Those who saw the 2016 film The Revenant are, by now, familiar with the

Canadian Rockies.  The majority of the movie was filmed there, and this

lead, in no small part I think, to all the cinematography awards won by

the movie.

This image was made in a small town near Banff called Canmore.  There

are two more peaks on either side of this one; a "big sister" and a

"little sister".  Together they're known as the Three Sisters and a spectacular view together.

However for this image I wanted to focus on the middle child.  The way

the clouds worked their way down over the left shoulder and up from the

valley created such a unique shape and contrast against the black rock. 

I couldn't miss it!

It's a common misconception that sunflowers got their name because they resemble the sun.  In fact, they rotate throughout the day so that their broad faces are constantly in line with their namesake.  Next time you see a sunflower, notice its position.  In the morning it will likely be facing East to greet the sunrise.  By evening it will have turned towards the west, catching the final rays of the sun dropping below the horizon.  Overnight, they slowly reset to the east in order to catch the next sunrise.  Of course, like anything in nature this rule isn't a guarantee but it's been my experience that most sunflowers behave this way.

This photograph was made in the studio using - what else - sunlight!  I wanted the viewer to gain an appreciation for their delicate seeds, soft petals and hearty stem, who's strength is responsible for their daily rotation.

I made this image using my 4 x 5 Wisner view camera with a 400 mm lens set at f-8.

Using natural light required a slow shutter speed and of course a cable release. 

Flowing through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park the Little River meanders through some of the most beautiful scenery in the south east.  A few notable areas along the river are Clingmans Dome, The Middle Prong and The Sinks.

Clingmans Dome is divided by the border between Tennessee and North Carolina.  On a clear day you can see spectacular scenery expanding over hundreds of miles.  If you time it right, you may experience a breathtaking sunrise or sunset. But, we all know there is no guarantee of a reward for our efforts.

The Middle Prong is a scenic area where The Little River is first joined by the West Prong, and a mile further by the East Prong.  This area provides longer pools and a level area for hiking.  Often you’ll find anglers enjoying their success in this area.

“The Sinks” offers a combination of rapids and deep pools.  The tale of “The Sinks” is that a logging train derailed and sank into the river at this location.  The bottom was never reached, preventing any parts of the train to be recovered.

It’s always relaxing to sit along a river bank and get lost in your thoughts and sounds of the environment that surrounds you.  In this image of the Little River my attention was drawn to the natural bridge created by the rocks, along with the very small waterfalls created by the flowing river.  By using a long and slow shutter speed the water has a blurred affect that shows movement, but presents a sense of serenity.

Tenaya Lake was named after Chief Tenaya- chief of the Southern Miwok tribe that lived in the  Yosemite Valley during the 1800’s.  It is the largest and most beautiful lake in the Yosemite Region.   The lake extends a mile long and offers a two and one half mile loop, should you chose to walk around it.The surface of the lake lies at an elevation of 8150 ft., yet offers level trails with no elevation for those interested in exerted little effort in their hike.

From the wide sandy beach you can view climbers scale the bare walls of the surrounding granite domes, relax while viewing the pristine lake, or enjoy a feast on a nearby picnic table.  If your interest lies in photography the Tenaya Lake area offers plenty of opportunities.  Possibly, you would like to follow one of the trails that will lead you to numerous gardens adorned in colorful wildflowers.  Remember, just because the flowers are colorful doesn’t mean you can’t photograph them in black and white.  The use of filters will enhance the drama of the lines and patterns found in nature.  While meandering through the gardens listen for the several small brooks that will treat you along the way.

I chose this location to capture the grandeur and beauty of Tenaya Lake.  The dark boulder in the foreground creates depth and acts as a scale for the mountains in the background.  It also leads your eye across the lake to the granite domes and interesting sky in the distnace.

My hope is that while you view this image you will be touched by the same peacefulness I felt while exposing it.

Enjoy-

During our Smoky Mountain Photography workshop last year Tom Franks and I took our group into Cades Cove. This is a beautiful area with many, many wonderful photographic opportunities. 

Cades Cove located in the western section of the park was once known as "Kate's Cove" named after an Indian chief's wife. The Cherokee Nation was a frequent visitor often coming back again and again to enjoy the abundant wildlife, good hunting and this beautiful place known as The Great Smoky Mountains.

One of the photographic subjects not to be overlooked in Cades Cove is the 150-year-old architecture. There are a number of old homes and interesting structures that deserve study and attention. At the end of the Cades Cove loop you will find the Dan Lawson Place, The Tipton Place and Carter Shields Place. While we were exploring these old homes for architectural studies I discovered this interesting composition of the dogwood and fence. With our viewing cards a few students and I worked on the composition and decided that we each make an image and compare the prints at later date. 

