Ian Evans, Mountaineer, Photographer and Writer

About Ian Evans

Mountaineer, Photographer and Writer

Ian Evans is a mountaineer, photographer and writer on the mountains of Britain and The Himalaya. Born and educated in Liverpool, he now lives in the village of Invermoriston in the heart of the Highlands of Scotland where he enjoys easy access to most of Scotland's finest mountains.

Ian's portfolio reflects his passion for high mountains and wild places, and many of his chosen viewpoints are beyond the reach of the traditional landscape photographer, requiring detailed planning, preparation, determination and a high level of fitness and commitment.

He is a sensitive observer of landscape and light; his love for, and understanding of this environment is reflected in every image.

An early interest in mountains and photography inspired him to organise and lead trekking, climbing and photographic expeditions to Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, India and Pakistan.

In 1986 he established commercial relationships with several travel companies, including ExplorAsia, The Ultimate Travel Company (formerly known as Worldwide Journeys and Expeditions) and KE Adventure Travel, and for the next 20 years worked in the travel industry as a Himalayan trekking consultant and guide.

A frequent visitor to The Himalaya, he accumulated an extensive collection of photographs of the region, particularly of the great 8000 metre peaks – the very highest mountains in the world.

Ian’s written work, much of which related to travel and photography in the Himalayan regions, appeared in numerous outdoor and mountaineering publications including 'Geographic', ‘The Great Outdoors’, ‘High’, ‘Climber and Hillwalker’, 'Scottish Mountaineer', ‘Lakeland Walker’ and ‘Trail’.

Makalu, Nepal Himalaya, Olympus OM1, 1983

Snow Lake, Karakoram Himalaya, Fuji 645Zi, 1994

He was also a contributor to many high profile works by other writers, including ‘On Top of the World’ by John Cleare, ‘The Magic of the Munros’ and ‘The Call of The Corbetts’ by Irvine Butterfield, ‘Exploring the North-West of Scotland’ and ‘Wild Walks’ by Richard Gilbert and ‘Wilderness Walks’ by Cameron McNeish.

Ian’s early material was captured in 35mm format using Olympus OM system cameras and lenses. Reliable, lightweight and compact, they were perfect for use in the Himalaya with its extremes of temperature and altitude.

He moved to medium format in 1988, firstly with a Mamiya 645 and later to a Fuji 645Zi. With its 55-90mm zoom lens, it ideally suited Ian's requirements and he used it both at home and abroad for more than a decade.

Film stock in those early days was Kodak Ektachrome Professional 64, but Ian later changed to Fuji Velvia 50.

In 1998 Ian began to experiment with larger formats and made a major investment in a Fuji GX617 panoramic camera along with its three stock lenses - 90mm, 180mm and 300mm. The following years proved to be challenging and exciting as the search for new material took a new direction with a very different perspective.

The large, razor-sharp images the Fuji GX617 produced were superb even if there were only four to every roll of 120 film. However, the camera came with its own problems - the complexity of setting it up and the burden of carrying so much heavy and unwieldy equipment onto the mountains in all weathers and seasons of the year.

Loch Torridon, Scottish Highlands, Fuji GX617, 2001

Ben Nevis Morning Light, Nikon D850, 2021

Ben Nevis, Scottish Highlands, Nikon D850, 2021

With the arrival of the digital era the demise of the Fuji GX617 was inevitable. And so with a heavy heart and against the advice of some of this fellow professionals, in 2003 Ian sold the Fuji GX617 and its lenses to explore the opportunities offered by this new, but yet unproven, technology.

Ian soon identified its many benefits; indeed he was quick to realise that an image captured in the morning could be printed and offered for sale by the evening!. He converted to a digital workflow as soon as he could rely upon it to produce images of merchantable quality. In so doing he became one of the first outdoor photographers to work with it exclusively.

His initial choice from the extremely limited range of 'professional' cameras available at the time was the Canon EOS 1Ds. This he later replaced with successive versions of the Canon EOS 5D as the capabilities of that particular model steadily advanced and improved.

A decade later Ian decided to convert to Nikon, at first with the D800E and later with the D810 and D850. He felt that the higher resolutions and wider dynamic ranges of these cameras took image quality to an entirely new level.

The subsequent successful development of mirrorless cameras prompted yet another change. The reduction in both the size and weight of these cameras is of major benefit to the outdoor photographer, particularly a mountain photographer!

In 2024 Ian's choice of camera is now the Sony A7RV.

Just half the weight of the Nikon D850 and with its 61 megapixel sensor, the Sony A7RV produces absolutely stunning high resolution images with a superb dynamic range - a quality Ian once never ever considered possible in a 35mm format camera all those years ago!

Loch Loyne, Scottish Highlands, Sony A7RV, 2024