MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHER


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  • Featured Articles, Gear

    Quest for the Ultimate Compact Camera

    04.08.08 | Permalink | 13 Comments

    Sigma DP1, Ricoh GX100, Fujifilm F30

    For the most part compact cameras are built as point-and-shoot cameras for regular day to day snapshots; however, recently some camera manufacturers have been developing compact cameras that have features geared towards more serious photographers. The appeal of compact cameras is of course that they are compact and lightweight, and if they could be developed to include advanced features along with professional image quality, the result would be a very useful photographic tool indeed.

    Over the last several years I’ve been searching, and waiting, for the ultimate compact digital camera. As you may know, my primary camera is a 4×5 large format film camera. Almost all of my serious fine print photos and are made with this beast, but I also like to carry along a supplemental digital compact camera for quick snapshots, action shots, and sometimes macro shots. When I’m backpacking, all my 4×5 gear is packed up in my backpack, but the compact camera fits in a little case on my chest strap - easily accessible for quick shots while hiking.

    I am now using my third digital compact camera in as many years, and I will briefly review each one in this article. The sample photos have been processed in Photoshop - they are not direct from camera. Though I may have adjusted brightness/colors/contrast to a minimal degree, I have not done any sharpening or chromatic aberration fixes. The fullsize jpeg images have been optimized for the web, so there might be slight compression artifacts, but it should be negligable.

    I’ll also take this opportunity to state that I have little interest in shooting SLRs anymore, even though there are some pretty small ones on the market. First of all, they won’t work as a supplement to my 4×5 system; it’s just too much extra bulk and weight. Secondly, as a standalone system, the weight savings of a complete, quality SLR setup vs. the 4×5 setup is not very significant, yet the image quality difference is huge. If I ever go back to a solely digital setup, it will only be for a lightweight compact camera. In other words, if I’m ever going to sacrifice the awesome image quality of the 4×5 setup, then there had better be a proportional weight savings involved.

    On to the reviews!
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  • Featured Articles, Mountain Photographers

    Interview with Kevin Thurner

    04.06.08 | Permalink | 1 Comment

    Kevin Thurner

    When I first stumbled across Kevin Thurner’s website, I was completely amazed and inspired by his collection of photos from the North Cascades and beyond. I recently emailed Kevin some questions to learn more about his photography.

    Be sure to spend some time browsing through Kevin’s online gallery.

    You have an extensive portfolio of photos from the Washington Cascades. What is it about these mountains that draw you so?

    This goes right to the point I suppose, but is tougher to answer than you might expect. I’ve sometimes thought of my time in these mountains as a kind of relationship. It’s been a progression of sorts as most things are.

    Not being a native of the Pacific Northwest, I didn’t know much about the Cascades for quite some time. I gradually became aware of their alpine reputation in a very general way, mostly through news accounts of the Himalayan feats of various Northwest climbers. I remember at one point coming across a few small photos of the North Cascades in an outdoor magazine that tantalized me, but offered little more to go on. They remained in the back of my mind as a kind of mysteriously veiled mountain kingdom.

    In the early 80’s I hitchhiked through parts of Washington State more than once and glimpsed Mt Rainier for the first time. Then a few years later, I saw a copy of the Beckey Guides in a climbing store in Boulder, Colorado. The pictures in those books confirmed to me that these were mountains of an altogether different character than the ranges I’d explored. They even intimidated me a little and I began to think of them as mountains of a different caliber.

    My first year in the North Cascades was punctuated by many memorable mountain sojourns, but none as remarkable as the four days I spent over Labor Day weekend approaching and climbing Luna Pk. It was my first view of the Picket Range, and man was I hooked. It became clear to me on that trip that these awesome mountains were within my grasp. What I lacked in technical ability I could make up for with stamina, good route-finding and perseverance. These mountains exuded a different kind of wildness, and their northern, alpine character appealed to me immensely.

    My time in the North Cascades has often been tremendously satisfying; and now I have been around them long enough to have built up a rather strong affection. It is still very much a Mountain Kingdom to me.

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  • Featured Articles, Mountain Photographers

    Interview with Kenzo Okawa

    03.20.08 | Permalink | 2 Comments

    Kenzo Okawa

    Kenzo Okawa is a mountain photographer in China with an amazing portfolio of images from the Siguniangshan, or Four Girls Mountains. I discovered Kenzo’s work years ago on SummitPost.org, where he is a regular contributor. Kenzo was gracious enough to answer my questions via an email interview, as follows.

