Photo Journal of Clyde Butcher
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American The Beautiful
The Monumental Landscape
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The Director of the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg Virginia, Mr. Aaron DeGroff, invited Clyde to join in the celebration of the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown by exhibiting Clyde's photography from across the United States.
The exhibit at the Muscarelle Museum took place in 2007 and continues to travel to museums throughout the country. For information about obtaining the exhibit contact:
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The Opening at the Muscarelle Museum of Art |
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Clyde with Mr. Aaron DeGroff, Director of the
Muscarelle Museum of Art at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia |
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Clyde signing his new book
America the Beautiful ~ The Monumental Landscape |
About the book:
When we returned from our trip and printed out the images, everyone who saw them were amazed at their beauty and suggested we put together a book to go along with the exhibit.
It was difficult choosing the images for the exhibit, but at least in the book we could include many other images that couldn't fit into an exhibit. Both Clyde and I are very proud of the book America the Beautiful ~ The Monumental Landscape.
DVD:
I have always wanted to put a DVD together of Clyde's images with Sammy Tedder's music. His music is so soothing that it always lowers my blood pressure! When we spoke to Sammy about it he was very enthusiastic. (We also produced a CD of just the music.) The DVD contains a slide show of Clyde's black and white images with Sammy's soothing music, and a slide show of our adventures as we traveled around the country photographing.
If you're interested in purchasing these, go to "GIFTS" on our website and choose what you'd like. |
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Clyde looking over his negatives |
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What photos to put in book? |
view B&W photo's
When Aaron invited Clyde to create an exhibit of his photography from around the United States, Clyde was excited at the possibilities of photographing as many outstanding locations as he could in the two year time frame he had before the exhibit was due.
During Clyde's many years as a landscape photographer he has accumulated many wonderful images from across the United States. However, this time Clyde took both his 12x20" view camera and his 5x7" view camera.
Clyde had purchased the Wisner 12x20" view camera in 1991, but has not had the time and energy to use the camera as often as he would like. With this project his excitement provided the energy!
Most folks who shoot with a 12x20" view camera use the negative to make contact prints. I think Clyde is the only person who enlarges his 12x20" negatives. Enlargers do not come in the size of 12x20", so when a printing firm in Miami switched to digital, they called Clyde and asked him if he would like their old 24x36" copy camera. He excitedly said, "YES!"
His intent was to create an enlarger out of it for his 11x14" and 12x20" negatives. When he went to pick it up he found out it weighed around 2000 pounds! He had to get a different vehicle, and some help, to move it to the darkroom.
After he put it in the darkroom he special ordered a variable contrast head from Aristo and installed it into the camera, creating an enlarger. With this enlarger Clyde can make up to 5x9 foot prints.
Clyde with his VERY LARGE enlarger
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Because it is Clyde's intent to make very large prints with his 12"x 20" negatives he wanted to shoot with T-Max 100 film. In order to get the film he had to special order 900 sheets! If you need any 12x20 T-Max 100 film, give us a call...we have plenty! He also ordered more film holders so that he now has seven.
However, the real excitement about the camera came when Clyde learned that Snyder had made art lenses for the camera. They are the first modern mammoth large format lenses made in the last eighty years! XXL lens. To be one of the few people who own high quality modern lenses made for a mammoth large format camera using the latest technology is very exciting! |
Clyde with his new modern mammoth large format camera lenses...they even put his name on the edge of the lens!
550mmXXL has f/stops from f/11- f/128 and is equivalent to a 45mm lens on a 35mm camera
1100mmXXL has f/stops from f/22 - f/128 and is equivalent to a 90mm lens on a 35mm camera |
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The Photographic Adventure |
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a note:
Clyde took around 1500 negatives during the two year adventure. A great number of those negatives are wonderful images. There is no way I can show all of the images he took, so this is just a quick selection of some of the images.
We met many wonderful folks along the way who helped us find great locations for photography. I regret I only have space here to mention a few, but I'd like to say thank you to all of those great people who took the time to let the path of their life cross into our path.THANKS!
To see a greater collection of Clyde's images keep your eye out on our website for a list of museum exhibits or order Clyde's book.
If you would like to order any of the photographs you see click on the the "Online Gallery" on the front page of our website, and then click on USA, and then choose the state. |
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Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Pennsylvania & New Jersey |
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Superintendent of Delaware Water Gap, John Donahue, and Clyde |
Our photographic adventure began on a lush green spring day in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. John Donahue had been the superintendent of Big Cypress National Preserve and when he moved to the Delaware Water Gap he invited Clyde to come and photograph the beauty of the area. We gladly took him up on the invitation!
