Bill Hatcher Photography

I've been working on documenting restoration in the Colorado River Delta. In this article in High Country News http://www.hcn.org/articles/progress-report-for-colorado-river-experimental-pulse
I photographed the work the Sonoran Institute is doing at Laguna Grande.

Documenting the Free Climb of El Capitan in 1988

This past week, like millions around the world, I spent hours following Tommy and Kevin's free ascent of the Dawn Wall in the media. The buzz surrounding the ascent was remarkable to watch unfold in real time. Both climbers were on Twitter posting messages and photos from the wall during their ascent. These were soon picked up by traditional media outlets and it wasn't long before TV and mainstream media including, the New York Times, ABC, NBC, the Guardian and others set up operations in El Cap meadows. There was even streaming video. It was great to watch such a worthy rock climbing ascent unfolding live and to know that the climb captivated and inspired both climbers and non-climbers around the world.

Back in 1988 I spent a month and a half documenting Todd Skinner and Paul Piana's free ascent of the Salathe, the first route to be freed on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, I was the only media on the wall covering their ascent. There was no

   

media in the meadows covering the ascent, no iPhone or social media (since they didn't exist at the time), there was me and friends on the valley floor watching the climbers progress and giving them a nightly radio call with a weather report. Initially the first reports about the successful free ascent was word of

Sonoran Institute: The Mexico Connection

The year 2014 seemed to involve a string of amazing photo shoots and travels. For me the real highlight was settling into my new home in Tucson and reconnecting to the landscape and people around the South West. Looking back over the year I discovered there were many occasions where conversations and ensuing connections with people led me down creative roads I might not have otherwise explored.

 I'll share one of those encounters. A magazine assignment for Arizona Highways sent me to Mexico to photograph scientist Fransisco Zamorra who works for the conservation group the Sonoran Institute. In the course of the shoot Fransisco, who is also an avid wildlife photographer, introduced me to the Colorado

Goodbye 2014 Hello 2015

Yes, it does snow in Arizona and this selfie at my camp during a solo ski adventure into the White Mountains is the proof.

Rock climbing in Joshua Tree, padding down the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grand River are a few of the things I plan to do for the holidays. I hope you have a good adventure as well. Thanks for the views and all the great feedback in 2014 see you again in 2015.

 

 

 

Grand Canyon Development at the Confluence

Months ago when I heard that a group of developers from Phoenix were planning to build a tram into the Grand Canyon from the rim down to near the confluence of the Colorado River and Little Colorado River, I thought it would never get anywhere. But now I learn the Navajo government has agreed to this project. 

The confluence is visually the heart of the Grand Canyon and a place I have viewed from many vantages.

The photo below is at 60 mile Canyon on the Colorado River. In the distance you can see Cape Solitude.  This location is less than a mile up stream of where the proposed tram complex will be established in the Grand Canyon.

 

Should the proposed tram be built you would see the cables and gondolas from where I took this photo. The inner canyon, in places like 60 mile Canyon, are peaceful and quite places to retreat. Even with 25,000 or so people a year who float past this location on river trips this place along with most of the inner Grand Canyon is wild. The developers for the tram proposal estimates they will be able to send 9,000 people a day into the Grand Canyon.  Grand Canyon National Park intends to fight this as do other groups.

It will be interesting to see how this develops in 2015. 

 

Related articles

NY Times spotlights major threats to the Colorado River

Should Developers Be Allowed to Build in and Near the Grand Canyon?

Scratching through West Clear Creek Wilderness, Arizona

I learned several things on this 5 day hike through the West Clear Creek Wilderness in Arizona. I learned that whereever there is water in Arizona things will grow and that when the water flows year-round things will grow in profusion. Hiking into this wilderness I guess I just didn't expect so much greenery. The cool water and flora was a great relief from the shoots I have been doing in the scorching desert heat of Southern Arizona.

 

The object of this trip was to follow and photograph a team of botanist doing a plant survey of the entire wilderness area. This two year project is headed up by grad student Wendy McBride from the University of Northern Arizona. So far she has collected nearly a thousand plant specimens and it's expected the collection will grow to over 2,000 or more by the time she is done.

 

This was a remarkable team of scientist who were all very adept at working and moving in this rugged

Storms in the Grand Canyon

I spent a few days dodging scattered rain storms while hiking below the rim in the Grand Canyon. For the most part I avoided the worst of the deluge or found a good over hang during the heaviest down pour.This photo is out on the Dripping Springs Trail.

 

There's are many ways to photograph a saguaro and I am enjoying exploring all the options.

 

High Camera Angle of View

It's 4:41 am and two bike riders are moving through a cactus maze in the Sonoran Desert.

Dawn is starting to color the sky and I have my camera 20 feet up on a portable camera stand. There's no wind, but I have the stand stabilized by several ropes. The setup is stable enough for a sharp 25 second exposure as the mountain bikers ride through the scene. I do a few takes then move to the next location, the shoot is wrapped by 6:15 and we are off to Hotel Congress for breakfast at the Cup.

Nice when everything works out as planned.

Had a beautiful sunrise during this mornings shoot in the Tucson Mountains. The desert was a comfortable 72˚ it almost made me forget that in a few hours it'll be 110˚ on this trail.

Related articles

Tucson Mountain Park AZ Wildflower Report 2/15/14