March 13, 2025 • 47 mins
Seth Block brings over five decades of photographic wisdom to this engaging episode, tracing his journey from childhood fascination to becoming an accomplished wildlife photographer. Growing up with a professional photographer grandfather and an encouraging father who recognized his "good eye," Seth developed his craft through meticulous self-teaching—carefully recording camera settings and studying developed photographs weeks later to understand cause and effect.
The conversation explores photography's profound evolution from film to digital. Seth describes his initial skepticism toward digital technology before eventually embracing its advantages while maintaining his commitment to in-camera composition rather than relying on post-processing. His technical insights on camera selection prove valuable for aspiring photographers, emphasizing that while equipment matters, understanding the fundamentals matters more.
Beyond the technical aspects, Seth shares photography's deeper spiritual dimensions. His approach to wildlife photography—tracking eagle families for 15 years, photographing from kayaks, and waiting hours for the perfect moments—demonstrates profound patience and respect for his subjects. "They're not there for our entertainment," he explains about photographing whales. "They're there living, and we're fortunate enough to see them."
Perhaps most compelling is Seth's story about overcoming personal bias—the moment he nearly returned payment for event photos because the subjects didn't match his aesthetic preferences, only to witness the clients' delight in seeing their loved ones captured authentically. This humbling experience taught him that "there's beauty everywhere, and you can't judge."
Whether you're a photography enthusiast or simply appreciate thoughtful reflections on creative pursuits, Seth's journey inspires a more mindful approach to seeing and capturing the world. Visit sethblockphotography.com to explore his extensive portfolio, spanning decades of passionate image-making.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:25):
Welcome to the Rotary Sparkpodcast.
With me today is a specialguest, my Uncle Seth Block.
How are you doing today, uncleSeth?
Brian Triger (00:41):
I'm doing great.
I'm getting used to the warmerweather, even though it's kind
of cycling back and forth, andaside from that, I really have
no complaints.
So let's, let's dive into yourphotography history.
So you, you mentioned that youhave about at least 50 plus
(01:02):
years of photography experience.
Uh, tell us about the 60s andwhat photography was like?
Seth Block (01:12):
Oh, boy.
Well, um, how did I get startedin this?
Well, my, my grandfather was aprofessional photographer in
Europe, in Austria, and thenwhen he came to the United
States, he had a studio inBrooklyn, new York, and my dad
was apparently quite a decentphotographer when he was younger
(01:33):
and he had an interestingcamera.
I always used to play with it,and he let me use it a few times
and my grandfather and myfather said he's got a good eye,
and I believed him.
So I became more interested init and, um, when I was, when I
was about 13, I went crosscountry, uh, three different
(01:53):
summers and I had a camera andum took a lot of pictures out
West and that's what really gotme started.
That's what really got mestarted.
And then it became a hobby thatgot out of control and I bought
(02:15):
myself eventually a 35millimeter Similar.
My father had a Mamiya Sekor,which was an interesting camera,
and I bought myself a Canon 35millimeter and back then, you
know, there weren't a lot ofcourses and stuff for this thing
.
So I used to keep a pad with meand I used to write down all
the settings that I took apicture with and I would mark it
(02:36):
.
You know, frame one, frame two,frame three and whatever
settings they were, and I'd makechanges and then I'd have to
send the film out, wait a coupleof weeks to get it back, and
then I would look at the resultsand I could see what, the what,
whatever I did to the camera,how I manipulated the camera
with the f-stops, with the um,with the uh, the speed of the
(02:58):
shutter and things like this.
I could see the results of that.
So that's basically how Ilearned photography.
I kind of did it on my own andit was an expensive hobby and I
didn't have a lot of money, butthat's why I did what I did.
I tracked everything that I didand I took a lot of bizarre
(03:18):
pictures of park benches andleaves and I blew up water
balloons and I did all kinds ofcrazy things just to see
different effects and how thecamera would capture those
things.
And over a period of years Ijust kept doing it and I learned
(03:41):
quite a bit about photography.
And then I eventually, when Iwent into the military, I went
into the Navy in 1976.
I bought a better camera.
It was a Canon AE-1.
It was a fine camera.
It had a great metering systemand a couple of lenses and I
(04:02):
brought the camera with me whenI reported to my first ship
actually, and, um, I recordedquite a bit of stuff.
You know I was, you know, notall the time you can't walk
around on a camera, I meanyou're on a ship but whenever I
could, I recorded things and, uh, that's when I really, I think,
(04:23):
developed into a, developedinto someone who really became
an enthusiast, and I took a lotof pictures overseas and just of
shipboard life and things thatwe were doing, and I still have
those pictures and that's whatgot me completely hooked.
(04:44):
And that's what got mecompletely hooked.
And then when I came out, I wentto college at night, I was
working during the day in thecity and I actually took a
photography course for the firsttime and did really well with
that, and it's the only course Iever took in photography.
And I had a career in textilesand and while I was doing that,
(05:09):
one of my big hobbies wasphotography, amongst other
things, and I kept doing it.
I kept um, I started, uh,getting involved with um Nikon
in, I would say, the late 80s,early 90s.
I started using their equipmentand I collected a bunch of
(05:32):
different Nikon cameras andlenses.
And I really enjoyed theirolder lenses, and they had some
really beautiful lenses.
And, I used Nikons right upuntil last year and then I just
wanted to change.
So I searched from Nikon andwent to Leica and it's a whole
(05:56):
different animal and I'm reallyloving the results that I'm
doing that I'm jumping ahead alittle bit.
In the interim, going back 15years, I did work for some
professional photographers andthen I went out on my own after
(06:16):
I retired from my corporate joband I did some photography;
weddings, parties and othertypes of things like that.
And as enjoyable as that was, Ialso got bored because it was
very cookie cutter.
The pro photographers that Iworked with you know it wasn't
(06:39):
very inventive wasn't veryinteresting.
It was just basically takingthe same photographs with
different people in it over andover again.
So that got kind of boring andso I just started doing my own
thing, which is mainly wildlife,my travels.
I've traveled quite a bitaround the country, overseas and
(07:00):
into Asia, into Europe, and Ialways had my camera with me and
I just took pictures everywhereI went and I basically captured
the history of my own life andthings that I've experienced,
which is, to me, whatphotography is all about.
You capture moments, whetherit's your own or someone else's,
(07:22):
and you keep those memories.
And I have all kinds of photoalbums, both film pictures and
also digital, for the past solid40 years, and there's quite a
lot of imagery that I havebacked up.
(07:43):
There's quite a lot of imagerythat I have backed up, and the
kids got into it when they wereyoung.
I think they thought I was aclass I, because I recorded
their entire life on film,whether it's still shots and
quite a lot of movies as well.
As digital cameras matured andthey got better and better.
(08:07):
Their video capability gotbetter as well, so that became
an easy thing to jump into aswell.
Although I don't enjoy that asmuch, I think you have to have a
different set of skills forvideography that I don't really
have.
I really specialize in stillwork, which is what I really
(08:29):
like, and I go out several timesa week whenever I'm feeling a
little creative, and I will lookfor wildlife, birds, animals,
anything I can find and we'llphotograph them.
And that's basically what I'vebeen doing the last five or ten
years and, um, it's been a veryenjoyable hobby and pursuit.
Brian Triger (08:57):
Do you miss developing photographs at all?
Seth Block (09:02):
Um, film, I film.
I really liked film.
You know I the only thing.
I was against digital.
When it first came out Ithought it was very gimmicky,
but then, as the cameras gotbetter and the processes got
larger and they were, they wereactually producing better prints
(09:26):
.
The beauty of digital is thatyou get your results
instantaneously.
As everybody knows today, andwhat I went through when I was
young, you know, recordingeverything that I did and
sending the pictures out andwaiting for them to come back.
It was a great learning process.
(09:47):
But today you get the resultsinstantaneously.
So it's way more cost effectivebecause you're not buying film
anymore.
The other thing that's lessrestrictive you know, back in
the film days I used to usemostly 200-speed film, 400-speed
(10:07):
film and occasionally would goup to a 1600-speed film, but
they got kind of grainy.
Nowadays.
That used to be called ASA, nowit's ISO.
It has been for many years andhigh-end cameras can shoot in an
ISO upwards of 25,000, even upto 100,000 in some cases they
(10:31):
get grainy.
Some of them get grainy whenthey get that high, but you can
shoot almost in pure darknesswith the right equipment and you
can't do that with film, I mean, unless you're very specialized
and you really know what you'redoing.
So you get a lot moreflexibility.
It's a lot more cost effective.
(10:51):
You really can experiment withphotography by changing all
kinds of settings.
A lot of people don't do this.
Most people are using theirphones now.
