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.