BIOGRAPHY

I'm a 34 year old self learned film landscape photographer (in my free time), a truck driver by day and a husband all the time. I was born and raised in Wyandotte Michigan, lived in northwest Montana for a while after high school and currently my lovely wife and I own a home in Monroe Michigan. I first began experimenting with a camera back when I was a junior in highschool (95/96') and continued to learn through books and trial and error for a few more years before I began another hobby that took all of my time and money (2001). My camera sat for 8 years as I got my degree and certifications in Auto Service Technology and Auto Body, Paint and Metal Work while I played around with a couple old classic trucks I had purchased over that time (that's what took up all my time and money = college and old trucks). In November of 2009 (after an amazing display of autumn colors in southeastern lower Michigan) I was inspired to again pick up my old clunky and noisy 1993 and 1995 Minolta auto focus 35mm SLR's. After that 8 year break, i had a fresh eye and restored inspiration to get back into landscape photography. For my landscapes, I now shoot exclusively 6x7 Medium Format with the Mamiya 7II Rangefinder and Mamiya RZ67 Pro II.

Film landscape photography is something fun that I enjoy to do in my free time when I'm not driving my Freightliner, sleeping, cutting the grass, fixing cars or homes, wrestling with our dog Griffin, kicking our cat Coen (just kidding!) or relaxing with my wife Jenny (which doesn't leave much time for making photographs). Most of my photographs come from weekend trips and vacations we have been on with the exception of the Elizabeth Park Gallery and the Mountains Gallery. Elizabeth Park is a local park here in southeast Michigan which I can access in less than a half hour from my home. Most of the photographs in the Mountains Gallery were made on my weekends when we (Jenny and I) worked for the U.S. Forest Service in the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Flathead National Forest in northwest Montana (yeah, that was a mouthful). If you check out some of the photos in the Mountain Gallery, it will explain a little more what we did with the Forest Service.

PHILOSOPHY

Work in progress...

I guess for now, all you need to know is that it's all about low natural light, long exposures and big Kodak negatives.

The Photography of Karl Wertanen

Site currently under construction. All images are still available here to view. For purchasing information please contact me via email at Kwphoto79@yahoo.com

The Great Lakes Maritime Project