| I have been photographing the landscape in black & white for over 20
years. I primarily use a 4x5 view camera, which provides the negative quality that I
believe is essential for the high quality landscape images I print. The large negative
provides a smooth tonality and fine grain that does not compete with the subjects in the
image. I also find that the view camera requires more contemplation and devotion to
composition than smaller format cameras do. The groundglass allows me to see the image in
a two-dimensional format as it will also be on the printed paper. However, the image
appears upside down and backward, which also allows me to observe the edges of the image
more clearly, without the distraction of the subject dominating the image. The viewfinder
of an SLR tends to focus the user on the central subject, and possibly miss the patterns,
forms and shapes of the image, which are more easily seen in the groundglass of the view
camera. I have had several one-man shows in fine art galleries in the Orange County
and Los Angeles areas, and have been part of group shows as well. My images are an
extension of my desire to communicate to others the beauty I see in the natural world, and
my love for nature, unspoiled by our modern civilization. This unspoiled landscape is
rapidly disappearing, and I think that we should be reminded how incredible the world is,
and my images are my part in informing and communicating this to others. In a selfish
vein, my images are my way of remembering the great feelings I had when I took the
picture, to be out in the morning cold air, or in a rain with lush green vegetation all
around me. The exhilaration I felt when I took the pictures is what I try to capture in my
photographs. If others can have the same sense of my excitement when they see my images,
then all the better. I do not make excuses for not following the current trend to
photograph the misery and destruction of the natural world and the human condition in many
parts of the world today, to show how bad things are, but rather to show how wonderful the
world still is now, and that we should do all we can to preserve and renew it. Call me a
"tree-hugger" if you will, I take that title with honor.
Below is a photograph of my family taken below Bridalveil
Falls in Yosemite National Park in 2003. From left to right are my son-
Doug, wife- Hanneke, daughter-Heather and me. |
United We Stand
