Confessions of a Free-Lancer

to California. Finally came V-Day and it quickly developed that a great many Gls had learned about photography in service and were coming home convinced it would make a pleasant career. I wondered if my only chance to succeed in this field might depend on getting some kind-any kind -of a headstart on this great herd of newcomers, and I hoped my little library of black and white scenics would be my headstart as I took off on my own, abruptly and without too much consideration. I was already older than a man ought to be starting out from scratch in a profession, yet I knew I would never be satisfied if I didn't at least make the effort. Many of the newcomers have passed me up, but I have rocked along some way or another. Most important, I love it! The best advice I could give ambitious photographers who wish to pursue a free-lance career is to have a friend established in the business such as I had in Ray Atkeson. His files and mine didn't overlap much then and a high percentage of my early sales were from requests for Southwestern material addressed to him which he sent along, bless his unselfish old heart. His advice was invaluable also since he was never too busy to sit down and write long answers to my questions. In return I at least was able to act as kind of a crying towel for him, duly receiving with appropriate sympathy his pitiful letters when he was stuck off someplace in the Northwest where it was raining cats and dogs for days on end while I enjoyed the sterling advantages of the perpetual desert sunshine, no doubt.

A few good things happened to me accidentally which I pass on for what they may be worth. First, I consider my artistic experience of the utmost value. Much of photography calls for a trained eye and artistic judgment, which I learned in some measure as an artist-and which I seriously doubt if I would have learned as well otherwise. Not that I believe there is or should be a separation between art and photography. The long-haired school of artists has long claimed that photography is merely mechanical and not remotely related to art, but surely this is a prejudiced position. I believe personally that there is just as much art in photography as the individual worker is able to put into it, even in the stock scenic business where I am normally stuck with Nature as I find her. Computing an exposure and clicking a shutter are the only purely mechanical parts of taking a picture, actually. Selecting the best camera position, precise moment when lighting and variables are just right-and recognizing proper contrast in negative and print, as well as proper color balance in transparencies-calls for the trained eye and artistic judgment, not mechanical agility. Naturally plenty of photographic efforts are merely mechanical, not artistic-but the work of many a so-called artist isn't artistic either, so exceptions merely prove the rule.

Another good thing which happened was the fact that I spent those 50 weeks in the darkroom to two weeks shooting out West during the years which developed whatever technique I may have. Many a time, for lack of anything else to do, I worked a whole evening trying to get just one good print from one poor negative. I had the right kind to work from in this connection, too-overdeveloped ones, underdeveloped ones, fogged ones, streaked ones-and by the time I had conquered them all I could print anything. If I had been in a position to reshoot those lousy negs, such would have been my loss, not gain. One of the most important parts of a scenic photograph is its sky. Since my vacation trips were by necessity hurried,

BY THE PHOTOGRAPHER

OPPOSITE PAGE

"LATE SUMMER GOLD"-Gold, indeed, are late summer masses of sunflowers which gaily bedeck roadside and field under the San Francisco Peaks along U.S. 89, north of Flagstaff, not far from the turnoff to Sunset Crater. The light was too flat and it was so early in the morning the light was a little over-yellow-but such a brilliant scene with its backdrop of peaks and pretty clouds could not be passed by. Since there was no wind I could use an exposure as long as ½ second, and by tilting the front of the 4x5 view camera and stopping down to f.25 I was able to get sharp focus from the nearest flower out to infinity. Lens used was a 5" Ektar, film Ektachrome.

"DESERT IN BLOOM"-When moisture and temperature conditions are right, the desert becomes a mass of bloom as wild flowers burst forth in early springtime. Usually only local areas receive just the right weather treatment to produce flowers in great carpets, although once every ten years or so displays are truly sensational over great arças. When this shot was made conditions were tops in southern California's Coachella Valley, with red-violet sand verbena and goldenyellow geraea predominating in the colorful carpet. Midmorning light was normal and the exposure was 1/10 second at f.16, Ektachrome film through 54" Zeiss Tessar lens in 4x5 Brand 17 view camera.