To be frank, we had never heard of Delaware Water Gap and were amazed at its beauty. John told us it is one of the most visited parks on the east coast because it is only 3 hours from New York City. It has over a hundred waterfalls and while we were there they were all running full blast! |
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Clyde photographing Raymondskill Falls |
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Raymondskill Falls 2 |
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Factory Falls
Carrying Clyde's 12x20 camera is like taking a televison set out into the field! However, this water fall wasn't too difficult to get to. It was right off the parking lot!
Factory Falls is named after the factory that use to exist next to the water fall.
Watching Clyde set up his 12x20" view camera on the very edge of the cliff was nerve wracking! When I suggested he move back a little, he said, "Nope...the composition is right here, so here is where I'll stay."
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Factory Falls 24 |
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Clyde and his changing tent
Every evening Clyde would use this tent to change his film holders. It is a tent that is light-tight, with arm holes, so changing film can be done without much hassle. There are 'wings' on each side so that he can put a 12x20" film holder on one side that has exposed fillm in it, use the center to remove the film, and then put the removed exposed film in a box on the other side in the other 'wing'. It certainly isn't fast, but it is safe. |
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Flat Brook
Photographing from this bridge seemed like an easy concept until we started to do it! The road-bed is made out of wood. The whole bridge was rather flimsy and it seemed with every breath of wind, or slight movement by us, it would shimmy and shake. It took some patience, but Clyde finally got the photograph he wanted! |
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Flat Brook 14 |
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| It was fun hiking around Delaware Water Gap...the weather was great and the world was filled with the new life of spring. |
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Clyde and Niki at Buttermilk Falls |
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Buttermilk Falls 57 |
There are many more wonderful photographs of Delaware Water Gap. I wish I could show them all, but this journal would turn into a book! sooo...to see more you should visit for yourself! |
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Acadia National Park
Maine |
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Every since we moved to the east coast I have wanted to visit Acadia National Park. This project gave us the perfect opportunity to see this beautiful place on the east coast of Maine.
We had such a wonderful time with everyone in Maine and I still need to gather some photos together, so I'll just post these right now and get back to the rest a little later... |
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| On Clyde's first trip to Acadia I wasn't able to join him, so he took this photograph of his camera on the edge of a cliff. He said it was a very precarious spot...another shot VERY close to the edge of a cliff...but it was worth it... |
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Acadia Pinnacles 7 |
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| Acadia has some of the most wonderful rocky beaches, but walking over them carrying an 11x14" view camera is pretty tricky! (photo by Nancy Rohan) |
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Acadia 27 |
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When folks think of Acadia National Park the image that comes to their mind is that of a rocky shoreline, and boulders on beaches. Soft green fern forests rarely come to mind, and yet, the interior of the Park is filled with the lush beauty of green.
It seemed that wherever we turned we met folks who wintered in Florida and summered in Acadia, and I can certainly understand why. It is a small Park and very easy to get around, yet it has the beauty of the wilderness. I could have stayed here a very long time... |
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Acadia 20 |
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Parke Wright IV invited Clyde to join him on a 'guys' trip up to Shelbourne Farms in Vermont. While Clyde was up there they went photographing along the edge of Lake Champlain. The geological history of the area intrigued Clyde and he came back with all kinds of geological data! Parke took this photograph of Clyde.
A few years after the visit to Shelbourne Farms Clyde was invited to exhibit his photographs during their summer season. |
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Lake Champlain 2 |
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Badlands National Park
South Dakota |
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| We call the Badlands photo adventure "24 hours of WOW!" The twenty-four hours we spent in the Badlands was filled with powerful weather...so bad that a tornado touched down just outside of the community of Wall...ahhh, but oh the clouds and the light...it was incredible! We moved from scene to scene as rapidly as we could. Everytime we turned around there was another incredible photo! |
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| As the storms rolled through the park we would wait until a shimmer of sun would filter through and then grab the shot! |
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Badlands 23 |
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This image was taken across the street from the little cabin we stayed at in the Park. The photograph almost didn't happen.
To be honest...we were both exhausted. At this point we had been getting up at 4:00am every morning for over a month and photographing until the sun went down...which was around 9:00pm. On this morning Clyde got up, looked out the window and saw that the sky was covered with clouds, so he told me to go back to sleep and he got back in bed. He was in bed for two minutes and said, "Nope. We came to photograph, let's just get up."
