Jaspal Jandu Photography

Turbulent Times

We have just returned from a turbulent visit to Venezuela.  Upon arrival in Canaima National Park it somehow got incorrectly rumoured (I have no idea how) that we were film-makers interested in making a documentary of the area. Needless to say our entire equipment was searched and nearly confiscated as we tried to convince the Inparques authorities otherwise.

After much debate we got our stuff back and managed to enjoy the incredible National Park. The tepuys (tabletop mountains with vertical walls carved out through millions of years of erosion) emerging abruptly out of the grasslands and thick jungle make one of the most dramatic views you can imagine.

The highlight, of course, was Angel Falls – the tallest of its kind in the world.  Because of the difficulty in reaching the falls (a 2-hour plane ride from Caracas to Canaima, a 4-hour boat ride to the camp and then a 2-hour trek through the jungle to the falls) the relief upon finally seeing the 800m cascade is immense.

Although our stay was brief, we managed to stay long enough to explore the area and capture some wonderful sights onto film. 

I hope to return one day; only this time with all the documentation sorted well before arrival…

Adieu la ma chère Amérique

After three months in North America, its time to move on to new pastures.  From Denali to Badwater Basin in Death Valley, we seemed to have crammed an awful lot into a relatively short period of time. However, there are numerous places which we didn’t manage to cover and I’m sure that there’ll be many, many return visits to this incredible landscape over the years.

The next leg in the project is South America. We will travel to Venezuela, Argentina and Chile over the coming months and I’m looking forward to the new sites and challenges which I’m sure await us.

As we will be taking numerous trips into more unexplored regions, 'update' posts may become more sporadic over the next short while. Stick with it, however, because I’m sure the results will be worth it...!

Where have all the good monuments gone?

There is one disconcerting trend we have noticed during our brief journey through the American Southwest. It relates to the fact that some of the smaller, well-hidden natural wonders in the deep backcountry have been altered since our arrival…

We were visiting the incredible gallery of Michael Fatali in Springdale the other night and it come to be known that a number of natural monuments have been altered or completely destroyed by the possible actions of man:

The geysers in the famous Fatali shot Earth Moon Rising - Damaged by gun fire
The ‘Control Tower’ in Coyote Buttes   - Damaged (cause unknown)
The second hoodoo of the famous trio in Utah   - Destroyed (human involvement?)
The ‘Teapot’ immortalised in Fatali’s ‘Back of Beyond’ - Destroyed (cause unknown)

And so on.

Now, it maybe entirely plausible that the changes have not involved human involvement. In such a case, it would be churlish for a landscape photographer to denounce the eroding powers of Mother Nature. Marvelling at the delicate sculpting power at work in Antelope Canyon or at the Wave provides a clear demonstration that the entire visual landscape is in a constant state of change – no natural wonder resides idly in situ awaiting a photographer’s gaze.

However, the possibility of gun-shot marks, mountaineering damage and deliberate desecration is surely beyond the pale. 

There are numerous ‘secret’ locations in the Southwest which wilderness fanatics and professional photographers keep fiercely to themselves.  One can not begin to understand why they are kept secret until we all witness the downside which fame brings.

I have no burning view on the keeping locations hidden or not (but I do believe that with the advent of the internet, GPS etc., that no knowledge stays secret for very long these days). However, it is a slightly sad testament to mankind that places need to be kept secret in order to prevent others from destroying them.

For obvious reasons, we will now not be visiting many of these locations.  The only way for future generations to see these incredibly delicate formations of yesteryear is through artistic or photographic media for they simply do not exist in tangible form anymore.

Camera Woes

It’s been a tough week.

As a soft, diffuse light began to envelope Zion’s autumnal foliage, I quickly began to set up the Linhof 617 and the 90mm Super Angulon Lens.  However, just as I was about to shoot, I noticed that the entire lens front assembly had wound itself loose by around 5mm.  A sigh of frustration accompanied the realisation that I wasn’t going to be shooting anything that particular day …

A quick email to the ever-helpful Paula Pell-Johnson at Linhof Studio confirmed that the Copal shutter needed repair. The problem had arisen through the over-use (and over-tightening) of the centre-filter for the lens. In a nutshell, if one screws the centre filter too tight then it has a nasty habit of unwinding the entire lens assembly when undone. The silly thing is that there is no need to put it on so tight - just a couple of turns and it’s loosely but perfectly in place.

After looking at a couple of service centres (Marflex Service, 252-652-4401 and Hp Marketing, 1-800-735-4373), I ended up calling S K Grimes in Rhode Island.  The matter was expertly handled by Lauren and after overnight-shipping the lens is repaired to new (the team also managed to change a couple of aperture blades which had been damaged).

My congratulations to SK Grimes for their exemplary work.

By the Rivers of Zion

We find ourselves in Zion National Park.  The foliage is in prime autumnal bloom and it is memorising to witness the panoply of colours on display.  Although we had originally planned to spend only a few days here, the sight of red maples and yellow aspens is just too alluring a sight for any photographer.

And, boy, are there photographers.

Virtually every turn-off and trailhead is festooned with collection of cameras, tripods and accessories that would embarrass most photographic trade shows.  As in most National Parks of the Southwest, there are a number of well-known (and well trodden) locations from which to shoot.

I have tried to eschew these locations as much as possible and have spent a couple of days just exploring the backcountry areas. Whilst this is a more adventurous strategy in today’s photographically saturated world it presents a risk-reward pay-off that I’m more than happy to play with…