"ROOSEVELT LAKE"-Pioneer reclamation project in the South west piled up Salt River water behind Roosevelt Dam to form beautiful Roosevelt Lake far back in the desert mountain ranges east of Phoenix. I had crossed the dam and was headed north toward the Mogollon Rim when I came upon these yucca blossoms high on a cliff above the water. It was midday, with some heat haze robbing the distant peaks of detail, but adding violet color to the scene of late spring. The meter indicated normal light conditions over the water but I stopped down½ stop more than the reading indicated to put deeper tones in the rather glaring, flatly lighted scene. The exposure was 1/10 second at f.19, Ektachrome film through 5" Ektar lens in 4x5 view camera, no filter.

"CANYON ORCHARD"-Luscious red apples were ripe in early fall in a little orchard at Call of the Canyon Lodge in spectacular Oak Creek Canyon as I drove by early one sunny morning. I decided on a very low camera position since I thought the nearby branches of the apple tree contrasted the sky and distant cliff much better than other nearby trees. Since there was no wind I counted on a long exposure through a very small lens stop bringing both closeup fruit and leaves into as sharp a focus as infinity. The actual focus was on the farthest apples, leaving infinity and nearest apples quite out of focus when the lens was open, but the full second exposure at f.32 brought them all in acceptably. A 5" Ektar lens in 4x5 view camera on a tripod was used with Éktachrome.

"NAVAJO PONIES"-Ranging their arid but limitless pasture beneath a spectacular summer sky were these Navajo ponies on the reservation east of Tonalea, or Red Lake. They were not wary and let me approach as near as I needed to get the picture, but kept moving along as they grazed so that I had followed them until my car was out of sight before I finally snapped on the composition which appealed to me. The clouds were rather distant and I had an 8" element of a Zeiss Protar lens on the camera which brought up the clouds nearly twice as large as with a 5" press lens, but complicated the procedure by requiring that the composition be checked on the ground glass. Also this is such a slow lens that a shutter speed no faster than 1/10 second could be used. Finally I shot at f.22, it being midafternoon of a brilliant day, the transparency being a little dense but showing wonderful sky detail. 4x5 Brand 17 view camera with Ektachrome film, no filter.

"FISH CREEK HILL"-One of the never-to-be-forgotten thrills of the Apache Trail is Fish Creek Hill, where the winding road plunges from wild heights down past the Walls of Bronze to a green oasis at Fish Creek. Here the camera points back up the hill, which inducesPLEASE TURN TO PAGE TWENTY-THREE

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9 out of 10 radiators to boil after May 1, past a blooming ocotillo. This shot was made after May 1, and my radiator boiled on the way up, and it was quite late for ocotillo to be blooming, but I thought the results justified the experience, especially since the ocotillo was there. The wind kept blowing the slender branches back and forth though, and despairing of ever getting them to stop long enough to shoot at 1/5 second, I settled for 1/10 at f.12.7 even though focus could not be too sharp at that aperture on the nearby branches. The camera was a 4x5 view on tripod, Ektachrome through 5" Ektar lens.

"JEROME"-This picturesque old mining town, well publicized since part of it slid down the mountain and now claiming to be the country's newest "ghost town," is always a colorful subject for the lensman. This view is a popular one, made beside the road off Mingus Mountain and shows the upper end of the town looking across the Verde Valley to the Oak Creek Canyon cliffs and San Francisco Peaks on the horizon. Such clear views probably will be more common now that the valley smelter has closed down. Light was normal on a late winter morning, the exposure being 1/10 second at f.16 on Ektachrome, 4x5 view camera and 54" Zeiss Tessar lens.

"ROOSEVELT DAM"-This original dam in the Salt River chain is named for Teddy, not the more recent president, F.D.R. This shot is from the famous Apache Trail, of course, a view I have admired since my first trip up this spectacular road due to the fact it is a high enough vantage point that beautiful Roosevelt Lake and distant purple mountains show beyond the masonry dam. But I had to wait until I had an extra-wide-angle lens before I could shoot it. The lens is a 3½" Wollensak, used with Ektachrome film in a 4x5 view camera. Midmorning light was normal in late spring, the exposure being 1/10 second at f.16.

"YARNELL HILL"-A vast panorama of Arizona desert stretches out from the summit of famous Yarnell Hill, seen here from the view point parking area built for the benefit of travelers on U.S. 89 between Prescott and Wickenburg. It was midmorning on a beautiful spring day with the meter indicating more brilliant light than normal even though showers were falling already in the mountains behind me. The exposure was 1/25 second at f.12.7 on Ektachrome, 4x5 Brand 17 view camera and 5" Ektar lens, no filter.

