John W. Wall – Photo Talk #20

This week’s interview is with John W. Wall. I first came across John’s first blog John Wall’s Natural California when looking for some photo locations around San Francisco. I kept coming back to read his really informative articles and look at his photos. Now, John has a book made out of his blog – you can buy it at John’s Blurb site.

John has moved on to start a new group blog – California Nature Photographers. He talks a bit about what and why of this new group blog in the interview.

Here is what John has to say:

Dunderberg Meadow, Photograph by John W. Wall,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Tell me a little about yourself. How did you get into photography?

JWW: I’ve gotten into it at different times in my life and at various intensities, but my first photos were taken of Hawaii when at age 13 I was heartbroken to learn we would be moving away. One of my favorite shots, taken with a Kodak Instamatic, is of my mother dressed in a muumuu on the Big Island’s Black Sand Beach with palm trees framing one side and the beautiful blue ocean washing up around her feet on the other. My mother passed away a few years ago, and the beach was covered by lava quite a few years ago. I’m sure that treasured image would not still be a part of me had I not photographed it.

I got into photography again while I was in the Navy after high school, getting a lot of support from some of the guys in the photography division. I started out with a Canon AT-1, then graduated to an F-1, but switched to Nikon when the F3 came out. (I continued to use an F3 until I bought a D200 a couple years ago.) My favorite shots coming out of that time are from liberty ports in Italy and Israel, from shipboard life, and from walkabouts around my home port of Norfolk, Virginia — and only now, all these years later, do I wish I’d shot a whole lot more!

I’d heard about Brooks Institute of Photography while in the Navy, so that’s where I headed after serving my four-year hitch. I drove out here with a friend from the Navy and his new wife, and we were mesmerized by the beauty of Santa Barbara, and by the gorgeous Brooks campus. Although I was only able to afford a very brief stint there, I made a quantum leap in my approach to photography by working side by side with other talented photographers, gaining darkroom skills, and shooting with a view camera.

Hiking in the Santa Ynez mountains behind Santa Barbara resurrected an interest in nature’s particulars that I hadn’t felt since snorkeling over the reefs as a kid in Hawaii. Wildflowers caught my interest at first, and in order to learn more about them than just their names I took a botany class at the local city college. I fell in love with biology, but even though my studies started out well, I bogged down in the mathematics requirements and switched over to the journalism department.

I got to shoot a wide variety of subjects stringing for the local paper in Arcata, working for the school paper at Humboldt State, and then for a couple of small daily newspapers after graduating, but I was always a reporter first and photographer second. At one point, in response to a nice form letter response I got from National Geographic, I applied to a master’s program in photojournalism, and although I was accepted and was awed by the school, I decided not to go, mainly for financial reasons, but also because print journalism was already on its way out. The school’s entire crop of photojournalism graduates from the previous year was still unemployed.

Ironically, economic hard times have led to my most productive period in photography. I was able to cut back to a four-day workweek in 2004 and have done ten-times more shooting in the last few years than in the previous 20.

Snow Geese and Shasta, Photograph by John W. Wall,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: You photograph a lot of animals, birds, wildlife …. How did you get interested in this kind of photography?

JWW:My father bought me a subscription to National Geographic when I was born, and made it a lifetime subscription as soon as it was allowed (you couldn’t get one for a newborn!). Maybe that rubbed off on me. But like I said in response to your last question, my interest in nature bloomed while snorkeling at an underwater wildlife preserve on Oahu called Hanauma Bay. I was learning the names of all the fish and other sea creatures and experienced my first episode of “gear envy” over the Nikonos underwater camera when our family up and moved to Maryland. Santa Barbara revived my interest, but I did very little nature photography until moving to San Francisco and finding Mt. Tamalpais.

Staying in one place for a long time has been new to me, and diving in deep at Mt. Tam opened nature photography up in a whole new way. For a couple of years I hiked its trails at least once or twice a month with just two lenses — a 24mm and a 200mm micro — learning about and documenting its natural history.

Strawberry hedgehog Cactus, Photograph by John W. Wall,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: You used to write a blog – John Wall’s Natural California which I used to read regularly. What got you started on photoblogging? What has that experience taught you?

JWW:I like to document and share my explorations. There’s really no reason behind it. It’s just a kind of insanity I’m afflicted with. What the blog taught me is that I can’t do what I want to do — document and share explorations of the whole state of California in real-time throughout the year — without a whole lot of help! The jury’s still out on whether I can find enough other folks with a passion for this project to make it happen.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Photograph by John W. Wall,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: You have now started a new group blog called California Nature Photographers. What do you envision for this blog in the short and long term?

