Shedding light on landscapes

You do a sort of double take when you see Jim Stimson’s photographs. The iconic Western landscapes are familiar: Half Dome in Yosemite, Bryce Canyon in Utah and Mono Lake, seen below. But something’s different. Though influenced by greats such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston and shooting in the same places, Stimson’s detail and color, craft and composition are specifically his own. “It’s a challenge to be someplace like Yosemite,” says Stimson. “It has been done so many times that I find myself looking at other things: an intimate detail along the river or a tree against the cliff face. I like the things that happen serendipitously.” Like a shot of the Grand Tetons in which curls of mist from a receding storm soften and almost tame the winter peaks, or a minimalist shot of Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, horizontal bands of salt and sky topped by gathering clouds. And then there’s the reality of the photo biz. Hours and days, weeks and months spent indoors, printing, promoting, selling. He’d like to get out more and range farther. “In our country, I’d like to go to the East Coast and photograph the autumn colors,” says the photographer and author, who lives near Crowley Lake, Calif. “Abroad, I’d really like to see places like Ireland, Mongolia and the Tibetan plateau.” Stimson appears at a reception and book signing Saturday for his current exhibition at Mountain Light Gallery, 106 S. Main St., Bishop, Calif. The show runs through the end of March. Call (760) 873-7700 or visit www.mountainlight.com. To see his photos, go to www.jimstimson.com.

-- Veronique de Turenne