Workshop Schedule for 2009 Announced!

Photo © 2008 Elizabeth Carmel

This year’s program is expanded with more top instructors and more on-location workshops – including the West’s premier national parks and monuments, the Oregon coast, and Patagonia!

Mountain Light Workshops have been honored with recognition by both Sunset and American Photo magazines. Sunset selected our workshop program as one of its top-ten smart vacation picks, while American Photo gave Mountain Light Workshops top billing among a handful of America’s best photo workshop operators.

The 2009 workshops include:

Photo © 2008 Galen Rowell

Jack Dykinga
March 23–26 • Death Valley

Jeff Foott
April 20–23 • Yosemite Valley

Justin Black
Apr 30–May 3 • Spring in the Eastern Sierra

Bob Krist
May 7–10 • Spring in the Eastern Sierra

John Shaw
May 25–29 • Oregon Coast

Elizabeth Carmel
June 22–26 • Lake Tahoe

Photo © 2008 John Shaw

David Muench
July 6–10 • High Sierra & Bristlecone Pines

David Muench
July 13–17 • Yosemite High Country,
Mono Lake, and Bodie Ghost Town

John Shaw
October 1–4 • Eastern Sierra Fall Colors

John Shaw
October 8–11 • Eastern Sierra Fall Colors

Jack Dykinga and Jeff Foott

Photo © 2008 John Shaw

With the exception of international workshops and certain special sessions, a 10 percent registration discount will be granted to returning participants who have taken any past workshop operated by Mountain Light. New participants who simultaneously enroll in two workshops are also eligible for a 10 percent discount off both sessions. A 10 percent discount is also available to full-time students, full-time art or photography instructors and members of the North American Nature Photographers’ Association. Please note these discounts are not cumulative and that the maximum available discount on any workshop is 10 percent.

Each workshop is limited to 12 or 15 participants to insure that everyone receives the time and attention needed. We expect these to fill up quickly, please contact us promptly to reserve your space.

If you have any questions or to book your registration online, please visit the Workshops Section of this website.

Gallery Summer Savings!

For a limited time, Mountain Light is offering the following promotions of Galen and Barbara Rowell fine prints:

Multiple Print Discounts:

· One print purchased at full price entitles the customer to 30% off an Unlimited Edition print equal in size to and of the same print type as the smallest print purchased. (Print only – does not apply to matting and framing).

· Two prints purchased at full price entitles the customer to 50% off a third Unlimited Edition print equal in size to and of the same print type as the smallest print purchased. (Print only – does not apply to matting and framing).

· Three prints purchased at full price entitles the customer to a fourth Unlimited Edition print for free, including matting and framing, equal in size to and of the same print and framing type as the smallest print purchased.

For example, in the case of a four-print package, if the prints purchased at full price are a 20" x 30" limited edition with standard frame, a 20" x 30" unlimited edition with standard frame, and a 16" x 20" unlimited edition with standard frame, the client would be entitled to select a free 16" x 20" unlimited edition in standard frame.

Shipping discounts:

· 25% off domestic shipping of Galen or Barbara Rowell fine prints.

· 50% off international shipping of Galen or Barbara Rowell fine prints.

Visit the Online Gallery now!

Special Rowell Lecture Event
with Greg Mortenson

Mountain Light is pleased to announce a special Rowell Lecture event, An Evening with Greg Mortenson, a reception and program with the co-founder of the Central Asia Institute and best-selling co-author of Three Cups of Tea as he pays tribute to his friends Galen and Barbara Rowell and discusses his life’s work in promoting education and literacy, especially for girls, in the remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The program will also feature the opening of the nomination period for the 2008 Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure. The Award honors that adventurer whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places of the world, and whose accomplishments significantly benefit both the environment and the peoples who inhabit these lands and regions. Please visit www.RowellAward.com for more information about the Rowell Award.

Bob Hansen, Rowell Legacy Committee member and President of The Yosemite Fund will emcee this special evening.

