Mountain Light [antikvár]

PrefaceTO THE SECOND EDITIONSince the first edition of Mountain Light appeared in 1986, many advances in photography have occurred with little effect on the enduring message of this book. The basic concepts described here remain as solid as ever. Instead of stating them with the finality of third-person textbookese, I chose to render them in first-person story form to create an atmosphere of more open interpretation about my working methods.Names of films and equipment are mentioned as personal choices at the time, rather than as blueprints for future success. Where I describe use of particular Nikon cameras or lenses, readers who own Canon or Minolta systems have naturally made transla-dons to their own systems. Similarly, my present equipment and fdni choices have evolved from those that I favored a decade ago. Readers of this edition need to make choices based on what is available as you read these words, rather than pursuing my old choices. My Nikon F3 cameras have been retired in favor of a Nikon F4 and a Nikon N90S. The venerable Kodachromes have been left behind in favor of newer Fuji Velvia and Kodak Lumiere slide films, which offer increased color saturation, tonal separation, and sharpness. Despite great improvements in faster filins, I continue to use the very slowest and finest grained ISO 50 film for landscape work.Recent changes in films and equipment for outdoor photography have not affected the basic process of making fine photographs any more than changes in outdoor apparel have altered the experience of walking trails or climbing peaks. At best they add comfort, style, ease of operation, and adaptability to previously tenuous situations. At worst, they add weight, cost, and a confusing array of often unnecessary options. Although my photographic gear for an assignment in the Himalayas would now include different cameras, lenses, and tripods than those I took on the 1984 expedition described in Chapter Six, I might well head out for a weekend climb in the California High Sierra with exactly the same old Nikon FM and manual 24mm lens that made the photograph on page 196. I save this simple, old-fashioned, light camera body for simple, old-fashioned light trips into the back country, even to the point of taking a Nikon 75-150mm zoom from the seventies as my only other lens, because it still offers the best combination of light weight, zoom range, and sharpness. The majority of