The Emotion of a Photograph
Mark Nault Captures Weather, Landscapes and Architecture
When thunder rumbles and storm clouds roll across the skies, Mark Nault grabs his camera. However, he is quick to say he is not a storm chaser. “I am a photographer who enjoys documenting weather events,” he said. He has gotten some magnificent pictures of all types of weather, but storms are his passion.
Nault also enjoys shooting beautiful landscapes, nature and rural scenes, including farms and ranches. Nault said he produces fine art images and panoramas of many things in the state, such as Oklahoma landscapes, weather events and unique architecture that many people have known all their lives.
“These subjects are shot with the same professional equipment, quality, emotion, commitment and enthusiasm as if we were standing in Yosemite Valley, Calif.,” Nault said. Many of his landscape images have such intense color they could be mistaken for paintings.
Nault moved to Edmond from Rapid City, S.D., four years ago with his wife, Carol, and son, Andrew, a student at UCO. Nault said Oklahoma’s land is his family’s home and they feel it has an equal beauty to other parts of the nation. And although Mark shoots the photos, he is quick to credit Carol as part of the team. “She has a natural compositional talent,” he said. “She makes suggestions and they always work. The photography we create are images you’ve seen in your travels around the state.”
However, they also accept commissions from individuals to create realistic or impressionistic landscape images of their homes, gardens and a myriad of other scenes that people fondly remember or currently enjoy. When someone says, “Gosh, I’d love to have a picture of that,” Nault can make that a reality.
“I definitely think we have a unique approach to professional photography,” Nault said. “The Lord has blessed me with an eye that can capture the beauty that’s right under our feet.” And because he does all of his own printing and production, he is able to make professional images more affordable.
A few years ago, Nault was commissioned to do a panorama of Edmond North High School. He took 28 panels and put them together, as if piecing together a puzzle, to form a single 6- to 7-foot panoramic image of the front of the high school.
One of his most popular panoramas started as a commission from the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker. “They asked me to capture images of the maintenance specialists in their work environment and images of the AWACS flightline,” Nault said. “That was the first time that virtually all AWACS personnel and aircraft were home at the same time, something unique for the 552nd, which is on the road all the time supporting the National Command Authorities.” The panorama is titled “The Birdcage,” which is the name of the AWACS flightline, and it can be seen on Nault’s website (www.marknault.com).
A 24-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Nault has been seeing the world through the lens of a camera for decades. He began his hobby while in high school, getting science credit for some of his photos. At that time the National Severe Storms Forecast Center was in Kansas City, his hometown at the time, which gave him the opportunity to learn and photograph weather events. “I have always been fascinated by the Lord’s production of weather,” he said.
Nault also enjoys photographing horses and bison and has done considerable work at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge, even putting on a couple of art shows there. He said animals show a lot of emotion, which he tries to capture on film. “If you don’t capture emotion in a photograph, it’s just a picture,” Nault said.
He also believes in ethics in his photography: he does no manipulation outside of what the natural scene provides, he said. Often, people suggest that he add an image to his work when trying to get a photo just right, but Nault refuses. “The same rules that govern film photography govern my digital photography,” he said.
To contact Mark Nault, e-mail him at cnault2@cox.net or call 405-503-1104. His website is www.marknault.com.
