737 Snake River and Mt. Moran - Jackson Hole, Wyoming
There is nothing like a brisk early morning walk along the shoreline of the Snake River. I was exploring the photographic options of Mt. Moran from Oxbow Bend when I came across a tree branch that had been stuck in the river for some time. Evidence of the sun-bleached branches. The Snake River was calm and the delicate branches remained very still, which indicated a long exposure was possible.
The branches, the mountain, and reflection of the mountain worked great together compositionally, but, the clear blue sky was something I needed to deal with. Exposing this scene with black and white film meant the sky would print white and be unattractive.
I had already visualized my final print and wanted the sky to go very dark. I don’t often use a red filter, but this composition called for it and then some. As you may know the red filter will darken a blue sky. I knew my red filter would require a 3 stop exposure increase which could cause a problem with moving branches. Fortunately, even with the long exposure the still water would not create a movement problem. I added a graduated neutral density filter which would darken the top sky even more. The rest I would manipulate in the darkroom.
The darkest pine trees metered EV of 14 1/2 and were placed on Zone III for an exposure of 32 1/2 @ 1/60.
I increased the exposure 3 stops, and elected to adjust my shutter speed to 1/8 sec. Exposure was 32 1/2 @ 1/8 sec. The snow in the mountain, metered EV of 17s, so I needed to extend my film development +2
While printing in my darkroom, I dodged or lightened the pine trees on the left and then burned in the sky making the top of the image totally black.
I used my 210 mm lens on my 5” x 7” Deardorff View Camera. My Gitzo tripod held the camera rock steady for the long exposure.
I printed this in multiple sizes of 8 x 10, 11 x 14 and 16 x20 on Ilford FBGlossy Papers. A total edition of 50 prints willl be made.
I used Ilford HP5 film.