Elizabeth La Rochelle/The Madera Tribune Photo-artist Susanne Updike-Waite is willing to climb and scramble to get the perfect picture.

By Megan Bakker

The Madera Tribune

Susanne Updike-Waite looks at the world through the lens of her Canon Digital Rebel camera.

"My camera's pretty much with me all the time," said Updike-Waite, who has taken pictures since she was 7 years old, when she got her first camera.

While Updike-Waite, now in her late 30s, works at an insurance company in Fresno, she spends as much of her spare time as possible on her photography.

"If I could do art full time, I would," she said.

Within the last three to four years, Updike-Waite's husband, Terry Waite, has joined her in taking up photography. They are developing a Web site showcasing and selling their work.

"I finally got the guts to put it out into the world to be judged," Updike-Waite said of her artwork.

In addition to the Web site, Updike-Waite has shown her work at selected fairs, and was part of the Sierra Art Trails in October.

She describes herself as an opportunistic photographer, who can't stand waiting for hours for perfect lighting or to set up a shot.

"I wait for the opportunity to present itself to me," she said. She added that when it does, she is quick to capitalize.

"You may look funny to people, putting your body in awkward positions to get a shot," she said.

Updike-Waite said her favorite shot is one she calls "Emerald Solitude." She said she took the picture on a whim while in Canada, using a 300-zoom lens and no tripod on a hazy day, all of which should have made the picture unrecognizable. However, that was not the case. The shot was a clear image of a boat resting in a cove. She said the experience sticks out to her because she did not expect the results.

Waite said there are two words to describe his wife: "Energizer Bunny." It's his nickname for her.

"She's always on the go," Waite said. "Always doing something."

Updike-Waite and her husband work closely together.

"He helps me frame, mat, and get ready for the show," Updike-Waite said. They also travel together as much as possible, most recently to Hawaii, and earlier to Europe and Canada. Updike-Waite uses these trips as an opportunity to practice her craft. She returned from her Europe trip with 44 rolls of film.

"I can't bring back home the beach, but I can certainly bring it back as a photograph," she said.

Updike-Waite and her husband have been married 17 years, and have endured some hardships along the way.

Waite has been on disability since he was diagnosed with Kennedy's Disease. The illness is rare, affecting only one out of every 40,000 people. It is a neuro-muscular disease similar to Lou Gehrig's or Multiple Sclerosis, two diseases it is often confused with. While not fatal, it attacks the nerve cells that control muscle movement.

"All the muscles in the body start dying off," Waite said.

Since being diagnosed, Waite founded the Kennedy's Disease Association, a nonprofit organization with a Web site dedicated to advancing research and collecting information on the disease.

"When my husband was diagnosed, we didn't ask God why," Updike-Waite said. She said she realized that with her husband's Web computer background, they were in a unique spot to create the Web site.

Waite said that when he was diagnosed, "there was no Web site at all, there was hardly any information at all."

Updike-Waite said it took her two years to accept her husband's diagnosis.

"I had to really realign my expectations," she said. "He used to hike, bike and rollerblade."

It was partially the disease that influenced Waite to take up photography.

"It's something I can still do without exerting myself," he said. "I feel I've become pretty good in it."

Updike-Waite said she encouraged him as much as possible.

"He could never understand my photography," Updike-Waite said. She added that during their trip to Europe "every 10 minutes I was making him stop the car."

Updike-Waite says she is not patient about her photography.

"If I see the shot, I'm gonna get it," Updike-Waite said. She said it used to frustrate her husband, but since he started taking pictures, he also started understanding why she said "stop the car."

"He is now starting to get some really amazing shots," Updike-Waite said.

Updike-Waite focuses on landscapes and nature, she says because at her heart she's a conservationist. "I want to capture it all before it's gone."

When she was younger, Updike-Waite said her family took many camping and hiking trips. These experiences taught her to respect the world around her and connect with it.

The natural world was one of the main reasons Updike-Waite and her husband moved to her home in Coarsegold a little over three years ago.

Born and raised in Ventura County, Calif., Updike-Waite said the vibrant art community and the nearness of Yosemite National Park were big draws for her.

"It's great being in the backyard of Yosemite, being near all the nature," Updike-Waite said.

In addition to her love for the natural world, Updike-Waite is also open to trying new formats and methods. She periodically oil paints, and has taken a jewelry making class. With her photography, she is branching out into portraits, and once tried underwater photography.

"It's not as easy or as fun as you would imagine," she said. Since there was so little light underwater, Updike-Waite said, not a single one of her shots turned out. But she said she keeps trying new things.

"It's just fun to play with all the ways you can capture images," she said. "I'm just trying to capture something others haven't seen before."