I am Chuck Kimmerle, a former newspaper photojournalist turned landscape photographer. I reside in Lone Pine, California, USA, at the foot of the Eastern Sierra Mountain range.
My past as a photojournalist has greatly influenced my landscape work. As such, I tend to respond strongly to scenes that have a narrative that goes beyond the content of the image.
I believe strongly that looking at an image is a two-way conversation. I want to give viewers more than just an aesthetically beautiful image. I want to evoke thoughts and emotions. I want them to have a dialog with my work.
To think and to ask questions.
My latest project, Manzanar: Echoes of Lost Memories, is a study of a former military-style incarceration camp where, in 1942, more than 10,000 people of Japanese descent—men, women, and children—were forcibly, under armed guard, relocated.
Most of these poor souls were American-born citizens.
While the camp was closed more than eighty years ago, there remain physical and metaphorical clues of those forced to live there.
It was a very meaningful project for me.
Simplicity is the key to creativity, so I keep my gear bag as basic as possible.
I have owned Nikon cameras since I became a photographer and see no reason to switch.
Full-size, 35mm-style cameras are my preference as I like how they feel in my hand.
My current setup is a single Nikon D850 with these three lenses, which cover more than enough of my shooting range.
Nikon 16-35mm f/4
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
I carry four spare batteries and two each of SD and CF Express cards, which are, admittedly, more than I have ever needed on a field shoot, but who wants to risk running out of power or storage?
My filter pack contains three Neutral Density Filters – five, ten, and fifteen stops plus a Circular Polarizer.
I also have a 77-67mm Adapter Ring for the Nikon 70-200mm f/4.
I am not dedicated to any filter manufacturer, although I demand high quality and have filters from Singh-Ray, B+W, and Breakthrough.
The one piece of gear I consider indispensable is my Hoodman Loupe, without which I cannot do critical analysis (chimping, we call it) of each frame.
As I shoot almost exclusively from my Really Right Stuff Tripod and Head, I use a cable release from Nikon. I prefer a cable release to a wireless release as I feel it’s more dependable and won’t suffer battery-related issues.
Inside my green MindShift Gear Backlight 26L I also carry reading glasses. If you aren’t old enough to need them, prepare yourself. You will!
A headlamp with a red light for working after dark, a bright flashlight to add a bit of fill light, if needed, and a Leatherman Wave multi-tool, which has a million uses such as pulling cactus spines out of skin, tightening fasteners, fixing zippers, removing splinters, and opening the bottle of beer at the end of the day.
It won’t save me in a fight against a bear, but it can help open my Snickers wrapper if my hands are too cold.
This pack is excellent, and I have tried a lot of other backpacks throughout the years, eventually moving to the Mindshift. Some were too big, some were too small, some did not carry well or were hard to organize, but this one feels right.
It’s the baby bear of backpacks; my only minor complaint is that there are no attachment points on the outside for accessories.
I advise other photographers to find the gear that works best for you and stick with it.
Don’t chase trends or follow the advice of paid, sometimes biased influencers.
While expensive and pretty, our gear is the least important thing in our creative arsenal.
Credit : Source Post
