Nature Photography Photo Workshop

FOREWORD

The great wilderness photographer Galen Rowell taught that it is far more important to let your experiences validate your images then to let your images validate your experiences. Beyond Galen's deep technical mastery and artistic knowledge was an intense appreciation for the breathtaking natural world around him and profound respect for the fragile connection he shared with it. These, too, are the principles that Nat Coalson lives and photographs by.

I had the honor of photographing alongside Nat this past autumn while traveling through the Colorado Rockies on a personal workshop. On one particular early dawn morning when I was recovering from an altitude-induced migraine, Nat decided to visit a small lake near Crested Butte, Colorado, on his own. I'll never forget how Nat described the experience. It wasn't about getting the perfect shot. As a matter of fact, I don't think he would have cared one way or another. Rather, it was about immersing himself in the magic of the moment as the morning fog peacefully rose above the calm surface of the serene mountain lake.

For Nat, it was about contemplation and introspection; about creating an image that would not have existed without him; about revealing the invisibles and allowing the work to express itself of its own accord through him. Seeing his stunning photos later that morning, I was instantly transported to the lake; and I felt exactly how Nat felt — as if I was sitting on the shore watching the scene unfold before my ...