JWW: In the short term I hope to find a core group of nature photographers from different parts of the state to participate on a regular basis. Everybody likes to travel around the state, but we still have more ready access and know our home areas best. I’d like to see the blog become an artistic documentary project on the natural diversity of California to a degree that no single person could accomplish.

Dawn on the Sacramento River, Photograph by John W. Wall,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Photographically speaking, what are you goals? Do you have any projects / ideas you are working on currently?

JWW: I think about the question of my goal quite a bit. With such an expensive hobby, it’s only natural to ask yourself where all the money is going! Like any other passion it can also be a source of strain in your personal relationships. Right now I’d just like to see the blog take root, but I’m also interested in developing the creative side of my photography and bringing more depth to my nature documentary work. I’ve been getting back to my roots on Mt. Tam lately, building on what I started in 2002-2003. I’m also building a collection of my work on Flickr, arranged by months of the year, that will give me sort of a “full circle” perspective of my California work so far. Since self-publishing books has become so easy I’ve turned several photo projects into book projects, and I don’t see any end in sight for that.

Fallen Madrone Berry, Photograph by John W. Wall,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Any recommendations? (like Photographers, Photo techniques, Music, Books, quotes, food..anything?)

JWW: A few nature photography books that inspire me are “Life” by Frans Lanting, “ Yellowstone To Yukon” by Florian Shulz, “California” by David and Marc Muench, “Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” by Subhankar Banerjee, “Lagunitas Creek” by Todd Pickering, “Point Reyes Visions” by Goodwin and Blair, “The California Surf Project” by Soderquist and Burkard, and one that I just picked up for $2.99 in the remaindered stacks called “Between the Wingtips: The Secret Life of Birds” by Brutus Ostling.

I’ve also been inspired by good nature writing, including some of the old-school stuff like the “Audubon Book of True Nature Stories” and anything by John Muir, Joseph Wharton Lippincott, John K. Terres and Ernest Thompson Seton. For California background I like “The Ohlone Way” by Malcolm Margolin.

I always have my iPod cranked on the way to and from my destinations, but when I’m actually at a place where I’m ready to start doing photography I like to shut it all off and just listen to nature.

Big Bull in his Harem, Photograph by John W. Wall,
Photos hosted on Flickr

SU: Can you mention how people interested in your work can contact you?

JWW: Drop me an email: jwallphoto [at] yahoo.com.

Thanks John!

Comments are welcome!

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June 19, 2009 | Categories: Photo Talk | 2 Comments »

Younes Bounhar – Photo Talk #19

This week’s interview is with Younes Bounhar, a nature, travel and landscape photographer living in Canada. His amazing photos have won has won the PhotographyCorner.com award for the 2007 Photograph of the year contest. You should head out to his website to see some examples of of his exquisite photographs – and experience the places he photographs.

Here is the interview:

Photograph by Younes Bounhar, All Rights Reserved

SU: Tell me a little about yourself. How did you get into photography?

YB: I was going to come up with some awesome story on how I knew in my heart of hearts that photography was my calling for as long as I can remember, but that would be quite far from the truth. In all honesty, I never thought I had a creative bone in my body until a couple of years ago. I am mostly a nerd, the scientist of the house (I have trained as a molecular biologist, but really I wanted to be a farmer). I did well in school, I read lots of books, no glasses but braces, for 3 long years. The Artist in the house is my younger sister, not me. In any case, I left Morocco at age 18 to come and study in Canada and decided that it would be my home (it has to be because of the weather). In 2006, after an endless number of years in University, I finally started getting paid enough to fulfill a longstanding dream of mine: visit Australia. Little did I know how that would change my life, literally. No, I didn’t fall on my head, nor did I receive the visit of some angel. I accidentally landed in one of Peter Lik’s galleries and I can still, to this day, remember the feeling of awe I had looking at these huge velvia prints of Yosemite and Antelope Canyon. Since I loved traveling, a voice in my head went something like this: “now, wouldn’t it be cool to travel to all these neat places and take photos?” It was as naïve as that. When went back home, I picked up my first dSLR, a couple of lenses and the rest is history…

Photograph by Younes Bounhar, All Rights Reserved

SU: You are predominantly a landscape photographer. How did you choose this discipline in photography?

YB: While I would rather refer to myself as a landscape and travel photographer, it is true that landscape largely dominates my galleries at this point. I think it’s mainly for two reasons:

- I’ve always been close to Nature, living things, I used to love the BBC and National Geo shows aired on TV, and that, sort of stuck in the back of my head. So it was a natural inclination primarily;

- secondly, despite my friends’ assertions to the contrary, I am a fairly shy person and, conveniently, landscapes don’t move and don’t talk back. So as far as learning goes, I had the time and opportunity to hone my skills without having someone expecting to see their phenomenal portrait.

