About
Tony M Allen
I began taking photographs in the 1970's while an engineering student at Oregon State University as I traveled to my hometown of Red Bluff, CA during breaks, driving through the southern Cascades as I went. I began taking photos there to remind me of the beauty I was seeing. So my hobby began.
During the summers while in college, I worked in the woods in the logging industry. Living in the woods fueled my passion for the outdoors, and I began taking weekend backpacking excursions into the Cascade wilderness. My time working in the woods caused me to become a bit conflicted, as my coworkers looked at an old growth forested hillside and saw a crop that was over-ripe that needed to be harvested, and I saw an old growth forest that should be preserved. That was my last summer working in the woods. After that, I went on to graduate school and then to work for WSDOT in Olympia, WA to start a career in geotechnical engineering.
Photographing the mountains and coast lands, and everything outdoors in between, became a life-long passion for me, using Olympia as my base for the past 39 years. While my photographic focus has been on the Pacific Northwest, I have also traveled to other parts of the world such as Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and Chile, taking photographs of the beauty I had the opportunity to see.
Publications
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The Cascade Range: A Personal Tour
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The Canadian Rockies (Banff, Jasper, and Mt. Robson: A Personal Tour)
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Images of the Pacific Northwest
Gear and Media
Newer Photos (2005 to present):
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Taken using digital cameras, including the Canon 40D (10 MP) prior to 2015 and the Canon 80D (25 MP) from 2015 to present.
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Canon L-Series lenses (17 to 40 mm zoom, 60 macro, and 70 to 200 mm zoom) were used, as well as Canon lenses specifically made for the size of the APS sensor (10 to 22 mm wide angle zoom, and a 60 mm macro lens).
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A sturdy Gitzo carbon fiber tripod was used in most cases to maximize sharpness and make possible the use of multiple exposures for HDR technology (i.e., in Photoshop).
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A polarizer was used occasionally to remove reflections and enhance color.
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Older photos (i.e., prior to 2005):
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Taken using film. Earlier photos were taken using Kodachrome 25 or 64, and later photos (after 1991) were taken using Fuji Velvia 50 or 100 pro.
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Film cameras included a Nikon FE and Nikon FM2 and a series of fixed focal length lenses, including 20, 35, 55 micro, 105, and 180 mm lenses.
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A sturdy Bogen tripod was used in most cases to maximize sharpness.
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A polarizer or graded neutral density filter was used as needed to remove reflections and enhance color, or to deal with extreme differences between light and dark areas.
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Film images were converted to digital form using either a Nikon Coolscan 5000 (4000 dpi) scanner, or using the Canon 40D, and later the 80D, Digital SLR with a 60 mm Macro lens, mounting the camera and slide in a specially made copy stand, taking multiple exposures of the slide, and combining them using HDR technology (i.e., in Photoshop). Using the Canon camera as a "scanner" produced better results than the Nikon scanner in most cases.
