Spotlight
Each month, Nevada Camera Club highlights one of our members as the featured photographer, celebrating their talent, creativity, and unique perspective. This special feature offers members and visitors an opportunity to explore the photographer’s artistic vision through a curated selection of images and personal insights into their photographic journey.
This gallery features photographs created by our featured photographer and are presented for viewing and appreciation only. All images remain the property of its photographer and may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed without written permission.
Allan Duff
My Life Through a Camera Lens
Photography has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember.
One of the earliest pictures I have of myself was taken in Yosemite National Park. I'm standing there with my mom, older brother, and younger sister — and around my neck is my very first camera, a Kodak Brownie. I earned it by collecting “Proof of Purchase” seals from cereal boxes. So, I guess you could say my photography addiction started with breakfast cereal!
I grew up in Southern California, and when I was 19, I left home for the first time to serve a church mission in North Carolina. It was one of the most important experiences of my life — and, of course, I took a lot of pictures.
When I returned home, I studied photography in college for two years before deciding I needed a career that could support me. So, I switched to Business and Finance. I married my wife, Joanne, in 1976, and this year we're celebrating our 50th anniversary. We have four children and 14 grandchildren, who are now the center of our lives.
In 1980, we moved to Las Vegas, where I began a 43-year career as a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley. But I've always joked that my career in finance was just a way to support my photography habit!
Where It All Started
I think a lot of my interest in photography came from my parents.
My father was a graphic artist. He owned a printing company, and he was also an avid photographer. He taught me how to develop negative film and make prints in a darkroom — chemicals, enlargers, trays, and all.
My parents also belonged to a camera club in Southern California, and that camera club was an important part of their lives. So, photography wasn't just something I did occasionally. It was something I grew up around.
My first serious camera was a Konica SLR film camera. A friend's father bought it for me in Japan on a business trip. I used that camera for many years. Most of the photographs I took with it were black-and-white negatives and slide film. And I still have those photographs and camera today.
Photography Became My Passport
Today, I mostly photograph the outdoors. Landscapes, wildlife, action sports, and, of course, my grandchildren. But my real passion is getting to places that are difficult to reach. Sometimes that means backpacking into a remote area. Other times it means taking a four-wheel-drive vehicle down a long, rugged dirt road where you start wondering whether the road is really a road!
Some of my favorite backpacking and photography destinations are the High Sierra in California, the Uinta and Wasatch Mountains in Utah, the Wind River Range in Wyoming, and Havasupai in Arizona.
And for those long, rugged four-wheel-drive adventures, places like Toroweap, White Pocket, Hole-in-the-Rock, and Bears Ears in Utah are favorites.
I also love the Canadian Rockies.One of my dream trips is to take a helicopter into Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia. From there, you can hike into some incredible country. I haven't done it yet. But I think it's good to have a few dream trips still sitting on the list.
Looking Through the Lens
Today, I shoot primarily with a Canon R6 Mark III and a variety of wide-angle and telephoto lenses. But I'm finding myself using my iPhone more, especially when I'm hiking.
Sometimes I just don't want to stop, take off my backpack, dig out a full-frame camera, change lenses, and go through the whole process. The iPhone is right there.
Of course, I still love post-processing. I process virtually all my photographs, mostly using Photoshop and a variety of plug-ins. For me, the photograph doesn't necessarily end when I press the shutter. That's when another part of the creative process begins.
The Camera Club That Changed Everything
One of the most important chapters in my photography life began in 1998 when I joined the Nevada Camera Club. I had been taking photography classes at CSN, and Sheri Norman, who later became president of the Nevada Camera Club, was in one of my classes. She simply suggested that I come check out the club. At the Nevada Camera Club, I found people who had the same passion and, frankly, the same addiction that I did.
I learned from the members, from the judges, from guest speakers, and especially from challenging myself to become better. And I made some wonderful friendships along the way.
Over the years, I served as president for two years, program chair for four years, field trip chair, and I spent many years judging photographs. As life has gotten a little more complicated, I've had to cut back on some of the time I spend with the club. But I still love it.
And if I could give one piece of advice to someone who is new to a camera club, it would be this:
Do as much as you can. And listen to the judges. Now, I don't always agree with the judges when they score or comment on one of my pictures. Sometimes I look at their score and think, “What were they looking at?” But I always go home and try whatever they suggested.
The important thing isn't necessarily whether the judge is right or wrong. It's about learning to look at your photograph through someone else's eyes. When we're taking a picture, we're emotionally connected to the experience. We remember what it felt like to stand there. We remember the weather, the hike, the people we were with, and how difficult it was to get there.
Learning to separate ourselves from the experience and see the picture the way somebody else sees it has made me a much better photographer.
A Few Moments I'm Proud Of
I've also entered photographs in contests outside the Nevada Camera Club, and I've been fortunate enough to have a few photographs published in calendars and magazines. Two of the highlights for me were having photographs selected as the covers of Desert Companion Magazine in June 2019 and Nevada Magazine in May 2019. Those were special moments.
But as I've gotten older, I've come to realize that the photographs I'm most proud of aren't necessarily the ones that won awards. They're the ones that bring back a memory.
What Photography Has Given Me
There's one lesson about photography that has become increasingly important to me.
When my mother and father passed away, our family went through the thousands of photographs my father had taken over the years. He had photographed a lot of beautiful landscapes. Unfortunately, because of the photographic technology available at the time, many of those landscape photographs simply weren't worth keeping. But you know what we kept? Every photograph of family. Every picture of people. Every picture that captured a moment in our lives.
Someday, I imagine my children and grandchildren may go through my photographs. And I'm guessing they'll probably delete a lot of my landscapes. They'll probably delete some of the wildlife. They may even wonder why Grandpa thought some of those pictures were so important! But I hope they keep the pictures of family. The pictures of friends. The pictures of people.
So, I'll keep hiking. I'll keep backpacking. I'll keep driving those crazy dirt roads into places that are probably much easier to get to on Google Earth. I'll keep carrying cameras, even when my iPhone would be easier. I will still want to photograph the mountains, the wildlife, the rivers, and the incredible landscapes. But, most importantly, I will remember to photograph the beautiful people who are part of my life. Because someday, those may be the photographs that matter most.
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