The phones produce really greatpictures, but it's not the same
.
I mean, to me you can almosttell when someone's using their
(11:16):
phone, when someone's using acamera.
You know some phones do reallywell the Apple phones do a great
job but I still prefer having acamera in my hands, a high-end
camera.
It has a great build feel.
It's very substantial.
The controls you're able tochange the controls on them and
(11:41):
really do all the work you needto do on the camera, where you
don't have to process thepictures afterwards.
I've never used Photoshop oranything.
I only.
I basically do everything onthe camera.
I might crop a picture here andthere, but mostly everything I
do is on the camera.
So whatever comes out of thecamera is what I've done.
Brian Triger (12:01):
Sure.
So what for someone starting?
What do you?
What would you recommend, like,is there a..
Seth Block (12:08):
oh boy?
Brian Triger (12:10):
Yeah, I mean..
Seth Block (12:10):
You have to you have to look at your budget because
these things are not cheap.
Um, you should spend most ofyour money on your lenses, if
you, you know, if you have abudgetary situation, which most
people do you, if you, you know,if you have a budgetary
situation, which most people do,you know, we all do to a
(12:33):
certain extent, and you know,any of the main brands are
excellent.
Canon is very user friendly.
It's the least of my, it's theleast favorite for me, but I've
always loved Nikon.
Olympus makes great cameras.
Fuji is excellent, um, you know.
Uh, Sony makes great cameras.
(12:53):
In fact, they have really gooddigital cameras.
Um, any of them.
You can't really make a mistake.
Um, if you want to get intophotography, because the cameras
today are very similar in theircapability and, uh, the lenses
are what makes a difference.
Nikon lenses have always beenexcellent.
(13:15):
Canon lenses are good.
Um, you know you can't go wrongwith those.
You just, um, you know youcan't go wrong with those.
You just.
Olympus makes good products.
There's a couple of othercameras.
Tamron is okay.
(13:38):
There's some very good cameras,camera producers and lens
manufacturers out there, so youcan always find something that
will work with a budget, andthey start out with something
like a 50 millimeter lens, ormaybe 35 millimeter, and do some
street photography and go fromthere Just take pictures
(13:58):
whatever you like.
It doesn't matter.
Beauty is in the eye of thebeholder.
What one person likes maybesomebody else doesn't, it really
doesn't matter.
It's what you like and it'swhat you're capturing.
And there's no mistakes.
You learn as you go what makesa picture maybe better than
(14:20):
another picture.
I don't think I've ever shotwhat I consider a perfect
picture.
There's always something that Iwish I did differently, but I
think most of us are in pursuitof the perfect photograph.
I think I've gotten close a fewtimes, but as long as you
consider yourself a studentalways and you know, because
(14:43):
none of us are experts in allthese things there's just so
much to learn.
You'll always be learning.
I'm always learning, you know.
I went into a new type ofcamera with a new operating
system.
It's extremely dynamic.
It's a very complex machine.
The results are incredible withthe colors and everything that
(15:06):
it's able to do.
I have to become a betterphotographer just to earn my
keep with this camera, so sure.
Well, you've leveled up.
Brian Triger (15:15):
You've put in the time.
So I think, uh, and I don'thave a lot of experience, but I
I remember starting off with aphone and phones like really
easy to use doing streetphotography, like really easy to
use doing street photography,and then I jumped into Nikon and
I I realized that I wasn't asserious as I thought I was.
I think that a better move andit could have just taken a class
(15:36):
or two.
But, uh, I feel like maybejumping into Canon, just based
on, uh, just being user-friendlyinitially, may have been a
better fit.
And you know if and when Icircle back into the hobby, you
know, and or profession in thefuture.
I think that, just like anyother relationship or finding
(15:59):
your match when it comes totools, it's about taking risks,
right, and just kind of findingout what.
What matches your preferences.
Seth Block (16:10):
Yeah, and also, you know you learn how to how to
position a picture and how toframe a picture, and it's
important to learn the rules ofphotography.
And then it's even moreimportant to break the rules,
because you don't wanteverything to look cookie cutter
.
So most of my photographs havea certain look to them At least
I think they do Because I'mlooking for something, I'm doing
(16:32):
something in a very specificway.
That makes it just a littledifferent.
It makes it interesting to me.
I like to have certaindimensions in the picture that
kind of brings you into thepicture, and that's what I'm
trying to do.
Again, it's hard to do at leastI find it is but what my goal
(16:56):
is is to take a picture thatkind of pulls you in and then
you don't always realize it'sdoing that.
But if I sat down with you andshowed you what I meant, you'd
get it, and then you'd recognizethat with a lot of different
pictures that I've taken, it'slike, wow, I see what's going on
.
But it's important to know therules first.
There are rules in photographyand it's really important to be
(17:20):
able to break those rules andstill take a photograph that is
meaningful.
I critique a lot of people'spictures.
A lot of people have asked mewhat do you think of this, what
do you think of that?
And I'll tell them the truth.
And a lot of times it's likewow, you know.
You know I'm not being rudeabout it, but I'm just telling
(17:41):
them what I think.
And there are some things thatare glaringly bad in some
photographs and I'll point themout.
I could, I pointed them out onmy own, um, and I could show
that too, but, um, a lot ofpeople don't see everything that
they're looking at.
So when you're taking a pictureof people and you know if you
have a group shot and peoplehugging each other and it's a
(18:03):
natural thing to do people'shands hands could be a beautiful
thing, but they can also be avery ugly thing and when you
have a hand sticking oversomebody's shoulder but there's
no arm connected to it, it lookslike this thing out of nowhere
and it looks like this claw thatjust appears and it's
frightening when you look at itand you think about that.
(18:24):
So a good group shot is notgoing to have arbitrary body
parts sticking all over theplace that don't, that aren't
connected, that aren't flowing.
And a lot of wedding pictures, alot of party pictures.
I see this and it makes mecringe, but you know you don't
say anything.
But those are things I notice,things I notice.
(18:49):
So I'm always, when I'm takinga picture, I'm looking at
everybody and looking at all thethings that I find off-putting
in a picture and I try tocorrect them before I take the
picture.
You know, forgetting aboutpeople closing eyes.
They're going to do that andyou just take multiple shots and
you'll get everybody.
You'll get a good enoughpicture, but it's the physical
nature of where people's handsare, where they're, how their
(19:10):
bodies are positioned, um, andyou want it.
You want it to be as flatteringas possible for them, um, and
also, you have to leave your ownbiases out of your photography.
I once did a party and I I wentto the person's home to show
them the pictures and there wassomething about these pictures.
(19:31):
I just there was nothing Iliked.
I mean, there was not onephotograph I liked and I didn't
understand what it was, and Iwas.
I brought their check with me.
I was going to give it back tothem and say I'm sorry, I just
screwed it up, but I didn't sayanything, thank God.
And then they were looking atthe picture and said, oh my god,
what a great shot of Uncle Bob.
And look at Sally, she lookswonderful and then I realized
(19:54):
what it was.
And it was me, it was my problem.
They would I don't want tosound well, they were just not
attractive people and there wasnothing that was going to make
them look good.
And it was, and it was.
You know what I mean.
What I mean by that is theclassic, you know, l magazine.
(20:17):
What makes a human beingattractive?
Sure, everybody has beautifulparts about them.
You know, nobody is better thananybody.
Brian Triger (20:25):
Yeah, yeah, but some people can only have them
captured, uh, internally yeah,and then there are people who
are better looking than others.
Seth Block (20:32):
Let's face it.
I mean, this is how the world,is sure, so, but my own, my own
biases of what that means,almost was a very embarrassing
moment for me because I wouldhave looked like a complete
jackass and thank god, I didn'tsay anything.
They were the happiest peoplein the world and I'm like holy
(20:53):
cow.
I mean that.
It's their people, theirfriends, their family, they love
them, they, you know they'rebeautiful to them and they
should be.
And I, I did a, I think I did apretty good job capturing their
event.
But you know, I couldn't getpast myself.
That was a really valuablelesson in humility and humanity,
(21:15):
because I realized there'sbeauty everywhere and you know,
you just capture it and youcan't judge.
You cannot be a judge.
And that was a long time ago andI was, you know, a lot younger
and I was like, wow, that wasreally something.
(21:38):
I really that was probably themost valuable lesson I ever
learned was about your ownbiases and what they can do to
you if you let them.
So I've never done that againand but it was, it was really
telling, it was really quitesomething.
And then, from their friends.
(21:58):
I got a couple more jobsbecause they all love the
picture so much.
So it was like holy crap, thatwas.
I could have really screwedthat whole thing up, but it was
was um, humorous.
Afterwards.