I choose to make a vertical image to fill the top of the frame with the dogwood tree and use the fence as a diagonal leading line. Leading lines are used to take the viewer back into the image and create depth. Fortunately, the timing was right for this workshop and the dogwoods were in full bloom. 

I installed my 300mm lens on my 5 x 7 camera to fill the top of the frame with the dogwood. My wider 210 mm lens included the top of the tree and the fence became too small. 

With my spot meter I check the darkest section of the wood fence. I measured an EV (exposure value) of 8. I found the white dogwood leaves to measure an EV of 13. This is a perfect 5- stop difference. This meant the part of the fence would be dark with detail and I would have white leaves with detail and the development of the film would be normal. No filter was used but an orange filter would have darkened the green trees a little but then they would have conflicted in tone with the darker fence. I choose to maintain the tonal separation. 

Now I had to calculate the proper exposure. 

The light was very soft almost a grey day and not very bright. I knew I wanted to maintain a good deal of depth, keeping the foreground tree in focus as well as the fence in the back of the image. I calculated that f-64 was required for appropriate sharpness. 

By placing the dark fence on Zone III an exposure of 6 seconds was necessary. That meant 6 seconds of very still air was needed to prevent the trees from blowing in the wind. Sandy Pastor, a most gracious and talented student came to my rescue and helped settle the wind. I’m not sure how but she did it and on Sandy’s cue I made the exposure at the right time.  Thank you Sandy. I would also like to thank my brother Tom who lives in Tennessee and is a frequent assistant on my workshops. I was very pleased that he could join us on this workshop. His help was very much appreciated. 

The 5 x 7 inch negatives were developed in D-76 1:1.

Before we conducted our Spring Smoky Mountain Workshop my good friends Tom Franks and Norm Walker and I decided to take a short detour to South Carolina to photograph some of the fascinating architecture to be found in Charleston. As a commercial / architectural photographer I always enjoy an opportunity to explore a city with such wonderful design and beautiful landscape. 

Once we arrived we split up each going our own way to find and make our own images. There are advantages to working both on an individual basis and working together in a small group. If you work by yourself your images will have your stamp of composition on them. Your visualization and placement of subject matter as interpreted by only you. You cannot afford to be lazy. Your mind and your eyes must be engaged. First looking, then seeing and finally visualizing your image. Just as working in the darkroom, your style of printing is yours and is rarely influenced by others since darkroom work is most often a solitary experience. 

If you are making photographs as a group often times the vision of one person will influence others. But there are other times when a particularly beautiful subject is spied by two or three people at the same time and from almost the same perspective, multiple cameras will be set up and the subject matter composed and images made. I see this occurrence often, especially on our workshops. Even with cameras set up close to each other, it’s rare that you see the same image from two people. There are so many variables to consider, from lens selection, placement of the subjects, vertical or horizontal, filters, exposure and finally how a negative is interpreted for printing. Later after the contact prints are made it is great fun to see and compare how others saw and composed the same image. It can be a shared learning experience. For Charleston we decided to split up.

I found myself very involved with Charleston. The longer I worked the more images I saw to be made. I had to be careful since I had 12 loaded backs and it would have been easy to expose all 24 sheets of film that day. It was already noon and my film check indicated that I had 5 backs or 10 images left. I began a process of being a bit more discriminating with my image selection. I knew the light later in the day would create interesting shadows and interesting compositions, which it did. By 7pm all of the film was exposed. There was only one thing left to do. Find Tom and Norm and then find some dinner. In our rush to get out and begin making our photographs that morning we forgot to set meeting time and place. Somehow, we all managed to meet in the park at the same time. They say great minds think alike. I wonder why we could not agree on the restaurant for dinner. 

After dinner it was time to head back to the hotel and load new film in the film holders. Changing film is best done in the hotel bathroom in the evening with all room lights out. We carry a dark plastic sheet to cover the door to prevent extraneous light from fogging the film. 

We were up early the next morning and driving to the Smoky Mountains. When I travel in such a beautiful part of the country I prefer to take the back roads. It is a slower trip but we had plenty of extra time and you will often find interesting subject matter to photograph along the way. It didn’t take long and we found ourselves exploring an old but well maintained plantation. I was glad I took the time to load more film the previous night because there were going to be a number of photographs I was going to make here. Later in the afternoon Tom and I were walking down a narrow path that lead to an old broken down home. It was a very small home that may have been vacant for the last 50 years. But it was not this structure that held my interest. It was this very beautiful and very old Live Oak tree that was growing in the front yard for the past 500 years. This old tree was the first thing Tom and I saw and it was obvious we were both going to make