Tools We Need for Success
by Breanna Betts
Bob Parker, who has been helping the yearbook class with their photography and will be helping buy the class new equipment, lives near Fowler, Kansas with his wife Barbara and his daughter Kate.
He first attended college at Pratt Community College then transferred to Kansas State University where he earned a degree in agronomy which is plant and soil sciences. He farms corn, soy beans, grain sorghum, and wheat.
Along with being a farmer, Parker helps the yearbook class with their photography. “I think success in life is not what you take from it, but what you give back, and it gives me great joy to share a common interest with our youth hoping they will later share it too.” Parker said he sees the yearbook class headed wherever they want to go as long as they keep asking questions and seeking and finding the answers to those questions.
Along with Fowler, Parker also lives in Iuka, during the summer where he grew up. His favorite subjects to take pictures of are his friends and family, especially his daughter Kate. Parker first became a photographer when he was ten years old and their banker wanted to know if Parker wanted to take his photography class because he just received a new Kodak camera for his birthday.
He likes the creative control photography gives him over an art form. For Parker, composition is secondary and creative lighting is primary when it comes to a good photo, but it is not all about the light. It is about the detail in the shadows. However, for a picture to be in the newspaper, it must tell a story; it should evoke emotion if possible and appropriate.
The funds for the new equipment will come from Parker, the Booster Club, and other members of the community. “They want to give you [the yearbook students] the tools you need to succeed, and we want you to have the ability to be more creative with your photography,” said Parker about the donation. The yearbook class will receive new photograph equipment which includes two manual strobes, one dedicated strobe, radio remotes to trigger the strobes, light stands, and other supporting equipment this equipment will complement the existing cameras and lenses.
Parker said, “I am having a blast working with the yearbook class and other students around the school. We have a very nice school that we should be proud of.”
