Saturday afternoon and I could be outside taking pictures. But I’m inside re-reading Galen Rowell’s book Mountain Light. Photographer, traveller, climber and adventurer Galen Rowell produced outstanding photographs in the mountain landscapes of of Asia and the Americas.
In his writings he concentrated on the importance of seeing the changing light in making landscape photographs, and to get inside the local cultures to understand and show the nature of peoples lives rather than snap them as a passing tourist. To do this he wanted the best equipment and honed down his kit to what he considered the essentials.
The most important thing is to look and learn from his photographs (see the Mountain Light Gallery). However, given our apparent current obsession with new equipment and how cameras perform at 3200 iso it sobering to recall what Rowell used to make his pictures for this book. He shot Kodachrome. In the book he says that for a trip to Pakistan he packed 200 rolls of Kodachrome; 25 for scenics and 64 for “low light and action situations”. From 1990 onwards he moved over to the 50 iso Fuji Velvia. He often used a Nikon F3 but also made extensive use of a so called ‘amateur’ Nikon FTN. He compensated for the slow film speed by preferring to use wide aperture prime lenses whenever possible. He also carried a small light weight tripod for when it got really dark. His wife Barbara (also a very fine photographer) used a F3 with a 36-72 zoom and a 50mm 1.4.
Galen Rowell was also a supporter of the peoples and cultures in the areas he visited. In his memory the 50 for Tibet fund was established. The fund supports Tibetans to 'communicate issues of importance to their community to the wider world.
