This area is one of the poorest regions in Colorado, but I find the people to be warm and friendly. It is an interesting area, and I have just started to explore its land formations, historic culture, and natural history. In this particular drainage where the photograph was taken is a hidden cave filled with stolen Spanish treasure. Now all I have to do is find it.
Hi Antje, Landscape photography for me is about patience and timing. I was camped in this drainage for nine days. I spent the first three days from sunrise to well after sunset constructing different compositions based on different possible lighting scenarios that could emerge in this drainage. I then waited for days for something to happen. I did a lot of writing with my Palm Pilot and a keyboard sitting in the middle of a cirque waiting forever for the Gods to give me beautiful light. My packing llamas loved it because the grasses were so lush and nutrient rich, but after a while you can go crazy waiting and waiting and waiting....
When this storm front moved in and the lighting started to change, I new exactly which composition I prototyped earlier would capture this moment in time, and I ran like hell for it. This type of shooting is what I call premeditated shooting and is something I suspect many large format photographers do because it is so difficult to set up those big cameras. Personally, I think the composition is a little tight, but my selection of prime lenses is finite so I did not have many options here.
Wow, where do you find patience and time for that? But I must admit it was well worth it. Striking is the most appropriate word I can think of. Bravo.
- Thomas
I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your comments. I came very close to throwing this photograph away, but decided at the last moment to invest some darkroom time and effort into it. Even when I finished, I was not sure whether I wanted to keep it or not until I posted it here. I was looking for something more complex, and could not emotionally downshift to the simplicity of this composition.
Many times I get to close to things to see my way past the fog inside my brain, and I need some outside input to turn things right side up and clear the air between my ears. Thank you for righting my upside down brain.
What is that dark rectangular shape running through the middle of the photo and not quite reaching either end. Is that scanning fault or film problem ? The yellow colour of the mountains and sky - are they natural ?
Sorry about they questions but as Colombo used to say "Something bothers me mam?"