Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape

This book can be summed up in one line the author writes in the Preface, "the best photographs speak for themselves". In this book, Rowell presents 80 of his favorite images that he made over the course of his explorations, mountaineering and adventures. He also reveals the art, craft and philosophy behind his world-famous images. Unless you are an extreme adventurer, you may never be able to visit the places he visited and make images similar to the ones he did. Let that not discourage you; this book teaches you "how to see" and not merely "look" as most of us do. As Rowell writes in another book, "without a guiding visualization, two camera positions only a step apart might as well on different planets". Lucky for you, you have to look no further for your "guiding visualization".The chapters are alternated between personal essays and what he calls "exhibits". The book is worth every penny if you skip every word in it and only appreciate the images. There's is a reason that New York Times praised this book as "the classiest 'how-to' text on landscape color photography ever published".All the images in the book are made with Film cameras (the book first came out in 1985, this is a reprint). None of the images are digitally altered or (photo) "shopped". Once again, that goes to show that it is not the camera that matters, it is who is behind it.I conclude my review saying that if you are planning to buy one single book on landscape photography, buy this one. You'll later thank me for the suggestion.

This book is an inspiration for any landscape photographer. The way Galen Rowell goes through each photograph discussing where and how it was taken is very impactful and well done.

Insightful look into the thoughts of Galen Rowell. Focuses more on an underlying philosophy than on technique. The potato jet crowd who rush into a monument in their camper van, make a couple of quick snaps with their camera phone, and rush off to the next spot, could learn a lot from this book. Unfortunately, most won't take the time. There is a lot in this book about slowing down and understanding the landscape. Worth the time.

This is not a coffee table book, though it does include some of Rowell's extraordinary photographs. Rowell arranges the volume into visual themes that explore his fascination with mountain light. Written in the first person, he details the whys, whens and hows of some of his photographic adventures, down to a goat walking up to the camp. A little too much detail for me, but more experienced photographers might appreciate such nuances. Still, it is a pretty good read, especially considering it was first published over 30 years ago.

IF you love the mountains and the feeling they give you as you take in their grandeur...or if you love photographing these majestic places, this book will likely become one of your favorites. As a landscape photographer, I've poured over literally thousands of landscape photos - in books, slides and magazines - but the work of Galen Rowell stands alone in the realm of mountain landscapes. As Arthus-Bertrand has mastered photography from above (aerial) and Doubilet from below (undersea), Rowell has mastered the mountains.If you pay attention to his photos and read what Rowell has to say about the making of each, you will begin to "see the light" - quite literally. No one captures the ethereal like Galen Rowell. He has the rare ability to sense and then photograph those fleeting moments that most (even many photographers) only daydream about. His photos will not only impress your eyes but they will tug at your soul. If ever a collection of photographs defined the majesty and mystery of mountians, this is it.

The best way to learn is from a master, and Galen Rowell was indisputably one of the great masters of nature photography. Even though this book is 25+ years old, and as a result all the technical advice is for film, most of what is covered will never go out of date. His thoughts on composition and light are must-reads for any nature photographer. If you only buy one how-to book about photographing the American West, this should be the one.

And he's a great photographer!!

Galen was not only a great photographer but a great writer too. If you'd like some insight into how a photographer works, then this is a good book for you. He gives you tons of useful advice and will help your photography no matter what your level. Forget the haters that have reviewed this book. Galen may not have been that good at interacting with people, but he is a great teacher.

The book arrived right on time. All of my family interested in photography oohed and ahhed. Densely informative and beautifully photographed.

Fantastic book!

A must buy for every photographer. You will learn a lot from him. I do-not want to compare Galen Rowell from any other photographer because he is the true master of light, but I also bought and returned a book called "Ansel Adams : 400 Photographs" and that book looked so bad in front of this, first of all, galen's images are thousand times more provoking than ansel's and secondly, Galen has described each and everything behind the creation of his photo, the situation, the problems, the gear used, techniques, etc. It is so entertaining to read, its like better than reading a novel.

Veramente ben fatto!! molto molto accurato, scritto davvero bene e molto utile. un bel manuale dove prendere spunto e idee

El clásico de fotografía de paisaje de montaña. Lo recomiendo sin duda a cualquiera que le guste la fotografía de paisaje y la montaña.Inspirador. Estructurado en parejas de capítulos, va alternando entre capítulo sólo de texto que explica un concepto, seguido de un capítulo con fotografías comentadas.Las secciones que lo dividen son relativas a tipos de fotografía de montaña (tipos de luz, paisaje con figura humana, etc).Cada fotografía va acompañada de un texto de una página de longitud, en el que Galen Rowell cuenta temas de composición, cuál era su intención para obtener la fotografía, qué hizo para lograrlo (microposicionamiento, esperar a una luz mejor, etc), dónde se encontraba y qué estaba haciendo, etc.Resulta muy entretenido, con envidia sana, leer cómo habla de viajes y de expediciones para lograr captar las fotografías que presenta en el libro.El libro contiene muchas fotografías, unas mejores que otras, quizá ya superadas en calidad por la época digital y el post-procesamiento, pero lo más importante es lo que cuenta, las sensaciones de estar ahí fuera en la montaña, lejos de la civilización, en contacto con la naturaleza más inhóspita, y ver esas luces que te transportan.Aviso a navegantes:1) Aunque hable de luz, composición y otras cuestiones técnicas, el libro está orientado a contar una forma de pensar, de trabajar y de vivir. No es un libro técnico ni didáctico al uso, es lo que me gusta (dan ganar de salir corriendo a la montaña con la cámara a cuestas tras leerlo).2) Aunque las cuestiones técnicas tienen aplicación en digital (tiempos, aperturas, ISO), está hecho en la época de película, por lo que no vamos a ver referencias a histogramas ni a post-procesados. Esto no desmerece para nada el libro, y de estas otras cuestiones ya hay mucho para elegir si es lo que se busca.3) Idioma: como la versión en español está descatalogada, la única forma de hacerse con uno es comprándolo en edición en inglés (lo que yo he hecho). Tiene mucho más texto que fotografía, y lo que se dice en el texto es tan importante como lo que se ve en sus fotografías, por lo que si no se maneja uno bien con el idioma, va a ser un inconveniente. El libro es tan bueno que merece la pena comprarlo incluso en inglés y luego acudir a fuentes alternativas para descargar la traducción española, imprimirla e insertar las hojas en el propio libro. Eso ayuda mucho a no tener que interrumpir la lectura consultando el diccionario.