Picture this! You, an exotic locale and a camera

Holly Gordon wanted to welcome the new millennium in a place few humans have seen up close. She chose Antarctica, hoping to capture on camera scenes from the white continent in the last moments before the year 2000.

"I wanted to go where most people don't go, where the land is unblemished; the coldest, harshest, windiest, driest and most mountainous place on Earth," the retired art teacher from Bay Shore said. "I was there to photograph the last sunset of Dec. 31, 1999."

Some of Gordon's award-winning images from her remote trips are in traveling exhibitions. One show, "Galapagos: Face to Face" is on permanent display at the Long Island Science Center in Riverhead.

Like Gordon, Carole and Richard Witkover share a passion for photography and world travel. Among their souvenirs are the striking images from their explorations that they enjoy sharing with the public.

From their adventures in Africa, Peru, Vietnam, the Galapagos and beyond, the Commack couple has created multimedia shows that will be featured in local libraries through September. (See the schedule at witkover.com/ WTA-Show-and-Exhibition- Schedule.htm.) Highlights include the couple's interaction with native people, colorful portraits and distinctive landscapes.

Retirement provides time
Retirement allows the Witkovers and Gordon, who have never met, to indulge their dual interests. Gordon, who gives her age as "in my 60s, going on 18," taught middle school and high school students in the West Babylon School District. Carole

Witkover, 71, was a special-education teacher with United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk. Richard, 72, was a physicist at Brookhaven National

Laboratory for 34 years
What these shutterbugs also have in common is an appreciation of digital technology, which they use to enhance and sometimes change their images. The technology, they say, is taking them to new levels of creativity.

"Digital manipulation is a mind-boggling creative journey via the computer," Gordon said. "I've used a variety of digital techniques to alter my images so they look like pen and ink drawings or water color or oil paintings. . . . I've changed the sharpness of the image." However, she said none of her Antarctica images, which "capture the vastness, pristine beauty" of the frozen desert, was digitalized.

In the interest of full disclosure, Gordon labels her altered images as such. "You do what you need to do to make your image what it is; you just don't lie about it," she said.

That's also Richard Witkover's view. "I feel strongly that even cosmetic enhancements cannot be used in any situation where the image might be used for documentation, such as in a newspaper," he said. Many of the cosmetic changes he makes involve intensifying colors for a more dramatic effect.

The Witkovers became photography hobbyists in 1978, while he was a visiting professor on a four-month cultural exchange program in Japan. "We were totally immersed in a very different society than what we had known before," he said. "I bought a sophisticated camera and started seriously taking pictures." His wife, who scoped out interesting sites for him to photograph, soon got her own camera.

"We wanted to learn more about photography, and we wanted a venue to show our pictures," Richard recalled, so in the late 1980s, they joined the Huntington Camera Club. Lectures and monthly juried competitions helped them hone their techniques.

An annual journey
Each year, the Witkovers take at least one major trip, traveling mostly with photographer friends. They've been in Turkey, Israel, Africa and New Zealand. Last year, the couple explored the Amazon River and Machu Picchu in Peru. In January, they were in Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, visiting Mayan ruins and villages.

"We try to go beyond postcard images to capture the spirit of the place and people and tell a story," Richard said. "We use modern computer techniques with multiple soundtracks for narration and background music," for their shows. They've made DVDs and packaged "Witkover Travel Adventure Shows" (witkover.com), based on their expeditions. The goal, Carole said, is "to spread tolerance and understanding through art."

Gordon, a member of the Nature and Wildlife Photographers of Long Island, travels on her own or with small groups of nature lovers. She said she shoots "with an artist's eye."

Gordon's exhibit, "Antarctica: Journey to the Extreme" is the artistic product of her trip there. "It's all blue and white. The icebergs are like marvelous sculptures amid the chunks of ice in the water," she said. "And the sky, the clarity of it was unbelievable." The exhibit at fotofoto Gallery in Huntington closes tomorrow, but the images can be seen on her website, hollygordonphotographer.com.

The Witkovers and Gordon realize the importance of keeping fit to pursue their endeavors. Lugging 15 pounds of gear in a backpack while carrying a full duffel bag helps Gordon stay in shape. "If more people realize that by being active participants in life, they are enriching their bodies, they can be active much longer," Gordon said.

Richard Witkover keeps living the dream, despite three knee surgeries and cataract removals.

"Having found this hobby to do together has given greater meaning to our retirement and an added dimension to the marriage," Carole Witkover said. "We redefined ourselves in our retirement."