"SALT RIVER CANYON" Here is an early morning shot of Salt River Canyon from the north side showing the silver span which carries Highway U.S. 60 across the Salt River on one of Arizona's most picturesque and colorful transcontinental routes. Made a few feet below the level of the highway to get a natural foreground, it was a perfectly normal lighting situation. 1/10 second at f.16 was used, with Ektachrome film in 4x5 view camera and 5" Ektar lens.

"DUNES AT TONALEA"-Dunes of red sand, rippled by prevailing winds, are beside the road to Monument Valley from the west at Tonalea (Red Lake) Trading Post, in the Indian country. It was so near sunset when this view was made that before I could change film holders to try another shot all the foreground was in shadow. Made with the 8" element of the Zeiss Protar lens in a 4x5 view camera, the exposure was one full second at f.25, about four times as much time as would have been required in a normal midday situation. The tilting front of the view camera and the small lens aperture combined to keep both bottom and top of the scene in sharp focus.

OPPOSITE PAGE "DESERT SUNSET"-This yucca, with tall seed stalk, and staghorn cholla cactus are silhouetted against a fiery desert sunset near Wickenburg. In making sunset photographs the light meter should be pointed directly at the sky, contradicting the very good rule that normally meters should be pointed at the foreground to eliminate a false sky light reading. Then just do what the meter says-and hope! This one was actually only a very small sunset, so I used the 11/½" element of the Zeiss Protar breakdown lens, and spread the gaudy color all over my film. I was about 25 feet away from the cactus, which appears close up, of course, with this long focal length lens. Exposure was one full second between f.32 and f.45 on Ektachrome in 4x5 view camera.

If I couldn't always wait for maximum sky effects if other conditions indicated a picture. Back home in the Midwest the scenery was uninspiring, but many a day puffy cumulus clouds dotted the sky which were too pretty to pass up photographically. I gathered quite a collection of cloud negs, all directions of lighting and degrees of contrast included. I can't even remember when I began experimenting with double printing-a home-town sky on a desert foreground which needed the punch a typical thunderhead could give it. Now don't throw up your hands and call this cheating! It is the prerogative of the camera artist who strives to put a reproduction of Nature in her grandest form on paper. It is done appropriately whenever it improves the composition rather than distracting attention from an object on the ground which deserves to be the center of interest-and whenever the critical viewer cannot detect that it has been done.

To accomplish the latter means first of all that the clouds must be the kind Nature would logically put there, and in the position Nature would put them regarding horizon line, etc. Whatever direction sunlight fell from on the original scene must be duplicated by the lighting on the clouds. Of course the sky neg can be reversed so that clouds lighted low from the left, for instance, can also be used in a low, right situation. Here are a few hints, but practice rather than direction is the most necessary ingredient. Obviously two negatives which will print on the same contrast paper must be selected. Test strips should be made of both negs to find correct printing time in relation to an arbitrary development time. When printing the scene hold back the sky with a card between the enlarging lens and paper exactly as in dodging to lighten a shadow, except that the top of the sky should be given no exposure whatever. Scenes with objects sticking up in the sky are the hardest to do anything with but, again, with practice one can learn to work around a lot of things. Some kind of a marker must be put on the horizon line so that, after the foreground negative has been removed and the sky neg projected, it can be determined positively where the original sky began to blend out; then blend in the substitute sky over the identical area. Full printing time is given the clouds only in the portion where the original neg was held back completely.

In shooting cloud negatives for double printing try giving one whole stop less exposure than for a normal sunlighted scene. I use panchromatic film and a medium yellow filter. It's a definite advantage here to use cut film or film packs so that more than one exposure can be made, then different development time given each sheet to provide different contrasts and thus increase the chances of matching contrast with various scenic negatives. Double printing need not be restricted to the use of pretty cloud formations. I have also made silhouette studies of overhanging branches of pine, palm and eucalyptus against blank skies. Litho positives made by contact are very useful to frame color transparencies when there are large unbroken sky areas, but before the positives are so used litho negs can be made from them which are handier to double print with than the original negs. Since the litho negs are dead black and perfectly clear, just one straight printing exposure is made on top of another without dodging. Then develop.

