By Sue Wambolt, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – According to Shrewsbury resident Stan Trzoniec, he is “one of the lucky ones who just knew what he wanted to do in life.”
Trzoniec is a writer, photographer and publisher with over 2,800 articles published in popular sporting, outdoors, photography, birding and railroad magazines (including “Shutterbug,” “Outdoor Photographer,” “Digital Photography Buyers Guide,” “Birder's World,” and InterMedia Outdoors publishing companies). He has published 10 books and has more than 850 magazine cover credits. Additionally, Trzoniec teaches photography workshops, has his own line of photographic greeting cards and exhibits fine art and landscape photographs at local art shows.?His next?show will be with?the Deerfield?Crafters?at the Big E fairgrounds the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Trzoniec has turned his hobbies into a profession, allowing him to enjoy and explore the things that he loves most – the outdoors, photography, nature and railroads. Whether writing for one of a dozen magazines, taking pictures of cheetahs in Africa or trains pulling long coal drags over the Allegheny Mountains, or exploring the slot canyons out West, the variety of work keeps Trzoniec interested.
A self-taught photographer, Trzoniec has an affinity for photographing autumn scenes, traveling the country in search of dynamic photographs.
“I love the fall,” Trzoniec said, “the colors, the smells and just being there.?I make it a point to put in some serious travel time with the season.?For the fall, it's New England and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.?There is a little town in Vermont call Grafton and during the fall it's about as good as it gets.?Small houses, color in the trees and the old inn on Main Street.”
Trzoniec has been working on a premium 12″x12″ coffee table book titled “Autumn in the Country” that features breathtaking pictures of fall with its kaleidoscope of colors.
When not photographing fall scenery, Trzoniec may be found at “Sand Patch” on the former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in southwestern Pennsylvania. Here, 600-hp locomotives struggle up one of the steepest railroad grades on the East Coast,?rising to more than 2258 feet in elevation about?34 miles from the eastern slope of the Allegheny Mountains?in?Cumberland, Md.,?into?the summit of the mountain range.?Trzoniec said he enjoys photographing trains as they ascend the grade against a backdrop of rural beauty.
Trzoniec just finished a book about the Boston & Albany railroad, photographing from Worcester to Albany, N.Y.
“With a section of the railroad going up and over the Berkshires; it was fun, and it was local, which made it even better. For those into history, the American railroads have plenty of that to go around, and it was interesting to look up, research and write about what it took to just go over the mountains in western Massachusetts,” he said.
Trzoniec has traveled the world to photograph wildlife, landscapes and trains. He suggests Western Canada with the Rockies and Glacier, Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks for fantastic photo opportunities.
“I love everything about photography.?When it comes to stills, I like to photograph the grand landscape which we then make into fine art prints, cards and posters. Action is good: it makes you think, to predetermine where the action is and how you are going to capture it.”
Trzoniec has published four coffee table books showcasing his photography over the past two years. He believes in taking photos the correct way from the start and only relies on software programs to enhance his photos for sharpness and minor color adjustments. He is currently revising his “Digital Outdoor Photography” book.
“It's all about “making” better photographs rather than just “taking” them,” Trzoniec said. “There is a difference.”
For Trzoniec, the line between work and hobby is murky at best.
“It feels great,” he said, “to make a living doing what I really love to do.”
Trzoniec's photography can be seen and/or purchased at www.outdoorphotographics.com