Sunday, August 22, 2010

Rediscovering my B&W roots

Waterfall, Tromso, Norway
As a former assistant to Galen Rowell, I have spent a career chasing
the light – staying up late and getting up early for untold sunrises
and sunsets. (As photographers, we seem to have an obsession with
the color red, as in sunsets and slickrock) So it is a bit of a revelation
to suddenly fall back in love with black and white – it’s sculptural
forms and visual grace. And now, with digital, it is all so much easier
than the days of Tri-X and Agfa paper, fixer and stop bath. I applaud
those photographers still working with these classic media, but I am
re-discovering my roots through the new media.
I shot this small waterfall this morning in arctic Norway, drawn by
the counterpoint of rock and water.  I shot it in color, of course, but
 have now made a habit of looking at nearly every image with the
saturation dialed back to zero. Many are not improved (icebergs,
I have discovered, are still a rapturous blue – not a color  you really
 want to discard). But some pictures simply beg for black-and-white.
This was one of them…
Nikon D3, 70-200mm lens

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