That said, I am really drawn to the creative aspect of photography rather than to a particular discipline. I draw as much pleasure from catching a sunrise over the Rockies as I do capturing the curves of a building or the smile of a child.

The Light Show V, Photograph by Younes Bounhar, All Rights Reserved

SU: Looking at your galleries, water in various forms jumps out. Can you talk about why you photograph water in so many forms, the challenges and rewards?

YB: The answer here is likely to disappoint you…Canada just happens to have tons of that H2O thing, so you sort of find it everywhere you go. It’s really funny how I grew up in a place where we would go 10 years without a drop of rain to the greatest water reservoir on Earth. That might have something to do with it in retrospect.

Seriously though, water is such a dynamic elements, comes in so many forms (ice, mist, snow, rushing water, still lakes), that it’s an endless supply of opportunities. I mean, you can stand at the same spot in front of a river and take a hundred completely different shots that are equally appealing. I often feel like a child in a candy store when I sit across a stream. You can play with reflections, light bouncing off the water, texture of the water… Again, it’s just a great subject where you can just let your imagination run wild.

Another reason I am drawn to water, is that it is a great place to teach your cameras how to swim…I have a strong inclination for dropping my cameras in the river (2 out of 3 already, that’s a pretty good record), so I guess if there was no water, I wouldn’t have these stories to tell…

Cavell Alpenglow, Photograph by Younes Bounhar, All Rights Reserved

SU: Can you give us some idea about the equipment and the photography techniques you like to use to achieve your vision? What are you working on currently?

YB: Let me start with a disclaimer: Equipment is just a set of tools to achieve your vision. Until they come out with the X7billion.5 with the “No crappy image” function, there is no substitute for vision and creativity. As I like to repeat often, it is the photographer, not the camera that presses the shutter…

That said, I am a Nikon shooter. I currently use the Nikon D700 and D200 cameras. As far as lenses go, I have the 14-24 2.8, 28-70 2.8, 50 1.8, 105 2.8 macro and 70-300 4-5.6 VR, they allow me to cover a large range of focal lengths and have excellent optical qualities. I tend to use most of my lenses and do a lot of lens swapping when I am shooting. I started out with a great affinity for dramatic wide-angle landscape shots, but have really grown fonder of the more intimate, abstract nature photographs.

What I enjoy the most in photography, is the creative side involved, which also explains why I have been exploring intimate abstracts a bit more. While I love (and always will) a dramatic sunrise or sunset scenes, I draw even more pleasure from finding hidden compositions in the least expected places. You simply have to open your mind and learn how to look at your world differently to start seeing beauty in your everyday life. Therefore, when I am out with my camera, I am always on the lookout for patterns, lines, shapes and colours and the interplay between them. As my photography matures, my mantra is to open my mind and look beyond the obvious.

Johnston Canyon, Photograph by Younes Bounhar, All Rights Reserved

SU: How did you start giving photo workshops? What does it take in terms of resources and energy to do so? Do you have any words of wisdom for those who want to get started?

YB: I would rather skip this question, since I’ve just started giving workshops and I frankly have no wisdom to share

Slider, Photograph by Younes Bounhar, All Rights Reserved

SU: Any recommendations? (like Photographers, Photo techniques, Music, Books, quotes, food..anything?)

YB: How about I list a few of my favorite things:

Photographers: There are so many whose work I absolutely adore, Art Wolfe is a great inspiration, not only as a photographer and pioneer, but he is also one of the nicest guys I know.

Music: I would be really in trouble if I landed on a deserted island and they asked me which ONE musician I could take with me. I am a huge fan of Bob Marley, Carlos Santana and Leo Ferre (a French singer).

Books: Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series is probably one my most memorable set of books.

Food: I love food, one of the three pillars of life in my humble opinions. I’ll admit it, I suffer from severe gluttony. I absolutely LOVE Indian food. Authentic Italian cuisine. Thai, Moroccan couscous is hard to beat, the French can be pretentious but they know a thing or two about cuisine…well you get the drift…

Quotes: I have a terrible memory for these kind of things, I can’t remember a line to save my life.

The Forest Behind the Tree, Photograph by Younes Bounhar, All Rights Reserved

SU: Can you mention how people interested in your work can contact you?

YB: To contact me is pretty simple:
You can email me directly at Younes [at] younesbounhar.com
Alternatively you can click on the “contact” link on my website (http://younesbounhar.com).

Thanks Younes!

Comments are welcome!

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June 2, 2009 | Categories: Photo Talk | Leave A Comment »