Mark Bankoff

I am recently retired, now with more time to pursue my longtime interest in photography.  From 2005 to 2016, I photographed all 30 Major League ballparks.  Most of my Major League ballpark visits took place on family trips with my wife, daughter, and son. Early on, I took photographs around each park from random locations.  But later, I decided to photograph from behind home plate to afford a view of the entire field.  So I returned to some parks, to sit high above home plate, in order to obtain a wide view from foul pole to foul pole.    

After I finished photographing all the Major League ballparks, my wife decided that we should move on from baseball parks…no Minor League parks for us!  She was happy when I suggested we visit lighthouses, photographing and learning some history about each.  The photographs of ballparks and lighthouses documented our trips and now provide a catalog of wonderful memories.

In my professional career as a radiologist, I worked almost exclusively in a black and white world.  Seeing the world in color is what I truly love.  The sun, moon and sky have proven to be attractive subjects.  Amazing colors produced by changes in light are fun to see and to photograph.  Putting the overhead beauty together with scenes below can produce some captivating images.

Local scenery or travel sites provide an infinite variety of colorful targets to record.  The serenity of nature provides a wonderful source of relaxation and an endless source of photographic opportunities.  

Within the larger scenes, it has been very rewarding to look at the small beautiful creatures that surround us.  Birds are innately beautiful, whether perched or in flight.  If you look closely, often you can read emotions in a bird’s eyes or in its body language.  The same can be said about other creatures.  The cute pose of a squirrel or chipmunk always brings a smile to my face.  For beautiful color and intricate detail, dragonflies and butterflies are fantastic subjects.    

Scenery photography, as mentioned, can be tremendously satisfying.  However, capturing images of people can be even more interesting.  Trying to overcome my natural shyness, I have recently been turning the camera toward a face, rather than a building or a bridge.  Capturing facial expressions can be wonderfully revealing as it provides a glimpse into the lives of people around us.  I look forward to doing more of this.

As the sun rose on my retirement, I knew I loved to use a camera, but I was certain that I wouldn’t enjoy running a business. For anyone interested in purchasing a photograph seen here, please follow the link to:

LAG Featured Artist – markbankoff (smugmug.com)

To see additional photographs please go to:

https://markbankoff.smugmug.com

For any needed assistance with the SmugMug site, please feel free to contact me at:

[email protected]