Hi! I'm Charlotte Gibb. Go ahead. Ask me anything!

[Sarah_Marino]

Hi Charlotte - Thank you for facilitating this great discussion here on NPN. I, too, am a big admirer of your work, especially your ability to work with graceful light and elegant compositions. Since I’m right at the buzzer for the end of this conversation, I’ll add onto Anna’s question about printing with a simple question of my own. What are some of your favorite papers? Do you use different papers for presenting your color and black/white work?

[Charlotte_Gibb]

@Mark_Hespenheide

Charlotte, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. I have to say that I’ve been a fan for a while, but that really picked up after your release of “Last Sunset”. I also see some elements or similarities to Charlie Cramer and Bill Neill’s work in the medium-scale scenes from the Sierra. As someone who “grew up” with Galen Rowell’s bigger vision of the Sierra, it’s always so beautiful to see those fragments that also speak to the larger surroundings.

So, the general question: do you photograph anywhere else, and – if so – what’s been your experience with it? Have you tried other ranges? Similar, like the Wind River Range (glaciated granite like the Sierra), or different like the Inyo/Whites (metamorphic)? Personally, I enjoy photographing across the west, but then when I see a portfolio like yours I wonder if I shouldn’t try to stick to one area more often and really develop my connection to one “place”.

Hi Mark,

Great question. Yes, I have photographed other places besides Yosemite National Park, but not as thoroughly, as you have noticed. I’ve been to Zion NP a few times, for example. I felt that I wasn’t producing good images of Zion until about my third visit. Same with Moab and the Canadian Rockies. I’ve photographed around SW Colorado last year, where I had a little better luck, but I had been there before sans camera, and so I had some ideas about what I wanted to do. I spent a week in the Smoky Mountains last Spring, and felt that I needed a month before I could actually start getting images that pleased me. California and Oregon coastal areas are also favorite places to practice. Generally, if I am going to a natural place, I take my gear with me. But, I don’t start producing good work until I have thoroughly explored and immersed myself in that place. That’s just me. I need to feel that connection.

[Charlotte_Gibb]

@Antonio.Aleo

Hi Charlotte, I appreciate many of your works and as a lover of the intimate landscape, I congratulate you in representing an incredible place, in an incredible way, with a great compositive and research care, the result of a great study.
I wanted to ask you, are almost your favorite focal points? Which goal would you gladly leave at home? Should you choose a lens, as the only one for your photographic excursion, which one would you choose?

Hi Antonio,

I had a hunch that the most used focal point was probably around 200mm, so I checked my Lightroom data to confirm. Yup! As for my favorite lens, hands down it would be my Canon 70-200mm. I love that lens. I dropped it when it was only three months old. Canon fixed it, but it has always had a soft, atmospheric quality to it ever since. If it is still broken, I don’t want to fix it.

[Charlotte_Gibb]

@Sarah_Marino

Hi Charlotte - Thank you for facilitating this great discussion here on NPN. I, too, am a big admirer of your work, especially your ability to work with graceful light and elegant compositions. Since I’m right at the buzzer for the end of this conversation, I’ll add onto Anna’s question about printing with a simple question of my own. What are some of your favorite papers? Do you use different papers for presenting your color and black/white work?

Hi Sarah,

It’s great to hear from you! I have experimented with paper quite a bit in the past, but I settled on Epson Hot Press Bright some years ago. I haven’t switched papers in quite a long time because this one seems to work for me. But, I’ve been having some quality control issues with Epson Hot Press paper. I had to send back three separate batches of bad paper in the last six months. It’s annoying when I’m working on a deadline to have to stop, convince Epson that they have sent me a box of defected paper, and then figure out how to quickly secure another batch of paper. So, I’m considering switching to something else. I have some boxes of Hahnemuhle Museum Etching, which I use for special projects. I love the heft and feel of that paper, but it is very expensive.

I don’t generally use different papers for black/white vs. color. The exception was my solar eclipse sequence, which I printed on a glossy paper.

[Charlotte_Gibb]

Thank you, everyone, for taking time to participate in AMA. There were some really thoughtful questions, and I enjoyed digging deep to thoroughly answer them. Feel free to reach out to me if there is anything else you want to know. I’m always happy to help. David, thanks again for the invitation to contribute and for picking up the mantle of NPN. It is a wonderful resource for all of us to learn from one another and grow into better photographers. I’m blown away by the quality of the work of the members. You are each an inspiration! Have a beautiful day!