The Art of Chris Froelich

Katie, Polly, and I had a beautiful day up in the Sierras on Saturday. We started out with a late lunch an Sorenson's Resort, and then continued up into Carson Pass, exploring US Forest roads. This was a digital day for me, using my Fuji XE2 and a Fuji 10-24mm lens. By all accounts, this lens is one of the finest ultra wide lenses ever made. I have no idea if that is true since I have nothing to compare it to, but so far I am extremely happy with it. I've collected a humongous pile of undeveloped film, so I'm not going to shoot anymore until I get the rolls I already have developed. Since we're moving in a few weeks, nothing is expected to happen in that arena.  The one thing that has really impressed me with the Fuji is the ability to pull highlights and shadows out of the RAW files. The JPEG files had white skies and very little shadow detail. Looking at the LCD screen while I was shooting made me consider shooting multiple exposures and blending them. But I'

The Mamiya AFd II is a camera I want to love. I'm just not sure if I'll ever get to that point in the relationship. It is an old, big, and noisy hunk of metal and plastic that is capable of producing outstanding pictures. To my taste, Mamiya produces the finest medium format optics. Fuji, Ziess, and Schneider just don't do it for me like the Mamiya glass does. Combined with a fine grain film, Mamiya glass renders the world in an ethereal sharp but soft light. I love doing long exposures where I breathe on the lens with a few seconds left to add a little glow.  So why aren't I enamored with this camera. Mostly, because I own the RZ67 and RB67. They have spoiled me with unparalleled image quality. If I'm going to carry around a 10 pound camera, I darn well better get world class results.  I've owned a Hasselblad 500c, and the AFd II just doesn't have the same feeling. That precise confident exactness of meticulous attention to detail and dedication to c

I was finally able to attend a soccer game and watch Kathryn play. It was so much fun to watch Kathryn and the other girls play so aggressively. They have completely dominated the first two games, outscoring their opponents 9-1. I was surprised on how big the pitch was. Those girls were running! Kathryn is playing on a U-11 team. About half the girls are playing up from younger age groups because our club is brand new and just starting out. Watching the younger girls play tough on (sometimes much) bigger girls was inspiring.  The team's coach, Ian Hill, is really quite different from other youth sports coaches. He coaches with Love. Sounds corny, right? It's not touchy-feely namby-pamby stuff. He is teaching the girls accountability to your teammates, coaches, and parents because you love them. He makes them run at practice until its uncomfortable (maybe even some tears) because he wants them to know what it feels like in a game to keep going when you think you can't run

"I am losing precious days, I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news" -John Muir I need to get some sun on my face. How sad that this is true, so I am out the door in a moment to go hobble about so Nature can touch my face, but before I go..... These were from an exercise of composition using my Hasselblad and Fuji Astia 100f film. The Hasselblad shoots in a square format and Spooner Lake State Park has a large meadow dotted with clumps of bushes, pines, and willows. It is also crisscrossed with little brooklets and each low spot is a gathering place for cold mountain runoff. There was a lot of texture and layers to be explored in both the earth and the sky! What a glorious sunrise.

Working in the Studio (Garage) and in the Landscape First a note about my absence from this blog:  I have spent the last year trying to figure out the best way to express and display my hobby to an online audience. I've tried Flickr, Facebook, Viewbug, Smugmug, Intagram.... The list goes on. What I've finally decided is that the only way to completely control the look, quality, and content of what I produce, is to do it on my own blog and website. I've owned the website domain cmfroelich.com for almost 4 years and have never done anything with it, but perhaps soon. Now, on to the blog post. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I want to do with my camera. I love photography for it's own sake, but I've always wanted to do more. I like all aspects of the craft except floundering around in stupid menus on digital cameras. If people find out I take pictures, they often ask if I am a landscape photographer or a studio photographer. Until