Capturing 'the moment' in landscapes

Kurt Brownell's landscape photography exhibit opens Sept. 20.

Commercial photographer Kurt Brownell of Victor will share his recent explorations into landscape photography in an exhibition at Finger Lakes Community College that runs from Sept. 20 through Oct. 26.
“Near and Far: Landscapes” opens Thursday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. and will include an artist talk from 2 to 3 p.m. An opening reception will be held Friday, Sept. 21, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The events will take place in the college’s Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34 on the first floor of the main building, 3325 Marvin Sands Drive in Canandaigua. Entry to the exhibit and events is free.
The landscapes will feature locales around western New York, the Adirondacks and southern Maine. They focus on the interplay and subtlety of early morning and late day light and also explore the relationship between foreground objects and horizons. Brownell uses selective focus, panoramic stitching software and post-production color and tonal techniques to recreate the emotional nature of the original scene.
"In my role as an advertising photographer, I'm usually working under tight deadlines with very specific needs and requirements for the end images. Shoots are planned and produced in advance and usually completed with a gaggle of crew and clients on set, and in many cases, followed by extensive retouching and compositing,” Brownell said. “My landscape work is essentially free of all of those things and much more about being in the natural moment with a camera in hand."
During college, Brownell built post and beam homes and docks for his family's lumber business. He attended Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor's degree in photographic illustration. Upon graduation, Brownell started his own business, Kurt Brownell Photography. He spent three years assisting Rochester commercial photographers and worked as chief photographer for the alternative weekly, City Newspaper.
Currently, his client roster includes Marriott, Constellation Brands, Birds Eye, Wegmans, Unity Health, Thompson Health, Nazareth College and the University of Rochester. He has also photographed a number of local projects, including the Public Market Cookbook, The Celebrity Chefs Cookbook, Great Homes of Rochester, Animal Scramble, and Horses on Parade. He has just finished filming his first video collaboration, a promotional series on the renovation of the Spa at the Del Monte.
Brownell enjoys visiting the Adirondacks, where he grew up, as well as cooking, woodworking, skiing and golfing. Brownell lives in Victor with his wife, Liz, an associate professor of graphic design at FLCC, and their children, Chloe and Luke.
To view Brownell’s work, visit his website, www.kurtbrownell.com.
Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34 hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, contact Barron Naegel, gallery director, at (585) 785-1369 or gallery34@flcc.edu.