Yellowstone Stump and Geyser

I did another one of those “pick a date and see what’s there” exercises and while I must admit I was greatly disappointed by what I found (sometimes the photographs aren’t nearly as great as the experience), I forced myself to go back and carefully look at the images.  I’m glad I did.  

These images came from our time in West Yellowstone and from the morning we went to Fountain Paint Pots. As usual we got there early because it’s one of the bus-tour stops and during the day it’s not only packed with people most of the time (which means using tripods becomes a spectacle if not disaster), the boardwalk bounces up and down with people walking, which means not so sharp images even if you do use a tripod.  The only times we’ve made decent images at this location are (a) very early in the morning, (b) very late in the afternoon [the crowds have to eat sometime], or (c) in the afternoon as a storm was approaching (the tourists fled, we didn’t . . . and got soaked in the process.  But Ann made some decent photographs that day!).  

Anyway, to work my way through the disappointment from looking at that morning’s work I reminded myself that there is always a reason I make an image.  I don’t just photograph haphazardly.  Once I reminded myself of that, things changed.  I started asking myself, “Why would I have made this image?”  While most of the images were still unsuccessful efforts at implementing an idea, a few images began to materialize, and I knew where to go with them.  

When working with images that I’m not sure about, I understand that what I’m doing is practicing.  This time I decided to practice some of the techniques Ann and I have been seeing in videos about how to draw the eye to an area though the selective use of tools that sharpen and add contrast to localized parts of the image as opposed to using them across the entire image.

Doing things like that is always easier when it’s a relatively simple image with a definite focal-point subject and some very simple compositional elements that lead the eye to that focal point.  So I worked on an image of a fallen tree that has some graphic qualities to it.

I guess to really learn my lessons I should return to the image and develop it so that the whole image (especially those distinct lines on the basin floor) are distinct.  [Ok, I just did that before loading the post up on the web.  It helped.  Now I should work on the color version using an approach Joe Cornish used in a video we watched Friday night.  I guess the learning never ends!]  The question really is whether working on the surrounding areas will detract from the impact of the tree’s roots.  They’re amazing.

I also decided to work with both images in black and white.  In part because these weren’t colorful “paint pots,” and in-part to brush up on my black and white skills. [Now, just before I hit the “publish” button, I have to say I worked on the color image yesterday (Saturday) and I was perhaps a bit premature about my comment about lack of color. I’ll keep you posted on further developments (puns intended)].

The second image is more of a traditional landscape image.  I usually don’t enjoy black and white imagery that is overly contrasty - harsh whites or broad areas of super deep blacks - because I love the broad rich tonal values you can get in-between those extremes.  But with this image I decided to add tonal values into the mix of sharpening and contrast tools used to focus the eye on areas of the frame I want viewers to explore.  That meant leaving the background trees a rather dark, largely indistinguishable mass in the background (there’s detail in the trees, it’s just hard to see because it’s so dark).

Working with this latter image I used a brush a bit more than I usually do to “paint” the image with light (actually light and clarity) in addition to the broader areas I emphasized.  There’s this lovely video of Ansel Adams in the darkroom working on a print using a circular card on a piece of wire dodging out areas of an image, then switching to a big card with a hole in it to burn in portions of the image, and then using the card edge to darken a sky, and then add a vignette.  It’s a magical dance in the darkroom that, fortunately, working on the image above helped me feel again.

That’s it.  Two images started in the middle of the day when I needed a break from work.  Yes, the break lasted a bit longer than I’d expected, and I had to return to the images several times before I was satisfied, but sometimes images demand a bit of attention.