Excerpt from my Spring 2005 Newsletter

I wrote this “Perspective” article over two years ago and was recently re-reading it and found it intersting just how accurate my predictions were based on a little physics. Hence, I thought I’d repost it here on my blog for those that may have missed it. If you’d like to check out the back issues of my newsletters, they are available for download from my website here:

http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com/backissues.htm

Here is the article as it was originally written in May 2005:

Before I was a photographer I was a physicist. I helped to create the worldʼs first low temperature STM microscope that could slow the particles of an atom down so they could be “electronically” photographed by a chemically etched probe. All of this happened on a scale most people can hardly even comprehend. I bring this up because my experience with micro-electronics and CCDʼs gives me a different perspective than that held by the masses out there shooting digital. Donʼt get me wrong, digital is rewriting what is possible in photography, but we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of what it can resolve, and that is where medium format will come in.

I hear a lot of people saying “medium format is dead.” Pro photographers are selling off their medium format gear everywhere you look. Medium format seems redundant next to the latest 12 and 16 MP professional 35mm DSLRs. As a result medium format camera companies are having a very rough time staying afloat. But I can see in the very near future that they will have reason to celebrate once again. Physics tells us that in order to increase resolution you need to increase the size of the lens and the size of the medium the information is being recorded on. In digital we have already seen this – an 8 MP image from a tiny ʻpoint and shootʼ sensor is inferior to an 8 MP image from a 35mm sized DSLR sensor. And it is well known that the larger the photo site on a CCD the lower the noise and the higher the image quality. All this boils down to the fact that as resolution increases the sensor size and lens diameter will have to increase as well and that is where medium format cameras will make their comeback.

A perfect example of this is Canonʼs EOS 1Ds Mark II with its 16.7 MP sensor. It is a fantastic camera and Canon is to be commended. Sadly, I donʼt own one personally but I am hearing from many who do that they have to use the best lenses Canon makes because the sensor is very close to outresolving the lenses. No matter how well you make a 35mm lens it can only resolve so much information. A Hasselblad lens still out resolves any 35mm lens, that is just physics. Optics will be the limiting factor for digital imaging. I predict that 35mm DSLRs will top out around 22 to 25 MP. Above that you will have to use medium format to get higher resolution with digital. And I predict the limiting factor will be the size of the lenses, not the sensor size. Of course at 22 MP you may ask why would we need anything larger? But one look at a life-like print from a medium format 35 MP camera will have us all drooling.

In the July 2007 issue of New Mexico Magazine, Michael Clark’s work is featured in an article entitled Focus on the Extreme: The Photography of Michael Clark. The article, written by Steve Larese, details some of Michael’s more harrowing adventures and dispels several myths about being a professional photographer, especially in the adventure genre. The six-page layout also contains a nice set of images shot in New Mexico and one portrait of the photographer at work while shooting images on assignment for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom in Moab, Utah.

The teaser in the table of contents reads: “See the heart-stopping action shots of Michael Clark of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and learn how this avid climber made the journey to become one of the country’s top adventure photographers.”



And the opening few paragraphs set a super-hero tone: “Whether it’s photographing a mountain biker launching off of a 40-foot-high cliff, kayaking through boiling Class IV rapids or rock climbing with nothing but 200 feet of air between himself and oblivion, for Michael Clark, it’s just another day at the office.”



“Santa Fe-based Michael Clark has made a name for himself in the world of extreme sports by capturing beautiful, death-defying shots of athletes pushing the limits of their physique and, some might argue, sanity. If you’ve ever breezed through any climbing magazine, Bike, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, or have seen ads for Patagonia or other outdoor sports companies, chances are you’ve seen Clark’s work. When editors or marketing teams need big air or whitewater, Clark is high on their list of shooters to call.”

To read the rest of the article pick up a copy of the July issue of New Mexico Magazine or you can download a PDF version of the article from my website at:

http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com/nmportfolio.pdf

Michael was just recently awarded the overall grand prize “Best in Show” in the Teva Mountain Games Zest for Adventure Photography Competition for his image of Chris Sharma deep water soloing on Big Momma (5.13d/14a) in Mallorca, Spain (see image above). The image also won “Best in Category” for the Ice & Rock section of the competition as well. With close to 400 images submitted it is a great honor to have my image chosen as the “Best in Show”.

The image of Chris Sharma – who was also awarded an Everest Award for “Male Climber of the Year” – will appear in Outside Magazine this summer and it was also on display at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado.

For more info on the Teva Mountain Games and the winning images visit:

http://www.tevamountaingames.com/ev_photo.cfm

I was just recently in the City of Angels giving a presentation for ASMP Los Angeles. About 75 people attended and it was a 3-hour extravaganza of digital workflow and discussions. My thanks to ASMP Los Angeles for having me out and to Digital Fusion for hosting the event. I had a great time and it is always nice to hang out with my peers.

I also had a stock shoot in Encinitas, California the day after the presentation. I was shooting some surfing and surfing lifestyle images for my stock agency Aurora Photos and the Outdoor Collection. Thanks to my good friend Laura Perfetti, pictured above, who was kind enough to meet me and be my athlete for the day. The weather was perfect and the waves weren’t bad either. And I even got to get out and try surfing again – my second day ever out on a board. I have to say that surfing is an awesome sport – if only I lived closer to the ocean I would be out there every day I could.