It’s funny how an image sometimes has to sit for a period before you realize it has potential.  Perhaps your preferences change over time and and you grow into specific types of landscape images.  Stylistic preferences (although I’m not seeking to define any specific style as my own) certainly evolve, morph and change over time.  Whatever the case, in the process of creating new self-published books and preparing for an upcoming exhibit, I’ve stumbled on a handful of images that were created some time ago.  Two examples.

The Ancient

This image sat for two and a half years in my catalog largely forgotten.  It’s a Bristlecone Pine and this species (Great Basin BCP) are among the oldest living trees in the world, some estimates suggest that they’ve survived 4,800 years. Only found at specific altitudes and regions they are quite extraordinary given their proclivity to survive in harsh conditions and in poor soil.

I love the gnarled shape, weathering, and structure of the tree.  I used an infrared camera to make the image which picks up infrared light bouncing off any of the vegetation on the tree.  If you look closely the pine needles are rendered white when the infrared file is converted to black and white.  A treatment that I felt correctly added drama to the image and helps tell the story of survival albeit tenuous.

TToV (Temples and Towers of the Virgin, Zion NP)

Certainly not a secret to anyone who’s been to Zion.  This area is one of the first and most iconic scenes you see after entering Zion.  I’m constantly trying to create images that are unique and this one was no exception.  The image was made at the end of 2019.  I’d been watching one of only a couple of storms that moved through southern Utah that winter.    I had scouted this vantage point which required a hike and scramble around one of Zions soaring red rock cliffs on the opposite side of the valley.  I arrived before sunrise and made the hike in the dark on a snow covered trail.  After getting off trail a couple of times having lost my way, I finally made it to my spot.  I set up and watched as the fully enveloped mountain range would successively emerge and then get consumed by the low storm clouds that had set into the valley overnight.  As the storm broke later in the morning, I’d have these intriguing glimpses of the Towers.

This image again sat in my catalog largely unnoticed for about two years before I noticed it.  The snow covered mountains and dramatic clouds are really what makes this image sing and it was by accident in doing some post processing of the image file did I realize that I might have something.  This image turned out to be one that I’m most proud of and hangs in my house in southern UT.

I’ve been at this seriously for almost 10 years.  It’s only in the last four years that I’ve been making images that I really feel represent what I’d like to express in my photography.  In that time I’ve averaged about 15,000 images per year. Perhaps that’s a bit excessive but I’m getting better at focusing my efforts and being more thoughtful with my compositions.  Maybe even a bit more confident and creative that will result in fewer images. Either way, for now I’m sure I still have one or two in my archives waiting to be discovered!  Until next time - so long!