©Bert Gildart: Essentially, I’m an outdoor photographer, specializing in the many wonders of all the various aspects that make our national lands and national parks so spectacular.

But within that assortment the one grouping that sells more for me than any other is my photographs of people.

Now with Janie and me in preparation for another long trip in our Airstream, I’ve been looking at a number of those images and have been recalling some of stories behind the photographs. More significantly, I’ve been thinking about what made the pictures work–and here are some thoughts.

MOSES SAM

In recent years this image of Moses Sam, a Gwich’in Indian elder, has appeared a number of times in periodicals ranging from Time/Life publications to the Christian Science Monitor.

The picture was made in a small cabin in Arctic Village, Alaska, and my light source was from a single window.

As Moses sat there we talked about his tribe and occasionally he would smile, but the expression that helped make this photo was when he recalled those times when he and other members of his tribe had once confronted starvation.

His face became stern and that’s when I focused on the near eye and depressed the plunger on my cable release.

The image would not have worked if the eye closest to the camera had not been in focus and if he had been smiling. Because the light was so low I remember the setting. It was 1/15 of a second at f-2.8, and obviously the camera and my 105mm lens were mounted on a tripod.

EGYPT

About 15 years I worked frequently for a magazine called Travel/Holiday, and on this assignment editors had sent me to Egypt. I wanted a photo that would suggest a certain mystery and I arose early and took a taxi to the pyramids of Giza.

As the sun rose no one else was out there but this lone guide and me. I asked the man to pose so that the sun would illuminate the pyramids and him from the side, resulting in this image which worked for the magazine and later as an image that has sold through a New York stock photo agency that represents my work. He asked for “Baksheesh,” which is a tip, and which I provided. Later I learned that it was not wise to visit the pyramids alone and at such an early hour. Given today’s political climate I’d probably not do so now.

MONTANA HUTTERITES

It’s the young Hutterite children exhibiting an unrestrained enthusiasm in an otherwise much controlled environment that I believe makes this image compelling. The photo accompanied a story I wrote for the United States Information Agency, which was syndicated to an overseas audience. During the several days Janie and I spent with this group in the Sunburst Colony located just north of Shelby, Montana, member of this religious group extended every courtesy. They asked us to visit them in their homes and said we might join them for their communal meals.

Everyone ate together after the day’s farm work was complete and meals were held in a large communal cafeteria with men on one side and woman on the other. Janie and I weren’t sure how they wanted us to be seated but they quickly resolved the dilemma by seating the two of us smack dab in the middle. However, I had to sit on one side of the lengthy table, Janie on the other. Behind me was the first row of men and behind Janie the first row of women. At day’s end we retired to our camper and each night we found a bottle of dandelion wine on the steps. I believe my photographs were good ones, but they would not have been had we not spent time getting to know this wonderful group of people.

EVOLVING STROBES

In part, then, it is the joy of the children that made this image work. In those days I was using a Nikon camera with a Metz CT4 strobe. The strobe is unique in that it offers TWO sources of light in one unit. In this case I bounced one of the lights off the low white ceiling and allowed the other to fill in the shadows beneath the hats and bonnets. The Metz unit is a heavy one, but to recreate the same type of lighting I now must use two Nikon SB800 strobes. This wireless lighting system is an easy one to use-but not until after you’ve used it for several months!

In summary, I guess you would say that photographs that work best suggest a strong story accompaniment. It is of course, up to you to find that story and then work hard developing the various techniques that will help you convey that story.

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Two Years Ago We Were In Tampa, Florida

Tampa Florida

ADDS FROM GOOGLE AND AMAZON AUGMENT OUR TRAVELS:

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Montana Photography, Photography, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.