As we drove out of the parking lot the sun peaked through a crack in the sky and lit up the mounds of mud. We jumped out of the car and ran to set up the camera hoping to capture the scene before the clouds covered the sun.We just managed to get of a few shots and it was gone! This is one of our favorite images from our trip. |
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Badlands 1 |
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Devils Tower National Monument
Wyoming |
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Clyde is a fan of outer space and all the mystery and movies about space. Since we were so close to Devils Tower we just HAD to stop and see this place where the famous movie "Encounters of the Third Kind" was filmed.
I'm glad we stopped. Devils Tower was much more interesting than I thought it would be. I had no idea that this geological form was the inside of a volcano! This was another place I would like to spend at least a week hiking around and visiting. |
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Devils Tower 1 |
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Grand Teton National Park
Wyoming |
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Clyde had photographed this beaver pond back in the 1970's and was curious how it looked today. He was suprised that it was still there.
After talking with some Park scientist he found out the beavers (their relatives) have gotten better...they built two ponds. If the water flow was too much, the first pond help slow the flow down. If the water flow was too little, they lived at the first pond. Smart! |
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Beaver Pond 5 |
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| I often think that Clyde and I are the only people who love to vacation when the weather is bad! We love adverse weather because it creates all kinds of great photographic opportunities. |
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Snake River 15 |
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| This was such a beautiful morning that Clyde set up both of his cameras...his 12x20" and his 5x7". He wanted to make SURE he captured the scene! |
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Oxbow Bend 8 |
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While we were in the Tetons we met up with a fellow Floridian, Steve Atkins. He had worked in Florida and was now an employee of Teton. He spent a lot of time with us and suggested some great places to capture images. We had a wonderful time with him!
When we saw this great storm moving in over the mountains, Steve and Clyde jumped out of the car and lugged the camera gear down to the prairie to try and capture the scene before the mountains were covered by the storm. It was a VERY close call before we all got very wet!
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| Clyde moved as quickly as he could to set up his camera and capture the feeling of the storm advancing on the mountains. |
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Willow Flats 1 |
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Steve Atkins told us about a great photographer and a nice guy who owned a gallery in Jackson Hole. We decided to check it out and met David Brookover who is a color photographer...and occassionally does black and white. (DavidBrookover.com) We enjoyed his gallery and had a great discussion that lasted through dinner with he and his wife. Great people! We are thankful that Steve suggested we should get to know David.
During our discussion David suggested that Clyde photograph a favorite location of his. As he was giving us directions Clyde realized that the following morning was going to be a full moon set over the Tetons and invited David to join us. |
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David Brookover and Clyde
The following morning we got up at 4:00am and thought we'd be the first folks out to the area...nope! Steve and David were already there!
It was fun watching everyone get their cameras set up and then wait for the right light. Since Steve and David were shooting color film, they were waiting for the "Aspen Glow" to hit the mountains...that moment of warm soft pink light that comes when the sun comes over the horizon. The instant it happened shutters started snapping. Clyde just watched.
Since Clyde was taking black and white, he needed full light on the mountains so they would be nice and crisp. It took quite a while, but then the light was right for him and he took his shot.
David explained to us that we were fortunate to capture this unusual moment. There has been a drought in the west for several years. This was the first time in ten years that he had seen water in the pond! |
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Moon Over the Tetons 4 |
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Yellowstone National Park
Wyoming |
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| We got carried away with the Tetons and only had a little bit of time left to photograph Yellowstone. When we finally got to Yellowstone we were amazed at the beauty of the landscape and wished we had another two weeks to spend photographing only Yellowstone! |
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Lewis River Falls
This small fall was alongside the road as we drove into Yellowstone. Normally, it is dry, but this was a wet year and the water was gently cascading over ther rocks. |
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Yellowstone is hard to capture because no single photograph can explain the beauty of the place. There are so many wonderful and different environments!
This photo was taken at Yellowstone Lake which is actually a valcano. The steam in the distance is what Yellowstone is really known for...the heat of the deep earth reaching for the sky. |
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Yellowstone Lake 9 |
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...and yes, there were buffalo! Major traffic jams...or buffalo jams... |
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| Yellowstone is one of the most unstable land masses in the United States, so it is always amazing to me at the millions of people who come to visit this place! Are they crazy? Don't they know they are standing on one of the largest volcanos in the world? ...a mystery to me! ...but a beautiful mystery... |
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Mammoth Hotsprings Terraces 8 |
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My cousin lives in Boise and is very proud of the beauty of Idaho. For years she has been asking Clyde to come out and photograph her state. Well...since we were so close we decided to drive a few more miles and meet her in the little community of Stanely in the Sawtooth Mountains.
