Back in Black
Living for 
15 days on the islands of Yap and experiencing their desire to keep the past alive also sparked a desire for me to return to my roots as well, at least photographically. For a few years in the 1980’s I traveled everywhere with my trusty Wista 4×5 view camera shooting nothing but black and white. One summer I even traced Ansel Adams footsteps in the southwest. Not to copy the master, but to see what he was seeing. That helped my vision allot. Photography must start and end with seeing. The image maker seeing the light values and the contrast, and the viewer seeing the vision of the photographer, and a world that is unique to that vision. I am so used to seeing photographically I sometimes find it difficult to explain to a driver or guide why 11:00 AM is not the time of day I wish to visit almost any location. I’m looking for that dreamy late evening light, or the deep contrast of early morning or late afternoon. Here in the tropics those “golden” hours are not easily found.
Other considerations often take precedence over my wishes for perfect light. Boats must be launched and return according to the tides in order not to become stranded (as Brian and I found ourselves one evening). In the evening flies magically go away just at the time that makes photography imposable without flash (Oh Dark Thirty) and that is when 
most activities are planned. So as a photographer you find yourself having to learn to work with what you have, not with what you would like to have. If you have followed my posts of Yap you have seen a lot of images of the “Traditional Village” This was a rare magical time photographically. We started the tour at 4:30 PM – perfect – then beautiful clouds formed and we endured a rain shower. A combination of soft cloud diffused light and late afternoon light caused the light to dance through the jungle making the oiled skin of the people shine. The people talk of magic, the magic of a special tuna fish hook, the magic of finding their way thousands of miles without modern navigational tools. I believe in magic. And during two late afternoons in Yap I saw the magic of the people unique in the pacific.
