This photographer of the month combines a love of photography with a desire to travel

Bel Air resident Fred Brundick’s combined love for photography and Art Deco architecture has taken him from New York to Miami Beach to San Francisco. And although he had to cut back on traveling because of the coronavirus pandemic, he spent more time than usual in nature and photographing birds this spring.

Born in Baltimore, Brundick began shooting black and white pictures at the age of eight, using his mother ‘s 1940s vintage Kodak camera, which he still owns today. His formal education began with a photography class in college when he was majoring in architecture.

Brundick’s interest in nature led him to become a member of the Chesapeake Audubon Society where he leads bird and nature photography walks every year.

Brundick earned the most votes in last month’s SunShots photo contest, “Emotions” with his photo “Reflections,” which was taken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Read more about the photographer below and be sure to enter a photo in the SunShots contest “New Normal” Summer for a chance to be profiled and featured on the @baltimoresun Instagram account. And, don’t forget to vote for your favorite photo entries.

What kind of photos do you enjoy taking the most and why?

I enjoy all kinds of photography but mainly nature (birds), WWII, and Art Deco architecture. Nature led me to become a birder and I’m a volunteer and photographer on the SS John W. Brown Liberty ship in Baltimore. I like to edit photos so they look like they were taken in the era of the subject.

Tell us more about the photo you submitted to the “Emotions” contest? What camera gear did you use?

In August 2015 I went to Washington, DC for the day with some friends in my photography club. This was my second visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and I wanted to capture visitors who were searching for names on the Wall. I used the camera and lens that are my usual gear---Nikon D750 with a Nikon 24-120mm lens. (I carry a Nikon D500 and Sigma 150-500mm when I’m birding.)

What advice would you offer to photographers just getting started?

My advice is to learn the basics such as the exposure triangle. Become familiar with your camera’s menu system and its capabilities. Composition is very important and I think B&W is a good approach so you aren’t distracted by colors. In the film days, we either did tedious processing in the darkroom or simply sent our film out to be developed and printed. Now that everything is digital it is important to learn how to edit your images.

In what ways has the current coronavirus pandemic changed or affected your photography?

I’ve been retired over 2 1/2 years so the pandemic generally hasn’t affected my photography. The main impact is the cancelation of fairs and events where I would take photos. I also can’t travel. I’ve been hiking almost every day and in the spring I took far more bird photos than I normally would. I’m trying to catch up on processing my backlog of images. I’m waiting for a camera that I sent out to be converted to infrared.

Where can people see more of your work?

My portfolio is at https://fredsphotography.zenfolio.com/ The About page has links to my Flickr and YouTube accounts.