This event is presented by The Rowell Legacy Committee, The Yosemite Fund and the Commonwealth Club of California.

Date & Location: September 24, 2008 at the Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason Street, San Francisco, Calif.

5:30 – 7:15 p.m. VIP Reception with Greg Mortenson. Includes wine, hors d’oeuvres and preferred program seating, $150.

7:30 p.m. Program: Rowell Lecture with Greg Mortenson. $25 Commonwealth Club members, $35 non-members.

TICKETS: Available on July 10, 2008. Reservations can be made through the Commonwealth Club website, and will be confirmed by email. Tickets will be sold at the door only if space is available.

2008 Fall Exhibit: Landscapes, American Roadside Photographs of Tom Mallonee

Photo © 2008 Tom Mallonnee

The black and white landscapes and American roadside photographs of Tom Mallonee will be featured in Mountain Light’s guest artist gallery, August 1st through October 31st, 2008. The public is invited to meet the artist at a reception to be held at the gallery on Saturday, August 23, from 7 to 9 pm.

TOM MALLONEE has pursued photographic subjects which stray from the conventional notions of western landscape photography, yet still embrace decisive composition and exquisite printing technique. Tom has completed a 12 year portrait of the bypassed sections of Route 66 entitled Evidence of Passing. In recent years, he has been on the cutting edge of fine art monochromatic inkjet printing and has developed a true six-ink Hextone printing process.  In addition to his personal photographic pursuits, he founded Owens Valley Imaging devoted exclusively to producing black & white ink prints for other artists.

For more information, please visit the Featured Artists page.

Newly Mastered Galen Rowell Print Available

AA1245, Arctic Fox near Churchill, Manitoba (Canada, 1993)

While conducting research for specific projects, Mountain Light staff regularly search through Galen’s archive of over two hundred thousand images. Occasionally we come across an original 35mm transparency that we feel is exceptional, and suitable to be added to our fine art print collection. This photo of an arctic fox taken while Galen was stalking polar bears in Canada is one such image.

This original slide was recently drum scanned and then digitally mastered by Mountain Light General Manager Justin Black, and is currently on display in our Gallery and available for purchase through our web site.

Watch this space for announcements of new, previously unreleased Galen Rowell images!

New local artisans featured at
Mountain Light Gallery!

            • Ceramics by Michael Cooke
            • Wooden vessels by Ron Overholz
            • Hand-turned segmented bowls by David Miller
            • Artisan jewelry by Daryl Aukee, Danielle Dublino
               and Leah Dutcher
            • Fine hand-crafted furniture by Steven White

…and more to come!

James Balog 2007 Rowell Award Recipient

Author, adventurer and nature photographer James Balog has been selected as the recipient of the 2007 Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure by the Rowell Award Judging Panel. The award will be presented on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in San Francisco at the Hotel Nikko. Renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz will be the keynote speaker for the evening. The event is sponsored by the Rowell Legacy Committee and its partners, The Yosemite Fund and the Commonwealth Club of California.

For more information, please visit the Rowell Award website.

Tickets are now available at the Commonwealth Club website.

Rowell Fund for Tibet awards more than
$57,000 to Tibetan projects

An environmental project to protect endangered species, the publication of a science vocabulary book for children and an in-depth investigation of Tibetan maps are among 11 projects chosen by ICT's Rowell Fund to receive grants in 2008. The Rowell Fund Board will award over $57,000 this year to applicants in 5 countries in memory of explorers and photographers Galen and Barbara Rowell.

For more information, please visit the ICT website.

UPDATE: Available Signed Galen Rowell
Prints on Consignment

Valley of Ten Peaks, Banff, Canadian Rockies, Canada, 1973

Catalog # AA0007
Edition # 82/300

Rare and highly collectible, this is a 16 x 20 Dye Transfer print in excellent condition, signed and numbered by the artist in the border of the print and on the mat, and provided with a certificate of authenticity.

