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About The Photography
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About The Photography
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Home Yosemite Big Sur Big Sur Marathon 1989-1996 Big Sur Marathon 2004 Galen Rowell Personal Techniques Purchasing
About the Photography
All photographs were captured in natural light, on 35mm color transparencies, using Nikon cameras and lenses.
We do not alter nature in the digital darkroom or in the field. These images are real, true to the original transparencies, and we do not use colored filters for special effects. The sunsets and the Natural FireFall you see in this website were real.
For more information, and some tips on photography, see Personal Techniques.
Digital Scanning
All Big Sur area transparencies were placed on PhotoCD by Alpha CD Imaging of Menlo Park, California --- I believe this is the finest lab in the USA for digital scanning. Al and Dee Gaynor, the owners, have developed superior talent for creating PhotoCDs and high-resolution drum-scans that far exceed expectations. They were among the first in America to open a PhotoCD lab, and know how to match the characteristics of the original film type to the scanning process, so that the digital images are true to the originals.
Kodak graciously invited me to their PhotoCD lab in Rochester, NY, for several days, and assisted in archiving a large body of Yosemite transparencies while we discussed an ambitious project that was not yet technically feasible in a way that I felt was required. I'm happy to say that modern DVD technology may finally provide the means to fulfill a dream that combines the beauty of Yosemite, and some backcountry adventures there, with appropriate music and narrative, plus a personal "seminar" that will provide the simple keys to capturing your own magical moments of nature and family. We may also include some historical photos and background from the early days of Yosemite . Bookmark this website to check for a "Magical Yosemite" DVD in 2005.
Color Prints that won't fade
I'm finally satisfied that, with reasonable care, these color prints won't fade away or change color for generations. The Epson papers and pigment inks have been rated archival (over 100 years) by Wilhelm Imaging Research.
Acknowledgements and Thanks
Many thanks to the talented engineers and companies who invent, design, and create the cameras, lenses, film, software, photo printers, inks, paper, framing materials, and software; without these, there is no such thing as a "photographer", and no exhibits, and no websites.
Much appreciation, also, to those who work in the retail stores and delivery services, who provide us with the ability to see and buy and receive the photographer's tools.
Hundreds, probably thousands, of other people are crucial to every "artist". A photographer like myself does not really create anything --- it's already there. Thanks to the invisible "others", we can capture a magical moment, see it again, and share it.
I would never have become a photographer were it not for the inspiration and joy that the work of other photographers gave to me. In particular, Ansel Adams, whose work brought an "alive" feeling to nature photography, and whose work my father took me to see as a youth in Yosemite; and Galen Rowell, who was the first to prove that 35mm photography was a valid medium for the photographic art, and with whom I was privileged to have spent some time in the Sierras in the 1980s.
For over 15 years, from 1986 thru 2000, I had the pleasure of giving many multimedia slide shows, and photography talks, in Yosemite. The response of the viewers and attendees, and the sponsorship of the Sierra Club, was instrumental in encouraging this work in photography.
From 1989 thru 1996, I was privileged to be an invited guest-photographer for the Big Sur International Marathon (BSIM); a section of this website is a tribute to those who had the vision to create this remarkable event, and to the thousands of volunteers who make it possible every year. In 2004, I returned to photograph the BSIM.
Home Yosemite Big Sur Big Sur Marathon 1989-1996 Big Sur Marathon 2004 Galen Rowell Personal Techniques Purchasing