Anders taking pictures
Last modified: February 11, 2011It took everything he had to make it all work, no more, no less…
On almost every shoot Anders was using both still cameras and video.
All of his camera equipment is Canon: stills – 35 mm and digital… video – Hi8, mDV and HD.
Anders on the Sprague River at the start of the project in 1996.
Anders had been shooting around Upper Klamath Lake for a year. He was getting to know the landscape. He understood there would be the many challenges ahead.
Anders with display he designed for Lower Klamath Centennial Celebration.
August 2008, near the end of his Klamath River Watershed shoot. This five panel display was one of the elements Anders designed for U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge’s 100th birthday party. The colors are skewed by a yellow tent overhead.
How do we manage natural resources and how do we raise food?
Modern times balance shifting priorities driven by planetary, public and private interests.
Being in productive places during public demonstrations requires information.
Capturing the moment necessitates understanding where and what is possible.
Anders sets up his tripod on the Klamath River, south of J.C. Broyles power plant.
This is a scene Anders Tomlinson repeated thousands of times during his filming of the Upper Klamath Basin from Crater Lake to Medicine Lake.
The narrow canyons in the Klamath River Watershed sparkle in sunlight.
The remote inaccessibility of this vast watershed is over powering.
Countless tributaries of the Klamath and Trinity rivers are wild habitat.
This is the film equipment Anders traveled with at all times.
To capture the moment takes a small army of gear. In an ideal world this equipment would be managed by a three person crew. 90% of the time Anders traveled by himself.
A tall truck allowed Anders to see over ditch bank weeds.
It helps to have a pickup as a platform to access and film farmland along irrigation canals.
The long drives were always worth it.
The accumulated time Anders spent hiking Klamath River Watershed would be years.
Anders started this film with Canon 35 mm film cameras.
For decades, 35 mm cameras were used by professional photographers who needed lightweight equipment. There was no auto focus or exposure. There was little room for error.
During filming digital SLRs came and soon dominated the camera market,
Anders started with 4 Canon 35mm bodies in 1996. By 2004 he was using, almost exclusively, three Canon Digital bodies. Photography had changed. But for Anders basic concepts remained the same: tell a story, include only information that help tells that story, be properly exposed and in focus. And be aware of what is happening around you. Look. Listen.
The Klamath River Watershed is a huge expanse of mountains and forests,
The accumulated time Anders spent driving on this film project would be close to a year.
And there was the post-production aspect of this massive undertaking.
The accumulated time capturing and editing this film project continues today, 16 years later. Production studios were setup in the Upper Klamath Basin as Anders moved north to south.
Anders is fliming what was once a bay in Tule Lake.
The film started as a study of recreational water and turned with the focus on water management and the production of food. No laughing matter. It was now a story of survival on many levels.
And there was time to reflect on things larger than himself.
These were treasured moments, alone in time, aware of, and receptive to, encompassing elements.
The view from high ground tells tales rarely seen.
The Klamath River Watershed is a volcanic landscape shaped by moving tectonic plates. Here, Anders learned much about the comings and goings of life. Anders saw his reflection in the waters.
Thanks to Jeff Ritter, Pam Hawthorne, Brian Moore, Rob Crawford, Jim Morgan, Gary Ruble and Christian Johansson for spending time with me and taking these photos.
©2011 Anders Tomlinson, all rights reserved.