As we drove through Idaho we were amazed at the beauty and the variety of landscape. We found ourselves in another spot of our great country where we could have spent months photographing and still not capture all of the beauty! We are so fortunate to live in such a glorious country! |
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Redfish Lake 7
We woke up at the crack of dawn to capture this image...and the crack of dawn was around 3:30am! The further north we go the earlier dawn gets...sigh...ahhh for a morning to sleep in... |
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As the morning continued, we were amazed at how rapidly the weather turned into a bright sunny day!
We were curious why this lake was called Redfish Lake. When we asked a local 'native' his reply was, "Salmon use to come here to spawn. It is around a 1200 mile trip from the Pacific Ocean to this lake and they came here in such great numbers that the lake would turn red! But today, with all the dams between here and the ocean, they never reach the lake." |
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Redfish Lake 2 |
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If you are ever in Idaho you need to visit the cute little mountain community of Stanely. It is a throw-back in time. Everyone knows each other and there's not much to do there other than hike, river raft, or hunt. A great place to get away from everything! Stanely's claim to fame is that it is the most continuous cold place in the United States! And yes, it was cold when we were there... |
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Stanely Lake 8 |
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Rocky Mountain National Park
Colorado |
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Several years ago Clyde was invited to be Artist in Resident at the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a highlight of our life. The Park has both intimate and grand environmental experiences. The valley is gentle and comfortable, while the mountains are rugged and challenging. A great place to visit!
The drawback to us Florida low-landers, is that climbing around at 11,000 feet is a real stretch! We could hardly breathe when we got off the airplane in Denver at 9000 feet! We were fortunate that a couple of guys from the Wilderness Society came up and spent a few days with us helping Clyde carry around his gear. It took us about 4 days to adjust, and then that thin crisp clean air up in those heavenly altitudes felt good. |
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Glacier Point |
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Glacier Creek
Along the path to Alberta Falls is a beautiful place called Glacier Creek. Photographing this scene was more difficult than it appears. The aspen leaves were twirling in the wind current caused by the rush of the water. Every once in a while they would slow down enough for Clyde to snap the shutter, but it took a lot of waiting in order for that to happen.
Sooo...we sat and waited for a long time watching hundreds of folks walk by on the short hike up to Alberta Falls. I amazed by the number of folks exclaiming to their friends as to how fast they were able to get up to the falls and back again! They went so fast to their destination that they didn't see the beauty around them!...and then I thought, "...that is a lot like so much of life. We rush through it headed for our goals and destinations and forget to be still and look at the beauty and love surrounding us." |
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Arches National Park - Escalante National Monument
Utah |
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After our two weeks at Rocky Mountain we decided to dash over to Utah for a few days to see the Arches National Park. As we came out of the cool Colorado mountains and down into the desert, the smell of that dusty dry climate brought back so many loving memories of Clyde's folks. They lived in the desert of Cabazon, outside Palm Springs California. The memories brought tears to my eyes. We both miss his parents very much. They were great people.
Anyway, as we hiked around the Arches we found it difficult, due to the heat, to have the energy to do very much photography. We'd love to go back in the winter and check it out again! |
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Three Elephants |
The Wilderness Society, along with other environmental groups, were working toward saving the Escalante area of Utah. They asked if Clyde would go out west and photograph Escalante with the hopes that the beauty of his images would help spark the imagination of our elected officials. Fortunately, it worked (along with a LOT of work on the part of everyone!) and President Clinton created the Escalante National Monument.
I wasn't with Clyde on this trip, so I don't have any photos of him taking pictures. However, here are a couple of the many photographs he took. |
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Escalante Canyon 1 |
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Escalante Canyon 2
This image is hard to see when it is this small. When we hang it in exhibits it is at least 5x5 feet. When it is that large you feel like if you leaned forward you'd fall into the canyon! Clyde said the reason for that is because he had the camera on the very edge of the canyon and his friend, Scott, was holding onto his pants to keep him from falling off the edge! |
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Death Valley National Park
California |
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Our adventure at Death Valley was amazing. Clyde gave two photographic workshops in Death Valley that were filled with absolutely great folks both times!