I, I, uh, I always had a heartattack while I was in their
house because I, I came so closeto saying something.
(22:19):
I'm like, oh, my god, what anidiot.
And I'm glad I didn't sayanything, you know, because I
was totally off base yeah and um, um, I've had a lot of good
experiences with photography.
I mean, I look back um atphotographs quite a bit and, um,
like I said, most of it is myown experiences, my own life, my
(22:43):
, my family's life, um, becausemy grandfather we have lots of
pictures, uh, have lots ofpictures going back 70, 80 years
and a lot of people don't havethese things and it's really
remarkable to look back and youcarved out a little bit of your
own history.
(23:03):
History itself is is a seriesof images and stories and you
know a lot of people like tolook at historical pictures
because it tells the story.
So you can tell your own storyand that's the beauty of it is,
you know, not selfies, I mean Ican't stand those things, but
(23:27):
that's not the beautiful thing.
Why would you stand in front ofthe Grand Canyon, one of the
most beautiful places in theworld, turn around and put your
face in the middle of it?
I mean, it's okay once, but youreally want to enjoy the beauty
of the things that you'reseeing.
So that's one of the thingsthat I can't stand about.
(23:48):
Selfies is like, why would youruin that picture with yourself?
So I don't do anything likethat.
I just I really like to, youknow, capture the moment and I
can relive it if I want to, orshare it with other people and
and I'm very fortunate, I get alot of people who really like
(24:09):
what I do to some level, andanytime someone takes a moment
out of their day and then, youknow, sends me a message or post
a message and said, hey, I lovewhat you do, I love that
picture.
That really is beautiful.
They took a moment out of theirbusy day with their life to
tell me something and that'sworth more to me than money,
(24:30):
because everybody's days, youknow, we're all busy, everybody.
Everybody's day is importantand their time is important,
obviously, and for someone totake their time out and make a
comment about something that Idid is a beautiful thing,
because you can't get time back.
so, anything, anybody.
(24:51):
Anytime that someone does that,I am flattered, humbled and
very appreciative of it, and, um, I've been very fortunate where
a lot of people have liked whatI've done.
I've sold a lot of prints um, Idon't aggressively do that but,
but, if somebody wants to buysomething, I will work with them
and make sure it's the rightsize on the right kind of paper
(25:15):
and just make sure that whatthey experience with this
picture is the best way they'regoing to do it, and so I have a
hands-on approach with it.
I don't just say, yeah,download my pictures.
I mean, I don't believe in that.
That's not what I do.
I'm not interested in that.
If somebody buys them, great.
(25:37):
If they don't, that's great too.
I like posting them.
I share my work on my website,and what is on my website is a
small sampling.
I have over 200,000 images inmy current library and this may
be about, I don't know, 800 onmy website.
(25:57):
Maybe I haven't really counted.
Brian Triger (26:00):
And your website is uh is Seth block
photographycom?
Is that correct?
Seth Block (26:04):
Yeah, yeah, and there's.
It's fairly simple, it'snothing outrageous, it is just a
bunch of um drop down menus.
There's three galleries.
Some galleries have multiplesub sub menus and then some of
the sub menus have um one or twodrop downs, and so I spent a
lot of time visiting a lot ofmilitary ships and battlefields
(26:26):
and things of this nature.
So I have quite a bit in thatcategory of drop downs and I try
to separate them out and eachone of them, I think, tells a
(26:48):
story about that experience.
And I used to volunteer at acouple of museums and one of the
things that I did was go to themothball fleet and strip parts
off of the ships for the museumand I brought my camera with me.
One of the times I went, my oneof my ships was on there and it
(27:12):
took me a year to getpermission to go on board, but
once I did, I photographed myown ship completely stem to
stern, up and down, and that was.
That was a great experience andI have a lot of images of naval
ships and some civil warbattlefields and other
(27:32):
battlefields and places likethat, as well as other things.
You know, birds of alldifferent kinds, sea life whales
in particular, is something Ilike to do, and I tracked a
family of eagles yes, for about15 years in Connecticut and I
have a whole, a fairly bigselection of photographs of
(27:58):
eagles with their babies, theireaglets and just spending the
amount of time that I didwatching them, observing them, I
learned quite a bit about theirbehavior, and not just from
watching, but also from otherpeople that were there who knew
a lot more about them than I did.
So I picked up a lot ofinformation and, in fact, I just
(28:21):
met a guy the other day.
I was looking at, um, there's aneagle's nest, uh, down in
wilmington, north carolina,where I live now, and there was
a guy I met, his he's 86 yearsold, still toting around a big
camera, and he was photographingthe same eagle I was in the
nest.
It was quite a distance, but Ipicked up a few things about the
(28:45):
eagles that I didn't know fromhim and I'm like, oh, that's
interesting.
And people who are really intothis stuff.
If you talk to them, they'rehappy to share their, their
wealth of knowledge and, um,like I said, I'm I've always
been curious about many thingsand, um, I will still ask people
(29:06):
questions and I and I get a lotof responses and I I'll share
what I know um with anybody whoasks.
But, you know, if you're curious, people want to help and this
old guy I met the other day.
He was terrific and he reallypointed out a few things to me
that I wasn't quite aware of,and it was a great day.
(29:28):
We learned something new andI'm hoping to see this guy again
the next time I go looking atthese eagles.
And also, you learn where theyare.
Depending on where you live,you'll have people who know all
the hot spots and where you canfind different animals or
different wildlife, differentbirds, and people will share
(29:52):
that information with you.
They don't post it onlinebecause they don't want to see
10 000 people coming down therewith their with their iphones
doing selfies.
Brian Triger (30:00):
Yeah, you'll have you'll have a hundred drones in
the air.
Seth Block (30:03):
Yeah, no, it's, and you don't want to disturb the
animals either.
So, yeah, you know, people whotake this seriously have great
respect for um what they'reshooting, and you don't want to
get on top of them.
You don't want to irritate them.
You want them.
You don't want them to leavethe nest.
Yeah, you want them to comeback, and the same thing when
you go whale watching.
There's rules maritime rules andlaws about getting too close to
(30:26):
whales.
I just saw some video clip theother day about some klutz on a
kayak that got swallowedtemporarily by some whale but he
was way too close.
You do not get that close.
You got to give these animals alot of room.
They're big animals and theytake up a lot of space.
And they're there doingsomething purposeful they're
(30:48):
eating.
You know whales when they feedthey'll feed for three months
and then they won't eat for sixmonths.
So you've got to give them thespace they need to feed,
otherwise they'll have problemsand their young will have
problems.
So they're not there for ourentertainment.
They're there living and we'refortunate enough to see them do
that and you have to haverespect for that.
(31:11):
And there are people that don't, which is unfortunate, but I
would say the majority of peoplewho are serious photographers
(31:33):
do show respect for whatever itis that they're shooting, which
is usually nice to see, but I doAt least I like to think I do.
Brian Triger (31:38):
that's really cool .
Seth Block (31:39):
it gets me thinking about kind of the ecosystem uh,
actually, both that's allrelated, man, yeah, I mean, uh,
we're not here by ourselves, asyou know and you know I'm not
necessarily a tree hugger but,um, everything that we do,
positively or negatively,impacts everything else and
everyone else.
So, um, you know, we don't, wedon't live here by ourselves.
Brian Triger (32:02):
No, I like the fact that you're able to do that
with or without a lens, butalso communicate with the
individuals that are reallypassionate about photography.
It, it helps you.
It helps you, uh, see the worldso that you can help others see
the world.
Seth Block (32:20):
Yeah, and um, listen , I'm, I'm, I'm getting to be an
older man now and you know, uh,I have a lot less years ahead
of me than I have behind me, andI try to spend as much of my
time as I can outdoors.
Photography, you know, gives meanother reason to be outdoors
(32:41):
and there's no better, there'sno better way to spend your time
.
Even if you're sitting therefor hours waiting for a shot,
it's better than sitting onbehind, you know, on a couch
watching TV.
I would much prefer, and I'vedone it, I believe me.
I've spent hours standing inone spot waiting for eagles to
(33:03):
come back from lunch, just tocatch them flying into the nest
and feeding their young orospreys.
And I used to do a lot ofphotography in my kayak and um,
spent a lot of time floatingaround nests, you know, within,
within a reasonable shot of, uh,whatever camera I had, and um,
(33:28):
and, and you know you're outside, you're getting you getting sun
and fresh air, and there's nobetter place to be as far as I'm
concerned, and so photographyhas opened that up for me
greatly.
Most of the things I like to do, whether it's kayaking or
bicycle riding or doing thisphotography stuff keeps me
(33:50):
outside I prefer to be outsidethan inside and it allows you to
travel and you want to seeother things.
