I began making photographs seriously in 1974. Before then, I had used a cheap Kodak Instamatic to document my backpacking trips in Glacier National Park, where I worked in the summer. I was in college and longed for a 35mm camera so I could take better photos. When I found a used Pentax Spotmatic for sale in the photo department of a local drug store, I started saving for it. With my twentieth birthday coming soon, I asked my dad if he would split the price of $150 with me. He said yes, and my career began. I used this Pentax for several years and eventually replaced it with a more professional Nikon.
In 1982, while working at The Ansel Adams Gallery and being influenced by Ansel’s work, I purchased a Wista Technical 45SP 4x5 Metal Field Camera. Using this camera opened the door to greater image quality and a slower, more disciplined style of photography. In addition to the more deliberate process of setting up large-format gear, the cost of film and processing was considerable for a young artist. It helped me consider very carefully whether to take an image or not. For the next twenty-two years, I used my view camera. I have used Kodak Ektachrome, Polaroid ProChrome 100D, and Fujichrome Velvia QuickLoad 4x5 film over the years, and all three film types are represented in this book.
In 2004 I began to hear about how digital capture was improving significantly, so I tried out the Canon 1Ds. By 2005 when Canon released the EOS-1Ds Mark II, I decided to use digital full time. So many factors of this switch made my life easier. I no longer needed to scan my files before working with them on my computer, which saved me time and expense. Seeing the results of my efforts instantly on the back of the camera became an integral part of my creative process. This feedback allowed me to experiment and push myself beyond the few compositions I might have tried with a large format camera.
I currently use a Sony a7R IV with Sony 16–35mm and 100–400mm G Master lenses. I also use Canon 24–105mm, 90mm tilt-shift, and 50mm macro lenses with a Metabones adaptor.
Despite the expediency of using digital, I wonder how its use affects photographers who know nothing about using film, and who have no experience with not seeing results until the film is developed. I cultivated a style and technique with film, using a couple of prime lenses. There was no zooming in and out; I had to use my feet and a couple of focal lengths. And I had to visualize my results. I think my experience with analog capture helps me wade through all the choices provided by digital gear. I must admit I love having all these choices, but I’m glad I learned to compose a photograph with limited options. If you ever feel stuck and overwhelmed with the opportunities in front of you, consider going out with one fixed focal length through which to see the world.
Over the four decades that I’ve been a photographer, many new technologies have improved our options for capture and output. I have tried to evolve with the times and relish these opportunities. With a strong influence from Ansel, I have been focused on making the best prints possible. Color printing had many limitations back when I started, with less control than black and white in general, and particularly in terms of contrast. I look back and remember when I first started making Cibachrome prints in a friend’s bathroom that also served as a darkroom. For a few years, I printed in Ansel’s Yosemite darkroom. When I no longer had access to a darkroom, I found photo labs that specialized in working with photographers who were exhibiting in galleries and museums. They used contrast masks that helped to control Cibachrome’s narrow tonal range.
In the very early days of digital printing, I connected with Bill Nordstrom and EverColor to make pigment prints for exhibits at The Ansel Adams Gallery and The Alinder Gallery, in conjunction with the release of my book Yosemite: The Promise of Wildness. The year was 1994. EverColor offered both pigment and chromogenic prints of the highest quality. They made both my film scans and prints, as few individuals had computers powerful enough to run Photoshop and the high-megapixel files generated when 4x5 film was scanned. The raw drum scans of my 4x5s were around 300MBs. Beginning with EverColor, my prints were made using the LightJet printer and Fujicolor Crystal Archive papers, which were offered by many labs at that time. The results were excellent.
The next phase for me as a printmaker came when I purchased Epson’s Stylus Pro 7600 inkjet printer in 2003. Around this same time, my Mac computer was powerful enough for me to work on the large scanned files in Photoshop. I was finally gaining full control of printing my images. The Epson printer and its UltraChrome pigment inks made beautiful prints, but at first, color management was an issue. Fortunately, my earliest digital mentor Bill Atkinson had made his own color profiles, which he generously shared with me and other photographers. Bill’s profiles allowed us to create prints that looked like what we saw on our monitors. I also learned a great deal from Lewis Kemper, as well as from John Weller and John O’Connor, who both worked for me, and all of whom knew Photoshop far better than me.
Another bit of good fortune was my relationship with West Coast Imaging, which was also located in Oakhurst, California. Rich Seiling and Terrance Reimer were a constant source of knowledge. Most of the scans for the film captures in this book were made by WCI’s master scanner Jeff Grandy. In 2007, through my association with Canon as an Explorer of Light, I started using their large format imagePROGRAF printers and pigment ink sets, and I continue to do so currently.
The details of my technical evolution are probably not all that exciting to know. Still, I do think this information is instructive as to how we as artists can learn new approaches, and grow creatively from the foundations of our technique. Fortunately, the use of film still has its practitioners even while digital dominates the photo world. Using a view camera and transparency film is a significant part of my roots. But I don’t miss it.
I look forward to what the future holds. Maybe a 150MP sensor for my iPhone?