David Breslauer, the fourth in this ongoing series looking at Park City photographers’ award-winning photos, first discovered photography through journalism.
“I worked for the Associated Press for 15 years and two daily newspapers before that,” he said.
Then after leaving news, for a while he didn’t even own a camera. When Breslauer moved to Utah, he realized he wanted to pick the practice back up. A trip to Zion National Park inspired him to take up digital photography, requiring him to relearn lessons he’d first learned in news as a film photographer.
That photojournalism background helped Breslauer win second place in the nature and wildlife category at the Intermountain Professional Photographer Association’s 2025 photography competition with “Ground Clearance,” a black-and-white photo of a bald eagle in Alaska about to land on hard snow. The bird splays its feathers and uses its wings to steady itself, and the photo captures this unusual sense of momentum as the raptor lifts itself just above the ground.
Breslauer said the photo was from a trip he and fellow Park City Photography Club member Howard Meltzer took together to Homer, Alaska, the sole purpose of which was to photograph the many eagles that flock to the area.
“The eagles come down south from the other parts of the state, and they hang around Homer for the winter because the water’s not frozen and they can feed and there’s a fishing port there,” Breslauer said. “The eagles are just everywhere. You can’t go anywhere without seeing them.”
The target-rich environment was perfect for Breslauer, who enjoys photographing birds because of the challenge they present.
“One, you have to predict the bird’s behavior,” he said. “Where is it going to go? What’s it going to do?”
Two, Breslauer has to predict his own behavior. A good photographer needs to know what skills will be required to take a shot and whether they can execute them. For birds, that means being prepared to follow focus as they fly.
“There are so many skills involved,” he said. “It’s really easy to make an average bird picture. It’s really hard to make a good one. And (‘Ground Clearance’) has a lot going for it.”
The eagle in the photo is tack sharp, the feathers curving and cutting against the white snow and forming a semicircle that draws the viewer’s eye to the raptor’s head. It’s a moment not usually captured in bird photography, especially without blur, Breslauer said.
“The movement is perfectly frozen. Sometimes, you want movement to show up, and you get blur,” he said. “And that’s a creative use of it. But in this case, I wanted the eye to be perfectly sharp so that when you look at it, you can actually see the detail in the eye if you were to zoom in on it.”
The pair spent five days photographing eagles, which left Breslauer with a whopping 45,000 photos or so to sort through. Picking and editing the right photo has become a skill of its own, he said.
“That’s something else we work on as part of the club … not just your shooting skills, but your editing skills,” he said. “You made all these pictures. OK, how do you choose the best one? What makes this picture better than this one or this one or this one?”
Breslauer’s photojournalism background helps him make that call and find the unexpected moments, he said, particularly with subjects that have semi-predictable movements. He compared it to shooting a football game, something he’s done many times.
“You never know what’s going to happen before the picture you’re waiting for or after the picture you’re waiting for,” he said. “You’re looking for this perfect picture of the quarterback getting sacked and the ball popping loose. That’s a perfect picture, and everybody would like to have and use that picture, but after that, something else happens.”
Photos of those moments before and after the “perfect photo” can end up being more meaningful shots in Breslauer’s experience.
Although winning awards is nice, it’s not why Breslauer or any other member of the Park City Photograph Club takes photos. As someone who helps organize the club, he said it’s a great resource for people looking to get better regardless of expertise.
Each month, a guest speaker or a club member presents on a theme, such as animal or “critter” photography, and then members will take photos in that theme and discuss them the following month.
Plus, the club takes trips, too. In June, members will head to Palouse in the Pacific Northwest. They’ll do a symposium in Moab next year as well, Breslauer said.
“We’re doing it because we enjoy the quest, the looking for pictures in different places, the adventure of getting out and making pictures and improving our photography,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why we have our little meetings once a month, is because it’s a judgment-free zone. If you want feedback, people will give you feedback. And if you just want to show your pictures and not get feedback, that’s cool as well. We just like to talk about photography and raise everybody’s skill level.”
The Park City Photography Club meets on the second Monday of every month at the Park City Library, with an informal gathering at 5:30 p.m. and a formal 6 p.m. start. Anyone interested in joining can attend or reach out via the club’s Facebook page at facebook.com/groups/ParkCityPhotographyClub.