Blizzard, Cottonwoods, River

November 15, 2019

Being a large format film photographer is an interesting avocation today. I came to shooting big film with the desire to produce large, beautiful, clear prints of the natural world. The outdoors provides me with more than subject matter. When I go “out” I am provided an energetic escape. As I like to say, I go to a beautiful place and, if all the conditions come together, I am moved to compose an image of one small, spectacular piece of that place. This has always been my source of creativity, escape, energy, rejuvenation, and ultimately, my art.

Occasionally, I get caught up in the world. I won’t delve into the details, but I lose my excitement, or motivation, or belief in the art that most often fuels me. When this happens, I find that pushing through difficult situations in the name of art can bring me back to a place of passion and creativity. The image above, “Blizzard, Cottonwoods, River”, came to life during such an experience.

Last winter the Lake Tahoe area, where I live, received massive amounts of snow. During one particular storm, all roads were closed, and we didn’t leave our home for four days. While the snow dumped, I geared up and headed out on foot. When I saw these trees silhouetted in the distance, I left the road and trudged, first through waste deep snow, then through chest deep snow, until I reached a clearing near the river. I slowly walked in a small circle until I had compacted enough snow to create a dense enough platform upon which I could set up my tripod, large format camera, and myself. After composing my image, loading a film holder into the camera and metering the scene, I waited until the snow fell heavily and the wind blew hard, creating true whiteout conditions. Then, I clicked the shutter release and exposed one sheet of color film.

The image is quiet, seemingly still. I think that is because I was able to convey how I felt in this place, in these conditions, when I experienced this scene and composed this image. With the world around us moving at a crazy pace, full of divisiveness and buried in unrealistic expectations and minimal attention spans, it is interesting that the one place I can find tranquility is within a storm. I don’t wish to mirror the world by providing images in technicolor conjured up in the computer in order to hold a viewers attention for 8 seconds and earn a “like” on social media. I want to share the power of the natural world as a remedy to those things. I hope to compose images that collectors will escape to when the world is overwhelming. These images can be both serene and powerful. I hope images like “Blizzard, Cottonwoods, River” speak to you as they do to me. The magic of big film is that it enables me to make these moments eternal. My experience, in that moment in time, can be shared and experienced forever.

After I’ve completed my photographic process in the field, I pack everything away, hoist my pack, and toil back through the conditions that originally motivated me to find beauty. As I trudged through the snow, I wondered if I had gotten it right. Was my exposure correct? Was the lens free of snow? Did the camera shake? I question my sanity, realizing I am wet, cold, tired and have along slow hike ahead of me. After several weeks, I received my developed film. The exposure was good, details / focus clear, my memory was awakened. As I drum scan my film and work in my modern digital darkroom, I question every subtle detail. I leave and come back. It takes days. In the end, my collectors will judge my vision. If you are moved as I was during the creation of this image, it was worth suffering for my art.

That is “The Fine Art of Nature”.

This image is ready to be released and is available for your collection! Please contact me directly and I will help make your purchase possible. Click Here for assistance!

Details:
Camera: Canham 5x7 Metal Field Camera with 4x5 Film Back
Lens: Caltar IIN (Rodenstock) 90mm
Film: Fuji Provia 100F 4x5 inch transparency film
Tripod: Gitzo 1325 Carbon Fiber
Tripod Head: Really Right Stuff BH55 Ball Head

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The final image, Christmas Valley Blizzard Panorama, was taken in January 2017, just up the pass from my house (literally a 3 minute drive from home). I had visited this grouping of trees several times and knew I wanted to compose a soft image of them, using the the far side of the canyon to add depth. I waited for a heavy snow, which was easy given our record winter (200% of normal snowfall), and headed out the door. As the sun dropped behind the mountains, I was able to get a nice even light with minimal contrast for the mood I had envisioned. I chose the panoramic format to eliminate sky, further minimize contrast, and simplify the focus on the trees. Given the low light, slow speed film and small aperture required for focus, I ended up with a 2 minute long exposure. This eliminated the ability to see falling snowflakes, and added a bit of detail to the trees, but maintained that soft "foggy" look of the background, as a lot of snow was falling.