Galen Rowell

I had an amazing poster in my classroom of a mountain climber hanging on El Captain in Yosemite. The lighting is spectacular on the valley below and there is a perfect rainbow behind him. I would stare at that poster all the time wondering if that shot would even be possible. (Side note: the PE teacher walked in my room one day and casually said, “I used to date him”).

I didn’t know who took that photo or anything else about Galen Rowell. Never heard his name or saw any of his pictures. There is no reason why I was searching the internet, looking for mountain pictures, when I stumbled across mountainlight.com. I sat stunned, watching the slideshow that crossed my screen late at night. I went to bed dreaming of all those exotic lands, that unbelievable lighting.

The very next day, I was reading the local newspaper and this is true, Galen Rowell was giving a presentation at Northstar that night. I had to go. I drove over there very early, but at the door they told me it was sold out. I was so disappointed that I just stood there wishing something would happen to change it. I couldn’t make myself leave. After a few minutes, the woman running the booth said to me, “They are counting the chairs now, maybe they will have a few extra.” So I got in, first!

I sat right beside Galen and his projector as the crowd filled in. I was literally buzzing from excitement. When the lights went down and those beautiful photos filled the room, I was transported to another world. He spoke about taking each picture and what the experience was like. I bought several of his books, he signed one.

As you can guess, he is a person of deep intensity. He started as a car mechanic, didn’t know that he had this incredible talent until he was older. He was a mountain climber and took pictures of his partners on the sides of mountains. That’s how he got his first National Geographic cover. He did many.

You know that feeling you had when you heard that John Kennedy or John Lennon died, that sinking, no, no, no feeling? That’s what I felt when Galen and his wife crashed their little plane on their way home from a photo expedition. How can that wonderful talent no longer be here?

I know that I am a C level photographer. Professional photographers are sometimes B level. Galen Rowell and his peers are A level photographers. I am a total amateur; I don’t understand a thing about the technical side of photography. But occasionally, rarely, I look through the lens and at the moment I snap, I feel a rush through my brain and I know, absolutely know, that it is good. And it always is the one picture that turns out perfect…to me.