Dan Driscoll has had a camera in his hands since he was 10 years old. His early artistic influences began with his mother who is a painter and continues painting today on the seacoast of Maine.

In 1978 Dan opened September Productions where he directs television commercials all over the world for clients such as Spalding Sports, General Mills, Converse, TJ Maxx, Mattel and Fisher Price. Though he loves directing television commercials, his passion is photographing Nantucket where he and his family have been coming for over 30 years and where he and his wife Connie now reside. “One of my life long dreams has always been to live on Nantucket. One of my other goals is to one day publish the quintessential photo book of Nantucket, with a portion of the proceeds going to organizations such as the Nantucket Conservation Foundation to help preserve Nantucket’s natural beauty. Some of the work you are seeing here today is the beginning of that book.”

My Process

Photography is something that I have been pursing since I was 10 years old. All my learning has been self taught and achieved through years of trail and error. The most influential person in my efforts, besides my mother who is a painter, has been Ansel Adams. I have read virtually all of his books and find myself returning to them from time to time for inspiration and clarification. One of the most important things I have learned from his writings is the importance of Pre-Visualization. To not pre-visualize a photograph would be nothing more than taking a snap shot.

“Visualization is a conscious process of projecting the final photographic image in the mind before taking the first steps in actually photographing the subject. Not only do we relate to the subject itself, but we become aware of its potential as an expressive image.” From Ansel Adams “The Negative”

The next step requires patience in waiting for the light and the right environmental and atmospheric conditions. Fortunately here on Nantucket, Mother Nature does a splendid job with all the above.

I originate all my work with a Nikon F3 using Nikon lenses ranging from 1000mm to 20mm. The lenses that I tend to use the most are a 300mm, 35mm and 20mm. The majority of my work is exposed on Fujichrome Velvia and processed normally. I then scan these slides using a Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 scanner. These images are then brought into my digital darkroom, also known as Adobe Photoshop, where they are cleaned up and minor adjustments accomplished. Once I have an original image that is to my liking I then clone the original and size the new file to the print output size. The output of the final print is done via a giclée method. I print with archival inks and papers using an Epson Stylus Photo 2200. Generally I prefer two printing mediums, Premium Luster paper for vivid color images and Watercolor paper for the softer images.

 When I explain my process, some people look askance when I mention the word computer, but the fact is that color photography and digital development are inextricable linked to one another today. Even Ansel Adams foresaw this years before the proliferation of personal computers. The following is an excerpt from Ansel Adam’s notes written on April 1, 1983.

“I am frustrated by both exposure-scale limitations and rigid film-color. As ‘reality’ is out of the question, I can indulge myself with explorations of the ‘unreal’ color which may or may not have intriguing aesthetic effects. I would not want ‘post-card’ realism, but I would enjoy ‘enhancements’ of the colors which I fear is not possible with conventional material today…The scope of control with the electronic image has not been explored, but I feel confident astonishing developments await us in this area.”

Not only was Ansel Adams one of the century’s greatest photographers, but also quite prophetic in his vision of the electronic image (digital imaging), which now, almost two decades later, is well into its eighth generation of image control with Adobe Photoshop.

Dan Driscoll     March 2004

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