Capturing the Three-dimensional World

Part one of a series

AHM's free-lance photographers have been documenting the life, times, and stunning scenery of Arizona for quite a few years now. In July, 1937, when the first color photo appeared in the then still fledgling magazine, a tradition of excellence in color photography and reproduction had been born. By December, 1946, when Arizona Highways became the first magazine in history to produce an entire issue in color, our photographers were already recognized as some of the best in the field of landscape photography. In the more than four decades since that first splash of color in AHM, there have been vast changes in the technology and techniques of color photography and reproduction. In contrast to all of these changes, two things have remained constant: the quality of our photographers' work, and their distinctive way of seeing and communicating Arizona's riches. These artists use their talents in a variety of photographic areas, but we have chosen to highlight only one facet of each of these photographers' amazing capabilities. The following collection ranges from wilderness to studio still life; wildflowers to people. But the characteristic that is found in all of these artists' works and is the key to what makes them great photographers, is the constant discovery of the unique. Whether it is Josef Muench, “composing the picture in the mind,” or Jerry Jacka, holding an artist's work and contemplating, “What did he feel, what did he see when he made this?” - all of these experts are somehow able to capture the essence of their subjects. How these artists capture the three-dimensional world, and bring it back for us full of life, is the theme of the portfolio which follows. These are Arizona Highways Photographers. A breed apart. In photography, you try to be a perfectionist. Whenever you tackle something, you should try to make the very best of it.

Josef MuenchFlowers/Landscape "Composition begins in the mind."

In the case of flowers, whether it's one flower you want to capture or a Persian carpet full with mountains in the background, it doesn't matter, to get the best photo you have to first compose the picture in your mind. Then, once you start looking through the viewfinder... if the subject I select is a single flower, I move in on it because I want to keep the picture simple and without clutter. And if it's a landscape, then I work the lines that lead into the picture, from foreground to middle ground to background.

At the same time as you are isolating your scene, and composing it within the framework of the viewfinder, you judge the shadows. Light and shadow are the most important things in photography, especially side lighting in early morning or late afternoon (at midday color is washed out) which gives you your best photos, producing a real three-dimensional effect. If the scene you've composed at this point gives you an emotional thrill, you have a worthwhile photograph.

I work with a 4 x 5 camera, a large format, but it doesn't really matter what size you use. The principle is the same - as long as you, the one behind the camera, know how to handle it and how to be selective with subject matter.What I try to do with my photography is, very simply, tell a story. It might be an event like a balloon race or a rodeo. It could be the documentation of a person's life-style, a cowboy's spartan existence or a back country damkeeper's overwhelm-ing desire to remain separated from population centers in order to enjoy the beauty and solitude that surrounds him.

Jeff Kida-Photojournalism

No matter what it is though, it almost always involves people and their activities. For me, people are the bottom line. I don't know, maybe I'm more curious than most, but I really like talking to folks about what they do and how they live. And when I'm working I try and photograph the kinds of things that will give the reader a feeling for what I saw and experienced. Sometimes a person doesn't even have to be in the photograph to make it work, at other times it could be expression, a gesture or a combination of things in some-one's environment.

In doing this, I try to convey, in a fairly straightforward manner, information and under-standing about people and things around me.

Peter Bloomer-Scenic Landscape "Creating a visual delight."

I really don't see scenic photography as a philosophical matter. Basically, my goal is to achieve something which is going to give a visual delight to the viewer. There's no pleasing everybody, so basically you start out trying to please yourself and hope that others are going to enjoy it, too. Subtlety is the first thing that comes to mind - subtle coloration, quiet composition, things that once you've got them enlarged and set them on the wall in front of you, they're basically calming, they're quiet, easy to live with. I have an affinity for cool weather, so I live in Flagstaffwhere there is one major mountain. I do a lot of photography of that mountain. If I lived in Colorado, I'd do a lot of Colorado Rockies; if I lived on the Coast, I'd do a lot of seashore things. Basically, if I was going to go off and do places that really excite me, I'd probably be pretty much in the Rocky Mountain West. That goes all the way to the Coast, mind you. I was told once that my photographs were too pretty, that I needed to get into reality. To me that is a fallacy in thinking. I don't think what's pretty is necessarily unreal. I think a lot of photography today borders on the absurd, the far-out for the sake of shock. I stay away from that type of thing.