In addition to the artistic efforts already described the free-lancer needs to be somewhat of a retoucher. Negative retouching as practiced by portrait men seldom concerns scenic workers but 8x10 glossy prints-standard for reproduction-usually need some work on them, particularly if tion up against it may look altogether beautiful to the eye but both be reduced to practically the same tones of gray in the b&w photo-a valueless shot without any of the contrast in tones so necessary for a striking picture. To begin with, the b&w photographer had to choose from a welter of films available, all with different emulsion speeds and color sensitivity. If he has a film in his camera which he realizes will give similar shades of gray to both this particular sky and rock formation he must decide whether he wants to lighten the sky and darken the rock, or darken the sky and lighten the rock-then know which filter will accomplish his desire, and what additional exposure the filter requires. By the time he figures all these things out probably the sun has gone down and he doesn't get the shot at all. Summing up, changing what's natural to tones of gray is unnatural.

On the other side of the ledger it would be quite impossible to get into color processing ahead of b&w, due to the vastly more complicated procedure. Perhaps, though, the reason to let well enough alone is that b&w would be such a letdown after natural color that the only way to truly appreciate b&w is to learn it first.

It might be well to mention here how the f-stops on a camera lens lose effectiveness when the bellows is racked out for close-up studies of cactus flowers, for instance. In The three photographs on these pages show the effective use of double printing.

Print 1 (opposite page) shows the famous profile of Superstition Mountains, but alas!

only portions of negatives, or small negatives, are used to make the prints. On a two-diameter enlargement (4x5 to 8x10) dust specks and pin holes are normally small enough that they do not show in a halftone reproduction so they can be ignored, but all blemishes of any size at all need to be touched off if the most sympathetic consideration of editors is expected.

I do my spotting with a #1 good quality sable hair brush. Most of these brushes are just a little too pointed when new and an artist's trick is to moisten and shape them, then touch a match to the end to remove just the tiniest portion off the point. This can definitely be overdone! India ink watered down to the gray tones required will take care of the white spots. Black or dark spots must be touched with tempera white, or the white mixed with a little India ink to the desired gray. If the gray dries too light the spot can then be darkened to the right tone with either the wash ink or pencil. Ferrotype tins cleaned by the old paraffin shavings and solvent formula will produce glossy prints almost impossible to spot without first killing the gloss by washing with alcohol or what not. A tip-use ordinary automobile Simonize wax and end the trouble for keeps.

I learned black and white photography before color films were available. Most new workers learn black and white first because of the terrific expense of color as compared to black and white. But I continue to wonder if this doesn't really put the cart before the horse. Looking through a finder or ground glass, the photographer sees his color picture exactly as it will appear-barring failure of film, camera or computation of exposure. Said computation is not complicated by necessity to use a filter. Only one film emulsion speed need be contended with.

On the other hand he doesn't see his black and white picture at all. A clean blue sky and a reddish rock forma-there is no established procedure. Most methods involve altering the dyes of the finished transparencies since filters are useless when one doesn't know what trouble to correct.

When one of the latent negative images of color film deteriorates before processing, the corresponding positive dye image is darkened just that much. To make the balance normal the reduction of that one dye is definitely indicated. Formulas for selective reduction of Kodachrome and Ansco Color dyes have been published by the manufacturers, and Eastman has released tentative formulas to reduce Ektachrome.

If a transparency is weak on one color sometimes local application of a dye or brief over-all wash in a dye solution will correct it. But here the factory boys become excited technically, claiming these dyes cannot have the same light reflecting and absorbing characteristics as the dyes in the transparencies, such treatment therefore rendering transparencies useless for reproduction. The fact is, however, that a great many films so treated have been reproduced.

Obviously though, color retouching is another thing which can be overdone since, like double printing, it is appropriately done only if nobody can tell it. The object must be to bring a defective transparency to a normal color balance, or improve on a local condition of color within the possibilities of Nature. For instance, if a predominantly blue scene is treated in the cyan reducer the color balance will often change to a much more pleasing and normal appearance even though the film had perfectly captured the actual colors before the camera. All my films are 4x5s, and I now use Ektachrome exclusively. Slides and movie films which are lacquered after processing to protect against abrasion cannot be treated as above unless the lacquer can first be removed.

A file bulging with presentable material will not earn a free-lancer a dime unless he can find customers. Newspapers, magazines, manufacturers of calendars and postcards, publicity organizations, advertising agencies, printers and publishers-all are logical prospects, but how to reach them?

