Library explores the unbeatable ‘lightness’ of photography

It all started as a hobby in the late 1980s, something Earl Dawson tried to enjoy when he wasn’t spending his hours working.

Now 78 and retired, Dawson has remained quite acquainted with his trusted Canon and Panasonic DSLR compact cameras, traveling across America over the past 15 years, capturing images of the world around him. Especially at federal parks where his studies of natural light and shapes have found their way back home, now on view at the Baldwin Public Library’s atrium.

Calling himself a “student of the light,” Dawson waits for the perfect moment during the sunrise and sunset to capture the beauty of western America. He’s trekked through Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Grand Teton National Park among others in pursuit of the ideal picture.

“Those are the places where you could close your eyes and point your camera almost anywhere you want and get something really interesting,” he said.

Visiting the Grand Canyon’s south rim at least 10 times in his life, Dawson said waiting for the lighting to hit the immense depression “was perfect” and “worth the wait.”

Dawson walks the same paths his hero Ansel Adams traversed during his trailblazing photography career. Although Dawson never got to meet Adams, the influence the late celebrated photographer had on his career is evident in the pictures taken.

Dawson discovered the “magic of Ansel Adams” in a magazine article on the “10 best spots to take pictures.” It included a photo of the Grand Tetons reflected in the Snake River, which drew Dawson — and many other amateur photographers — into the enchantment of landscape photography.

On one occasion Dawson wandered the same area he saw in the magazine, stumbling across another photographer in the day’s early hours. Startled, both looked at each other in shock before slowly shifting their attention to a moose that had walked into their periphery. Both Dawson and the other photographer tried remaining calm and quiet so not to scare the majestic beast.

Early morning is perfect for Dawson, especially between 7 and 9, to let the colors in the sky fully develop over his scenic locations. He waits to “get the reflections” of the mountains off of the waterways, like at Snake River in the Pacific Northwest, where Dawson captures the light trickling over the mountain and pouring into the lower scenery. Another is the slot canyons of Arizona’s Antelope Canyon.

“The secret on visiting them is to get there when the sunlight hits the crack (of the slot when) the sunlight comes down the walls,” he said. “The walls go from black to mauve to orange — like a holy Christmas yellow — when the sun really shines on it. It’s amazing to watch it and very satisfying if you capture it. I still can’t quite figure out how they came out so good without editing.” 

Dawson recently invested in a lightbox now that he has time to experiment with editing, trying to create vibrant colors from inside his Rockville Centre home. Obtaining alstroemeria — commonly known as Peruvian lilies — he’s begun taking the semi-translucent flowers and seeing how much “white comes up through the colors of the petals” in his photographs. Some of these can be seen in the library exhibit.

Dawson’s photographs will remain in the library for the rest of March.