Our Club Members - Michael Radin

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Michael Radin was born and raised in Los Angeles. His interest in photography initially developed when he worked as a teenager for a portrait photographer. After receiving his BA in English Literature from UCLA, Michael found himself attracted to the camera as his primary means of creative expression.  

He received his MFA in photography from the University of California at Davis in 1975 where he studied with Harvey Himelfarb, Robert Frank, Wayne Thiebaud and Robert Arneson among others.

He is interested in how the camera can be used to create images of the world, taken out of context, to reveal unique aspects of the subjects.

He has had various exhibitions on the West Coast and in France. His work created over the past 35 years is represented in both public and private collections.

Plein Air Photography at 50 mph

Yolo County, California, 2008

Last Spring while driving with a friend to Winters to see a painting show, we began to discuss the rich and energetic and wonderful Plein Air painting tradition in the Yolo County area and how the activities of so many talented painters capture the incredible beauty our valley.  I found myself thinking about photographing as a Plein Air painter.

And as we drove to Winters my friend and I questioned: What is Plein Air painting? As we talked about subject and color, form and texture, light and space, sharpness and distortion, I found myself looking out the window to my right. The bushes close up were a blur but further away I could see detail in the fields. If I concentrated on the bushes close up and turned my head very, very fast, the distant fields became areas of pure form and color while the foreground gained resolution and clarity. Voila, Plein Air Photography at 50 mph.