Back in college – and I’m not going to confess how long ago that was – I knew a talented keyboard player by the name of Charlie Cramer. It turns out that my wife and her family knew him as well from their church – and he even played organ at our wedding.

Yes, that Charles Cramer – the very talented and highly regarded landscape photographer. (If you don’t know his work, take a look at his web site. Even better, try to see some of his prints. His large scale prints are wonders of form and detail and color and really must be seen large to be appreciated.)

This week I finally had a chance to visit with Charlie. On a very rainy afternoon I drove over to his home and spent a couple hours in his studio talking about old times and about photography. Charlie is a warm and generous person, and I am grateful to him for sitting and talking with me – and for sharing some wonderful insights into photography and the tools of the trade. (Yes, Charlie, I’ve already applied “selecting smaller” and “to make it lighter, first you must make it darker” and I’ve now done “the thing that Ansel couldn’t do.”:-)

(By the way, I understand that Charlie does workshops and I hear that they are excellent.)