Artist Spotlight: Terry Salfrank

FOR TERRY SALFRANK, OUTDOOR photography grants him a brief respite from the hustle-and-bustle of day-to-day life.

“It’s peaceful. You go out and take pictures, and especially with wildlife, if I’m sitting somewhere waiting for geese or ducks to come in, it’s so peaceful.”

As an Aberdeen native, Salfrank has spent most of his life living here in town, aside from a two-year period when he moved away. He said that family was a big reason for his return, but he also didn’t enjoy city life as much as Aberdeen, and with hunting being one of his main hobbies, the move back home made sense.

Salfrank’s interest in photography began when he started taking photos of his son during his sporting events. His first camera was a 35mm film camera, and once he had grandkids who started their own sporting events, he made the upgrade to digital.

“It seems like every year I try to upgrade a little bit, either lens or a different camera,” he said.

After upgrading to digital, Salfrank started learning photo editing programs like Lightroom and spent time watching YouTube videos that taught him how to use his new lenses, but there was no better teacher than going out into the field and figuring out what works through trial and error.

Courtesy of TL Salfrank.

Nowadays, Salfrank focuses on outdoor photography with a special focus on wildlife and abandoned buildings. He made the switch from family sports photography about a year before he retired.

“I usually took a couple weeks off for vacation to waterfowl hunt, and I thought I’d just take my camera with me,” he said. “I thought maybe I’d get a picture, and I enjoyed doing it. I’d see an old abandoned house or something and I’d stop to take a picture of it, and it just went from there.”

Salfrank typically shoots wildlife photos when he’s out hunting. As for abandoned buildings, he just drives around and looks for interesting subjects. Once in a while, people tip him off about particularly interesting buildings.

“I told one person I take pictures of old things, but I don’t take pictures of me,” he said.

Salfrank said that he returns to some of the buildings he’s shot about once a year or so, just to see how bad Mother Nature has treated some of them. A few of his subjects might not make it through this winter.

“Some of these abandoned farmhouses are huge, and I imagined the family that lived there, and it’s kind of interesting,” he said. Sulfrank shares his photography on his Facebook page, and occasionally commenters share the histories behind the buildings in his photos. One of the oldest buildings he’s found is an old Wells Fargo stagecoach stop west of Bowdle along Highway 12.

Most of Salfrank’s photography stays within a 100 mile radius of Aberdeen, but he brings his camera along with him on vacations. Recently, he documented his trips to the Black Hills and Mexico.

In November, Salfrank took photos of the northern lights during the severe solar weather that could be seen across the country.

“It was the first time I’ve ever done night photography, so it was kind of trial-and-error and I was surprised how it turned out,” he said.

One of his favorite parts of the creative process is seeing the final result of his photography. He does minimal edits to his photos, occasionally editing out an errant power line or adjusting the color balance.

Now that his grandkids have moved out of their own school sport days, Salfrank has more free time to attend craft shows and sell his art. Last summer, he attended the Farmer’s Market at Malchow Plaza and attended other craft shows in smaller communities. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, he had a vendor show about every week, including Saturday mornings at Uptown Aberdeen Mall.

Courtesy of TL Salfrank

“One thing about the craft shows that surprised me was that I thought I was a so-so photographer, but a lot of people love the work and tell me, and it makes you feel really good,” he said. “You don’t hear that very often.”

Overall, Salfrank plans to continue to improve his photography skills and attend more local events.

“It’s something that I enjoy, not just taking photos but working with them too,” he said. “I only wish I would have started sooner.” //

• Salfrank’s work can be seen on his website tlsalfrank.com and on his Facebook page at Terry. Salfrank.