Oakdale Artist Shares His Love for Photography

Oakdale resident, Ralph Keating is a photographer and wire sculptor.  His work will be showing at through the month of August.  Oakdale Patch reporter, Mary Buelow sat down with Keating to discuss his work and what drives him to capture the natural beauty around us. 

Oakdale Patch: The majority of your photographs are focused on nature. What is it that inspires you to obtain these images?

Ralph Keating: I’m drawn to repetition and lines. If you look at some of my work you will see cool lines moving in different directions. I also really like the oddity of some of them. I think I capture a different view of flowers and nature; it seems different than other nature pictures you may see.

Oakdale Patch: How and when did you get started in photography? 

Keating: I started taking pictures when I was about 16 years old with film, but it was far too expensive so I quit. I took it back up again about two years ago now that we are in a digital age. It’s easier and more cost-effective to shoot 1,000 pictures and just print the ones I like best.

Oakdale Patch: Did you study photography anywhere?

Keating: My photography skills are all self-taught. I did take one photography class but I mainly learned through reading and working at it.

Oakdale Patch: What is it that you love about photography and wire sculpting?

Keating: I love that I can take a picture and put it on display and have other people look at it. Being able to show people what I saw is a joy for me. What I love about the wire sculpting is it simply just makes people smile. I started doing those while I was working at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I was cleaning up wire one day after a class; I picked it up and just started playing with it. After that I just kind of ran with it. 

Oakdale Patch: What is your take on film versus digital?

Keating: I lean more toward digital because it’s just what I am used to using. I do believe there is a quality to film that you don’t get with digital. It’s a different medium with the same kind of end product. I never learned how to develop film so I am just sticking with what I know.

Oakdale Patch: What kind of camera do you use?

Keating: I use a low-light Olympus 500.

Oakdale Patch: Are there any photographers that inspire you?

Keating: Oodles of them, but I couldn’t tell you their names. I go on Flicker a lot and am really inspired by other people’s work. Sometimes I compare my work to others and think mine isn’t that great. But then I sit back and look at mine and realize they are pretty special.