Funny How Things Happen

It was the work of Ansel Adams which got me interested in photography back in the late 60's. I taught myself the zone system and B/W printing, his work was and still is an inspiration to me.

Back when I was 18 years old during summer brake, I went shooting along the California coast for a week by myself. I was sitting in my car in a parking lot at Point Lobos State Reserve on the Monterey Peninsula when just behind me, Ansel Adams pulled up in his car with the license plate ZONE V. He was there in the park shooting with Marie Cosindas, they were where testing SX-70 Polaroid film.

It was a thrill for me to meet him and to have him sign the books of his I had with me at the time. What a wonderful experience it was to talk with such a talent, I will never forget that moment.

I bring this up because I've just had another one of those wonderful experiences. Do to a typo in my last post, I received an email (actually 2) from a photographer who's work I have admired for years. That email was signed, Bob Kirst. I thought to myself, this can't be Bob Kirst the photographer, could it? Not many photographers named Bob Kirst you know. I linked to the url listed at the end of his email, and to my surprise it was "The Bob Krist".

Besides pointing out my typo, Bob said that he was a big fan of my blog. Honestly Bob, that blew me away. I've been a big fan of Bob's work for years, I never imagined receiving an email and such a nice compliment regarding my blog. I took this opportunity to pick up the phone and call Bob directly.

We had a wonderful conversation and a few laughs. What a great guy.

Earlier in my career, I found a book that Bob wrote regarding location lighting. The book was an inspiration to me, I learned a lot reading his book. The book title is "Secrets of Lighting on Location". Do yourself a favor and pick up this book if you don't already have it in your library. I've read and re-read this book countless times when learning location lighting. I know you'll enjoy it.

It's strange how life is, you just don't know what the day will bring! It's so wonderful to meet/speak with people you admire, and it was a pleasure for me to visit with Bob Kirst.
DT