To me, nature photography is an optimistic pursuit of beauty, a passionate journey. I'm forced to look inside myself for what truly moves me. Though I let my instincts lead me, Nature routinely puts more creative possibilities on the palette than I could have envisioned. That's life-affirming and enriching.

Mark Bowie is a native Adirondacker. He's an outdoorsman, boater, hiker, writer and third generation photographer. His father, Everett, and grandfather, Richard Dean, run Dean Color Photography in Glens Falls, NY.

Upon turning professional in 1994, Mark formed Outdoor Images to market his nature photography. Since then his work has appeared in magazines and newspapers, on posters, calendars, and advertising products around the country. His first coffee table book, Adirondack Waters: Spirit of the Mountains is scheduled for release in this spring. For more details see his Photo Background.

In The Bag:

Mark uses several camera formats. He shoots large format images with a Toyo 45A Field View Camera and three lenses: a Nikkor 90mm/f8, a Nikkor 150mm/f5.6, and a Computar Symmetrigon 210mm/f6.3. The camera shoots 4x5" film and also has a roll film holder for medium format work. He also photographs with a Fuji G617 Professional Panoramic Camera, which uses medium format film to produce 6x17cm transparencies.

In the last few years, Mark has converted from shooting all his 35mm work with film, to almost all by digital capture, now using the 10-megapixel Nikon D80. His 35mm film camera is a Nikon N90. He uses these Nikkor lenses: 12-24/f2.8 DX, 24mm/f2.8D, 50mm/f1.8, 35-70mm/f2.8DX, 80-200mm/f2.8D, 105mm/f2.8D macro, and an 80-400mm/f4-5.6 image stabilization lens. He uses a Nikon 1.4x teleconverter to extend focal lengths and Nikon extension tubes and close-up lenses for 35mm macro work. However, he prefers the 4x5 for incredibly detailed and vibrant close-ups.

The vast majority of Mark's landscape images are shot on a tripod. He uses the Gitzo 1227 Mountaineer, an extremely lightweight carbon-fiber model, with a Gitzo 1337 magnesium ballhead.

He carries his gear into the field in a LowePro Mini Trekker camera backpack, which can be readily converted from 35mm storage to hold medium or large format systems. He uses a LowePro Orion Hip Pack when on the run and needing to go extremely lightweight. When working out of his vehicle, he'll store medium and panoramic format systems in cases specifically manufactured for them.

The 4x5" Field View Camera:

A view camera is the type you may have seen old-time press photographers, or nature photographers like Ansel Adams, use. The photographer puts his head under a dark cloth to view an image on a ground glass at the back of the camera. "The image appears upside down and reversed, which may seem like a hindrance. However, I find it a powerful compositional tool which allows me to see objects, not so much for what they literally are, but as compositional forms to be placed where they can lead the viewer's eye through the image. The camera forces me to slow down, to minutely examine a scene to see what’s really important about it, to include only those elements which contribute to the overall impact."

The 4x5 has several advantages over 35mm and other fixed-lens systems. First, the transparencies are huge. You can readily see fine details without any magnification. The 4x5" image is 4 times larger than a 6x7cm image, and 13 times larger than 35mm. That's that much more light information -- more color and tonal information -- recorded on the film. 4x5's can be enlarged to great size and retain their sharpness without introducing much grain. It's one of the primary reasons I find this format so captivating. But that's not all.

The camera's flexible movements are its great power. The front and back lens standards can be moved up, down, or sideways, allowing creative control over perspective and depth of field. Images shot with the 4x5 exhibit great breadth and scale. Subjects appear to hold their position and proportion. Rather than receding into the background, as they can with wide angle lenses on smaller formats, subjects retain their majestic stature, helping to create the impression for viewers that they themselves are immersed in the scene.

Gear For The Wilds:

Mark uses several other pieces of equipment vital to his work, but which may not be regarded as standard photographic gear. The foremost of which is a Lost Pond Boat, a 10' kevlar canoe handmade by Peter Hornbeck of Hornbeck Boats in Olmstedville, NY. It weighs 16 lbs. "I can literally lift it with two fingers. It's a one-person vessel propelled with a kayak-style paddle. There's just enough room to fit my photo and hiking gear and myself. And what a blessing it's been! The 'little boat' has given me access to places, if not previously inaccessible, at least too demanding to be practical for larger, heavier craft. Like remote lakes and ponds -- their most intimate secrets maybe never seen, or heard of, or imagined. I seek the mosses and sundew around the pond’s peninsula, the pitcher plants in the depths of a tamarac bog, the upper reaches of a beaver-dammed inlet. Each excursion is a venture into the unknown. I go with a sense of wonder, in anticipation of new discovery."

I also carry a dictaphone so that I might record some things I can't capture with a camera -- noting the smells, the sounds, the feel of wildness -- my innermost impressions while they're fresh in my mind's eye. It's a wonderful tool for helping convey to others Nature's impact on me.