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Sol Duc Road by Ross Hamilton is featured his new calendar.
Black and white images fill the room, and some of the images are familiar, depicting parts of the Olympic Mountains. Others are from the Sierra Nevada range.
Sequim photographer Ross Hamilton is familiar with those images, some he has taken himself while others he admires from famous photographer Ansel Adams.
When it comes to capturing beautiful landscapes, Hamilton said that’s where the artist comes alive but it’s the landscape not the artist that really shines.
Capturing the essence of the landscape is a test and a challenge.
Capturing the perfect image is “like a treasure hunt,” Hamilton said.
“You only get a few minutes to do it and then the image is gone.
“You can anticipate the moment or just be lucky.
“There’s a only a window of a few moments, and usually you miss.
“It’s like fishing. Sometimes you lose the fish, but then you hit it right.
“It’s the hunt. That’s what makes it so intriguing.”
Hamilton recently released his sixth “Olympic Peninsula” calendar, lush with colored images of the Pacific Northwest, each season bringing in the best of the region.
When he selected the photos for the 2010 calendar — images from the 1970s all the way up to this decade — they transported him back to the days and nights he captured them.
Hamilton now suffers from glaucoma and can still see the images he captured but they are starting fade slowly.
The Olympic Mountains is Hamilton’s home turf. It’s his back yard, his playground.
“The Olympic Mountains is my area of greatest interest,” he said.
“I have no desire to leave the Peninsula, with all the variety of landscapes . . . It is an incredible art gallery.”
Hamilton’s roots in the Olympics dates back generations with his great grandparents who lived in the Sequim area in the 1880s.
His father moved the family to Los Angeles, where Hamilton lived until he was 26 years old. He moved to the area after hearing stories of the Peninsula, and he had to live and breath and experience what his family had cherished.
But his love of photography began when he was 12 years old.
“I was raised in Los Angeles, so of course, I started taking pictures of landscapes,” he said.
“I loved the mountains and the country, the whole process. I took pictures of dogs, people, places. I had many interests but I narrowed it down to landscapes.”
Hamilton is a 40-year veteran explorer of the Olympic Peninsula and a 50-year student of his art.
His long standing pursuit of excellence and accuracy has earned him the respect of those who treasure the beauty of the Olympics.
His straightforward style celebrates the beauty of his subjects with little embellishment.
For him, the original cannot be improved upon.
Though his passions run deep, he lays little claim to artistic achievement, thinking himself to be a ‘copy boy’ for the Creator’s art.
These images were recorded with 4×5 and 35mm film cameras, a medium he says captures the true nature and texture of the landscape.
With the 2010 calendar, folks can flip through the months with images and quotes of hope for the new year, each picture and quotation picked specifically for that season and month.
Sally Frankfurt, who helped put the calendar together, said with the economic downturn and the war, the calendar is filled with messages of hope and inspiration to people.
For more information, phone Sally Frankfurt at 360-683-5638.
The calendars are available locally around the area.
