Desert in the Rain
USA 2013: Looking toward the Navajo Reservation from Cedar Mesa, Utah.
Recently, I met one of my old photography classmates for coffee. We both had a darkroom at home, back in the day. We used to meet to show and discuss our work. So, she was especially pleased to see my black and white photo of the “Sentinel“. I think it brought back memories of the days when she, too, was determined to please our difficult to please teacher.
A black and white photo can be much more dramatic than one done in color. See the photo above done in color here. I remember one photographer saying that black and white is most dramatic when it’s the only black and white in a series of color photographs. I think that just might be true. Consider that idea when you next show your portfolio, but try it out on your colleagues before you show it to a client.
The contrast in this photo emphasizes the falling rain and the silhouette of the rock formations in Monument Valley. Why? Because it is light against dark. Remember that from the portrait lesson, here. I treated this photo the same way I would have done if I’d been in my darkroom. I dodged the highlights that were not bright enough and burned in the shadows to emphasize the drama of a thunderstorm.
What is dodging? It is increasing the brightness. What is burning? It is emphasizing the darks…making them darker. One thing to always have in your mind is that you want as much detail in both the darks and the lights as you can get. Don’t go too far dodging or burning. It was a matter of counting seconds under the enlarger, trying to repeat your movements with the dodging tool exactly. It was a matter of trial and error and by the time you got your perfect print, your wastebasket was filled with expensive, photographic paper.
When I was in my early twenties and visited Monument Valley, there were no other tourists, but now there are tourists from all over the world. I noticed a motorcycle gang, all wearing, jeans, Harley jackets, the men in long, (gray) ponytails, the women with that maroon/red hair that is popular in Europe. I was surprised to hear them speaking…FRENCH!
Rosemary, the black/white was much more interesting because the clouds were so clearly outlined. I couldn’t even see them in color. Beautiful! Jerry
Thanks for being so faithful, Jerry. You’re right, the clouds do show up more in this version. I shot quite a few photos of this. We could see occasional flashes of lightning, but, I was never pressing the shutter at the right time to catch that.
Best, Rosemary