The Art of Chris Froelich

"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.

Sunrise and Thunderstorms at Artist Point Morning thunderstorms were rolling in from the west and the sun was getting ready to rise in the pale and clear eastern sky. My alarm had gone off at 4:00 am in our tent. I was camping in Yellowstone with my family and those of two of my brothers visiting from the Midwest. The night before, I had told everyone I was going to get up and go to Artist Point and do some photography if anyone wanted to join me. I had no takers. Quietly as I could, I snuck out of camp and started driving in the dark toward the valley. As is so easy to do in the summer at northern latitude, I had misjudged how quickly the morning comes. As the road emerged from the tall Jackson and Lodgepole pines and into a bison strewn meadow, I saw clearly for the first time what was going on in the sky. Layers of cold front thunderheads were marching from out of the west, and the light from the rising sun would fully hit them as it cleared the horizon. I knew the spot I had scoute...

Photography travel can be frustrating. I've made two dedicated photography trips so far. Both of them were within driving distance from where we live. The first was to Glacier in the fall. It was a steady drizzle with overcast sky the whole trip. Not interestingly cloudy. Just a dull grey blanket that was coupled with 50 mph winds two of the three days. I had a lot of ideas about shots I wanted, (ie. mountain/lake refection shots, sunrise alpenglow, fall colors, maybe a grizzly or two), but those all went out the window. Lakes aren't that interesting when they have a chop, sunrises in the rain haven't really inspired anyone in the art world for the last few thousand years. I didn't know what to do and I didn't get many shots I because I had these preconceived notions of what my photos should be. I hadn't left room for creativity or spontaneity. I don't really have enough experience to be creative or spontaneous, anyway. I just went to the iconic locations ...