Phyllis Eileen Banks

Phyllis Eileen Banks is both writer and artist.Her articles have appeared in Southern New Mexico Magazine, FYI, Vision Magazine, Roswell Daily Record, New Mexico Magazine, Ranger Rick, Concern, Anchorage Daily News, and other periodicals. In addition, with Cynthia Smith she authored The Anchorage Fun Book.

Much of her experience has been as an editor.Her editorial experience includes The Alaska Presbyterian, The Alaska Heart, newsletter of the Alaska Heart Association, the book COCAHINIA (Consultation on Church and Human Need in Alaska), and Roaming Southern New Mexico.

"I have invisible antennae that 'vibrate' when something doesn't seem right.Of course editing someone else's work is easier than editing one's own," she says.

People stories, historical pieces, and travel writing are her favorites.She and her husband, Hal, moved to New Mexico from Alaska.

"New Mexico has some of the same mystic of Alaska – wide open spaces, different cultures.The transition was easy," says Eileen."It is truly The Land of Enchantment and no matter where you reside you carry it with you."

Phone:727-544-3713

Published on 01/1/2003

Sometimes extraordinary effects or circumstances spring from ordinary events. Such has been the case with Roswell photographer Bruce Gaucher, who gave his wife a camera he wanted for Christmas about five years ago. He had no idea that act would lead to his becoming a landscape/nature photographer who would inspire awe with his pictures.

Photographer Bruce Gaucher - speaking to the soul

Evening light at White Sands National Monument. Photo by Bruce Gaucher.

Gaucher's journey began with studying techniques and led, ultimately, to art. Once he decided he wanted to become a photographer, his first step was learning about f-stops, depth of field, composition, film, filters, light, etc. He did this with the help of another Roswell photographer, Richard Collins.

Galen Rowell, a well-known adventure/nature photographer, became a mentor after Gaucher took one of his workshops. That association increased Gaucher's enthusiasm for nature and photography. He learned that it is the small, vivid and unusual details that make or break a photo.

Over time, light has become Gaucher’s No. 1 priority. His method of operation is to look for beautiful light, then for objects to put in that light which complete his composition.

Mogollon stone carving at Three Rivers Petroglyphs. Photo by Bruce Gaucher.

While on location he often spends an inordinate amount of time waiting for the best light. When he plans to take a specific photograph, for example, of a full moon, sunrise or sunset, he arrives one or two days before in order to scout a location to get the most dramatic composition. He experiments first with visualizing inside his "mind’s eye" the scene he wants to capture, then he finds it through his own eyes and finally the camera lens. The last step is to wait until that perfect, instantaneous moment to click the shutter. The process requires infinite patience, but the result is worth it.

Another technique he uses is looking for a composition in one area, then checking the opposite sky for another. "Sometimes nature will deceive you," he said. "For example, maybe the sunset doesn’t happen that evening because of storm clouds, or maybe the sun will just peak through the clouds. In the opposite sky maybe a rainbow appears. A rainbow by itself is boring so I try to find something to put the rainbow over - say foliage or water. With sunsets, the sun gets redder as it sets lower in the horizon. That’s called alpen glow, and the higher the peaks the more possibilities for interesting composition."

Will he be able to bring his visualization to fruition? "I think so, and that’s the excitement and the challenge."

Observing his eloquent expression of light, one can see how the same consideration relates to landscape painting. The artist, and the photographer, may capture patterns and objects, but if the scene doesn’t convey a sense of "just right light", it isn’t outstanding. Gaucher has learned the technical aspects of photography, and that mastery has freed him to be an artist with his camera.

Recently he spent two weeks in Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Peru, photographing as well as hiking the 27 mile Inca Trail. He was the only photographer in the tour, so he would go ahead of the group to photograph some specific place, then walk back or let the tour catch up with him. Machu Picchu, discovered in 1911 by the American Explorer Hiram Bingham, is one of the few urban centers of pre-Columbian America found virtually intact. It shows admirable architectural design and execution and contains five square miles of terrace and construction, with over 3,000 steps linking it to many levels, no doubt a photographer’s paradise.

Autumn at Rio Ruidoso, near Bonito Lake. Photo by Bruce Gaucher.

New Mexico’s scenery presents great opportunity for outstanding photos: Sierra Blanca and Capitan Mountains, Rio Ruidoso, Lincoln and its Ellis Store with a wagon after a snowfall, White Sands with sunshine, sunset, snow, full moon or balloon fiesta, a doorknob at Fort Meigs, sunlight through yellow leaves, Three Rivers Petroglyph, yucca plants, cactus blossoms, Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge and Bottomless Lakes. The backdrop for KOBR-TV’s news set is a photo of Bottomless Lakes that Bruce and Richard Collins created.

"Photography is a way to connect with nature, to be present in the environment that’s changing all the time, and to be participating in it,"Gaucher said. "I feel it is a beautiful way of expressing the depth of this life. It is like having a gift to be able to capture nature’s panorama and present it to others who may not have been with me when I photographed it."

"There are so many beautiful things on the landscape that speak to my soul. And if someone sees what I’ve photographed and has an emotional reaction, I know I have communicated."