I always find it interesting to learn how people get into boating or marine related careers. Belonging to a yacht club, I am surrounded with so many interesting people from captivating maritime backgrounds. Usually our stories are told on a boat or over a cocktail at the clubhouse; yet, Alex Wolff, a local photographer, time and again captures my attention by telling a story through his photography.

Shortly after I started this column I connected that the pictures I took did not always pair well with the articles. Now, I partner with Alex's company Alex Wolff Photography of Jericho when I need a particular photo. The events he captures are conveyed in a way that is not noticeable to the naked eye. For me, the happenings captured in his work are extra special because it captures the unique experience of local people and the beauty of our community's natural environment.

Alex's connection to photographing the excitement experienced during sailboat races began a few years ago when he had the opportunity to crew on the Wednesday night yacht races at Sagamore Yacht Club. Although trying to photograph and sail at the same time was difficult, he initially got some great shots of the boats, the sunsets, and the crews. More recently, he has been spending his time developing his craft by taking photos while helping the race committee.

Although Alex has decided to sacrifice his sailing experience, the sailors have gained so much from his photos. He now takes about 10,000 sailing and other marine related photos a year. Much of Alex's work is regularly shared among the sailboat racing circuit and some of his work is on display at Sagamore Yacht Club. The following interview highlights Alex's background.

How and when did you start taking photos? I received my first camera at the age of 6. It was a Kodak Hawkeye instamatic and I shot mostly family stuff. The big stuff really caught on in college.

Discuss your training. Photography was a required course when I went to school in 1976 for oceanographic technology at the Florida Institute of Technology. The instructor, Bruce Cathcart, had us really learn the basics, which included camera handling, lens selection, physics of light, black and white shooting and developing as well as color printing. That was the very early days. Almost every time I pick up a camera I learn something new. Places I have found helpful include photography clubs like the Flatbush Slide Club in Brooklyn, workshops offered by members of my professional organizations like the Professional Photographers of America and the Professional Photographers of Greater New York. The majority of my training has been self-administered. I constantly shoot, evaluate my photos, read professional articles, and participate in Internet photo knowledge sharing sites. I am very eager to share what I have learned, and that sharing always leads to my learning a different technique or thinking about things in a new way.

How did you begin taking nautical photos? Underwater photography was a required course at school. At some point I became a SCUBA Instructor and that opened doors for me to travel around the world, sometimes living on a boat for two weeks at a time with no habitable land in sight. I have yet to meet someone who was not fond of sunrises and or sunsets. For me, if there is no water, the setting sun has less impact.

What led you to go professional with your craft? Some wise person once said "If you love what you do for a living you will never work a day in your life." Photography has always been that for me, especially capturing beautiful moments that only exist for a split second...Photos bring back memories of the good times [as does] capturing portraits of family members from newborns to great-grandparents. Interestingly, some of my best portraits are of the crew on Wednesday night sailboat races through Sagamore. One of the captains who very recently took ownership of a 16 x 20 painting [photo on canvas] of him at the helm of his boat, told me he received so much joy from looking at that image, that he wanted a second image for his office. I am sure it will hang at his wake and be passed on to his kids. Bringing that kind of joy to someone is immensely fulfilling for me.

Discuss where your work has been on display or might be someday. I had a few shows in my Moments series, hosted at the Modernage Gallery on Vessey Street in downtown Manhattan. I have been the feature photographer on a few photography sites, have had a few images printed in the Explorer and one image, the winner of the Vanderbilt Race [held near Huntington each year], in Windcheck magazine. Earlier this year, Sagamore Yacht Club added 14 of my images to its permanent collection, and in May, I had a one-person show called Bits and Pieces, hung in the gallery at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Huntington on Brown's Road, next to Coindre Hall. I will have a few pieces hung there intermittently over the next year and will have the Jericho Library in August 2008, shared with a very talented painter friend of mine, William Hawkins.

The interview with Alex Wolff will be continued in next week's edition. Some of his work can be viewed on the following website www.seawolff.com/photo/. For more information about boating, environmental matters, and other water-related activities throughout the Oyster Bay area you can email the author at Jaime.VanDyke@gmail.com or reach her at 946-9464.