Fort Sill range officer enjoys 'shooting' outdoors

By Fort Sill Tribune staffFebruary 28, 2019

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1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Dave McGowen, Fort Sill Range Operations officer, stands in front of some of his images in his office Feb. 22, 2019. The two bears fighting in Alaska is one of his favorite photos. The sunrise ducks in flight was taken at Bosque Del Apache, N.M. The... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (Feb. 28, 2019) -- One of his favorite places to take wildlife photographs is in Alaska, but Dave McGowen has also taken dramatic shots in our own backyard -- the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. He visited the refuge 52 times last year to take nature photographs.

McGowen, a Fort Sill Range Operations officer, won in two categories in the 2018 Army Digital Photography Contest sponsored by Morale, Welfare and Recreation. He took first place in the Military Life and third place in the Still Life categories.

"I feel honored that my photographs were selected," McGowen said. "From looking at the other winners, it is apparent that the competition represents some very talented photographers, and I am happy to be included."

Winning the MWR-sponsored contest is nothing new for McGowen, who retired as a field artillery Soldier here in 2004. He took third place in the Animals category in 2016.

McGowen has only been shooting about 12 years. He got started in digital photography when he took a class at Great Plains Technology Center in Lawton. He remembered his instructor Fran Wehner.

"She was really inspiring, helped me put it all together, and introduced me to some wildlife photographers," he said.

McGowen said he had played around a little with photography in the old film-and-chemistry days, but really did not do much with that.

Currently, McGowen is a member of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). He's also active with the local Wichita Wildlight Photographic Society, being a past vice president and board member.

McGowen said he regularly patrols the Fort Sill artillery ranges as part of his duties, but he generally does not carry a camera with him to catch fleeting wildlife.

"Occasionally, I'll bring a camera to take pictures of range facilities to show units what we have," he said.

McGowen has exhibited four times at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge visitor center; typically 25 photographs at each exhibition ranging up to 16-by-20 inch prints.

During Lawton's Arts for All he'll sell his images at the Wichita Wildlight Photographic Society's booth. The society has also exhibited his works at the Museum of the Great Plains. In September, McGowen with another photographer will have a wildlife exhibit at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan.

"I'm really looking forward to that," he said.

In 2016 NANPA selected a McGowen photograph of a bison taken at the refuge here as one of the best images of the year.

McGowen shoots with digital single reflex cameras, and his favorite lens for wildlife photography is a 600mm f4 telephoto. Sometimes he'll use the lens with a 1.4 teleconverter, which turns it into an 840mm f5.6 lens.

He said the 600mm lens is especially useful for shooting small animals, like birds. With bigger animals like bears, he'll sometimes use 300 and 400mm lenses. He uses the 600mm lens on a gimbal head attached to a heavy-duty tripod.

McGowen said he loves being outdoors. This time of year he enjoys photographing ducks, and ducks in flight.

"That entails me getting all camouflaged up, I wear waders, and get into the water, all before sunrise," he said. "It's not unusual for me to shoot 1,000 pictures in the morning."

For novice wildlife photographers, McGowen offers the following tips.

-- Know your animal, their behavior, where they're going to be, and at what time of the year

-- Peak times for shooting are one to two hours after sunrise, and one to two hours before sunset. "The animals are more active, and that's when you have the better quality of light," he said.-- Find a good mentor, and learn from them.

To see all the winning images from the Army contest, visit https://www.armymwr.com/programs-and-services/arts-and-crafts/digital-photo-contest.