An avid photographer, he took many photos of the Sierra Nevada, including the High Sierra and Hetch Hetchy Valley before it was flooded by the dam. He worked with heavy, fragile dry glass plates that had to be transported with great care throughout the wilderness. In 1944, Ansel Adams evaluated his work: "Never intentionally 'arty', most of his compositions reveal a sensitive reaction to the finest moments of the mountain scene. It is this quality that differentiates between a mere "record" and a "creative, sympathetic statement"."