7 minute read

Remote Control

Landscape photographer Seth K. Hughes tells us about his isolated Colorado mountain paradise – and why GF20-35mmF4 R WR is the perfect lens to document it

Dominating Southwestern Colorado’s skyline, the San Juan Mountains violently twist the horizon into bold and bleak patterns. As part of the greater Rocky Mountain range, six of its summits rise over 14,000ft, culminating in Uncompahgre Peak – named after its indigenous residents and towering 4,000ft over the surrounding basin. But although remote and lofty, these places are not inhospitable, with rugged slopes slipping down into dense forests, verdant meadows, and pristine alpine lakes.

“Not that there are too many people here to see it,” smiles landscape photographer Seth K. Hughes. “But that’s OK by me.” Indeed, this is a place that can seem like a long way from anywhere. “The range is probably my favorite spot in Colorado,” he continues. “And so remote that you can drive five hours from where I’m based near Denver just to get into the mountains, and plenty longer to arrive at old mining towns like Lake City. You might think it’s hard to find this kind of remoteness in the US these days, but here it’s easy to be alone if you want it. The town populations number in the hundreds, and there’s stunning mountain wilderness in every direction.”

To anyone who knows Seth’s landscape work, his love for the wilderness is clear, but his bond with this part of Colorado is extra special. “For me, the mountains here are just unparalleled,” he enthuses. “I mean, the Colorado Rockies are great all over, but in my eyes, they reach a climax in this portion of the state. Between the peaks and valleys, the topography is so striking – and there’s such variety between the rugged tops and lush slopes. In the summer, there are wildflowers all around, carpeting the landscape with color.”

Reinforcing those contrasts, another of Seth’s favorite spots is The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park – a dramatic, 12-mile sliver of vertiginous gorges, some of which are so deep, they get only a few minutes of sunlight per day. “That’s an amazing place, and it includes the Painted Wall, which is the tallest sheer cliff in Colorado at a colossal 2,250ft,” he confirms. “It’s not only impressively high, though. The wall is shot through with stripes of lighter rock that look almost like a Jackson Pollock, where someone has just whipped paint onto a canvas. It has a unique beauty.”

Of course, as a photographer, it’s Seth’s mission to communicate the wonder he feels in these moments – but how best to do it? “I tend to approach these kinds of places as I would a photo essay or travelog,” he explains. “I want to show as complete a picture as possible. To do that, it’s important to illustrate the complexity and variety of its appeal.

“To create this kind of visual texture,” he continues, “I’m looking for anything that fascinates and delights… from broad landscapes like Black Canyon, to the smallest details, such as rock patterns or the intricacy of plants. Wildlife is also part of that story if the opportunity arises. I try to be open to the whole environment and narrate that experience with my photography. This process is simple storytelling, and for that to be successful, you need different perspectives. Viewers want variety, so you can’t photograph everything in the same way. Different approaches and focal lengths make a richer experience.

“That experience might require several lenses to record it properly, but wide angles are certainly key to success,” Seth continues. “That’s because they do a great job of making the viewer feel immersed in a scene, like they’re in your shoes.” Certainly, standard focal lengths are often billed as the most realistic way to document a subject, owing to how they render perspective similar to the human eye. But wide angles offer the same level of connection, this time through their field-of-view being closer to what we experience with our own eyes.

“Wide-angle lenses can create expensive and captivating views that other lenses can’t,” Seth continues. “That was definitely the case when using the new GF20-35mmF4 R WR on my FUJIFILM GFX100S. For instance, it lets me make photos of the wildflower meadows, which show the scale of the subject, but also bring it up close. Only a wide-angle lens can render a scene like that. Similarly, at Black Canyon, the topography is so deep and narrow, you need that very short focal length to show its majesty. We were also presented with beautiful rainbows, for which a big field-of-view is a must!

“What’s more, it has some excellent minimum focus capabilities. For images of flowers, mushrooms, or textures, I was able to get very close and increase that variety of visual character. Used wide open in that way, it also shows some really nice bokeh and a delicate sharpness fall-off that GF lenses are known for. With the constant F4 aperture and my GFX 100S’s in-body image stabilization, it’s a lens you can use handheld for quicker, candid documentary work, too.”

Even for Seth’s much-loved astrophotography, GF20-35mmF4 R WR proved up to the task. “As a night-sky photographer, I’ll always want wider apertures,” he laughs. “But at F4, and with the GFX System’s brilliant noise performance, it’s easy to adapt with an extra stop of ISO.”

“I own the GF23mmF4 R LM WR, which was previously the widest GF lens out there, and that’s still a great optic. But this new zoom gives me more options in a form that’s very similar,” he continues. “Although just three millimeters wider in focal length, that makes a much bigger difference at the short end than it does the long. I think it’s every bit as good as far as sharpness, and contrast, and color, so it’s all upside as far as I’m concerned. Plus, as a lens with internal zoom, it’s much more compact in use and weather-resistant.”

While highly useful on its own, as Seth’s mountain sojourn testifies, GF20-35mmF4 R WR is also small enough to fit neatly into a kit of lenses for documentary and travel. “If you haven’t guessed, I just love variety,” he explains. “And a wide-angle zoom like this will always have a place in my camera bag. But on trips and hikes, I may also want a telephoto for wildlife and more compressed and layered landscape scenes, and a standard lens too. The size of this lens means I can pack those options a lot more freely and not worry about being weighed down on my way up a peak.”

Seth’s summary is clear and to the point. “As the widest GF lens so far, GF20-35mmF4 R WR really scratched an itch for me,” he laughs. “As a high-quality FUJIFILM GFX System lens, it met all my expectations. I would definitely see it as a vital component for not only landscape and travel photographers, but also those working in documentary and architectural roles, where it gives a beautifully undistorted view. But for me personally, it’s the perfect lens for photographing my remote mountain paradise.”

FUJINON GF20-35mmF4 R WR is coming soon to your nearest FUJIFILM Authorized Dealer. Learn more and read the full specifications here.


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