The Art of Chris Froelich

There is inertia, and momentum, in everything. I see inertia all around me every day, especially at work. Personal inertia keeps people from picking themselves up, moving forward, improving. It is a natural law that keeps the substance around us from randomly shuffling about. For artists, it can be a debilitating force that prevents the expansion of talents and inventiveness. But there is also momentum. Momentum keeps you moving. Makes it difficult to change course. I feel that right now, there is some momentum pushing me in my photography. I think it started in March when I picked up and headed out with some cameras and, more importantly, some film. When shooting, I always have this sense of excitement and anticipation, but with digital it quickly fades. I shoot, edit, and post - sometimes all in the same day. Each photo and location is a self contained event. But with film, the photography spans over days, weeks, sometimes even months. I make a picture and then wait for developme...

Today my goal was to try and get something that was perhaps a little different. Mono Lake is, after all, a widely photographed location with dozens of photography workshops every year and hundreds if not thousands of photographers making their way to this iconic location.  I marvel again and again how blessed I was to be able to spend so much time there, completely alone and with nearly perfect weather.  When I woke up and checked my email, I found out I would be sending off my Nikon F100 to some fortunate soul....that worthy bidder on Ebay would soon have the camera and all 3 lenses. I would have to send it from the post office in Bishop as I made my way to Death Valley. I can say that the Nikon F100 introduced me to what photography should be. Perfect ergonomics, ease of use, an amazing view finder, and the ability to blow through a roll of 36 exposures in 4.5 seconds. Combine that with the insanely affordable manual focus Nikkor lenses out there, and you have a system t...

Still I woke up at 4:30, long before my alarm was set to go off. Unlike previous trips, I didn't have to wake up and go find something to shoot or figure out composition or worry about camera set up, so I didn't set my alarm as early as usual. It would take me about 15 minutes to get to my location, I knew exactly where my tripod would be set up, I knew my aperture, I knew my focal length. The only variable I had left was shutter speed. No I only had to count on mother nature to provide the weather I was counting on. The shot would still be good if it was windy or if there was clouds, but I had something in mind.... I find myself drawn to certain images lately, and have a desire to emulate, but differentiate, from my current inspiration, Michael Kenna. He works with a Hasselblad (square format) using monochrome film and long exposures for a lot of his work. I find, however, that I am not yet good enough for monochrome. It is hard to pre visualize luminosity and I'm ...