Eric Glaser, Colorado USA
Member Since July 2010
Artist Statement Hello, and welcome! My name is Eric Glaser, and I'm a professional photographer, secondary educator, outdoorsman, and naturalist. By day, I work with kids. For me, it's the highest honor to help our young people succeed in life, and to help them realize their staggering potential. Whether they’re out on the sports field, participating in the arts, or are in my classroom, I learn from my students every day. They are amazing.
Perhaps equally amazing are the diverse landscapes of the state of Colorado. During the nearly ten years I have lived here, I have devoted all of my energies, using what free time I have, to learning, developing, and refining the craft of photography to best showcase this beautiful place. Some of the results of my work are found on these pages. While I also love the unique perspectives of macro photography, and hope someday to master its very different ways of seeing, for now my focus here will largely be the Colorado landscape in all its splendor.
Ansel Adams wrote: "In my mind's eye, I visualize how a particular . . . sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice."
I've been excited ever since I first came here, nearly thirty years ago, on a ski trip with friends. I'll never forget my first wide-eyed view of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, rising above a flat treeless plain on our way up to the slopes. At that time, I had a new way to record the experience. It was only three years earlier, in what has since been a lifetime of such blessings, that I'd returned from a journey to South America and Antarctica with a close friend. It was there that I tentatively crouched behind my first tripod and SLR camera (a new Canon AE-1), and, while pondering strange new concepts such as "composition" and "depth of field," made a photograph. I then made another. Which was a good thing, too, for there were plenty to be made. For three magical weeks, our viewfinders were filled with the unforgettable sights of garrulous penguins, snorting elephant seals, the shocked look of glee on our young faces, and the soft stunning scenery of a snow-shrouded continent.
In short, I was hooked. I couldn't stop making photographs. I resolved to learn and do everything I could to get better. That first camera - and the remarkable places and things I saw while looking through it - started me on another journey: of humbling self-discovery from within and without; of what it means to really look, not just see; and a greater awareness and appreciation for this wonderful planet we live on and the natural world around us. For me, it's been a torrid love affair with the lens that continues unabated to this day. Now, here in Colorado, my challenge as a photographer is to somehow do justice to its landscapes: to its soaring peaks, and its gentle plains; to its myriad rivers, wilderness areas, wildflowers, parks, canyons, mesas, sand dunes, and waterfalls, each in their own astonishing seasons, that together are a unique endowment for us all.
Mr. Adams is right. To me, it's about the special sights and feelings that we as humans are privileged to experience, and how to best render them on film (or sensor) in a way that will inspire others to make their own journey, or - better yet - to see this place for themselves. It's about strapping on the hiking boots or snowshoes to explore any wilderness and make our own discoveries. And, it's about the hard work and practice required to intuitively know what makes a good photograph while out in the field.
After years of shooting with film, I now enthusiastically use all things digital. I use Canon gear, and employ the finest bodies and optics they produce. Aside from an occasional crop here or there, or a rare tweaking of exposure or dynamic range, I make no adjustments or enhancements (other than sharpening) in the processing of m
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