Bill Hatcher Photography

Food for Thought

As an adventure photographer you develop a keen sense of curiosity to a degree that it becomes almost second nature, but it is still important to keep your eyes wide open and always be thinking outside the box. In the past few years that I have been living and working from my new home base in Tucson, Arizona I've found myself working on jobs that I would have never imagined a few years ago. Subjects as diverse as exploring wild jaguar habitat, tree reforestation in Mexico, hydro projects on the Upper Amazon, tourist development in the Grand Canyon and youth programs to develop green space on the Mexico Borderlands. To me all these stories share the same thread people engaging with nature in the outdoors. 

When I was contacted to do a story for NPR about an organization in Tucson enabling U.N. refugees to gather food, called gleaning, from trees growing in public places and neighborhood yards around the city of Tucson and Phoenix you can bet I was interested. I had not heard of gleaning before this shoot, but on the day of the shoot I was to learn plenty. The most shocking revelation happened when I was given a tour of my local shopping center, the El Con Mall, there I was shown 40,000 pounds of quality dates hanging from the 90 or so decorative date palms scattered in the parking lot. I had visited the place many times, but had never thought to see the palms as a source of food. If the dates are not harvested soon they will simply rot on the trees. Here is a link to the NPR article.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/26/559550143/healing-through-harvesting-gleaning-unwanted-fruit-helps-refugees-in-need

Photo Exhibit: Lens on the Border

I am excited to be showing work in this photo exhibit "Lens on the Border". The opening is October 20 in Tucson, Arizona.

 Information about the show and the photographers and artist. 

Recent Works in the Summer of 2015

Summer is winding down and my photo shoots have been as diverse as always. This is a selection from some some of those shoots, as well as recent published materials. Looking at the photos reminds me that the best part of the work is visiting new places.

 

Outdoor Photographer                                                     Science

 

Arizona Highways 

 

 

Sonoran Institute

 

 

Bob Brown Foundation

This is an on going pro bono support for this group's forest campaign in Australia, a place I have spent many months on magazine assignments.

 

 

 

 

 

'Roid Passion 10 pack.

In the film days the standard 35mm 36 exposure film roll encapsulated so many hopes and dreams of the photographer. When on location where I might shoot 30 rolls of film a day, I was always asked how many good photos do I usually get off of one roll of film. My usual reply was 1 to 3 photos. The reason is in the time it took me to shoot 36 exposures I usually never experienced more than a couple of unique scenes. All of the other shots on the roll were part of my in camera creative process to get the right photo.

The creative process with shooting Polaroid or 'roid is the same, but things move even slower to get the right shot. A ten pack might get me 1 shot or maybe not. But the creative process is such a blast.

These are two photos I shot while out in Death Valley they are from one pack of instant film. First I worked a wide shot then moved in for a close-up, each image is unique. I made the file print using the not disposed of negative from the Fuji FP100c instant film. 

 

 

 

 

You should celebrate National Parks! That's why this is my favorite photo from my Grand Canyon spread in the March 2015 issue of Smithsonian magazine.

Saguaro National Park in the Black and White series

More Black and White photos from this week in the desert under a nearly full moon. It's crazy and fun to explore the desert at night in Black and White. I am careful not to step on snakes, one close encounter is enough! This is for my personal project on Saguaro National Park I started last year and plan to finish this summer.

Related articles

Spend the Afternoon Learning How to Survive in the Desert

Help count flowers at Saguaro National Park

The Sonoran Institute: Mexican Farmers Working for Conservation

I was excited when the Sonoran Institute recently sent me to photograph their Colorado River Delta restoration project in Baja California, Mexico. The Sonoran Institute is a U.S. non-profit that works to

You Can Save the Grand Canyon

The Smithsonian magazine has published David Robert's story "Who Can Save the Grand Canyon" in the March 2015 issue of the magazine. I was the photographer on the story.

On the last day of the shoot I made this photo from Cape Solitude. It shows the location where developers plan to build a mile and a half long tram from the rim into the Grand Canyon.  Construction of the tram can start as early as this year.

I liked Robert's and the Smithsonian's choice of a title for this story. It reminds me of the ad that the Sierra Club ran in the New York Times and the Washington Post in June of 1966. The NYTimes Sierra Club ad was a call to action when two dams were being proposed on the Colorado River up stream from the confluence. I believe the ad was the brainchild of David Brower who was president of the Sierra Club at that time.

The Canyon is under threat again, I wonder if the public will rally again to protect the Canyon?

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