GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER - Gabe Rogel
www.Rogelphoto.com
All images © Gabe Rogel. Click on images to enlarge.
It’s right there on his web site: ‘Extreme Location Photography’ – nice tag line, Gabe, and point well taken. There he is, (in the ‘about’ page of his web site), looking all studly on the front points of his crampons, jumars holding, on some vertical frosted gnarly-looking mountain face - and he’s SMILING!
But this blog is about Jackson Hole area photographers – right? Well, it so happens that it’s often hard to separate out the two. Mountaineering and other extreme sports often come hand-in hand with great photography skills, which is why people like Gabe are here – it works for them. And it works for their clients. And for Gabe – it means he can live the life of his passion while earning a living at it. Clients just love a guy who can look after himself out there in the mountains, whilst also directing models and work the camera to produce exactly what they want. Past work as an American Alpine Institute (AAI) mountain Guide in Alaska, Peru and Argentina certainly helped with that and allowed him to put together an impressive stock portfolio.
It all started in the usual way…an out-door enthusiast who climbed and trekked around the Himalaya with a camera, shooting hundreds of pics, loving it and finding he had a talent for the creative. Ending up in Colorado, at Colorado Mountain College, he changed his Literal Arts course to an Associate Degree in photography – all the time skiing, climbing and photographing. (The jury is out on whether the two years could have been better spent in the field – but it helped to force his focus where it had to be – on photography.) Occasionally he would sell an image to someone like Patagonia, or a climbing mag. He went to the Outdoor Retailers’ show with a lightbox and slides in hand and pestered gear companies in their booths, and got a break while working as a ski tech for Mountain Gear in Spokane, Washington – they became his first consistent client. It’s also just a faint possibility that Gabe’s successes were due to the fact that he’s just SUCH A NICE GUY! Understated, humble, sensible and obviously fun-loving. But then don’t I say that about all photographers in the Jackson Hole area?
So let’s take a look at his photographs. Sorry to say it once again in this blog or any other communication about photography – but – WOW! I mean, Gabe’s images just reach out and punch you smack in the face. I see a couple of main themes running through Gabe’s photography. I’m sure there are many more but these are the two that strike me: There’s the gnarly, fun-and-action-packed (sorry) punch to his product photography for the usual outdoor gear and equipment crowd – you know, the Black Diamonds, the Cloudveils, the Patagonias, the Marmots, the K2′s and…oops – I’m running out of space. Though I’m not a great fan of snowmobiles myself, Gabe has a particularly strong suit in the photography of wild snowmachine antics. I swear, you duck when you look at some of those images.
Then there’s the much more cerebral, almost contradictory and yet complimentary side that balances out Gabe’s photographic skills and offerings. His travels to many exotic regions of the world; Ethiopia, Tibet, Oman, Turkey, Japan, Namibia have developed in him a skill for photographing people and cultures that is a journey into their very souls.Either way there’s both a strong eye and a technical skill that blend beautifully to bring exactly the image that he wishes to convey with power and purpose.
It must be something in the air, but Gabe also shoots with Canon gear. He started off with the A2 film body and currently uses the 1DMkIII and the 7D – depends what you’re shootinng but loves the 1.3 crop conversion of the 1DMkIII and the spread-out auto-focus points. His most-employed lenses are the Canon 28 – 300 f3.5 – 5.6, and the Canon 15mm fisheye.
I finish off with a nod to his styling new studio which he recently completed in Tetonia, where he has lived for around nine years. Do I stifle another ‘wow’ here? Modern, roomy, professional, and very, very, cool – many photographers would give an eye to have such a pleasurable working space. Well, maybe a leg.
This blog is by, about and for photographers, professional or capable amateur, in the Jackson Hole, Greater Yellowstone area. Their work, where they travel, any showings – let me know, send in your images with comments.
Until next time……