James P. Jones || Photographer

I get up each morning to run errands around 6:40am. It is not a joy to do, mostly because I stay up far too late to have my circadian rhythms in sync with this hour. But, on the bright side (haha), I do get up before dawn this time of year.

Galen Rowell (mountain light studio) set a precedent and a style that is widely copied, and I too learned from reading his books and following his technical tips. He wasn't a super technical photographer but he used neutral density filters and fill flash to do what audio engineers call "compressing." In the audio world basically it comes from the belief that the loudest song on the radio will sound the best. So, you use electronic equipment to bring up audio levels when they are quiet on a track and lower the loudest parts do they don't fuzz out (all on the fly at the radio station). This makes for maximum impact. But it can become a drone because you remove some of the dynamic range.

The same is achieved in photography by reducing the light range in a photo. I use a neutral density filter to lower the light levels of everything above the horizon line and at the same time I am shooting on a Fujifilm S5 Pro which has the built in ability to capture extreme dynamic range (beyond basically all other cameras currently available including the newest best ones). You squish the dynamic range into something the camera can capture and suddenly, just like radio, everything "pops."

But, just like radio it can get boring. The problem is that 90% of the market likes the loudest brashest sound out there. Only the remaining 10% may care that their jazz and classical tunes should have a natural dynamic range from pianissimo to fortissimo. On the up side these people tend to be interested in art. On the downside they aren't a very big market. But, perhaps big enough.

This weekend was the first time I was really in the right place at the right time with the right knowledge to be able to take advantage of an exceptional photographic opportunity. It may even have been a once in a lifetime opportunity; who knows. I was in Maine for peak foliage staying near a marsh that happened to be the focal point of local birding because some rare birds had been noticed a couple of days previous. I don't have any photos of them as I didn't think to bring a long lens with me. That may have been my only real oversight, but frankly I didn't want to have to carry a long lens on vacation and I don't really regret it.

A wonderful time. The difference between a great photo and a snapshot is about 5 seconds of contemplation before pressing the shutter. Add a tripod, stopping the lens down to best aperture (each lens is different), and some basic concepts of lighting and you have the makings for a great photo. The rest is composition and I have a long way to go on that one. I do have one insight though; Cartier-Bresson would look at his negatives upside down. I used to think that meant no sky. But, I think he perhaps didn't distinguish between sky and structure. Rather it would just be positive and negative space and therefore these too could be balance. Food for thought.