You know it just opens up awhole universe that if you don't
take advantage of, you're goingto miss it, because time goes
by really fast, not to bepreachy, but you know we all get
(34:16):
caught up in things and, andthe benefit of my own experience
has been able to enjoy, enjoythe world we live in and it's a
beautiful world, you know itreally is, so let's hop over
let's hop over to another topic.
Brian Triger (34:37):
I just want to emphasize again your, your
website, sethblockphotographycom.
I believe that you have asection on facebook dedicated to
that as well.
It'll be linked in the in thecontributors section under seth
block and uh, so you've had someexposure to civic engagement
tied to a variety of differentnonprofits.
(34:58):
Tell us a little bit about thatexperience.
Seth Block (35:03):
Well, listen, you know, while I was in my career
and after I got involved in avariety of different things, I
was on the board of directors ofa couple of places.
Here's what happened I used towrite a lot of letters to
editors, to my congressmen, tothe White House.
(35:26):
I didn't care who was in officeIf they were pissing me off.
I would write my congressman atthe time.
His name is Chris Shays.
When I finally met him, he saidno one writes me the way you do
.
He goes.
I thought we were pen pals andI said look.
I said you know, you work forme, you're a civil servant, you
(35:47):
work for me.
So I want to make my point ofview heard.
And I was never denied accessto any of these people because
they knew who I was.
So one of the letters I wrotehad to do.
I once wrote a letter to ChrisShays and I got an answer from
George Bush.
He sent it up the line and Igot a response from three
(36:09):
different people, including thepresident, and I've gotten
responses from severalpresidencies over the years.
But that wasn't the point of it.
The point of it was to you know, air my two cents.
So I wrote a letter about.
Apparently there was somedomestic abuse issue and I wrote
(36:33):
a letter about it because itreally bothered me and I was
teaching self-defense at thetime.
And this woman calls me up andshe was the president of a rape
crisis center where I used tolive and invited me to lunch and
then asked me to be on theboard of the rape crisis center
because of my views and I saidsure.
(36:55):
So I spent, you know, fiveyears or whatever it was six
years on the board of thatparticular place, which was very
rewarding.
I was 16 years on another boardof directors.
I was also, you know, manyyears ago.
I was the condo president whereI used to live for eight years.
So, yeah, I got involved becauseI like to know A where my
(37:18):
money's going and why are wedoing what we're doing, and
maybe there's a way to do thingsbetter.
And so I got involved and Idon't really have a great
filtering system, so I basicallysay what's on my mind system.
So I basically say what's on mymind and you know, not
everything you think ispractical, not everything you
(37:40):
say is going to be the rightthing, but if you're not
involved, then you can'tcomplain.
If you don't vote, then don'ttalk about politics.
You know you give up your rightto do that If you're not going
to take the time out to exercise.
Probably the most importantthing that you have is your vote
(38:01):
.
So I get involved and once Irelocated down here, I promised
myself I'm not going to do thisanymore.
I'm going to keep my mouth shutand just enjoy myself.
But of course, I haven'tcompletely done that, because I
can't help myself.
If I see something wrong, Iwant to try to fix it, and
that's just who I am.
(38:21):
I can't help it.
My dad didn't do these kinds ofthings, but my father didn't
like bullies.
I never liked bullies.
So if I see somebody bullyingsomebody else, I don't care what
the reason is, I'm going to dosomething about it.
And that's really where itcomes from.
I mean, I don't.
I don't care what, what callthey are, what race they are,
(38:44):
what religion they are.
Brian Triger (38:46):
If you're bullying somebody, you don't have a
friend with me, and and that'swhy I got involved- so, in all
of your years of experience, ifyou had maybe some basic tips to
younger generations, peoplethat want to do photography or
really get involved in the worldin any capacity to make any
(39:07):
real changes, do you have anytips?
Seth Block (39:10):
yeah, I absolutely.
First of all, I think you thinkwhere we fail younger people is
in our education system.
We don't teach people aboutbasic things.
When I was growing up in school, there was home ec.
They used to teach people howto cook, how to clean things,
how to just do basic thingsaround your home, how to manage
a bank account, how to reconcilea checking account.
(39:34):
I mean, these kids today don'tknow how to do any of this stuff
.
So if you want to do anything inthis life, you need money to do
it.
So I would say having a strongwork ethic, being curious, being
(39:55):
willing to pay the dues tolearn what it is that you're
trying to accomplish, to becomereally good at something so
where people are going to payyou to do it, and something that
you really like, if you lovewhat you're doing, you're not
really working.
Um, even though you are andsaving money, you know, make
sure you save money.
You can't turn around whenyou're 50 years old and say I
think I'm going to savesomething for the future.
You have to start saving moneyimmediately and when you're 25
(40:19):
years old, you should alreadyhave some money put away.
When you're 35, you should havesome serious money put away.
You have to keep doing this andthen you can then utilize your
disposable income that you'vecreated for hobbies that you
like to do.
Don't do everything you want todo immediately and look for
(40:40):
instant results, because you'regoing to shortchange yourself
later when you're not able to dothe things that you need to do
for yourself.
If you wait too long, you'renot as good looking as you used
to be, you're not as cute as youused to be, you're not as
hireable as you used to bewhether you like it or not and
maybe not as capable.
So you need to strike the iron.
(41:01):
When you're younger, enjoyingyourself and enjoying life
because you need to enjoy lifebut you have to put these things
(41:23):
as a priority and then you canenjoy these things a lot more
when you're older, when you havethe time to do that, and you'll
be able to afford the thingsthat you want to do.
You don't want to be strappedfor cash your whole life.
That's a miserable way to live.
Unfortunately, there's too manypeople that are in that
situation, because sometimesit's unfortunate that people
(41:47):
find themselves in all kinds ofdifferent situations, and I'm
not saying that you know, lifedoes happen.
But the more prepared you arefor those things, the more you
can deal with them.
So I would say, you know,getting some education and some
guidance on saving money, oninterviewing properly, on
(42:08):
getting the right kind of joband, above all, be curious, be
really curious, curious, and themore you want to learn, the
more people are going to helpyou learn.
If you go in there with anattitude like, yeah, I don't
really care, then you're gonnaget that back.
If you go in there with aneagerness to learn things,
you're gonna you're gonna get alot of information.
(42:30):
I had some wonderful mentors inmy life that helped me immensely
when I was younger, and theonly reason why they did is
because I kept asking themquestions.
My first interview with myfirst big company after I got
out of the service, the guy said, well, where do you see
yourself?
And I said I want your job.
And he was like whoa?
And I'm like, yeah, don't youwant to move on?
(42:51):
So do I, and he and I becamefriends and I did get his job
and then eventually I becamepresident and CEO of a company.
But it took a long time to getthere, but I was driven to do it
and it was curiosity andwanting to learn more that
(43:15):
enabled that to happen, and Ihad several, several people who
really took the time out to showme the ropes and explain how
things were manufactured in theindustry that I was in, how
sales were done, how everythingwas done, and I learned from
some really, really good peopleand I put those concepts into
(43:38):
practice.
And nobody does it on their own.
You need help.
It's okay to ask for help, andthe more you ask, the more
you're going to get back.
And then you have to be willingto teach the next people coming
up, which was always a bigthing for me.
I never turned anybody away whowanted help ever.
(43:59):
I still do that.
Now Somebody has a question forme, I will help guide them as
best I can, because I think it'simportant, because you know, we
want the next generation to begood.
In fact, I'll tell yousomething else.
Because we want the nextgeneration to be good, in fact,
I'll tell you something else.
About a year ago, I wasprivileged to get invited to go
(44:20):
on board a US submarine with myfuture son-in-law, and these
kids on this submarine wererazors.
They were sharp as tacks,because you have to be
intelligent to be on one ofthese things and they have to
know so much and they have to bequalified.
And it takes an awful lot ofwork to be qualified and the
(44:44):
systems are very complex, waybeyond anything in the civilian
world.
And I was so thrilled to seethese young people who were so
sharp.
I mean, you go into most, youknow most cashiers today.
They can't make change.
You know it's a big joke, weall know.
You know, because the machinestell you everything.
These kids, razors, I meanknife sharp, and I was I
(45:09):
couldn't believe how smart theywere.
In fact, one of my friends camewith me, a childhood friend and
um, when we got off the boat andhe was talking about my future
son-in-law and he says, well,he's a keeper.
And I said, yeah, he is, becausehe is also just a brilliant
young man and um, not only youknow giving service to his
(45:33):
country, but but you have to besharp to be a successful
individual on a US Navy ship,especially a submarine, today.
And it's just one area where Iwas able to see that which
really thrilled me.
But you can do that in thecivilian world too.
