Richard Ansley

In 2008 I began pursuing photography as a way to capture some of my many experiences with the natural world. Since a move to Salt Lake City in 1976 I had hiked, hunted, Fished and driven the back roads of Utah and the intermountain west, exploring and discovering the splendorous and diverse landscape of the region.

My love of nature was inspired early as a child while on many walks in the woods of Georgia and Florida with my Grandmother who was an avid bird watcher. She taught me how to be quiet and observant.

I have no formal training as a photographer, all I know I have learned by trial and error, reading and closely observing the techniques and guidelines of the many
excellent photographers that have preceded me.

My goal as an artist is to create exceptional Fine art photography. In order to complete this task, there are many elements that come into play. To simply be there
in the right place and at the right time, or what some would call “getting lucky” is certainly not enough. It is that subtle and unconscious interaction with nature that occurs when I lose myself in the moment and become connected to this wonderful creation I am about to capture a piece of. When this happens, the experience becomes magical and the First step of creating a true Fine art image is accomplished.

Today’s digital cameras, with their advanced technology, are still no more than a tool used to capture a raw image; an image that is Flat and dull and does not represent what the human eye sees. That image must then be molded into a Finished work. As the early landscape masters of black and white Film spent many hours in their darkrooms dodging and burning the images they had captured on Film plates, so must I use the digital darkroom of today in order to enhance the shadows, light and colors that my eyes saw unfold before me in the Field. What you see in my images is what I saw when I captured them.

A fine art image is not complete until it has been printed and mounted in such a way as to maximize its’ visual potential. Only the Finest archival materials are used to accomplish this. Only after all these steps are carefully completed can I reap the Final reward of my efforts, which is sharing with others these special moments in time I have been fortunate enough to experience. Only then is the process complete for me. If an image I have captured is extraordinary or portrays a special feeling that the viewer can relate too, then my goal as an artist is complete.

Richard Ansley