Harbor reflections

Tim Slattery is no stranger to the pages of North Star Port magazine. You've seen his name many times, usually in tiny type next to the pictures that he has made for us.

We haven't counted the pictures that he has contributed to this publication over the years, so we'll take the easy way out and put the tally at "countless." But quantity isn't important. What counts about the Tim Slattery photos we have published is their unmistakable quality.

Tim has a way with a Nikon, and he has an affinity for the lake and the harbor that could come only with years of appreciation and study. The relationship is personal; it is intimate.

You look at a classic Tim Slattery sunrise photo, you admire the technical mastery, you marvel at the exquisite timing that getting the picture demanded and you could think, my gosh, he's been waiting for that picture all his life. You would be right.

Tim is a native "Park Pointer," a lifelong resident of the long bar in Duluth that cartographers know as Minnesota Point. He grew up with the U.S. Coast Guard base practically in his backyard and, being something of a gregarious sort, became friends of crew members there. By the time he was barely in his teens, he could — and did — fill in for the regulars and give tours on the cutter Woodrush.

Even today he lives only a few blocks farther down the street, and the harbor is still the focal point of his life. A friend and mentor once told him, "You travel to beautiful places and take beautiful photos, but they'll never show the love and appreciation you have of this harbor."

He has been taking pictures of the harbor and its people and boats since he was old enough to know which way to point a camera. "I've always loved the water — anything to do with the harbor," he says. "But I'm not a mariner. I guess I do my thing with the camera."

He almost never misses a sunrise. "I get up and look out the bedroom window and take a look and say, `Yeah, it's going to be a good one,' and off I go."

He also manages to make the most of life's genuine photo opportunities even as he performs his day job, which is … taking pictures. He has worked for about 30 years for Grandmaison Photographic Studios (owned by Dan Grandmaison, the brother of a now-retired vessel agent Jerry). Between assignments, he can be found prowling the waterfront in search of his next classic photo.

He is zealous about honoring the separation between his job and his personal photography. He uses different cameras and lenses, even different film, for his work and for his own small business, Har bor Reflections. "Dan has been good to me over the years," Tim says, "and I never compete with the studio, ever."

Hardly a day goes by that Tim isn't out on the water. The Slattery fleet includes a 25-horsepowered fishing boat, a 12-foot rowboat and a couple of kayaks. He seems to prefer the kayaks. "People keep asking me how I get those pictures of lakers from such a low vantage point," he says. "I don't tell 'em."

And he never goes out without a sense of mission — capturing a memorable image on film. "Taking photos of lakers and ships and goings-on on the waterfront is like fishing," he says. "Some days you get skunked. Some days you get the lunker."

We're proud to share his lunkers with you.

"People keep asking me how I get those pictures of lakers from such a low vantage point. I don't tell 'em."

— Tim Slattery