Kathy Cook-Scenic Landscape

When I came to Arizona about two years ago, I realized so much of everything I was trying to photograph had already been done hundreds of times. How could I do it differently? The only thing I came up with - and I've been working on this steadily is capturing the mood of a particular location, such as the Grand Canyon, rather than just going out and shooting the Grand Canyon. I'd capture it in snow or after a snow-fall or a storm, something that just gave a little different wrinkle to it. And I try to apply this to everything I shoot in all areas. Fall shots for instance ... everyone shoots fall shots. But I try to make mine a little different by catching fog or rays of sun in the dust, or something. When the ingredients for a good picture are not there, I wait for them to happen, or I just keep on moving, hoping that something will happen for me. Lots of times my most successful shots are what I call grab shots. These are the ones I know are there waiting for me. I just have to get where they are. Patience and persistence are key words in photography, as well as determination and sacrifice. At best, it's always a waiting game.

James Tallon-Wildlife

"Spending time with what's natural."

Wildlife is the revelation of Nature and the rewards of the wildlife photographer come while he is out photographing his subjects, not in the colored rectangles of celluloid that are the end result. Civilization is artificial, and wildlife photography is another excuse to spend some time with what is natural. That is not to say I don't approve of technology. In a sense, the revolution in photographic equipment superb cameras and lenses and films has benefited the revolution in ecological thought. Pictures by skilled outdoor lensmen and lenswomen have promoted an awareness to the fact there really is something out there worth saving. And through it, we may save ourselves.

Thoreau once said something like: If a man cuts down the forest for commercial use he is considered honorable, while a man who enjoys just looking at the forest is considered a useless laggard. I'm a forestlooker, a prairie-looker, a desertlooker and so on; I revel in the pristine for the sake of it alone; but it is the living, breathing creatures, from jumping bristletails to unpredictable grizzly bears that intrigue me most. Perhaps this stems from a primitive curiosity or hunt instinct possessed by ancestors who dragged their knuckles on the ground. No matter. The camera gives me the chance to bring home some trophies for personal satisfaction, and in turn, provides an economic source that lets me go back and do it again. It is a bona fide Catch 22. Without that optical paintbrush, though, I would still relish the pursuit.

Once on the South Rim of Grand Canyon, I went to photograph the sunset. It was a place where tourists may never go, and on a point I saw a large Rocky Mountain mule deer buck. It was trimmed in orange west light and seemed to be admiring the sundown tints on the Canyon's buttes and temples. A fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime picture. But I never got around to raising the camera to my eye.

J. Peter Mortimer – Photojournalism "Making concrete visual images."

I take pictures of people, and I think in taking pictures of people, it's not enough just to photograph an individual where he stands. When you find an interesting personality, capturing on film the character of that person can be a difficult thing to do. You have to understand something about him - his environment, his activities, and where he's living. Then you kind of bring all of this information together and try to capture it with a camera, waiting until the subject lets the facade drop and his real feelings come through. It's at that instant that the camera's got to click. I really think that the job of a photographer is to translate intangible thoughts or concepts into concrete visual images. You really have to go below the surface and try to show some of the inner workings, inner feelings of a person. The trick is to do that translation so that the reader can have an insight he wouldn't ordinarily have. We have to be totally aware that what we're doing as photographers is working for the viewer. We act as a kind of conduit between the reader and the subject, through the printed pages of the magazine.

Jerry Jacka-Studio

"Creating the non-distracting setting." When I photograph arts and crafts, I attempt to create a setting that does not distract from the subject but actually enhances it. For example, when working with Indian jewelry, I often use sand, wood, or stone as a background, but it must look natural and pleasing.

I try to arrange the jewelry so that it is the focal point, and my props and background simply act as a frame, so that people will say first, "Wow, that jewelry is beautiful!" and secondly, "What a neat photograph."

I often use multiple exposure techniques, showing two or three views of one object in a photograph. Always, I keep in mind that the artist had something in mind, perhaps a certain mood or feeling, when he created his work. I try to discover this and reveal it in my photograph.

Background, lighting, camera angle . . . these are all important, but often not enough to create the type of photo I want. Quite often, I simply sit and hold the object I am about to photograph, feeling it, handling it, studying it. When I do this, I start looking at its intricacies and ask myself, "What did he feel, what did he see, when he made this?" If you can talk to the artist, that's all the better.

I'm always concerned that the artist will like my photographs of his work. And when he is pleased, I am pleased.