    Be sure to check out Kenzo’s photo collection at his online gallery and also at his SummitPost gallery.

    Judging from your photos, the Four Girls Mountains are incredibly beautiful and spectacular mountains. What kind of travel/trekking is required to get to the locations where you photograph?

    The altitude of Four Girls Mountains is not as high as Nepal’s Himalayas, and some mountaineers call them “An ordinary part of lesser Himalayas.” But the mountain appeal is not decided only by altitude. I think that Four Girls Mountains are not stunning mountains, but they are particularly beautiful mountains. A town lying at the foot of the mountain is Rilong town, Xiaojin County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China.

    It is around 31 degrees of north latitude, 103 degrees of east longitude. Three hours by range airplane from Shanghai to Chengdu of Sichuan Province. And 7 hours by bus from Chengdu(Chadianzi Bus Station) to Rilong Town.

    Because the altitude is not high, from the town it is easy to access the locations where I photograph. Usually it takes one day by walking or horseback.

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  • Featured Articles, On Mountain Photography

    Google Earth: A Tool for the Landscape Photographer

    02.26.08 | Permalink | 4 Comments

    I am primarily a wilderness landscape photographer. I enjoy backpacking for miles and miles into the wilderness, oftentimes where no trails exist and I have to find my own way with just my map, compass, and instincts. Whenever I plan a trip, I think about the vistas I might encounter, and of course the potential for photographing these vistas. If you’ve taken a peak at my photo gallery yet, you’ll see that I really like the grand scenics. I savor those huge expansive views and unique perspectives on rugged peaks, and I try to capture those scenes on film.

    I spend hours pouring over topo maps, thinking about where I want to hike and camp. Topo maps can’t be beat for planning hiking routes, but when it comes to previsualizing potential photo opportunities, Google Earth is an incredible tool.

    Wetterhorn Peak on Google

    Wetterhorn Peak
    Wetterhorn Peak, a remote 14er in the Uncompahgre Wilderness of Colorado, as seen on Google Earth, and in real life. This is one of those unique views that I had seen while I was flying around Wetterhorn in Google Earth, and thought it was a great perspective. So I went there during a two-night backpacking trip - hiked to the location on a high ridgeline, and hung out for several hours keeping an eye on the clouds and waiting for sunset light.

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  • Featured Articles, Mountain Stories

    Shaken in the Julian Alps

    I am going to kick off my new blog with the most terrifying story of my life so far. I’ve had accidents and close-calls before, but never have I been so sure of my impending death as I was on this day. Every time I tell this story it evokes powerful feelings in me. I don’t tell it often.

    krnica2.jpg

    On Monday July 12, 2004, I started out on a four day hike in the Julian Alps of Slovenia, during which I would be staying the night at various mountain huts - large huts high up in the mountains where food, beds, and blankets are provided.

    I hiked up through Krnica Valley, a long narrow forested valley with high mountain walls on both sides, until I came to the head of the valley, which ends abruptly in a towering cirque. At this point you’d think that there would be no way to get up these vertical walls without ropes, but the trail turns into a “via ferrata” (Italian for “iron way”). Basically it’s a marked path that winds its way up through the vertical cliffs via the path of least resistance. There are cables and pegs bolted into the cliffs to grab onto during the hairy sections.

    So off I went, scrambling and climbing up and around cliffs and traversing on narrow ledges, all the time following the little red and white circles painted on the rocks to mark the path. I had just come off above a vertical section onto a flatter section about halfway up the mountain face when I was shocked to hear an awful low-pitched rumbling sound. For an instant I was confused, but before I could even think, I heard the terrible sound of a massive rockfall coming down towards me from above. I couldn’t see anything above, since the closest cliffs blocked the view, but I could hear that the loud rumbling was coming down towards me fast. At this point the entire mountainside was shaking badly, but I had enough sense to run uphill toward the nearest cliff so that hopefully the boulders would fly over my head. As I was running towards the cliff, about three or four paces away from it, I could see and hear the first rocks zipping past my head — luckily none hit me. I made it to the base of the cliff, which was only about ten or fifteen feet tall, and huddled in the corner as rocks cascaded over my head and bounced off nearby boulders. At this point even the cliffs I was clinging onto were shaking violently, and combined with the deafening noise of crashing rocks, I was convinced that the entire mountainside was collapsing in a major rockslide. I am sure you can imagine how helpless and terrified I felt at this point. The only things I remember thinking about were first of all how completely pulverized I would soon be and therefore how completely helpless I was, and secondly I just thought, no, I’m not done yet! I don’t want this to happen!

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