Join us at 7PM on Thursday November 13 at the Severna Park Baptist for a talk by Beth Haubach on Shooting with Abandon.

To watch it remotely, just go to to our open FaceBook group where we will broadcast the talk https://www.facebook.com/groups/arundelcameraclub

Shooting with Abandon

Shooting with Abandon explores the art and practice of photographing abandoned places and objects, with a focus on finding beauty in imperfection and decay.

I’ll discuss key shooting considerations: lighting, lens choices, and essential equipment. I’ll also cover techniques like light painting, long exposures, and HDR to create dramatic effects.

I’ll share my approach to photographing these spaces and editing techniques, from using HDR for balanced exposure to enhancing the vintage feel of a photo by adding imperfections.

Lastly, I’ll cover the safety and legality issues that apply when shooting abandoned buildings, “urbexing,” and I’ll provide ideas on places where you can practice some of the shooting techniques locally, along with some notable locations in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Beth Haubach Biography

My interest in photography began when I found my dad’s Nikon camera that he’d purchased in Tokyo while serving in the Army during the Korean War. Over the years, this interest has increased to the point I’ve owned and outgrown several cameras.  I honed my photography skills on the soccer pitch, the lacrosse field, and the hockey rink but I’m equally at home in the field shooting landscapes and wildlife; capturing street scenes, architecture, vintage pieces, or mural art; or even trekking to “unsavory” places to photograph abandoned locations. 

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with Capital Photography Center (CPC) “behind” the scenes and, more recently, as an instructor for Capital Photography Center. These positions have allowed me access to many amazing and accomplished photographers and instructors, which ultimately helped me grow in my skills and confidence as a photographer. 

I relish the chance to capture the beauty of a sunset or the awe of a landscape, a spider in its glistening web, a dew-covered flower in the garden, a gritty street scene, or the allure of a vintage piece. I have discovered in recent years my true passion lies in creating digital art from those photos. I’ve also fallen in love with creating abstract images, particularly those that result from adding oil to water, or the meticulous placement of water drops to capture a subject refracted in a water drop. 

There is something incredibly rewarding about the creative process. While the subject may differ, the outcome is ultimately about the variety and range of emotions I can elicit from the viewer just by catching that perfect moment in time.