At my campsite at Bill's,
the morning overcast falling through the woods.
The film and developer lifted the values of the woods,
and lifted the bright sky past the paper's reach.
To print it, the foreground was masked, and the sky was given a graduated pre-exposure ('flash') to restore the feeling of the scene.
Ahhhh... I was just sitting out there tonight listening to the Thrush. Have my trailer set-up where your camp was and I've been pouring plates all day. Nice one Don!
Honestly, I was re-thinking an old prejudice against toned and 'pictorial' pictures
after seeing some remarkable prints at PhotoStock that used the process to carry the image, rather than for cheap affect. I was also remembering some of Wolfgang's images that I've been looking at here.
This was also a remembrance of the countless trips with my father when I was learning to love flyfishing, and struggling with the young photographer's intention to show the shadows of the woods and the illuminating canopy beyond, for I spent much of my young days not 50 miles from this place. After lazily watching the first light through my tent, I was struck - when I finally got up - how the overcast sky was like an immense backlight to the woods. And I saw the image as a diorama, a tabletop image of sorts, whose background that I could make in the darkroom.
As a b&w image, it was too literal, and contradictory. As a warm, warm, warm image, it seemed just right.
What a glorious place to wake up to. Your photograph certainly captures the feeling of warmth filtering through the cool morning air in the woods. To top it off, freshly brewed Peets coffee- can't beat that!