My Approach
There is something elemental about black and white landscapes particularly when the subject is rugged sedimentary coastlines and granite mountains. The detail in the rock seems to stand out in a way that makes the land and its features the focus of the photograph. The starkness and the contrast of light and shadow evoke the feel of a place in a way that is lost in color. It’s old school but it is fresher and more distinctive to me than the current fascination with over-saturated metallic prints. Fortunately, too, I have spent much of my life on the California coast and in the Sierra Nevada mountains and they provide ample opportunity for me to find the kind of land and seascapes I want for my images.
As suggested in my introduction. it all started for me when I got my first Ansel Adams calendar. There in black & white was the Western outdoors as I saw and experienced it. As I progressed as a photographer, I realized how much I was influenced by him. I guess I intuitively grasped what he was thinking and what he was trying to do. In a way, much of what I began to do – thinking in black and white, finding the right subject, the right angle with the right light, pre-visualizing the result, shooting for extraordinary detail and wide tonality and then making the final image happen using the all the tools in my digital lab -- was a modern riff on the great man’s methods.
I don't have a platform on the top of my xTerra like Ansel did (I sometimes wish did and I do carry a ladder) but my landscape methodology is pretty simple: extensive scouting, repetitive visits, use of a tripod and remote trigger. exposures at different times of day and light conditions and anywhere from light to heavy post-processing in my digital lab. That being said, sometimes the camera comes out of the pack for a moment of opportunity and the magic of spontaneity happens.
Of course, I also shoot color. Some landscapes demand it and travel photography, in particular, lends itself to it. I have been fortunate to visit a few of the great cities of Europe as well the wilds of Baja California, Alaska and Antarctica. While traveling, I am on the move and there is little time to shoot and reshoot, light is often what’s available and the shutter has to be clicked now or never. Even with research and preparation, all I have most of the time is my eye and brief opportunity.
I also should mention my commitment to printed work. Discovering the art of the print in the digital age has been a revelation. It is half the reason for my photography. We are so deluged with photographs on our computers and phones, the impact of the images is often lost in their sheer number, inconsistent quality and the limits of our display technologies. We become "image-shocked" and often indifferent to what we see.
A well-crafted print, however, puts the "art" back in photography. The photographer makes all creative choices - exposure, contrast, color, paper, matting, and framing. There is no "Next" button, no controls or no custom view. It is what it is and demands that you look at it on its own terms just like any other fine art work. It has depth and gravitas hanging on the wall that a digital display can never recreate. Without printing, I feel like a picture taker; with it, I know I'm a photographer.
As suggested in my introduction. it all started for me when I got my first Ansel Adams calendar. There in black & white was the Western outdoors as I saw and experienced it. As I progressed as a photographer, I realized how much I was influenced by him. I guess I intuitively grasped what he was thinking and what he was trying to do. In a way, much of what I began to do – thinking in black and white, finding the right subject, the right angle with the right light, pre-visualizing the result, shooting for extraordinary detail and wide tonality and then making the final image happen using the all the tools in my digital lab -- was a modern riff on the great man’s methods.
I don't have a platform on the top of my xTerra like Ansel did (I sometimes wish did and I do carry a ladder) but my landscape methodology is pretty simple: extensive scouting, repetitive visits, use of a tripod and remote trigger. exposures at different times of day and light conditions and anywhere from light to heavy post-processing in my digital lab. That being said, sometimes the camera comes out of the pack for a moment of opportunity and the magic of spontaneity happens.
Of course, I also shoot color. Some landscapes demand it and travel photography, in particular, lends itself to it. I have been fortunate to visit a few of the great cities of Europe as well the wilds of Baja California, Alaska and Antarctica. While traveling, I am on the move and there is little time to shoot and reshoot, light is often what’s available and the shutter has to be clicked now or never. Even with research and preparation, all I have most of the time is my eye and brief opportunity.
I also should mention my commitment to printed work. Discovering the art of the print in the digital age has been a revelation. It is half the reason for my photography. We are so deluged with photographs on our computers and phones, the impact of the images is often lost in their sheer number, inconsistent quality and the limits of our display technologies. We become "image-shocked" and often indifferent to what we see.
A well-crafted print, however, puts the "art" back in photography. The photographer makes all creative choices - exposure, contrast, color, paper, matting, and framing. There is no "Next" button, no controls or no custom view. It is what it is and demands that you look at it on its own terms just like any other fine art work. It has depth and gravitas hanging on the wall that a digital display can never recreate. Without printing, I feel like a picture taker; with it, I know I'm a photographer.
