Inspirations

So I like to say that I have had a camera in my hand since I could walk. That's not much of an exaggeration. A little maybe, but not much. I have also been a wilderness advocate for most of my life. My parents tell me that I saw a bear in the Smokies when I was 6 months old.

I first discovered Galen Rowell from magazines when I was in high school. This was way before the internet. His mountain landscapes captured in such vivid colors just pulled me in to whatever landscape he was shooting. What was that film? Usually Fuji Velvia or Provia, there's still some in my fridge. What was his camera? A Nikon f4, I have one. The flat Mississippi River farmlands of West Tennessee were so far removed from the exotic places like Nepal or even the Sierra Nevada. When I was in college I bought a book called Mountain Light. It was a softcover book of beautiful mountain photos from Rowell and he wrote a page or two about each one. In his narrative he not only described technical aspects of making the image, he also delved a bit into his thoughts on the subjects he photographed. He was an amazing climber. He holds the first one day ascent of both Denali and Kilimanjaro. He was born the same year as my father, 1940, and he died in 2002 in a small plane accident in California. His wife and the pilot were also killed. If you want to know more about him, I'll let you do your own research. I've opened the first door for you. Its worth looking up but here are some of my favorite photos of his. All of them are lesser quality than the prints. He shot film for print, he did not shoot for your monitor. He would have if he were still shooting but he left us too early.