I mean you can be a greatplumber or a great electrician
(45:55):
or a great car mechanic, andmost of the trades are dying for
people.
You know you don't necessarilyhave to go to college to be
successful.
You can take up a trade andhave a really great life, and I
think that's what young peopleneed need direction, and what do
they need to be doing forthemselves, and I think that's
(46:18):
what's lacking.
If I was going to say anythingto anybody, would be something
like that Thank you for thatinput and thanks for coming on,
uncle Seth.
Brian Triger (46:27):
I love you and you've always guided me in the
right direction, so I reallyappreciate this opportunity just
to you know share some wisdomwith everyone in Rotary and
anyone else who's listening.
I want to take an opportunityto thank the Almonte Library and
thank Rotary as well.
Have a good night everyone.
(46:48):
Thank you.
Welcome to the Rotary Sparkpodcast.
With me today is a specialguest, my Uncle Seth Block.
How are you doing today, uncleSeth?
Brian Triger (00:41):
I'm doing great.
I'm getting used to the warmerweather, even though it's kind
of cycling back and forth, andaside from that, I really have
no complaints.
So let's, let's dive into yourphotography history.
So you, you mentioned that youhave about at least 50 plus
(01:02):
years of photography experience.
Uh, tell us about the 60s andwhat photography was like?
Seth Block (01:12):
Oh, boy.
Well, um, how did I get startedin this?
Well, my, my grandfather was aprofessional photographer in
Europe, in Austria, and thenwhen he came to the United
States, he had a studio inBrooklyn, new York, and my dad
was apparently quite a decentphotographer when he was younger
(01:33):
and he had an interestingcamera.
I always used to play with it,and he let me use it a few times
and my grandfather and myfather said he's got a good eye,
and I believed him.
So I became more interested init and, um, when I was, when I
was about 13, I went crosscountry, uh, three different
(01:53):
summers and I had a camera andum took a lot of pictures out
West and that's what really gotme started.
That's what really got mestarted.
And then it became a hobby thatgot out of control and I bought
(02:15):
myself eventually a 35millimeter Similar.
My father had a Mamiya Sekor,which was an interesting camera,
and I bought myself a Canon 35millimeter and back then, you
know, there weren't a lot ofcourses and stuff for this thing
.
So I used to keep a pad with meand I used to write down all
the settings that I took apicture with and I would mark it
(02:36):
.
You know, frame one, frame two,frame three and whatever
settings they were, and I'd makechanges and then I'd have to
send the film out, wait a coupleof weeks to get it back, and
then I would look at the resultsand I could see what, the what,
whatever I did to the camera,how I manipulated the camera
with the f-stops, with the um,with the uh, the speed of the
(02:58):
shutter and things like this.
I could see the results of that.
So that's basically how Ilearned photography.
I kind of did it on my own andit was an expensive hobby and I
didn't have a lot of money, butthat's why I did what I did.
I tracked everything that I didand I took a lot of bizarre
(03:18):
pictures of park benches andleaves and I blew up water
balloons and I did all kinds ofcrazy things just to see
different effects and how thecamera would capture those
things.
And over a period of years Ijust kept doing it and I learned
(03:41):
quite a bit about photography.
And then I eventually, when Iwent into the military, I went
into the Navy in 1976.
I bought a better camera.
It was a Canon AE-1.
It was a fine camera.
It had a great metering systemand a couple of lenses and I
(04:02):
brought the camera with me whenI reported to my first ship
actually, and, um, I recordedquite a bit of stuff.
You know I was, you know, notall the time you can't walk
around on a camera, I meanyou're on a ship but whenever I
could, I recorded things and, uh, that's when I really, I think,
(04:23):
developed into a, developedinto someone who really became
an enthusiast, and I took a lotof pictures overseas and just of
shipboard life and things thatwe were doing, and I still have
those pictures and that's whatgot me completely hooked.
(04:44):
And that's what got mecompletely hooked.
And then when I came out, I wentto college at night, I was
working during the day in thecity and I actually took a
photography course for the firsttime and did really well with
that, and it's the only course Iever took in photography.
And I had a career in textilesand and while I was doing that,
(05:09):
one of my big hobbies wasphotography, amongst other
things, and I kept doing it.
I kept um, I started, uh,getting involved with um Nikon
in, I would say, the late 80s,early 90s.
I started using their equipmentand I collected a bunch of
(05:32):
different Nikon cameras andlenses.
And I really enjoyed theirolder lenses, and they had some
really beautiful lenses.
And, I used Nikons right upuntil last year and then I just
wanted to change.
So I searched from Nikon andwent to Leica and it's a whole
(05:56):
different animal and I'm reallyloving the results that I'm
doing that I'm jumping ahead alittle bit.
In the interim, going back 15years, I did work for some
professional photographers andthen I went out on my own after
(06:16):
I retired from my corporate joband I did some photography;
weddings, parties and othertypes of things like that.
And as enjoyable as that was, Ialso got bored because it was
very cookie cutter.
The pro photographers that Iworked with you know it wasn't
(06:39):
very inventive wasn't veryinteresting.
It was just basically takingthe same photographs with
different people in it over andover again.
So that got kind of boring andso I just started doing my own
thing, which is mainly wildlife,my travels.
I've traveled quite a bitaround the country, overseas and
(07:00):
into Asia, into Europe, and Ialways had my camera with me and
I just took pictures everywhereI went and I basically captured
the history of my own life andthings that I've experienced,
which is, to me, whatphotography is all about.
You capture moments, whetherit's your own or someone else's,
(07:22):
and you keep those memories.
And I have all kinds of photoalbums, both film pictures and
also digital, for the past solid40 years, and there's quite a
lot of imagery that I havebacked up.
(07:43):
There's quite a lot of imagerythat I have backed up, and the
kids got into it when they wereyoung.
I think they thought I was aclass I, because I recorded
their entire life on film,whether it's still shots and
quite a lot of movies as well.
As digital cameras matured andthey got better and better.
(08:07):
Their video capability gotbetter as well, so that became
an easy thing to jump into aswell.
Although I don't enjoy that asmuch, I think you have to have a
different set of skills forvideography that I don't really
have.
I really specialize in stillwork, which is what I really
(08:29):
like, and I go out several timesa week whenever I'm feeling a
little creative, and I will lookfor wildlife, birds, animals,
anything I can find and we'llphotograph them.
And that's basically what I'vebeen doing the last five or ten
years and, um, it's been a veryenjoyable hobby and pursuit.
Brian Triger (08:57):
Do you miss developing photographs at all?
Seth Block (09:02):
Um, film, I film.
I really liked film.
You know I the only thing.
I was against digital.
When it first came out Ithought it was very gimmicky,
but then, as the cameras gotbetter and the processes got
larger and they were, they wereactually producing better prints
(09:26):
.
The beauty of digital is thatyou get your results
instantaneously.
As everybody knows today, andwhat I went through when I was
young, you know, recordingeverything that I did and
sending the pictures out andwaiting for them to come back.
It was a great learning process.
(09:47):
But today you get the resultsinstantaneously.
So it's way more cost effectivebecause you're not buying film
anymore.
The other thing that's lessrestrictive you know, back in
the film days I used to usemostly 200-speed film, 400-speed
(10:07):
film and occasionally would goup to a 1600-speed film, but
they got kind of grainy.
Nowadays.
That used to be called ASA, nowit's ISO.
It has been for many years andhigh-end cameras can shoot in an
ISO upwards of 25,000, even upto 100,000 in some cases they
(10:31):
get grainy.
Some of them get grainy whenthey get that high, but you can
shoot almost in pure darknesswith the right equipment and you
can't do that with film, I mean, unless you're very specialized
and you really know what you'redoing.
So you get a lot moreflexibility.
It's a lot more cost effective.
(10:51):
You really can experiment withphotography by changing all
kinds of settings.
A lot of people don't do this.
Most people are using theirphones now.
The phones produce really greatpictures, but it's not the same
.
I mean, to me you can almosttell when someone's using their
(11:16):
phone, when someone's using acamera.
You know some phones do reallywell the Apple phones do a great
job but I still prefer having acamera in my hands, a high-end
camera.
It has a great build feel.
It's very substantial.
The controls you're able tochange the controls on them and
(11:41):
really do all the work you needto do on the camera, where you
don't have to process thepictures afterwards.
I've never used Photoshop oranything.
I only.
I basically do everything onthe camera.
I might crop a picture here andthere, but mostly everything I
do is on the camera.
So whatever comes out of thecamera is what I've done.
Brian Triger (12:01):
Sure.
So what for someone starting?
What do you?
What would you recommend, like,is there a..
Seth Block (12:08):
oh boy?