This image of Clyde with his 12x20" camera explains the difficulty of setting up the camera. The camera wieghs around 45 pounds. The lens, a 1100mm, wieghs 10 pounds, the film holders wiegh 35 pounds and then there are four tripods! It's a lot of wieght to carry into the sand, so thank heavens for the strong young men in the workshops! |
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Sand Dune 21 |
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| After the workshop was over Clyde and I spent another five days in Death Valley enjoying the beauty by ourselves. Although it is known for its sand dunes, it is a geologic wonderland of beauty. |
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Sand Dune 19 |
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Yosemite National Park
California |
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| Yosemite is our favorite Park. I grew up visiting Yosemite every summer. This is where I learned to love the environment... and this is where Clyde asked me to marry him. We have fond memories of the Park and enjoyed the month we spent photographing the valley. It was still winter in the upper levels, so that part of the Park was closed. We are hoping to return in a few years and spend time photographing some more of the Park. |
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| Every day for a month we drove by Inspiration Point on our way into the valley. Every morning and most afternoons, we'd stop to see if the light was right for photography. Usually it was. Every time we took a photograph we thought, "Wow...it can't get any more dramatic than this!" And then, the next time we stopped it would be better! Needless to say, Clyde has a LOT of photographs taken from this view. |
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Inspiration Point 17 |
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| We had every kind of weather imaginable while we were in Yosemite. One day we woke up to a fresh layer of snow on the ground. The view from our room was beautiful, so Clyde stepped outside onto the balcony with his camera and took a photograph. When he was done he said, "Now that is the kind of photography in the snow I like to do...forgot all that hiking around in wet cold boots!" |
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Yosemite West 62 |
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| In spite of the fact Clyde doesn't like to hike around in the snow, it was just too beautiful not to go out and explore! |
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| Every day that we stopped at Inspiration Point it was inundated with photographers! It was so thick with them that they would overlap their tripods onto each other! Amazing... |
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Bridal Veil Falls 68 |
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| I help carry Clyde's photo equipment everywhere, but I called it quits when he asked me to follow him into ice cold water! Yep...Clyde is barefoot standing in snow melt so he could get the right composition for this image...to me that is true dedication! |
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Cathedral Spires 51 |
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| Clyde got tired of struggling against the multitudes of photographers, so he found a place around the corner to photograph the valley. We went out and bought a ladder so he could get above the trees. |
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Inspiration Point 175 |
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| The light on El Capitan was beautiful on this particular morning...and the dark foreground made the granite stand out all that much better. |
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El Capitan 100 |
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| ...and this is me hard at work on a bright, crisp, sunny day in Yosemite! |
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Half Dome 48 |
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Avenue of the Giants State Park -Prairie Creek State Park
California |
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Pepperwood Redwood Forest 1
Avenue of the Giants was one of our favorite places when we lived in California. Clyde has photographed it extensively in color. When we moved to Florida and he went back to black and white he was anxious to return and photograph it again with black and white film.
Back in the 1970's when he was photographing this area, a redwood tree fell...and yes, it does make a sound! There was no wind and no indication except for a sound that was like a gun. When Clyde saw it coming down he ducked behind another redwood tree. The tree brought down many trees as it fell. Part of it landed across the parking lot...fortunately, Clyde's car didn't end up under the tree!
When Clyde returned in 1996 he was curious as to how the area looked. What you are looking at in this photo is the stump of the tree. It was interesting to see the environmental change as the tree had allowed so much more light enter into the forest.
This exposure was ten minutes long. |
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Prairie Creek 1 |
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Point Lobos State Park
California |
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| Point Lobos is a photographers paradise! We had so much fun photographing this small and beautiful place. |
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Westons Beach 4 |
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Sentinel Tree 1 |
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And of course we have included Florida in the exhibit!
Of all the states we have photographed, Florida is the most difficult...and to us the most mysterious and beautiful. |
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Turner River 13 |
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| Folks often ask us if we miss the mountains out west. Our answer is, "No. The clouds are our mountains!" |
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Little Butternut 1 |
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Who are those masked men?!
You'll notice that the only guys without mosquito masks are State Park biologist Mike Owen, a redneck in the background, and Clyde! Photographing in Florida often requires a certain amount of protection...ha! |
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Fakahatchee Strand 3 |
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| You might notice that Clyde is the anchor for the boat! Actually, he has the boat tied around his waist so that he can reach his 12x20" photo equipment. |
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Gaskin Bay 5 |
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Sometimes it's easier to walk the canoe than rowing it. |
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Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge 1 |
| These photographs barely touch the surface of images Clyde has taken from around the country, but I hope they have given you some idea of the breadth of images that can be viewed in his book and exhibit America the Beautiful ~ The Monumental Landscape. I also hope they have helped you to remember that we live on a beautiful planet and it is up to us to keep it that way for future generations. |
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Don't forget to
HUG A TREE! |
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