These days, he continues to find inspiration in open spaces, chronicling various nature scenes and his border collie, Keta. Other subjects have included ducks, herons and butterflies.
His favorite, however, is an up-close shot of a snail that he took in his yard.
“I love my snail, because of the detail,” he explained. “It was so cool. And, basically, I saved him, because the dog was going to run over the top of it. So I took pictures of him and then moved him out of the way.”
Of all of his photos on display, he said two of a hummingbird were the most difficult to achieve, because of the lighting.
“It was early in the morning, and the sun was coming directly to me,” he recalled. “The hummingbird came once, so I set what aperture and shutter speed I wanted. And then she actually came again.”
Again, this shot took place in Fentiman’s yard.
“They really love that spot,” he said of the hummingbirds. “I would sit out there on mornings. It probably took me about a week. I was able to sit out there and consistently watch. It just took time.”
Fentiman said he tries to think outside the box and strives for minimal editing.
“I try to capture stuff that normally people wouldn’t see, and make it unique,” he said. “I just try to make it come out as real as possible. What you see is true colors. … You can’t edit a bad photo. You’ve got to have a good photo to begin with in order to edit.”
While most of his work comes from Oregon and California, he took a trip to New Zealand in 2013, where he photographed yellow-eyed penguins, among other subjects.
Fentiman has also been a fan of woodwork since he took woodshop in high school, so he creates handmade frames for his pieces, using reclaimed wood, which makes the frame-building process more work. But he likes its vibe. “I could sand and paint it and make it smooth, but I like the character,” he said. “I like the appearance of it and the effect that it gives my stuff.”
His weapon of choice is a Canon EOS R mirrorless digital camera, a steep technological upgrade from his photographic roots.
“When I started with film, you just went ahead and took the picture and hopefully it turned out good,” he explained. “[Now] I just really like the fact that you can see everything you’re doing through the camera itself. When you go to focus, you can look at the viewer and actually see what you do. It makes it easier, because you can see what you do with the lighting and everything. As you adjust it, it adjusts itself, so you can see it all.”
Fentiman lives in Sweet Home with his wife, Penny, and their two dogs and three cats. The pair has one adult daughter, Angela Fentiman.
In addition to City Hall, his work can be viewed at his Etsy store, http://www.etsy.com/shop/CFentimanphotography.