I am a landscape photographer in the Southwest USA who works with medium-format technical camera systems. Growing up in Southern Utah, I love being out in nature. I've had the desire for a long time to capture special scenes I would encounter while hiking or visiting National Parks. Still, even though I was interested in photography for a long time, the results, even with a nice camera didn't justify the inconvenience of lugging the camera around for me. There was always a disconnect between the feeling in the moment vs what would show up in the photo. Even though the photos looked pleasing. Through my research learning about and learning to use the technical camera a passion for photography and printing was ignited in me. In my photography, I aim to convey the expansive view you experience in person when standing at a grand view or in a close quarters slot canyon.
I accomplish this by using lenses that give natural proportions to the landscape's features and a technical camera that allows me to take multiple photos by shifting the capture device (known as the digital back) around in the lens's field of view. I then combine the photos in editing software into one large image. The result is that the horizontal angle of view captured changes from approximately 50 degrees to around 68-74 degrees if I used, for example, a 47mm lens. Widening the field of view without using an extremely wide focal length lens maintains a natural feeling, unlike just using a wider lens. Lens focal length significantly affects how close or far features in an image appear and the proportions of the elements within. A high percentage of my photos utilize these techniques. These techniques are nothing new; photographers have been using technical cameras since the beginning of photography. But in the present time, with so much technology infused into the photography world, many photographers do not want to spend the time, might not know of the techniques involved, or may just have artistic styles that don't require the extra steps and work involved. I love the technical aspect of planning and setting up for a well-considered photograph taken with a technical camera. And the images, for me, have a special feel to them.
My approach to printing and selling my photographs
I have a modest background in photographing oil paintings by the talented oil painter Matt Pectol for his reproduction prints. This experience has given me a thorough understanding of color management and how to prepare images for printing. My editing is with a final print in mind and optimized for printing on archival rated Baryta cotton rag papers, my preferred substrate. I personally proof and print each limited-edition print I sell (this is somewhat flexible in case of a client request for sizes larger than I can print or substrates that I cannot handle personally).
I only print one final print of each chosen image for sale or display. There is also one small artist's proof that is no more than 24 inches on the long side, and one full-size artist's proof at the final size. Both artist proofs will be in my personal collection, but may be released for sale if I choose to do so at a later date.