Spotlight on Eric Fletcher

On Sept 20, the Stone School Gallery will present an artist tak with photographer Eric Fletcher. Is the image on your smartphone really a picture? Is applying a filter on an Instagram shot really photography? Does it matter? Eric will discuss how recent technology has been changing photography radically — and will show examples of what opportunities may be coming as we emerge from a post-Covid19 era.

Presented at the Stone School Gallery, September 20, 2020, 1:30 p.m.

Spotlight on Eric Fletcher

“I bought my first camera the day before setting off to hitchhike across Canada at 18. Since then I’ve been taking pictures of places, people and things wherever I go in the world. My photographs have been used to illustrate articles in regional, Canadian and international publications. Many others can be viewed online in blogs, travel web sites, Google Earth & Maps.

For some of the photographs I will show you during the artist talk, I used a technique to extend the dynamic range of what my camera captures.
While our eyes naturally adjust to let us see detail in both shadow and bright areas, cameras tend to capture just an overall average range. HDR (high dynamic range) software blends multiple exposures to extend the range.
Used lightly, HDR can improve an otherwise dull image, but it can also be boosted to create a more surreal look.
To me, the effect seems even more interesting when printed on canvas: is it a photograph or a painting?”

Getting close to heaven
Eric Fletcher — 7909: 1/2000 sec; f/8; 160 ISO; 24mm; HDR
$215 41 × 51 cm on canvas

After riding to the top of Avion Ridge (at ~8,000 ft), we stopped to admire the view and let the horses rest.
The terrain left me little option but to capture this scene looking almost directly into the sun—a perfect
candidate for HDR to bring out detail that would otherwise be completely in shadow.

(Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta.)