Adventurer, author and photographer Tom Reed (http://www.tomreed.com) will present a digital slide show about his new book, “The Granite Avatars of Patagonia,” at the February 15 Ojai Photography Club meeting. The presentation is free to the public.

Reed will offer a “behind the scenes” look at the making of the book, including photos from excursions among the granite spires of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy (El Chaltén), as well as other features of Argentina’s Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. The book will be available for sale at a 20% discount, and Reed will stay after his presentation to chat with guests and sign books.

“This should be of great interest to travelers and outdoor enthusiasts as well as photographers,” said club president Dean Zatkowsky. “Tom has created exhibition-quality prints and a coffee-table photography book using a point-and-shoot camera. He proves that you don’t need fancy equipment to make great images.”

The meeting begins at 7:00 PM on February 15, at Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, which is located at 111 Santa Ana Street in Ojai.

About Tom Reed
Wilderness photographer and writer Tom Reed has a long history of remote backcountry travel since earning a degree in geography from Rutgers and moving to Alaska 30 years ago, where he worked as a backcountry surveyor.

Working as a whitewater guide and sailor, Reed abandoned photography when his camera was crushed in the Caribbean, taking the opportunity to rid his backpack of all the glass and steel and film, and began studying beautiful scenes to understand why they were so moving.

He then explored other arts, including pen and ink, acrylic, watercolor, and wood sculpture.

After 20 years of training in Japanese martial arts, Tom moved to the Mendocino coast of California to teach, and there began studying with a master of Japanese aesthetics, focusing on the Zen practice of the Japanese Tea Ceremony, calligraphy, ink painting, and flower arranging.

This exposure built a Japanese approach to his sensitivity inspired by the photographs of Ansel Adams, the plein air paintings of the Sierras by Edgar Payne, and the wilderness paintings of the Hudson River School.

About 6 years ago, improvements in digital technology lured Tom back to photography. He now combines his exceptional backcountry and navigational skills with a Zen eye and sensibility to find and capture dramatic compositions.

His first book, “The Granite Avatars of Patagonia,” features images and text from three trips to Argentinean national park “Los Glaciares,” and focuses on the peaks of El Chaltén (Mount Fitz Roy) and Cerro Torre. He was fascinated with the experience of the awe humans feel when witnessing nature in its fullest glory. Reeds goal was to produce portraits of these granite towers in conditions and with compositions that convey their dramatic and dynamic qualities.

For Tom, photographing nature is about finding the right place at an opportune time to create a composition that “touches” or “speaks to” the viewer, and reminds them of the power of nature’s beauty.

Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the Patagonia Outdoor Company says, "Patagonia has a keen, close observer in Tom Reed. His feeling for the landscape and its wild power comes through in his photographs and writing and in the questions he raises about ourselves as natural beings acting in a natural world."

About the Ojai Photography Club
The Ojai Photography Club meets on the third Tuesday of each month, January – November, at 7:00 PM in Kent Hall, which is located at Help of Ojai’s Little House, 111 Santa Ana Street, Ojai, CA 93023.

The club’s primary goals are education and camaraderie. Meetings typically include presentations by our guest judges, discussion of photographic events or exhibits, and critiquing of member photographs.

Meetings are open to the public, but only members may submit photographs for critique and competition. Members also receive free admission to club-hosted workshops. Membership costs only $20 per calendar year, $10 for students under 21.

For more information, visit us at www.ojaiphotoclub.com.