James Blair grew up admiring the work of Lewis Hine, Jacob Riis, and other social-documentary photographers. In 1951 Blair jumped at the chance to participate in a project documenting the changing face of his native Pittsburgh, and he later photographed refugees fleeing Vietnam and Hungary.
After joining the staff of the National Geographic Society in 1962, Jim continued to photograph stories he thought important, including an award-winning piece on South Africa. By the time he returned in 1994, Jim had published 47 stories in the National Geographic, numerous pieces for Geographic books, and had won many awards.
Jim's use of photography to heighten awareness was not limited to his coverage of people. In addition to compelling landscape images made for the magazine, he photographed Our Threatened Inheritance, a National Geographic volume about America's federal lands.
"Landscape photography is not just about making pretty pictures," Jim says. "It can also serve a purpose. Your job is to find and communicate the emotion that will move your viewer to care about a place. The images in Our Threatened Inheritance, for example, did a lot to help preserve the federal estate—the national parks, refuges, and other lands that are in our collective care."
Like other Geographic photographers, Jim does a lot of research before photographing a new place. But to him that is only the beginning. "Research points you in the right direction," he maintains, "but you really have to work to get a good image. If you go to Yellowstone or any place that has been much photographed, you have to find a new picture. One way to do that is to go at the so-called "wrong" time of year, such as Yellowstone in winter. You get pictures of familiar places that are different from what people have seen before.
"Even if you are in a place at the same time as everyone else, look for ways to portray it differently, to avoid the cliché. For example, just about everybody who has visited El Capitan has the same picture of it—the best place to shoot it is from the end of the parking lot late in the day. Well, of course you are going to make that picture—it's the best one for a reason—and I did, too. But then I got out a 20mm lens and started working it, and I got something quite good and different. Experimenting like this is one of the keys to making a good photograph. Explore a place with different lenses. Move around to different vantage points. As with any endeavor, you have to be willing to take chances—both physical and intellectual—if you want a reward. It costs some time and some film, but it is certainly the best way to learn."
Collaboration with picture editors is also important to Jim, especially when tackling a subject as vast as all the federal lands in the United States. In addition to helping set a course for the coverage and with research, picture editors are a good proxy for the reader's eyes. "John Agnone, the picture editor of Our Threatened Inheritance, helped me get over the hump in what was a huge undertaking. He looked at the first take I brought in and said, 'If you keep getting images like this, we have a book.'
"Landscape photography is a lot of work. You have to get up early and stay out late—whether the light is good or not—because you never know what the world will present to your camera. If this is your passion, it is time well spent. Luck is of course important, but the old saying is true: You make your own luck. You have to stay out long enough so that it's more on your side than not—to explore, to experiment. But that's one of the great joys of landscape photography—the excuse to spend a lot of time out in nature. I love sitting on the top of a mountain with nothing more to do than think about the scene and wait for the light."
Like other pros, Jim owns a lot of gear, but he concentrates on the aesthetics rather than the equipment. "A good landscape picture is one in which the sense of place comes through the two-dimensional surface of the printed page and reaches out to the viewer. This has very little to do with technique, though of course you need to know what your tools can do. Most important is that you have focused all your energies in looking for that moment when the image of the landscape is right. You never know when this is going to happen—it can be after 30 seconds or after 2 days—so you always have to be alert. The payoff is tremendous: You're out there, you're waiting for the light, you're experiencing the place and anticipating, and then there's the moment of sheer bliss when it all comes together. All the time you invested pays off—you were there, you were ready, and you got it."
Jim is very careful with exposures, using graduated neutral density filters or whatever else might be required to allow his film to capture the tonal range and feeling of the places he photographs. "Bracketing is very important," he says, "but it is not just to ensure that you get the right exposure. It is really about aesthetics. Your only opportunity to control the image chromatically is with exposure, and by bracketing you can get the film to look most closely like what you saw."
Jim still gets up early, looks carefully, and makes photographs for personal work and a variety of clients. He still believes that photographs can serve a purpose, and his images continue to reflect that belief.
Jim Blair's Landscape Photography Tips- Show your pictures to other people. And listen to their reactions to them. You will learn from their comments whether or not the images work and get an idea of how they might work better.
- Get your camera set up on a solid tripod and use a remote release so you can concentrate on the scene and control the camera without having to touch it.
- Landscape photography can take you to places that are difficult to get out of, so make sure that somebody knows where you are.
- Carry a graduated neutral density filter for situations in which you need to get bright areas (usually the sky) and darker areas (like the land) in balance.
- It is all about light. Watch carefully and be willing to wait. When the light really strikes you, it will strike the photograph, too.
- Use your landscape photographs to make people care about the land. You can help save it.
