Early in the text, Rowell identifies the elements of a great photograph: technical proficiency, fine light and an identifiable personal vision. While photography is a highly technical form of art, technique is quite easily learned and most new photographers with an acceptable grasp of the basics can start making competent photos. On another level, an unforgettable photograph has many less tangible artistic qualities, and it is these aspects Rowell focuses on.

The 224 page book is structured in seven chapters alternating with eight photographic exhibits. The chapters are a pure text collection of Rowell’s photographic philosophies and musings. The early chapters describe Rowell’s childhood; his early love of the outdoors and mountain climbing, and humble beginnings in photography with a box camera all of which set the foundations for his life’s work. Over the course of the book he takes us through significant events that have shaped his personal vision. This enables the reader to reflect on their own photographic processes and make some inroads into the difficult task of translating intuitive vision into deliberate practice. It’s very intriguing, but takes a while to get through as it can be heavy going at some points.

Far from being self-indulgent with over-analysis and rambling prose, Rowell takes the reader on a journey infused with his spirit of adventure and passion for the outdoors. As he describes his image making processes there are many practical tips about effective composition and light. Despite placing less significance on equipment, he also acknowledges that it is important to many photographers, and one chapter which follows him on assignment for National Geographic is dedicated to this.

Interspersed with the chapters are a series of photo exhibits. In a nod to the importance of fine light, Rowell has arranged the exhibits by the quality of light they were taken in, such as magic hour, back light, soft light and night. Each exhibit contains several of his famous photos with an accompanying essay which describes the history of the subject, and gives insight into his inspiration, vision and the image making process. Many photographers only shoot landscapes at sunrise or sunset – and while this light is certainly spectacular, rigidly placing limits can only also limit creativity. Rowell demonstrates how to take advantage of any lighting situation by understanding its strengths and limitations.

The first edition was published in 1986 so a lot of the technical details are film-specific, and you won’t find any tips on post processing in photoshop.

In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in outdoor photography who is keen to develop their personal vision beyond gear and technique. It goes beyond the basics of exposure and the rule-of-thirds to explore some of the subtleties of vision and light. In addition to being a collection of amazing photographs, the lessons learned are timeless and one can take more from every read-through.

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The post Book review – ‘Mountain Light’ by Galen Rowell appeared first on on the wild road.

The filter is made out of glass, and comes in a 4×4″ case. Other than the filter itself, you receive a laminated exposure card, and a leaflet from Lee that explains how to use it. They talk about setting up, exposure, white balance (admit to a colour cast but don’t specify what it is) and noise due to long exposures. They also talk about a couple of problems unique to film including reciprocity failure and the possible need for colour correction filters (although again they don’t really say exactly which ones you need).

Issues for the Lee Big Stopper to address would be a) light leakage and b) colour cast.

To start with, the filter comes with a foam gasket on one side. This is designed to bridge the gap between filter and holder when placed in the first filter slot, forming a light seal. I have a Lee holder.

The foam feels reasonably durable, but I can’t really comment on how it will stand up over time, it feels ok.

There looks like a small gap in this photo, however the filter was probably pushed down a little far.

The foam gasket does not quite reach all around at the vertical and horizontal points of the holder. The rest of the seal is made with the adapter ring, which sits a tiny bit further back than the holder (less than 1mm). There isn’t a perfect seal with the adapter ring, but the gap is so tiny, and there is a fair length of foam I can’t see this being a problem.

Initial reports have disclosed a cool colour cast, which was the case with my example. AWB should sort most of it out, with the rest correctable in PP. The next two shots were taken with WB set at tungsten. The first had no filter, while the second had the big stopper.

There’s a bit of optical vignetting in the second photo, as the shots were taken at f/2.8 and 17mm. For field use you probably need to cover up the eyepiece for a complete light seal, which I didn’t do here.

The glass reportedly contains an infrared filter..the absence of which is the cause of the magenta cast in strong resin NDs such as the hitech, or when stacking weaker ones together.

Cokin Z-pro holder: I’ve never actually held one, but going on pictures I don’t think this filter will be compatible. The slot closest to the lens appears to contain some plastic stubs designed to hold a polarizer, which would interfere with the foam seal. Again I’m not 100% sure about this; whether they can be removed or the holder can be reassembled a different way.

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