the FIVE-STAR PROJECT [4].

# 4 | High Camp, North Cascades, Washington [2012]

Canon 7D, 1/40th sec, f/9.0, ISO 400, 60mm (96mm @ 35mm equivalent)

Ansel Adams spoke at length about his idea of, what he called, visualization. So much, in fact, he dedicated the first chapter of his book The Camera to this idea, and revisited the concept in the following two books in his series. He always returned to it, this idea of visualization, what he considered to be 'the entire emotional-mental process of creating a photograph.' A process that starts with the camera-lens-shutter (in the case of digital, the camera component also includes the sensor, whereas, in Adams' time, the film was a piece of visualization he spoke of separately) and how that system 'sees' in a way the same, but in a way, different, than our eyes. Then, and I'll touch on this in a latter photograph in this series, there is the development of the photograph, and how that contributes to the characteristics of the final image.

This photograph represents that first part of visualization, through the choice of the camera and, primarily, in this case, the lens.

I 'saw' this image, in my mind, before I made it. And, in doing so, I was prepared with the camera and lens I knew I needed. I had been to this spot before, so I knew the geography and had a vision of what I wanted to capture. Here, the tent in the foreground, and the vast sea of mountains behind, trailing off to the horizon, infinite. On our return from the summit, I let Damon and Katie continue back to camp while I fiddled about with my camera and searched for the right spot to encompass, in the viewfinder, what I envisioned. It required a long (telephoto) lens, to compress the scene in just the right way, so that infinite sea of mountains was rendered finite, approachable, yet still vast, wild, incomprehensible (in fact, this image ended up weighing into my decision about which prime lens focal lengths to get when I made the switch from zooms to only primes: I selected the Canon 100mm f/2.0 because this image would have been possible with that lens). I didn't direct the two to stand, but rather patiently waited, waited, for the right moment. They scrounged around camp for awhile, digging in the tents until, at last, both stood up and just, stared. I took the shot.

And there, in this image, was exactly what I visualized.

Admittedly, it rarely works this way, and my example of the trip to Yosemite where I also had visualized all of the images I ultimately came to despise is proof of that. But, where there I was not relying on any spontaneity or magic, this image only is what it is because of that little bit of magic, of Damon and Katie realizing, on their own, where they were, and stopping for a moment to absorb this place, surrounded by mountains. Without them, the image would just be another shot of mountains from a high camp. With them, and how I visualized the scene, it is this.

Five stars.