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Photo of the Week

Take a peek at this week’s top-rated shot, and learn more about the photographer who captured it.
Image: Ruby Beach
Ruby Beach, Olympic NP.Bob Simari / UGC

June 11

Be persistent. Be patient. Be willing to go places that others don’t go. Keep your eyes open.

This could be sage advice for job seekers ... or salesmen ... or fishermen. But it is meant for photographers.

Bob Simari of Baldwin, N.Y., shared those pearls of wisdom while discussing his photo of Olympic National Park’s Ruby Beach, which he took in October, 2008. It was the top-rated image in this week’s It’s A Snap! contest.

The antique dealer and “extremely avid amateur” photographer had to learn those lessons himself.

“Ten years ago, I thought I was good, but I was very mediocre,” Simari said.

So he joined a photography club. Then he became president of the club. And he studied other people’s photography. “I subscribe to every magazine I can get. I buy every book I can get.”

Simari preaches taking photos in the golden hour — “truly the time when photographers get their best photos.” It is the hour or so after sunrise or before sunset. “Light is soft, shadows are long, everything has definition — in the middle of the day you don’t get that,” Simari said.

He captured his Ruby Beach photo in the golden hour, and it has brought him a lot of attention. Not only is it our Photo of the Week, but Outdoor Photography Magazine chose it for the cover of its 2010 calendar, and it took top honors in a local photo contest he joined.

Simari is retiring this year, and moving to Sedona, Ariz., with his wife. “I may open up a gallery if I’m received well enough,” he said. “I will be doing a tremendous amount of photography.

If you’d like to see more of Simari’s photos, click here.