Dealing through a photographer's agent is an especially attractive method for the agent. If he represents a great number of photographers he has a vast and diverse file at his disposal and can satisfy a big proportion of the needs of his clients. He pockets a fat 30% to 40% (usually the latter) of each sale as commission. But few photographers realize much since normally only a small fraction of the agent's sales is the work of any one contributing photographer. If an agent represents only a limited number of photographers this would seem to give each one a better break, but actually this agent has a less complete file of material to show, his sales are fewer accordingly, and the individual photographer gains little if anything. While there are notable exceptions many free-lancers, including myself, feel they are better off dealing direct with their customers.

Several photographic magazines periodically publish market guides which list many of the buyers of various types of photography, both color and b&w. For the most part accurate and helpful, they usually detail acceptable procedure in making free-lance submissions and include scale of prices paid. The latter varies terrifically with different customers and uses. A Chamber of Commerce may pay $1.50 for a glossy b&w print, while a big calendar outfit will offer up to $400 or $500 for a truly exceptional color transparency.

Study of such a market guide, as well as actual copies of publications in the field in which one is interested, will soon suggest best possibilities for sales.

Many market guide listings say "query first"-which simply means the editor requests a letter describing the material available before any pictures are sent. The uninitiated cannot realize the huge volume of unsolicited material which is addressed to the editors of national publications. Many must hire not merely one or two people, but whole staffs who do nothing but open and examine-and usually return to the owner-such unsolicited contributions. The editor himself is seldom reached by this method. On the other hand, a letter of inquiry will often bring a response directly from the editor, and if he should request the work be sent for his examination then a letter with the submission beginning "In response to your request of such-andsuch date-" will automatically put your offering on the editor's desk for his personal attention. Then, who knowsperhaps you're on your way!

Free-lance careers usually start slowly, however. Many OPPOSITE PAGE-"MR. AND MRS. HONKER" BY WILLIS PETERSON. When the female becomes suspicious of a movement while sitting on her eggs, she calls to her mate. But he has probably noticed it. Instantly he goes to her side to help protect their nest. When frightened the female hugs her feathers tightly against her body and crouches down on the nest to avoid detection, until she appears to be about a third of normal size. The photographs on the following page show day-old goslings examining their nest and then, when they are about four days old, taking their first swim, carefully guided by Mama and Papa.

The author and photographer, Willis Peterson, lines up his "big Bertha" on a far-off object. The camera, made up of 34 x 4% Speed Graphic box and a Bausch & Lomb 20", f5.6 telephoto, is coupled with the top tube. The tube is a range finder and view finder combined, designed and built by the author for instant focus. In shooting wildlife, one shot is usually "it," so it is imperative to have equipment that can be speedily operated.

Hunting Canadian Geese with a Camera

The Common Canada Goose, one of five varieties of Canadian Geese, goes under a number of colloquial aliases, such as The Wild Goose, Big Grey Goose, Bay Goose, Cravat Goose, and Canada Honker.

Though there are exceptions, their common nesting grounds encompass the tree limits of the Lower Yukon Valley, to Northwestern Mackenzie, south to California, eastward through Nevada, Utah, and touch Northern Arizona. Then the perimeter swings northward again, to Colorado, through the Dakotas and into Canada.

But Canadian Geese don't nest in Arizona, bird lovers have told us, looking askance at such credulity. Well, we didn't think so either until we found them right under our noses near Phoenix, in the Salt River Valley, and along the Colorado River in isolated stretches.

It all came about when we were discussing migratory waterfowl with Forrest Stroup, an amateur ornithologist widely known in Phoenix. Interested in birdlife since childhood, he recalled observing a few wild geese during the summer months near Tempe, on the Salt River, when a boy.

This would seem to indicate the geese were nesting in brush-covered marshes along the river where it used to flow years ago.

It isn't as strange as it may seem. Obviously, many are wounded during hunting season. Being adaptable birds, they live normal lives after recovery, even if they can not fly. Since their devotion to each other is so remarkably strong, the desire to stay with the downed mate may cause the spouse to deviate from his migratory flight.

This is especially true when several birds are thus afflicted. If the area has water and plenty of cover, it is probable that a new nesting site may be started. This would account for the birds we have seen on the Colorado River long after the flocks had gone north.

When these geese have offspring, the children, because of their homing instinct, will be destined to return to the same birthplace, barring accidents.

Capitalizing on these personality traits of the wild geese, federal wildlife agencies, and state game departments have trapped and "transplanted" the waterfowl to new