Brian Triger (12:10):
Yeah, I mean..
Seth Block (12:10):
You have to you have to look at your budget because
these things are not cheap.
Um, you should spend most ofyour money on your lenses, if
you, you know, if you have abudgetary situation, which most
people do you, if you, you know,if you have a budgetary
situation, which most people do,you know, we all do to a
(12:33):
certain extent, and you know,any of the main brands are
excellent.
Canon is very user friendly.
It's the least of my, it's theleast favorite for me, but I've
always loved Nikon.
Olympus makes great cameras.
Fuji is excellent, um, you know.
Uh, Sony makes great cameras.
(12:53):
In fact, they have really gooddigital cameras.
Um, any of them.
You can't really make a mistake.
Um, if you want to get intophotography, because the cameras
today are very similar in theircapability and, uh, the lenses
are what makes a difference.
Nikon lenses have always beenexcellent.
(13:15):
Canon lenses are good.
Um, you know you can't go wrongwith those.
You just, um, you know youcan't go wrong with those.
You just.
Olympus makes good products.
There's a couple of othercameras.
Tamron is okay.
(13:38):
There's some very good cameras,camera producers and lens
manufacturers out there, so youcan always find something that
will work with a budget, andthey start out with something
like a 50 millimeter lens, ormaybe 35 millimeter, and do some
street photography and go fromthere Just take pictures
(13:58):
whatever you like.
It doesn't matter.
Beauty is in the eye of thebeholder.
What one person likes maybesomebody else doesn't, it really
doesn't matter.
It's what you like and it'swhat you're capturing.
And there's no mistakes.
You learn as you go what makesa picture maybe better than
(14:20):
another picture.
I don't think I've ever shotwhat I consider a perfect
picture.
There's always something that Iwish I did differently, but I
think most of us are in pursuitof the perfect photograph.
I think I've gotten close a fewtimes, but as long as you
consider yourself a studentalways and you know, because
(14:43):
none of us are experts in allthese things there's just so
much to learn.
You'll always be learning.
I'm always learning, you know.
I went into a new type ofcamera with a new operating
system.
It's extremely dynamic.
It's a very complex machine.
The results are incredible withthe colors and everything that
(15:06):
it's able to do.
I have to become a betterphotographer just to earn my
keep with this camera, so sure.
Well, you've leveled up.
Brian Triger (15:15):
You've put in the time.
So I think, uh, and I don'thave a lot of experience, but I
I remember starting off with aphone and phones like really
easy to use doing streetphotography, like really easy to
use doing street photography,and then I jumped into Nikon and
I I realized that I wasn't asserious as I thought I was.
I think that a better move andit could have just taken a class
(15:36):
or two.
But, uh, I feel like maybejumping into Canon, just based
on, uh, just being user-friendlyinitially, may have been a
better fit.
And you know if and when Icircle back into the hobby, you
know, and or profession in thefuture.
I think that, just like anyother relationship or finding
(15:59):
your match when it comes totools, it's about taking risks,
right, and just kind of findingout what.
What matches your preferences.
Seth Block (16:10):
Yeah, and also, you know you learn how to how to
position a picture and how toframe a picture, and it's
important to learn the rules ofphotography.
And then it's even moreimportant to break the rules,
because you don't wanteverything to look cookie cutter
.
So most of my photographs havea certain look to them At least
I think they do Because I'mlooking for something, I'm doing
(16:32):
something in a very specificway.
That makes it just a littledifferent.
It makes it interesting to me.
I like to have certaindimensions in the picture that
kind of brings you into thepicture, and that's what I'm
trying to do.
Again, it's hard to do at leastI find it is but what my goal
(16:56):
is is to take a picture thatkind of pulls you in and then
you don't always realize it'sdoing that.
But if I sat down with you andshowed you what I meant, you'd
get it, and then you'd recognizethat with a lot of different
pictures that I've taken, it'slike, wow, I see what's going on
.
But it's important to know therules first.
There are rules in photographyand it's really important to be
(17:20):
able to break those rules andstill take a photograph that is
meaningful.
I critique a lot of people'spictures.
A lot of people have asked mewhat do you think of this, what
do you think of that?
And I'll tell them the truth.
And a lot of times it's likewow, you know.
You know I'm not being rudeabout it, but I'm just telling
(17:41):
them what I think.
And there are some things thatare glaringly bad in some
photographs and I'll point themout.
I could, I pointed them out onmy own, um, and I could show
that too, but, um, a lot ofpeople don't see everything that
they're looking at.
So when you're taking a pictureof people and you know if you
have a group shot and peoplehugging each other and it's a
(18:03):
natural thing to do people'shands hands could be a beautiful
thing, but they can also be avery ugly thing and when you
have a hand sticking oversomebody's shoulder but there's
no arm connected to it, it lookslike this thing out of nowhere
and it looks like this claw thatjust appears and it's
frightening when you look at itand you think about that.
(18:24):
So a good group shot is notgoing to have arbitrary body
parts sticking all over theplace that don't, that aren't
connected, that aren't flowing.
And a lot of wedding pictures, alot of party pictures.
I see this and it makes mecringe, but you know you don't
say anything.
But those are things I notice,things I notice.
(18:49):
So I'm always, when I'm takinga picture, I'm looking at
everybody and looking at all thethings that I find off-putting
in a picture and I try tocorrect them before I take the
picture.
You know, forgetting aboutpeople closing eyes.
They're going to do that andyou just take multiple shots and
you'll get everybody.
You'll get a good enoughpicture, but it's the physical
nature of where people's handsare, where they're, how their
(19:10):
bodies are positioned, um, andyou want it.
You want it to be as flatteringas possible for them, um, and
also, you have to leave your ownbiases out of your photography.
I once did a party and I I wentto the person's home to show
them the pictures and there wassomething about these pictures.
(19:31):
I just there was nothing Iliked.
I mean, there was not onephotograph I liked and I didn't
understand what it was, and Iwas.
I brought their check with me.
I was going to give it back tothem and say I'm sorry, I just
screwed it up, but I didn't sayanything, thank God.
And then they were looking atthe picture and said, oh my god,
what a great shot of Uncle Bob.
And look at Sally, she lookswonderful and then I realized
(19:54):
what it was.
And it was me, it was my problem.
They would I don't want tosound well, they were just not
attractive people and there wasnothing that was going to make
them look good.
And it was, and it was.
You know what I mean.
What I mean by that is theclassic, you know, l magazine.
(20:17):
What makes a human beingattractive?
Sure, everybody has beautifulparts about them.
You know, nobody is better thananybody.
Brian Triger (20:25):
Yeah, yeah, but some people can only have them
captured, uh, internally yeah,and then there are people who
are better looking than others.
Seth Block (20:32):
Let's face it.
I mean, this is how the world,is sure, so, but my own, my own
biases of what that means,almost was a very embarrassing
moment for me because I wouldhave looked like a complete
jackass and thank god, I didn'tsay anything.
They were the happiest peoplein the world and I'm like holy
(20:53):
cow.
I mean that.
It's their people, theirfriends, their family, they love
them, they, you know they'rebeautiful to them and they
should be.
And I, I did a, I think I did apretty good job capturing their
event.
But you know, I couldn't getpast myself.
That was a really valuablelesson in humility and humanity,
(21:15):
because I realized there'sbeauty everywhere and you know,
you just capture it and youcan't judge.
You cannot be a judge.
And that was a long time ago andI was, you know, a lot younger
and I was like, wow, that wasreally something.
(21:38):
I really that was probably themost valuable lesson I ever
learned was about your ownbiases and what they can do to
you if you let them.
So I've never done that againand but it was, it was really
telling, it was really quitesomething.
And then, from their friends.
(21:58):
I got a couple more jobsbecause they all love the
picture so much.
So it was like holy crap, thatwas.
I could have really screwedthat whole thing up, but it was
was um, humorous.
Afterwards.
I, I, uh, I always had a heartattack while I was in their
house because I, I came so closeto saying something.
(22:19):
I'm like, oh, my god, what anidiot.
And I'm glad I didn't sayanything, you know, because I
was totally off base yeah and um, um, I've had a lot of good
experiences with photography.
I mean, I look back um atphotographs quite a bit and, um,
like I said, most of it is myown experiences, my own life, my
(22:43):
, my family's life, um, becausemy grandfather we have lots of
pictures, uh, have lots ofpictures going back 70, 80 years
and a lot of people don't havethese things and it's really
remarkable to look back and youcarved out a little bit of your
own history.
(23:03):
History itself is is a seriesof images and stories and you
know a lot of people like tolook at historical pictures
because it tells the story.
So you can tell your own storyand that's the beauty of it is,
you know, not selfies, I mean Ican't stand those things, but
(23:27):
that's not the beautiful thing.
