William Bates Shoots His Wife! Beautifully!

A Photo a Day of Wanda. That is how William and his lovely wife are creating a body of work that will be a wonderful tribute to an artists growth and the beauty of his muse.

Site: A Picture a Day of Wanda

Here is the Interview we did with Bill.
Wanda added her thoughts here.

1. Introduce yourself:
I'm Bill Bates. Wanda and I have been married for 23 years. We raised a daughter Mindi and son Bill jr. from my previous mairage and our daughter Brandy. We live in a rural community in the central part of Utah. We have always had a love of the outdoors and spend a lot of time hiking in the mountains and deserts of Utah and the other near by states. It is what I know and love. We're fortunate/lucky or blessed( pick the word) to live so close to so many spectacular places.

2. How long have you been shooting?
I have had a camera for about as long as I can remember. I have snapshots in albums going back to the late 60's. I shot 35mm film with an old Olympus SLR and really most of the pictures I took were very average snap shots. I picked up a small 1 mega pixel Olympus D400Z clam shell a few years ago. It was so great to be able to shot for what seems like free and see what I was doing right or wrong in an instant. It renewed my passion for taking pictures. Seeing the photos larger on the monitor and being able to crop really helped me see how to put a photo together. I hit the limits of that little camera pretty quick. I next picked up a Minolta Dimage 7. It gave me all the control I was used to with my film cameras. I really learned a lot with that camera. It was a great camera all except the amount of noise/grain at anything but 100iso. Last year when DSLR moved to a price point where I felt comfortable I weighed the pros and cons of various systems and it looked like for what I really wanted to do Canon was the best fit for me. I picked up a Canon 10D and was amazed at the excellent quality of a large print produced from a digital camera. At this point I have pretty much completely moved away from film for my photography.

3. Favorite subject matter?
It is so hard to say what my favorite subject matter is. I really love na ture photography. Trying to say whether I like the wildlife end of things more than the landscape end of things would be so hard for me. I never really liked or was any good at photographing people. It was something I decided I really needed tol earn to do. It is kind of what led to the "Picture a day for a year of Wanda" project. She gets to be my reluctant guinea pig. I really thought if a committed myself to taking a picture everyday for a year of what really is my favorite subject/person I might get a handle on photographing people.

4. What do you look for in an image?
I really look for what I call "subtle light" on my subjects. It is the little change, subtle glow or reflection from someplace else that gives a subject the something extra it needs to make an interesting photo. I took me thirty years to really understand that film or digital cameras don't see light like the human eye. Maybe reading just a basic photography book might have given me a clue. What helped me to see the subtle light was photographing in the canyons of the Colorado Platue. On the canyons in Southern Utah you get great reflections from the canyon walls. One of my favorite deer photographs you can see the red light from the opposite canyon wall in the deer's antlers. I took a photo yesterday of Wanda where so much of the color and glow came from the red maples leaves on the ground reflecting back at her. It just gave her that little glow that not all that long ago I wouldn't have even noticed. So I really spend my time hunting light. When it is right I just hope there is something that can be composed even remotely interesting nearby.

5. What do you want people to take away from viewing your work?
Oh this is the tough question. Will an answer of "it depends" get me a passing grade? Most of the time when taking a photo I'm not really thinking about what others will get from the photo. I'm thinking this is pretty or interesting and the light is nice. Some of it is to take picture of places or things most people may never get a chance to see. It is really just sharing what I love. There are two subjects I photograph now and then, the San Rafael Swell and the endangered Marian's Bearpaw Poppy that I really hope people can be made aware how much they need protection before they are gone or just plain ruined.

6. Do you use any special processes in creating your images?
I really don't use any special processing to create my photos. Just minor Photoshop work to adjust levels, curves and color or to soften flaws. Someday I need to learn what Photoshop can really do.

7. What marketing methods are you currently employing?
I'm not really doing any marketing. This may sound kind of bizarre but it didn't occur to me until recently that anyone might want to buy my pictures. I really think of myself as an amateur. As someone that graduated with an accounting degree oh so long ago maybe I should think about the business end. I do worry about photography becoming a job. I like the freedom of taking photos of what I want, when I want and not worrying about pleasing clients or deadlines.

8. Tell us the best and worst photographic story from your career.
My best isn't so much a story. It is my most moving place and is something if people can experience it they should. If anyone ever gets the chance to be at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park at sunrise during mid winter they should make the effort to be there. Photo-wise it is road kill. Everyone has what pretty much is always the same photo. If the time of year is right and the east horizon is clear it is always a pretty great photo. But it isn't about the photo. It is all about the light. This little arch sits on the edge of a cliff along the Colorado River at the very back of a canyon that faces east. The canyon is bowl shape and red rock. As the sun comes up all the light is concentrated and reflected up through this arch. The arch and everything around just glows a beautiful orangey red. It is very moving. On a cold, crisp winter morning as the sun comes up you have the light and you can feel the warmth and the view down across the canyon is second to none. I have interupted My slumber at 3:00am more times than I can count to drive to Mesa Arch at sunrise.

Worst story isn't an "oh no someone is upset" or "client from hell type of thing." There are those days with the Wanda Picture a Day thing when we're up against the wall trying to come up with an idea for a photo and we are running out of time. Or, Wanda and I are tired and frustrated and the photos just aren't working. Every picture is just crap and we are getting on each others nerves. If I barked at a model or just some poor person like I have barked at Wanda my reputation would be ruined. It is funny my kids see photos that we take and will say boy I can see Wanda had enough when you snapped this one. There have been those day where Wanda will joke that the last photo of our project should be us going into a divorce attorneys office. I think those are the type of days everyone has when they have deadlines or suffer photographer's blank (my version of writers block)

9. What equipment do you use to create your images?
I'm using Canon digital SLR's a 20D and 10D with a collection of lenses from Canon, Sigma and Tamron. I went with Canon mostly for their long glass because I like photographing wildlife. I think all the current DSLRs no matter the brand are now producing fantastic images.

10. If you could add anything to your portfolio, what would it be?
I'm still trying to get a good wolf or bull moose photo. I'm headed back to Yellowstone just after I hit the send button. OH there is one other photo I thought could be a big money maker. I often joke that a photo of GeorgeBush and Condi Rice in a compromising position would make money.

Thanks Bill

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