Photographer Baiting Bighorn Sheep

**Kirk Keyes** · 4-Mar-2011, 13:23

Originally Posted by Frank Petronio

Any links to pictures by Mr. Baiter or the flame-lit photos by Fitali? Just curious....

http://www.fatali.com/

I don't think his "Delicate Arch Burning" photo is online, though...

**Scott Davis** · 4-Mar-2011, 13:42

He "Doesn't" use filters and.or photoshop???? What does he do then, give LSD to his Velvia? I wonder if he's the one who broke the Teapot... after all, if he set fire to Delicate Arch, the odds are favorable he could have climbed up to remove a birds' nest or something else that he didn't like and broke it off...

**Drew Wiley** · 4-Mar-2011, 14:02

Scott - many of Fatali's prints actually describe incredible color situations in the canyons with reflections and so forth; in other words, not fake and not over the top
due to Velvia (which would be very difficult to use under that kind of contrast - more
likely Astia was often used). But then all this got supplemented with "what will sell"
theatrics. The use of fire shows actual light - i.e., what he saw when he photographed
these places lit up by fire. Neat idea, except that fire has certain side effects potentially classified as vandalism. Hence the court order - he's not allowed to make
money on, or in any manner publish or display, those particular shots. The statement
that colored filters aren't used is also true, because if he did that, there would be an
overall color cast in the scenes. Rather, he has used intensified color in the darkroom
and sometimes sandwiched different transparencies together to create otherwise
unreal scenes. People do this in Photoshop all the time. His sleight of hand is better,
and the only objection I have to it (other than taste), is that he claims he has sat
around for days on end to behold these wonders of lighting, which in certain cases
never did occur. Why not just sell them honestly - without the fake claims. People
would still buy his prints if they gravitate toward his subject matter and presentation.
Heck - they buy Photoshopped fake scenes too. Sad, because the guy has serious
technical skills, gets out there, and could really do some nice stuff if he wasn't addicted to glitz and snake-oil marketing.

**Brian C. Miller** · 4-Mar-2011, 14:49

Previous Fatali thread

I think that Fatali uses ND filters. The colors aren't changed, but there's no way that E6 can handle the range of light demonstrated in some of his photographs.

Drew, could you please point out an instance of a sandwiched Fatali photo and walk me through it? I looked over Fatali's site, and nothing seemed to spring out at me. (Nothing that a Lee ND wouldn't explain, anyways.) Come to think of it, the only ones that seem out-of-place are the big moon photos, and those could be done with a double-exposure.

**Drew Wiley** · 4-Mar-2011, 15:51

Hi Brian - there's no way Fatali could be using something like split grads or Lee filters over the lens and come out with an immaculate 40x60 Cibachrome. You have to look
at these prints in person. I'm working from memory, but as an example, I think the image is titled, Earth Spirit Rising, or something like that, and is presumably a sunset
shot of a well-known aritifical geyser out in the Blackrock Desert in Nevada. Of course
it helps to have a background with Ciba, or at least printing chromes, to understand
the subterfuge. The live print is spectacular. The first thing you notice it exactly the
same crescent moon in the same place in a deep blue sky as several of his other images - a pretty obvious giveaway. Then within a few degrees apart, there's also a brilliant orange sunset (or sunrise??) - not only would this be impossible to record on the same sheet of film with respect to luminance, but the whole way it lights up the scene is conspiciously impossible. It results from sandwich-printing three different chromes, each of which has been selective masked to effectively dodge/burn the way it colors an overall section of the image. I suppose it would just be easier to carry
around a portable air compressor and spray-paint gun. We could have Delicate Arch
in bright purple!

**Brian C. Miller** · 4-Mar-2011, 18:27

Thanks, Drew! I had looked through all of his online images, and based on those I didn't see anything like the moon being in exactly the same place. I'm guessing that Ciba is good for multiple exposure, like Jerry Uelsmann?

**Steve Sherman** · 4-Mar-2011, 19:05

Admittedly I am a bit naive.

All this time I have been roaming the landscape looking for something to create with the only tools of lens, exposure, development and an occasional filter. Weather, lighting and wind conditions completely out of my control

A few years ago a friend returned from a Photo Safari in Alaska and show me some of his work. Really impresssive, albeit digital, that is until he told me that most of the animals were lead into staging areas where workshop photogs such as he were allowed to stand at a safe and slightly elevated position to be assured of a close and three dimensional perspective.

In the end it comes down to either staging or creating a photograph, I'll take the latter, and it's free too!

Cheers!

**Drew Wiley** · 4-Mar-2011, 20:40

Brian - I've only seen a couple of Fatali prints that looked like multiple composites.
But there are some others that are simple dubbed-in moonrises from a second
chrome. So I wouldn't compare them to what Uelsman routinely did. Uelsman
moved the paper from enlarger to enlarger with separate negs in each ones. What
Fatali does involves punch and register gear and sandwiching the chromes. I just
finsished registering some masks for printing this weekend. But I do it for tonal
and textural control, not to create imaginary scenes.

**Vaughn** · 4-Mar-2011, 20:57

I stopped off at the gallery in Bishop of Galan's work. He had a wonderful eye and got out there. The recent printing of many of his images, though, disappointed me in the supersaturated colors and manipulated light. I hate to say it, but many reminded me of the "Painter of Light" guy.

His vintage prints I saw there had none of this.