Why would you stand in front ofthe Grand Canyon, one of the
most beautiful places in theworld, turn around and put your
face in the middle of it?
I mean, it's okay once, but youreally want to enjoy the beauty
of the things that you'reseeing.
So that's one of the thingsthat I can't stand about.
(23:48):
Selfies is like, why would youruin that picture with yourself?
So I don't do anything likethat.
I just I really like to, youknow, capture the moment and I
can relive it if I want to, orshare it with other people and
and I'm very fortunate, I get alot of people who really like
(24:09):
what I do to some level, andanytime someone takes a moment
out of their day and then, youknow, sends me a message or post
a message and said, hey, I lovewhat you do, I love that
picture.
That really is beautiful.
They took a moment out of theirbusy day with their life to
tell me something and that'sworth more to me than money,
(24:30):
because everybody's days, youknow, we're all busy, everybody.
Everybody's day is importantand their time is important,
obviously, and for someone totake their time out and make a
comment about something that Idid is a beautiful thing,
because you can't get time back.
so, anything, anybody.
(24:51):
Anytime that someone does that,I am flattered, humbled and
very appreciative of it, and, um, I've been very fortunate where
a lot of people have liked whatI've done.
I've sold a lot of prints um, Idon't aggressively do that but,
but, if somebody wants to buysomething, I will work with them
and make sure it's the rightsize on the right kind of paper
(25:15):
and just make sure that whatthey experience with this
picture is the best way they'regoing to do it, and so I have a
hands-on approach with it.
I don't just say, yeah,download my pictures.
I mean, I don't believe in that.
That's not what I do.
I'm not interested in that.
If somebody buys them, great.
(25:37):
If they don't, that's great too.
I like posting them.
I share my work on my website,and what is on my website is a
small sampling.
I have over 200,000 images inmy current library and this may
be about, I don't know, 800 onmy website.
(25:57):
Maybe I haven't really counted.
Brian Triger (26:00):
And your website is uh is Seth block
photographycom?
Is that correct?
Seth Block (26:04):
Yeah, yeah, and there's.
It's fairly simple, it'snothing outrageous, it is just a
bunch of um drop down menus.
There's three galleries.
Some galleries have multiplesub sub menus and then some of
the sub menus have um one or twodrop downs, and so I spent a
lot of time visiting a lot ofmilitary ships and battlefields
(26:26):
and things of this nature.
So I have quite a bit in thatcategory of drop downs and I try
to separate them out and eachone of them, I think, tells a
(26:48):
story about that experience.
And I used to volunteer at acouple of museums and one of the
things that I did was go to themothball fleet and strip parts
off of the ships for the museumand I brought my camera with me.
One of the times I went, my oneof my ships was on there and it
(27:12):
took me a year to getpermission to go on board, but
once I did, I photographed myown ship completely stem to
stern, up and down, and that was.
That was a great experience andI have a lot of images of naval
ships and some civil warbattlefields and other
(27:32):
battlefields and places likethat, as well as other things.
You know, birds of alldifferent kinds, sea life whales
in particular, is something Ilike to do, and I tracked a
family of eagles yes, for about15 years in Connecticut and I
have a whole, a fairly bigselection of photographs of
(27:58):
eagles with their babies, theireaglets and just spending the
amount of time that I didwatching them, observing them, I
learned quite a bit about theirbehavior, and not just from
watching, but also from otherpeople that were there who knew
a lot more about them than I did.
So I picked up a lot ofinformation and, in fact, I just
(28:21):
met a guy the other day.
I was looking at, um, there's aneagle's nest, uh, down in
wilmington, north carolina,where I live now, and there was
a guy I met, his he's 86 yearsold, still toting around a big
camera, and he was photographingthe same eagle I was in the
nest.
It was quite a distance, but Ipicked up a few things about the
(28:45):
eagles that I didn't know fromhim and I'm like, oh, that's
interesting.
And people who are really intothis stuff.
If you talk to them, they'rehappy to share their, their
wealth of knowledge and, um,like I said, I'm I've always
been curious about many thingsand, um, I will still ask people
(29:06):
questions and I and I get a lotof responses and I I'll share
what I know um with anybody whoasks.
But, you know, if you're curious, people want to help and this
old guy I met the other day.
He was terrific and he reallypointed out a few things to me
that I wasn't quite aware of,and it was a great day.
(29:28):
We learned something new andI'm hoping to see this guy again
the next time I go looking atthese eagles.
And also, you learn where theyare.
Depending on where you live,you'll have people who know all
the hot spots and where you canfind different animals or
different wildlife, differentbirds, and people will share
(29:52):
that information with you.
They don't post it onlinebecause they don't want to see
10 000 people coming down therewith their with their iphones
doing selfies.
Brian Triger (30:00):
Yeah, you'll have you'll have a hundred drones in
the air.
Seth Block (30:03):
Yeah, no, it's, and you don't want to disturb the
animals either.
So, yeah, you know, people whotake this seriously have great
respect for um what they'reshooting, and you don't want to
get on top of them.
You don't want to irritate them.
You want them.
You don't want them to leavethe nest.
Yeah, you want them to comeback, and the same thing when
you go whale watching.
There's rules maritime rules andlaws about getting too close to
(30:26):
whales.
I just saw some video clip theother day about some klutz on a
kayak that got swallowedtemporarily by some whale but he
was way too close.
You do not get that close.
You got to give these animals alot of room.
They're big animals and theytake up a lot of space.
And they're there doingsomething purposeful they're
(30:48):
eating.
You know whales when they feedthey'll feed for three months
and then they won't eat for sixmonths.
So you've got to give them thespace they need to feed,
otherwise they'll have problemsand their young will have
problems.
So they're not there for ourentertainment.
They're there living and we'refortunate enough to see them do
that and you have to haverespect for that.
(31:11):
And there are people that don't, which is unfortunate, but I
would say the majority of peoplewho are serious photographers
(31:33):
do show respect for whatever itis that they're shooting, which
is usually nice to see, but I doAt least I like to think I do.
Brian Triger (31:38):
that's really cool .
Seth Block (31:39):
it gets me thinking about kind of the ecosystem uh,
actually, both that's allrelated, man, yeah, I mean, uh,
we're not here by ourselves, asyou know and you know I'm not
necessarily a tree hugger but,um, everything that we do,
positively or negatively,impacts everything else and
everyone else.
So, um, you know, we don't, wedon't live here by ourselves.
Brian Triger (32:02):
No, I like the fact that you're able to do that
with or without a lens, butalso communicate with the
individuals that are reallypassionate about photography.
It, it helps you.
It helps you, uh, see the worldso that you can help others see
the world.
Seth Block (32:20):
Yeah, and um, listen , I'm, I'm, I'm getting to be an
older man now and you know, uh,I have a lot less years ahead
of me than I have behind me, andI try to spend as much of my
time as I can outdoors.
Photography, you know, gives meanother reason to be outdoors
(32:41):
and there's no better, there'sno better way to spend your time
.
Even if you're sitting therefor hours waiting for a shot,
it's better than sitting onbehind, you know, on a couch
watching TV.
I would much prefer, and I'vedone it, I believe me.
I've spent hours standing inone spot waiting for eagles to
(33:03):
come back from lunch, just tocatch them flying into the nest
and feeding their young orospreys.
And I used to do a lot ofphotography in my kayak and um,
spent a lot of time floatingaround nests, you know, within,
within a reasonable shot of, uh,whatever camera I had, and um,
(33:28):
and, and you know you're outside, you're getting you getting sun
and fresh air, and there's nobetter place to be as far as I'm
concerned, and so photographyhas opened that up for me
greatly.
Most of the things I like to do, whether it's kayaking or
bicycle riding or doing thisphotography stuff keeps me
(33:50):
outside I prefer to be outsidethan inside and it allows you to
travel and you want to seeother things.
You know it just opens up awhole universe that if you don't
take advantage of, you're goingto miss it, because time goes
by really fast, not to bepreachy, but you know we all get
(34:16):
caught up in things and, andthe benefit of my own experience
has been able to enjoy, enjoythe world we live in and it's a
beautiful world, you know itreally is, so let's hop over
let's hop over to another topic.
Brian Triger (34:37):
I just want to emphasize again your, your
website, sethblockphotographycom.
I believe that you have asection on facebook dedicated to
that as well.
It'll be linked in the in thecontributors section under seth
block and uh, so you've had someexposure to civic engagement
tied to a variety of differentnonprofits.
(34:58):
Tell us a little bit about thatexperience.
Seth Block (35:03):
Well, listen, you know, while I was in my career
and after I got involved in avariety of different things, I
was on the board of directors ofa couple of places.