The print is presented in a custom solid hardwood cherry frame, double-matted with acid-free 100% cotton museum-grade board, and glazed with 97% UV-blocking anti-reflective museum glass.

Price: $12,500 (does not include shipping). To purchase this print, please CLICK HERE.

Porters at Concordia, Karakoram Himalaya, Pakistan, 1975

Catalog # AA0088
Edition # 8/300

16 x 20 Crystal Archive Lightjet print in excellent condition, signed and numbered by the artist in the border of the print and on the mat. The original certificate of authenticity is intact on the verso of the mat.

The print is presented in a custom solid hardwood frame with ebony stain, double-matted with acid-free 100% cotton museum-grade board, and glazed with 97% UV-blocking anti-reflective museum glass.

Price: $3,750 (does not include shipping). To purchase this print, please CLICK HERE.

For more information, please call Mountain Light at (760) 873-7700 or email for more information.

Annie Leibovitz to keynote the
2008 Rowell Lecture in San Francisco

UPDATE: Rescheduled for April 16, 2008.
UPDATE: Location announced, tickets now available.

Noted American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz will be the keynote speaker at the 2008 Rowell Lecture, scheduled for Wednesday, April 16th at the Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. in San Francisco. A VIP reception begins at 6 p.m., program check-in starts at 6:45 p.m., and the main program itself will run from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Tickets are now available at the Commonwealth Club of California website.

One of the most celebrated photographers of our time, Annie Leibovitz has been making witty, powerful images documenting American popular culture since the early 1970s, when her work began appearing in Rolling Stone. She became the magazine’s chief photographer in 1973, and ten years later began working for Vanity Fair, and then Vogue, creating a legendary body of work. In addition to her magazine work, Leibovitz has created influential advertising campaigns for American Express, Gap, Givenchy, The Sopranos, and the Milk Board.

A retrospective of her work from the years 1970 to 1990 was presented at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and at the International Center of Photography in New York.

Leibovitz is the recipient of many honors, including the rank of Commandeur in the French government’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Barnard College Medal of Distinction. She was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 2000 and one of the thirty-five Innovators of Our Time by Smithsonian magazine in 2005.

Limited Number of Scarce Prints Released

Mountain Light is pleased to announce the release of scarce prints by Galen Rowell that have been unavailable since his 2002 death.

Effective immediately, nine prints (in all sizes) of his famous photograph Machapuchare at dawn, Nepal Himalaya, Nepal (AA0010) and five 16 x 20 prints of Valley of the Ten Peaks, Banff, Canadian Rockies, Canada (AA0007) are available for sale. Both are available only as unsigned LightJet prints on Crystal Archive paper.

Machapuchare is available in any of the following sizes:

16 x 20: $3,300 (print only)
20 x 30: $4,300 (print only)
32 x 48: $8,000 (print only)

Valley of the Ten Peaks is once again available in the 16 x 20 size at $2,800 (print only). It continues to be available in the 11 x 14, 20 x 30, and 32 x 48 sizes.

For more information or order these prints, please call the gallery at (760) 873-7700 or email us at .

New Filter Available: the LB Warming
Circular Polarizer from Singh-Ray

Mountain Light is excited to announce a new filter: The “lighter, brighter” warming circular polarizer from Singh-Ray! While most circular polarizers absorb two full stops of light, the LB polarizer absorbs only one and a third stops, giving photographers greater creative control to stop action with faster shutter speeds or select greater depth of field with smaller apertures. Greater light transmission also results in a brighter viewfinder image, better autofocus and metering performance in low light, and makes it easier to accurately position graduated neutral density filters when using them in combination with a polarizer.

Mountain Light is stocking the LB warming circular polarizer in the sprocket mount to fit Cokin P series filter holders (the same used with Galen's ND grad filters), and the screw-in version is available via special order in sizes from 52mm to 77mm, with slim-line wide angle versions available in 72mm and 77mm sizes. Visit the Filters page for more information or to order.

