Nolan Nitschke

If ever you wanted to get an idea of what America’s wilderness looked like, the richly coloured images of Nolan Nitschke offer keen observations of the rich variety of terrain and climate that is the American Rockies. From the rich ochres of his Bryce Canyon series, to the lush vegetation of Sawtooth, Targhee, Grand Teton and Zion parks, Nolan’s work is inspired by the environment in which he works.

His star trail work adds an extra dimension to these wilderness areas, revelling in the isolation of nature as he experiments with the different moods that come from long exposure under moonlight.

Hi Nolan, thanks for being the guinea pig -erm, first interviewee for the Timelapse group. Tell us a little about your background.
Well I was raised in the Owens Valley, a thin valley that sits in between the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California (which hold Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Kings Canyon National Park) and the White Mountains (14246 ft White Peak and the Bristlecone Pine Forest) in a small town called Bishop. My father instilled in me a strong love for nature and the importance of connecting with nature. Now I spend any and all free time visiting and backpacking through different areas of the American West. I now live in Boise, Idaho and am a senior at Boise State University pursuing my degree in Batchelor of Fine Art of Graphic Design with a minor in Philosophy.

Who are your favourite timelapse/long exposure photographers?
I don’t know if I have a specific favorite timelapse/long exposure photographer, but I have been influenced by a couple of photos by Galen Rowell, Yosemite Falls by Moonlight and a Bristlecone Pine Tree Star Trail photo that I found in an old book of his. Also a photo by Jim Brandenburg which was the first 12 hour exposure of the north star I had ever seen.

Who are your favourite RB artists (come on now, don’t be shy), and why?
My Favorite Redbubblers are my photography partners Nick Johnson and Benjamin Mithell. Our photography has been evolving together for the past couple years and we are continually pushing each other and going on crazy photo journeys. But there are so many talented photographers, illustrators, designers, graphic artists etc. here on Redbubble it boggles the mind.

So you all work as a team? Do you ever go shooting solo? What are the benefits/pitfalls of group vs solo shoots?
I would say it’s a 50-50 split. About half my work is done solo and half is done with my group of my partners. Half the time I am by myself, which can be nice not having to compete for compositions, but the other half we are going on our backpacking/camping/photo trips together which are always much more fun. We laugh ourselves stupid sometimes.

Your work belies at least a developing obsession with nature/outdoors. What is it about this subject matter that attracts you?
Oh the obsession is in full swing. It has been most of my life. I have always loved camping, backpacking, hiking and the outdoors. I get cabin fever very easily and need to get into the mountains to keep me level. It wasn’t until about 3-4 years ago that Galen Rowell, Ansel Adams and Vern Clevenger, prominent photographers of the Sierras, inspired me to start taking a camera with me in the areas I lived and visited. I’ve yet to stop since that first exposure.

What is it about timelapse, in particular swirling star trails, that interests you?
What excites me the most about star trail photography is that it has so many unexplored opportunities. It’s a form of photography that is rarely practiced and extremely difficult. It has taken me months to figure out how to shoot these with predictable results.

Are there other forms of long exposure photography you enjoy?
I really like long exposures done with clouds over peaks. Outdoor Photographer recently had an article dealing with long exposures that had some amazing photos. I just got the equipment to start doing these myself but haven’t had a good chance to try it yet.

What about long exposures of subject matter other than wilderness? Do you ever do some of say, cities for example, or “staged” shots?
When I first became interested in photography I experimented with staged shots using strobe flashes and LED light to paint with light. I also have some very nice long exposure work of the cities of Boise, Idaho and San Diego, California. There are lovely photos but I’m just not very fond of the subject matter.

Do you ever use artificial lighting such as flashes/gel packs to achieve a visual effect? What about post-production eg: photoshop?
When I first started shooting star trails I used diffused flashes to fill for the foreground. Now I rely primarily on moonlight. As far as photoshop goes for these images, in my opinion the flash makes it 10x harder to postprocess and get natural results. Otherwise its just your typical adjustments of levels, contrast, saturation, color.

Tell us about the shooting of these images (the shooting conditions, challenges you faced, the methods you used):

The Spooky Slot Canyon

The Spooky Slot Canyon, as with any slot canyon, can be extremely difficult to shoot due to the harsh contrasts and the small aperature used to get a nice depth of field. We were lucky that day and had overcast with diffused light coming through so it kept the harsh contrasts down. But clouds also meant possible flash flood which could come from miles away. So we had to be extremely careful when venturing through the canyons.

The Paiute Petroglyph Star Trail

The Paiute Petroglyph Star Trail photo is a favorite of mine. It was one of my first planned star trail shot. I had scouted the shot twice trying to find my composition before hand. And when there was a new moon, four friend and I climbed back to the glyph with flashlights. Trying to set up your focus and composition at night can be extremely difficult and sometimes dangerous. It took us almost twenty minutes to get fully set up and ready for the shot. We had a diffused flash set up on the rock and flashed the glyph after the shutter was open. We then climbed down in complete darkness as to not expose any of the composition to accidental flashlight light. Then after 30 minutes we climbed back up in complete darkness closed the shutter and left. It took 10-15 minutes for the photo to even process in the camera for me to view it.

If you had to identify something in your work that you’d like to improve, what would it be?
I just got a D200 so i’m looking forward to shooting and editing in a higher resolution. I just want to keep doing what i’m doing, just way more of it.

What about aside from hardware upgrades (doesn’t every photographer want to have better gear?) – is there anything about your skills as a photographer you want to develop?
A skill that I have spent the last year learning is how to shoot landscapes and star trails using different levels of moonlight. I have been formulating the equations on how to shoot these types of shots for a long time. I hope to master these types of shots by the end of the year.

What’s ahead for you in the coming year?
Well this summer I’m planning on Climbing Mt. Whitney and Half Dome in the same week. I will continue my adventures into the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho and the Eastern Sierras of California. We always have so many photography trips planned it hard to fit them all in. So what’s to come is many many more photographs of the most beautiful places in the American West and many more star trails!

More of Nolan’s work can be viewed on his website.