About Feral Flowers

The earliest photographs were made with Canon 35mm film cameras using a range of lenses and filters. Much of the analog archive was photographed on transparency film, a demanding medium with little tolerance for exposure error and limited opportunity for correction after the image was made.

Over time, the work developed around atmosphere—the quality of the air, seasonal moisture, wind, cloud movement and the direction of light. These conditions can transform the appearance of flowers and terrain from one moment to the next, making patience and being present in the landscape as important as the camera itself.

In 1991, the Fuji GX617 panoramic camera became part of the project. Its large 6×17 cm transparency film frame produces a true 3:1 panoramic image, allowing broad valleys, hillsides and mountain foothills to be documented within a single sweeping frame. Digital photography later extended the archive while continuing the traditional 3:2 proportions of 35mm photography.

Much of the archive survives as original film transparencies dating back decades. When viewed directly on a light table through a magnifying loupe, the originals reveal the color, fine detail and depth physically contained within the film.

These transparencies remain the primary analog source for the photographs and provide a physical record created at the time each landscape was photographed.

The printing process began in the traditional darkroom, with hand burning and dodging of black-and-white prints and work with Cibachrome. Modern digital workflows now allow the original film archive to be reproduced with exceptional control while preserving the character of the source transparency.

High-resolution scans intended for large-scale printing are carefully prepared to preserve edge acuity, tonal richness and the structural detail of the original film. Because of the expansive area of the 6×17 cm frame, Fuji GX617 photographs can retain remarkable clarity at mural scale.

Prints exceeding ten feet in width have been produced from the panoramic archive, including a permanent wildflower mural installation at the Frazier Park Library.