People in The Landscape

 Photographer on The Dunes, 1997

This photograph (the web site‘s signature image), was taken in the sand dunesarea of Death Valley, not far from Stove Pipe Wells.  It was late afternoon,facing west, which started to put the foreground dunes into shadow.  Thesky was featureless but the haze created a layered effect to the distant mountains.

Walking (more accurately struggling), to the top of a dune I saw a large-formatphotographer setting up his tripod on top of another dune about a half mileaway. In my mind‘s eye I saw what I must look like to him, and created thispicture.

Whenever I look at it I am reminded of the joy of landscape photography andof working in the desert Southwest.

Taken on Provia 100 witha Rollei 6008 and Schneider Tele-Xenar180mm f/2.8 lens.

 Antelope Canyon, 1997

One of the icons of contemporary landscape photography is AntelopeCanyon near Page Arizona.  A unique geological formation, accessto the canyons are now restricted by the Navaho (who‘s land it‘s on), in largemeasure due to a flash flood in 1997 which killed more than a dozen touristsand photographers.

Nevertheless, this is a remarkable location for photography.  It is notan easy place to work though.  Because access is in groups you find yourselftripping over other photographer‘s tripods in an effort to find just the rightangle for a shot.

The other major issue when shooting in Antelope is sand. The slot canyon isvery narrow, and at the top is a field of fine sand which is constantly beingblown downward.  It‘s like a light drizzle of sand.  The canyon, whichis 80-100 feet deep is actually twice that deep again in sand.  Only whenthere is an occasional flash-flood is some of the sand washed away. Otherwise,it would become filled to the top and disappear.

Many images from Antelope fail to provide a sense of scale.  This photograph,with its ghostly people — due to a several second exposure — capturessome of the magic of this very special place.  To see additional photographsand learn more about Antelope Canyon, clickhere.

Taken with a Rollei 6008 and Schneider40mm Super-Angulon f/3.5 lens on Provia100 .

TheGleaners — Ontario 1996

This photograph was taken on a spring morning just an hour north ofdowntown Toronto.  It shows that sometimes strong images can be found closeto home, (though getting up at 5am helps).

Though probably 90% of all my photographs are taken tripod-mounted, this washand-held using the hood of the car with elbows braced.  I pulled the carover quickly, but as I expected, as soon as I took this shot the workers turnedaround, saw me, and the composition was lost.

See the Rural Ontario pages for more imagesfrom this area.

Taken on Provia 100 witha Mamiya 645 and 300mm lens.

Sunday Painters, California 1995

People paint landscapes as well as photograph them, and sometimes the paintersbecome the subject matter themselves.  Taken along Highway 1 south of Gualala,California.

See the California Coastlinepages for more images from this area.

Taken with a PlaubelMakina 670 with 80mm f/2.8 Nikkor Lens

Island in The Sky, Canyonlands N.P., Utah ‹ 2000

During a rainy late-January afternoon shooting in the Island in The Skyarea of Canyonlands National Park I had framed this composition whenI noticed that fellow landscape photographer Alain Briot had walked outonto a ledge to scout the view. My first impulse was to call to him and askthat he clear the shot, but that I decided that some human scale was what wasneeded for this composition. Additional photographs and commentary from thistrip can be found here.

Photographed with a Hasselblad XPan and 40mm lens on Provia 100F

Swimmer — Barbados, 1999

A few days after receiving my HasselbladXPan when first available in early 1999 I went on a family vacation to Barbados.Walking along the beach our first morning there this disembodied head, lookingso much like a displaced buoy, created a serendipitous composition. The freighteron the horizon completed the scene. 

This is an image that has to be seen enlarged!  I still smile every timeI see it.

Taken with a Hasselblad XPan and 90mm lens on Provia 100.

Photographer at Mono Lake, 1999

A sunrise shoot at Mono Lakewith two other photographers. The composition lacked a center of interest, butwhen Bill walked into it I knew that he was just what was needed to completethe composition. Cover the figure with your finger tip and see what happens.

Taken with a Rollei 6008 and 40mm Schneider Super Angulon lens. A Lee coral-tintedsplit neutral density filter was used to control the extreme contrast betweenthe earth and sky.

Redwall Cavern, Grand Canyon ‹ May, 2000

Redwall Canyon, at mile 33 of the Colorado River where it runs throughthe Grand Canyon, is a huge amphitheater carved out of the canyon wall by massivefloods of the river over countless millennium. Many hundreds of people couldfit in this cave at one time.

It‘s worth viewing the enlarged 10" version so you can clearly see people‘ssilhouettes in the lower left hand corner. They certainly add a sense of scale.You can see more pictures from a May, 2000 rafting trip through the Grand Canyonhere.

Photographed with a Hasselblad XPan and 30mm lens on Fuji Provia 100F

Maui Sunset #1 ‹ 2000

The south coast of the island of Maui, in Hawaiiis much less commercial than the more popular area near Lahaina. Justsouth of a strip of resort hotels is an area called Makena. This is likelywhat Maui was like before the influx of tourists and commercialism. 

I was photographing sunset one evening and asked my wife to pose on a fallentree by the surf. This photograph is an homage to the countless cheesy Hawaiianpostcards showing a woman silhouetted against a glowing sunset sky.  Howcould I resist?

Photographed with a Hasselblad XPan and 90mm lens on Fuji Sensia II