Hofn, Iceland

I made this image near the town of Hofn while I was in Iceland.  The weather is constantly changing in this artic land and something you will need to wait for the right conditions to make a desired image.  I waited at least an hour or more for the clouds to clear the mountain peaks in this scene.  As I waited I dealt with some rain as well as wind.  It is easy to give up on a location when the weather doesn't co-operate and when travel is involved.  Often I quote Edward Weston's belief that, " while you are waiting for it here, you are missing it there".  But on this particular day I am glad I hung around for the storm clouds to clear and make the image. 

Working in Black and White

I recently made a trip to Utah and came away with a few new images to work on.  As I review my images in Lightroom, I realize how much I appreciate the days I worked with film and the darkroom process.  Working primarily as a black and white photographer, it requires me to pre visualize, as best as I can, the scene as the finished print while in the field.  When working with Black and White film the process is made easier because the only time I have to deal with color is at the time of exposure.  With the digital process there is a disconnect of what I visualized in the field and what is viewed on my computer screen, because of the RAW image being in color.  It can be a bit more challenging to bring out the initial emotional response I had to the subject in the finished print.  It has been my experience that the film/darkroom process is easier at the start and gets more difficult working towards the finished print. The digital process works in the opposite direction by being more difficult starting with a fuzzy. faded, RAW file that is in color, and then gets easier by utilizing the accurate controls offered by photo software.  For me personally, I try to maintain my thought processed I used with Black and White film and apply as much of it as I can to my digital imaging work flow to achive my desired final image.  As photography progresses we will be faced with new equipment and ways we deal with our images.  During these changes we tend to get focused on how we photograph and the equipment we use, rather than the reason why we are inspired to photograph and create. 

Bruarfoss Waterfall, Iceland

I made a photography trip to Iceland this year.  It was a fascinating trip even though the weather was challenging at times.  This waterfall is called Bruarfoss Falls, and is located in the Golden Triangle region of the country.  It was a little tricky locating the trail to the falls but with persistance I was able to find my way to it.  I made this image at 10 p.m. on a cool and wet day in May.  Iceland offers plenty of photography locations and I hope to return again to explore more of country.  If have any questions about planning a trip to Iceland or locating photography locations, you can contact me for information.

Photography tip

I recently had the misfortune of dropping and breaking my very expensive -16 neutral density filter while trying to screw in on my camera lens.  The new filters have a very thin profile which makes them difficult to handle without running the risk of dropping.  In this short video I show you how I now put on and take off a filter from my lens.  Hopefully this small tip my help you when working with glass filters.

Scanning film negatives

I have many black and white negatives that I had made during my darkroom days.  Most of my work back then was done with a Linhof 4x5 view camera using Kodak films.  Tri-x was one film I enjoyed because of it's exposure latitude and the way I could easily manipulate it.  When Tmax films came along it was a challenge at first to know how to use and process the film.  Tmax was revolutionary because of the grain structure and the very fine detail it could record.  It was a film that needed a strict processing procedure, and I used a calibrated Jobo processor to do all of my development.  The time and temperature was extremely critical to getting satisfactory and repeatable results with Tmax.  Recently I have  been scanning a few of my old negatives to use on my web site.  I have an Epson V750 flatbed scanner and use a fluid mount scanning procedure. The results are alright for web images but when compared to my finished fine gelatin silver prints they can not compare.  Certainly there are better quality scanning devices such as a drum scanner.  Someday I may use a custom lab to make a high end scan of some of my favorite negatives to see if I could print them to my satisfaction.  The above image, called Roger, is one I made with Tmax-100 film and scanned with my flatbed scanner.