The challenge made him shoot it
Coral Wilson
He prefers polar bears to horses and has no particular fascination
with cowboys. For Howard Folsom, it was all about the challenge of
being behind the camera that inspired his latest photography exhibit,
“The American Cowboy.”
Folsom envisioned beautiful images captured through lighting,
action and dust, lots of dust. Now after about four five-day trips
over six years, those images have been manifested on film and paper,
and they will be on display at the Newport Beach Central Library from
March 1 to April 30.
Photographing a working ranch in Bend, Oregon, Folsom captured the
drama of the Wild West and the cowboys who live there.
“It is very impressive to see because they are galloping at full
speed on uneven terrain with the horses ahead and they are trying to
get the lasso on them,” Folsom said. “This is not for the amateur,
this is a step up and beyond.”
It took a skilled photographer to capture such skilled riders on
film. Fast action had to be captured under low light, early morning
or evening conditions.
“One of the most challenging aspects was changing film in the
middle of a dust storm,” he said.
Folsom explains how he did it: It took a lot of luck, a lot of
patience and a lot of film. During each trip, he went through more
than 1,000 exposures on 50 to 60 rolls of film. It involved taking
chances and making good guesses about what might happen next.
“If [the action] is in your area, there is only about four to six
seconds to catch it before it is gone again,” he said.
Ranch life is not so foreign to Folsom who was raised on a farm in
Riverside. It was not until he was drafted into the army in 1942 that
he finally got to sleep in until 5:30 a.m.
“You don’t have to get up to milk the cows in the army,” he said.
In 1948, he opened Harbor Photo in Corona del Mar, “which was not
much of a town then.” Harbor Photo has remained in the same location
on the East Coast Highway and under Folsom’s ownership ever since.
Starting off “shooting anything,” Folsom did his share of news,
portraits, weddings, babies and parties. But gradually, he broke away
from commercial photography and began to photograph more nature and
wildlife, his real passion. Over the years, he has photographed the
polar bears in Canada, the grizzly bears in Alaska and the wild
animals of Africa. He has been to every continent except Asia.
While at home in Newport Beach, he specializes in photographing
the birds of Western America and the local birds of the Upper Newport
Bay Ecological Preserve. His work is on display in the form of note
cards at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center in the Back Bay.
Now, at 81 years old, Folsom checks in on his business about three
hours a day and takes about four trips a year. He has a summer cabin
in Idaho, where the wildlife is plentiful, and on special occasions,
he tries to squeeze in a trip to Antarctica, Micronesia or Africa. He
always has a variety of things going on at the same time, he said.
That keeps life interesting.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.