On View At Booth Library—

A Photographer’s Passion Has Its

Roots In Childhood

By Jan Howard

The gift of a camera received as a child introduced a local photographer to a hobby that would lead to a career she absolutely loves.

“When I was 9 years old I got a camera for my birthday,” Catherine Montalbano of Woodbury said recently. “From that time I never stopped taking pictures. I just loved it.”

An exhibit of about 25 of Ms Montalbano’s photographs will be exhibited the community room of Cyrenius H. Booth Library until April 17 during regular library hours.

Though she prefers to photograph children, either alone or as babies with their mothers, Ms Montalbano said she also likes to photograph buildings, such as old barns, and nature scenes or windows. A favorite photograph is of an old window with roses growing around it.

Only photographs of children are included in the library exhibit.

“I love photographing children,” she said. “They’re just so natural. I put them in an area, tell them what to do, and then wait for them. Then I grab the photo, whether it’s an action or a look. They’re just so beautiful and natural.”

To involve the children in the shoot, Ms Montalbano asks them questions or tells them stories.

Photography is an art form, she said. “I feel like I’m painting with my eyes.

“Photography is my passion,” she said. “The kids make you happy.”

A self-taught photographer, her skill with a camera comes from years of working on her own.

“My friends and family always wanted me to take pictures,” she said. “It’s really just a passion. One thing evolved into the next. With photography, I think you have to see what works for you.

“Everything I do is from my heart. Photography is an art. You can’t restrict it with too many rules.

“Having my own children was an inspiration. I took so many pictures of them.” She and her husband, Vincent, have two children, ages 22 and 15.

It was her desire to be at home with her children that led Ms Montalbano to look to photography for a career. “I’ve been gradually building my business up.”

She works in both black and white and color, and hand colors black and white photos. Sometimes, she noted, she only hand colors part of a photograph for effect. “It makes people ask questions.”

Some of her photographs feature children’s hands, holding a teacup or a pumpkin. “I love to capture their cute little hands.”

Her favorite times of the day for photographs are morning or late afternoon, she said, and outside in good weather. “Unfortunately our winters are longer than I would want,” she noted. “I do some indoor work in the winter, but most of my work is during the spring, summer, and fall.

“I love the available light,” she said. “I love the feeling of black and white with available light.” She uses a soft focus filter for color shots. “I like the feeling I get from it.

“I work pretty simple and basic,” she added.

Ms Montalbano also likes auto focus. Without it, she said, “The moment is lost. I would rather get that special expression. I don’t want to miss that.”

Ms Montalbano said that because she often takes photographs at a client’s home, she has no pre-planned idea of what the theme would be. “Basically, I go with the flow, and work with what’s there,” she said. “I find it fun and challenging to see different things and put them together in different ways.”

She said once clients see her work, they leave it up to her as to how the child is dressed and posed.

“I just follow the child,” she said. “Sometimes they have the best ideas.”

Ms Montalbano has a collection of antique clothing and hats that her clients may wear for the photographs, as well as props to enhance a photo, such as a child-size Adirondack chair or an old-fashioned doll carriage.

“I enjoy looking around for simple outfits and hats for children to wear,” she said. Most of her clients want to use her clothing for the photographs, she added.

In addition to hunting for clothing and props to use in shoots, she loves to garden and especially enjoys using beautiful gardens as a backdrop or focus for her photographs, she said

She admires photographers of Victoria magazine, which features gardens, children, and flowers in its illustrations.

Ms Montalbano’s photographs have been exhibited in the Woodbury and Middlebury libraries. Future exhibits of her work are on tap for Naugatuck in June and again in Woodbury in July.