For over two decades medium format rigs have bloated my backpack, with the peerless Hasselblad long my weapon of choice. Scalpel-sharp Zeiss lenses (with mirror lock-ups, cable releases and beefy tripods as able accomplices) continue to feed my stock files with images that laugh in the face of challenging enlargement. The seductive lure of large format, with it's uncompromising clarity and 20/10 eyesight, has always winked and beckoned. Piggy-backing a 'Blad, however, is not only more spine-friendly but with roll film you're quicker on the draw and have a lot more bullets in the chamber. With 16 frames at your fingertips, each spike of dramatic light from that gathering storm can be burned to film, preserving the stunning metamorphosis in it's entirety.

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FUJI VELVIA
This is the Alpha male, achieving almost cult status among serious landscape shooters. The lion's share of my images have found their way onto it's superb emulsion.

FUJI PROVIA 400
When high altitude gusts are body-slamming the wildflowers into a blur of abstract impressionism, this is a nifty alternative to calm the chaos.

KODACHROME 64
Archival staying power and superb sharpness made this classic my favorite son in the '70's and '80's.

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After succumbing to reality-altering, gaudy glass early in my career, I've evolved into a "no-additives, no-preservatives" kind of guy for virtually all of my work. Polarizers are used sparingly and never to consciously over-dramatize. Warming and neutral density filters are called on to desaturate ultraviolet and discipline contrast so the film faithfully records what the eye sees. For me the essence of nature photography, like photojournalism, is truthful depiction.

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Slide film exposure is a tightrope walk and hand-held meters navigate you over the abyss with the precision of a Swiss watch. Most are outfitted with both reflected and incident light measurement capability and some. like the Sekonic L508 that I use, provide invaluable spot metering as well. In capricious outdoor conditions, it's great to have all the toys.

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Without sharpness, all the other stuff is meaningless and chunky medium format Hasselblads need power lifter's gams to get it. Carbon fiber is outstanding space-age technology but for years I've used the reasonably priced, durable Bogen 3001 with excellent results (the broad platform of the 3028 head stablilizes the sizable underbelly of the 501CM very nicely). Whatever brand or style tripod floats your boat, landscape photography is unthinkable without one.