Here's what happened I used towrite a lot of letters to
editors, to my congressmen, tothe White House.
(35:26):
I didn't care who was in officeIf they were pissing me off.
I would write my congressman atthe time.
His name is Chris Shays.
When I finally met him, he saidno one writes me the way you do
.
He goes.
I thought we were pen pals andI said look.
I said you know, you work forme, you're a civil servant, you
(35:47):
work for me.
So I want to make my point ofview heard.
And I was never denied accessto any of these people because
they knew who I was.
So one of the letters I wrotehad to do.
I once wrote a letter to ChrisShays and I got an answer from
George Bush.
He sent it up the line and Igot a response from three
(36:09):
different people, including thepresident, and I've gotten
responses from severalpresidencies over the years.
But that wasn't the point of it.
The point of it was to you know, air my two cents.
So I wrote a letter about.
Apparently there was somedomestic abuse issue and I wrote
(36:33):
a letter about it because itreally bothered me and I was
teaching self-defense at thetime.
And this woman calls me up andshe was the president of a rape
crisis center where I used tolive and invited me to lunch and
then asked me to be on theboard of the rape crisis center
because of my views and I saidsure.
(36:55):
So I spent, you know, fiveyears or whatever it was six
years on the board of thatparticular place, which was very
rewarding.
I was 16 years on another boardof directors.
I was also, you know, manyyears ago.
I was the condo president whereI used to live for eight years.
So, yeah, I got involved becauseI like to know A where my
(37:18):
money's going and why are wedoing what we're doing, and
maybe there's a way to do thingsbetter.
And so I got involved and Idon't really have a great
filtering system, so I basicallysay what's on my mind system.
So I basically say what's on mymind and you know, not
everything you think ispractical, not everything you
(37:40):
say is going to be the rightthing, but if you're not
involved, then you can'tcomplain.
If you don't vote, then don'ttalk about politics.
You know you give up your rightto do that If you're not going
to take the time out to exercise.
Probably the most importantthing that you have is your vote
(38:01):
.
So I get involved and once Irelocated down here, I promised
myself I'm not going to do thisanymore.
I'm going to keep my mouth shutand just enjoy myself.
But of course, I haven'tcompletely done that, because I
can't help myself.
If I see something wrong, Iwant to try to fix it, and
that's just who I am.
(38:21):
I can't help it.
My dad didn't do these kinds ofthings, but my father didn't
like bullies.
I never liked bullies.
So if I see somebody bullyingsomebody else, I don't care what
the reason is, I'm going to dosomething about it.
And that's really where itcomes from.
I mean, I don't.
I don't care what, what callthey are, what race they are,
(38:44):
what religion they are.
Brian Triger (38:46):
If you're bullying somebody, you don't have a
friend with me, and and that'swhy I got involved- so, in all
of your years of experience, ifyou had maybe some basic tips to
younger generations, peoplethat want to do photography or
really get involved in the worldin any capacity to make any
(39:07):
real changes, do you have anytips?
Seth Block (39:10):
yeah, I absolutely.
First of all, I think you thinkwhere we fail younger people is
in our education system.
We don't teach people aboutbasic things.
When I was growing up in school, there was home ec.
They used to teach people howto cook, how to clean things,
how to just do basic thingsaround your home, how to manage
a bank account, how to reconcilea checking account.
(39:34):
I mean, these kids today don'tknow how to do any of this stuff
.
So if you want to do anything inthis life, you need money to do
it.
So I would say having a strongwork ethic, being curious, being
(39:55):
willing to pay the dues tolearn what it is that you're
trying to accomplish, to becomereally good at something so
where people are going to payyou to do it, and something that
you really like, if you lovewhat you're doing, you're not
really working.
Um, even though you are andsaving money, you know, make
sure you save money.
You can't turn around whenyou're 50 years old and say I
think I'm going to savesomething for the future.
You have to start saving moneyimmediately and when you're 25
(40:19):
years old, you should alreadyhave some money put away.
When you're 35, you should havesome serious money put away.
You have to keep doing this andthen you can then utilize your
disposable income that you'vecreated for hobbies that you
like to do.
Don't do everything you want todo immediately and look for
(40:40):
instant results, because you'regoing to shortchange yourself
later when you're not able to dothe things that you need to do
for yourself.
If you wait too long, you'renot as good looking as you used
to be, you're not as cute as youused to be, you're not as
hireable as you used to bewhether you like it or not and
maybe not as capable.
So you need to strike the iron.
(41:01):
When you're younger, enjoyingyourself and enjoying life
because you need to enjoy lifebut you have to put these things
(41:23):
as a priority and then you canenjoy these things a lot more
when you're older, when you havethe time to do that, and you'll
be able to afford the thingsthat you want to do.
You don't want to be strappedfor cash your whole life.
That's a miserable way to live.
Unfortunately, there's too manypeople that are in that
situation, because sometimesit's unfortunate that people
(41:47):
find themselves in all kinds ofdifferent situations, and I'm
not saying that you know, lifedoes happen.
But the more prepared you arefor those things, the more you
can deal with them.
So I would say, you know,getting some education and some
guidance on saving money, oninterviewing properly, on
(42:08):
getting the right kind of joband, above all, be curious, be
really curious, curious, and themore you want to learn, the
more people are going to helpyou learn.
If you go in there with anattitude like, yeah, I don't
really care, then you're gonnaget that back.
If you go in there with aneagerness to learn things,
you're gonna you're gonna get alot of information.
(42:30):
I had some wonderful mentors inmy life that helped me immensely
when I was younger, and theonly reason why they did is
because I kept asking themquestions.
My first interview with myfirst big company after I got
out of the service, the guy said, well, where do you see
yourself?
And I said I want your job.
And he was like whoa?
And I'm like, yeah, don't youwant to move on?
(42:51):
So do I, and he and I becamefriends and I did get his job
and then eventually I becamepresident and CEO of a company.
But it took a long time to getthere, but I was driven to do it
and it was curiosity andwanting to learn more that
(43:15):
enabled that to happen, and Ihad several, several people who
really took the time out to showme the ropes and explain how
things were manufactured in theindustry that I was in, how
sales were done, how everythingwas done, and I learned from
some really, really good peopleand I put those concepts into
(43:38):
practice.
And nobody does it on their own.
You need help.
It's okay to ask for help, andthe more you ask, the more
you're going to get back.
And then you have to be willingto teach the next people coming
up, which was always a bigthing for me.
I never turned anybody away whowanted help ever.
(43:59):
I still do that.
Now Somebody has a question forme, I will help guide them as
best I can, because I think it'simportant, because you know, we
want the next generation to begood.
In fact, I'll tell yousomething else.
Because we want the nextgeneration to be good, in fact,
I'll tell you something else.
About a year ago, I wasprivileged to get invited to go
(44:20):
on board a US submarine with myfuture son-in-law, and these
kids on this submarine wererazors.
They were sharp as tacks,because you have to be
intelligent to be on one ofthese things and they have to
know so much and they have to bequalified.
And it takes an awful lot ofwork to be qualified and the
(44:44):
systems are very complex, waybeyond anything in the civilian
world.
And I was so thrilled to seethese young people who were so
sharp.
I mean, you go into most, youknow most cashiers today.
They can't make change.
You know it's a big joke, weall know.
You know, because the machinestell you everything.
These kids, razors, I meanknife sharp, and I was I
(45:09):
couldn't believe how smart theywere.
In fact, one of my friends camewith me, a childhood friend and
um, when we got off the boat andhe was talking about my future
son-in-law and he says, well,he's a keeper.
And I said, yeah, he is, becausehe is also just a brilliant
young man and um, not only youknow giving service to his
(45:33):
country, but but you have to besharp to be a successful
individual on a US Navy ship,especially a submarine, today.
And it's just one area where Iwas able to see that which
really thrilled me.
But you can do that in thecivilian world too.
I mean you can be a greatplumber or a great electrician
(45:55):
or a great car mechanic, andmost of the trades are dying for
people.
You know you don't necessarilyhave to go to college to be
successful.
You can take up a trade andhave a really great life, and I
think that's what young peopleneed need direction, and what do
they need to be doing forthemselves, and I think that's
(46:18):
what's lacking.
If I was going to say anythingto anybody, would be something
like that Thank you for thatinput and thanks for coming on,
uncle Seth.
Brian Triger (46:27):
I love you and you've always guided me in the
right direction, so I reallyappreciate this opportunity just
to you know share some wisdomwith everyone in Rotary and
anyone else who's listening.
I want to take an opportunityto thank the Almonte Library and
thank Rotary as well.
Have a good night everyone.
(46:48):
Thank you.
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