WC Bean Photography

The images displayed on this site were created with a variety of different cameras. I started compiling my stock photo files while shooting 35mm film cameras. My first auto focus camera was an EOS 650 which soon gave way to an EOS 10s and eventually an EOS 3. For almost 10 years I worked for a company that rented and sold photographic equipment to professional photographers and I was fortunate to have access to nearly $500,000 worth of equipment. My files contain images from a 35mm Roundshot panoramic camera, an 8X10 view camera, and just about everything in between. In 1993 an opportunity presented itself and I purchased a Calumet wooden 4X5 camera for photographing landscapes. Over the years I acquired a variety of lenses for it and many of the images you see were photographed with that wonderful camera. I can't remember how many times I would be setting up a shot only to have someone wander up and ask "is that an antique camera?" "Nope."

In 2003, after professing for years that I'd NEVER give up film for digital, I attended a George Lepp Seminar and saw some prints made from digital captures that were absolutely stunning. Never one to stand in the way of progress I made the decision to go digital. I sold the Calumet and traded the EOS 3 for my first digital SLR, a Canon 10D. My film processing tanks, reels, and holders were next to go and that funded the purchase of an Epson 1280 wide carriage printer. A little later I added a film scanner and the digital conversion was complete.

I've always been a Canon shooter. Not because I think they're any better than any other 35mm systems out there (though I do love the ultrasonic focusing) but because Canon was the first truly professional equipment I ever owned. I've been shooting Canon for 25 years and they've never let me down unless I did something stupid.

Canon A430 Powershot camera (Judy's camera. I bought it for her after drowning her film camera on a canoe trip)

- Canon EOS 40D
- EOS 17-40 f4L
- EOS 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS
- EOS 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS
- EOS 60mm macro

Canon EF12 extension tube

Bogen/Manfrotto 441 Carbon Fiber and 190XB tripods

Markins Q3 Ball head and Graf Mini Studioball head

Quantaray photo backpack

While I never truly was a single film junkie, over the years I developed (I know, bad pun) an affinity for the Fuji family of transparancy films. My early choice was Fujichrome 100 which in the mid '80s gave way to Velvia and Provia. I personally never liked Kodachrome and Ektachrome was always tooooooooo blue, especially for shooting at the higher altitudes in Colorado where ultraviolet light makes shadows look very blue. In the late 90's Kodak finally started producing some slide films I liked and in the latter stages of my film usage my images were spread evenly between E100SW and Velvia.

Print films were just the opposite with Kodak taking a commanding lead over Fuji. Almost all images in my files on negative film are some variety of Kodak with Kodacolor 100 leading the way.

Computers, Printers,Scanners, and Software

I have used a variety of computers as part of my digital darkroom. The brands and models are not important but I'm Windows based because that's what I'm used to. I need to replace my laptop soon and I'm giving serious consideration to dipping my toes in the Mac pool. I suppose that will depend on what kind of deal I can get when it's time.

For printing hard copy images I use an Epson 1280 for large prints and an older HP 952 for smaller prints.

Monitors are calibrated using the Pantone Huey calibration device

Minolta Dimage Scan Elite used for scanning 35mm slides and negatives to create digital files of those images.

I've used a variety of software including:

Photoshop Elements 5.0

Photoshop Elements 4.0

ArcSoft Panorama Maker 3.0

I'd switch to Photoshop CS3 if photography were my primary source of income but it isn't and for now, Elements works just fine for what I need to do. I keep returning to PanoramaMaker for stitching together multiple images because it's a lot easier to use and just as efficient (at least with me at the keyboard) as Photoshop.

One of the upgrades being done on the site is to list technical data for all the images displayed. At least to the best of my recollection. If you have any questions about my lens selection or anything else, drop me an e-mail.