Rodney Lough Jr. Wilderness Photographer

Wilderness photographer Rodney Lough Jr.

By Rachel Michelle

June 24, 2013

After attending the opening of Rodney Lough Jr.’s release of his first image for 2013, held at his San Francisco Wilderness Gallery, to say breathtaking would be an understatement.  Not only was I in awe of this image “Cathedral Forest” with its exploding bursts of yellow and gold leaves, I felt not as someone viewing this amazing photograph, but that I was transported to the forest looking and feeling what Rodney saw.

Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Rodney Lough received a camera at a young age and began capturing Mother Nature’s beauty.  In later years while hiking in Colorado, Rodney had a moment of clarity where he realized his true calling was photography.  He left the corporate world and opened a gallery in Sausalito, and in just a few years he opened 3 more, plus a production room in Portland, Oregon.

His gallery space, located at 1 Jefferson Street in the touristy area of Pier 39, is a must see.  The gallery is an impressive 14,000 sq. ft. space, the largest single artist gallery in the world, which features his Wilderness Collection.  Ranging in size from 16×20 to 4ftx7ft, these photos are presented in a beautifully sophisticated way that is an enlightening experience to view.  The enormity of the photographs take your breath away, as you make you’re way from room to room, each image leaving a lasting impression.  From a distance one can easily see how spectacular these shots are, but when reviewing closely, you will see an incredible amount of detail.  Down to tiny blades of grass or sprays from an ocean wave are vivid and bright, proving an extremely high quality photograph all around.

The meticulous process in which these photos are turned into masterpiece works, shows the care and dedication of not only the artist, but also his entire staff.  Rodney trains each one personally and states, “From start to finish, no one in the world produces fine art photography like us”.  A process that took 15 years to create, Lough is involved in each and every step.  By bringing an image from the field to develop, mount, frame, package and ship, completing all steps in-house.  By doing all this himself, he is making each photo an heirloom quality piece, exceeding museum quality standards.  His attention to detail and passion for perfection makes an even better reason to collect his works.

His love of nature has driven him to be environmentally conscious and to spread that enthusiasm to others to protect and preserve these scenes nature has to offer.  All of his galleries are run on the least amount of energy possible, encouraging his staff to be as close to paperless and to leave small carbon footprints.

Rodney states “Wilderness – you could run out of food and die, you could get attacked by a bear and die, you could fall off a cliff and die, or you could stay home, fall off the couch, and die – choose.”

Whether he is hiking off the beaten path into a white-out mountainside, jumping off a 40ft cliff into a water abyss, standing on an iceberg in the middle of the ocean, or hiking in 120 degree heat of death valley during a sandstorm, you can guarantee that Rodney will do just about anything to capture the stunning scenes Mother Nature provides.  You can visit The Rodney Lough Gallery at One Jefferson St.  San Francisco.

Rachel Michelle

Rachel is a noted art advisor and writer. One of her ambitions is to educate the people of the Bay Area in supporting local emerging artists. She does this by writing about upcoming artists and working with private venues, buyers and galleries to introduce these exceptional artists and showcase their work.

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