North Fork of the South Platte River
Buffalo Creek, Colorado
Early March and there was a fresh layer of snow in Denver. So, I went to the North Fork of the South Platter River to commit art.
I think what moved me most was the angled snowberg (like an iceberg but softer) and its point that aimed at the snow in front of the big boulder at the top one-third of the frame. It looked like a puzzle piece that had broken off.
The top of the last boulder in the upper left has a pointed top. All this “points” I saw at once. I knew my lens would be the 240mm Schneider. That lens with 8×10 film is about equivalent to a 28mm wide angle lens on a 35mm camera. I new this photograph in my mind, as I previsualized it on photographic paper, would be a strong vertical. I set up the tripod, put my chin on the tripod where the camera would be clamped, moved the tripod a few inches forward and a little to the left, set the camera to the tripod, attached the lens, got under the dark cloth, focused and composed, took a meter reading (Pentax One Degree Spot Meter-Zone VI modified), set the aperture, set the shutter, grabbed the cable release, and made the exposure.
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TekTok:
Sinar F 8×10, 240mm Schneider lens, 1/1 at ƒ/64, Delta 100 at 100, Rodinal 1:100, processed in a Stearman Press 8×10 tray/tank for 17-minutes, agitation continuous for the first minute, the 8 rocks of the tray every minute, running water for stop, 10 minutes fix in Photographers’ Formulary Archival Fix, running water rinse (three full trays), HypoClear for 3-minutes with continuous gentle agitation, 15-minutes wash in Zone VI 11×14 Archival Print Washer, PhotoFlo for 1-minute, hang dry overnight, scanned on Epson V850 at 600 dpi and 48-bit color for CMYK separations for the book.
