How would Galen Rowell have taken this photo?

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I can't put my finger on it, but something feels "wrong" about that photo. There are many elements I like about it, but as an whole something just feels off.

It's called "Velvia".

 

[Sirius Glass]

No, this is way beyond Velvia. The technical term is too much Fauxto$hop.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Many times in various forums I've read of Galen Rowell, but this is the first time I've looked at his work. I know a lot of people like his work, but I don't like it at all: for me it's too saturated, too much dynamic range, too much like a "velvet Elvis" at the Saturday morning craft show.

Not surprisingly, much of what Ken Rockwell has in his photo gallery emulates this; another fan of over-saturation.

A former co-worker of mine, Mr. I'll Never Go Back To Film, will take perfectly exposed photos with his D800 and turn them into photos like this because he thinks that's what one is supposed to do.

 

[Truzi]

It's called "Velvia".

LOL. No, it's not that. We've plenty of great Velvia examples on APUG. I've even shot some myself, but nothing really good.

 

[Vaughn]

Theo -- I do not believe any of his images printed while he was alive is of the Velveeta quality. That all came after his death.

 

[jimjm]

Theo -- I do not believe any of his images printed while he was alive is of the Velveeta quality. That all came after his death.

I agree. I have some of his books (published while he was alive) and whily many of the images are typical Velvia color, nothing near the saturation seen in the examples online now.

Unfortunately, I believe the general public these days has come to expect oversaturated/HDR images and the folks selling/producing them use this as a way to increase sales. Sort of like candy, really appealing at first but you quickly become sick from the excessive sugar.

In terms of outdoor and landscape photography, his techniques and content/composition have always been a favorite of mine.

 

[Bill Burk]

I posted a couple photos to the galleries to illustrate the discussion...

Grassy Edge of Dusy Basin and Thunderstorm Brewing Over LeConte Canyon are my idea of what Galen Rowell's Stormy sunset over Evolution Lake would look like if you took away the Velvia and the Neutral Density Grad filter.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Theo -- I do not believe any of his images printed while he was alive is of the Velveeta quality. That all came after his death.

I agree. I have some of his books (published while he was alive) and whily many of the images are typical Velvia color, nothing near the saturation seen in the examples online now.

Oh - I did not realize that. Who or what entity has the rights to his images? How are they allowed to reprint them in that manner? I cringe at the thought of an overprocessed colorized version of AA's Moonrise

 

[tomfrh]

I have a Galen Rowell picture book (Retrospective), and most of the shots are 20, 30, 40 years ago. They are a lot more natural looking, and I am guessing are mostly Kodachrome shots. The latter images, the late 90s and early 2000s are the syrupy velvia shots. I read that this is how he was producing these final images, as was the style of the time. e.g. http://landscapephotographyblogger.com/did-velvia-film-change-landscape-photography. As such his final work was frozen in this style, which other photographers moved away from in the years after his death.

However some of you are saying these are modifications were done *after* he died?

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I have a Galen Rowell picture book (Retrospective), and most of the shots are 20, 30, 40 years ago. They are a lot more natural looking, and I am guessing are mostly Kodachrome shots. The latter images, the late 90s and early 2000s are the syrupy velvia shots. I read that this is how he was producing these final images, as was the style of the time. e.g. http://landscapephotographyblogger.com/did-velvia-film-change-landscape-photography. As such his final work was frozen in this style, which other photographers moved away from in the years after his death.

However some of you are saying these are modifications were done *after* he died?

Yes, it seems the way his photos are shown now are a bit more saturated and punchy post-mortem but that likely is because it's what sells. His latest and perhaps considered his greatest period was the 10-15 years before his death. He wrote an article or chapter about his discovery of Velvia in the early 90's and how it fit his vision better than anything before, and he always wrote of the special "alpenglow" light (a pinkish/reddish/orangish hue) that he claimed he only found in the California Sierras and South America, so punchy and colorful was his purpose and end-game though perhaps not as much as how his images are presented or seen on iPhones and monitors these days.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Many times in various forums I've read of Galen Rowell, but this is the first time I've looked at his work. I know a lot of people like his work, but I don't like it at all: for me it's too saturated, too much dynamic range, too much like a "velvet Elvis" at the Saturday morning craft show.

Not surprisingly, much of what Ken Rockwell has in his photo gallery emulates this; another fan of over-saturation.

A former co-worker of mine, Mr. I'll Never Go Back To Film, will take perfectly exposed photos with his D800 and turn them into photos like this because he thinks that's what one is supposed to do.

The over saturation, the over sharpening, expanded dynamic range, ... plus the removal or addition to subject matter in images are the reasons that I take such a strong stand against digisnapping and fauxto$hopping.

Below is another reason:

 

[Vaughn]

...However some of you are saying these are modifications were done *after* he died?

I will ammend my statement to, when I visited the gallery in Bishop, I looked at all his his work being shown, and my impression based on the vintage prints and the newly printed images I saw, was that none of the vintage work showed any signs of over-sharpening and high saturation of the colors.

He died in 2002. Perhaps if he was still alive he would be printing in the Velveeta vein himself.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Whoever is making these prints IMO is going into LAB mode in PS and really twisting the A B channels. The image posted is definitely worked on in PS.

No, this is way beyond Velvia. The technical term is too much Fauxto$hop.