New images added to fine print collection

Mountain Light is pleased to announce the addition of eleven Galen Rowell images to its Fine Print collection. The additions, which span different points in Galen’s career, include three images from California’s High Sierra, two from Antarctica, and one each from Alaska, Arizona, Canada, Siberia, Tibet and Zimbabwe.

The images include: Spring break-up on Lake Baikal, Siberia, 1987 (AA0422); Red foxes near Chenik Lagoon, Alaska Peninsula, Alaska, 1991 (AA0619); Sunrise on Kangbochen (23,933 ft.) from Pekhu Tso, Tibet, 1988 (AA0648); Emperor penguin leaping the ice edge, Riiser-Larsen Colony, Weddell Sea, Antarctica, 1993 (AA0835); Victoria Falls at sunset from the air, Zambezi River, Zimbabwe, 1994 (AA0861); Sunrise at Padres Buttes, Lake Powell Arizona, 2000 (AA1069); Autumn mist over the Barrens, headwaters of the Thelon River, Northwest Territories, Canada, 1998 (AA1093); Wild seas of the Drake Passage to Antarctica, 2002 (AA1215); Winter sunrise on Basin Mountain from the air, Eastern Sierra, California, 2002 (AA1223); Sunset on El Capitan from Higher Cathedral Rock, Yosemite National Park, California, 1990 (AA1228); Sunrise on the Eastern Sierra over Owens Valley ranchland, California, 2000 (AA1244).

Eight of the images appear in the new book, Galen Rowell: A Retrospective, available now exclusively through Mountain Light until its official bookstore release on October 1st.

Scarce, signed Galen Rowell prints released
for Rowell Legacy Project fundraising sale

Two scarce, signed fine art prints by the late wilderness photographer Galen Rowell are being released for sale for the first time since his death.

The prints are Rowell’s Valley of the Ten Peaks, Banff, Canadian Rockies, Canada, 1973 and Stormy sunset over Evolution Lake, John Muir Trail, High Sierra, California, 1997. Each Crystal Archive Lightjet print is matted and framed, and features Rowell’s signature on the lower right side of the mat. Each print is being sold for $12,500.

Valley of the Ten Peaks has an image area of 13" x 19.5" on 16" x 20" paper and a matted size of 22" x 28". This is the first time the image has been available in this size, signed or unsigned, since Rowell’s 2002 death.

Stormy sunset over Evolution Lake has an image area of 20" x 30" on 24" x 32" paper and a matted size of 28" x 38". During his lifetime, Rowell signed only 51 prints in this edition of 300, which includes all prints 20" x 30" and larger.

The release of these prints kicks off a series of events leading to the fall 2006 publication of the definitive volume on Galen Rowell’s life and legacy as one of the most important photographers, mountaineers and conservationists of the 20th Century. The collector-quality large format book, published by the Sierra Club Books, will feature more than 200 of Rowell’s most important photographs made over three decades, as well as essays by luminaries in the diverse fields that Rowell touched. Simultaneous exhibits at the Oakland Museum, the San Diego Museum of Natural History, Banff’s Whyte Museum and the Panopticon Gallery in Boston will accompany the book’s release.

All proceeds from the sale of the scarce prints will go to fund the Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure and the annual Rowell Lecture Series at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Former NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor, Tom Brokaw, will be the featured speaker for the Rowell Lecture Series, which will be held on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 28 in San Francisco. Mr. Brokaw has graciously contributed the foreword to the upcoming Rowell book.

The new owners of these prints, unless they choose to remain anonymous, will be recognized at the event for their contribution to the Rowell Award.

The Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure honors adventurers whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places of the world, and whose accomplishments significantly benefit both the environment and the people who inhabit these lands and regions.

The scarce prints are on display now at Mountain Light Gallery.

For information about the release of the scarce prints or purchase inquiries, please call Mountain Light Gallery at (760) 873-7700. For information about the Rowell Award, please visit www.rowellaward.com.