FOLLOWING THE CLOUDS TODAY

The whole week we had these wonderful puffy clouds here in the Mississippi Valley. Unfortunately they dissolve before the day ends. I thought it is worth a try to drive down already early afternoon today to the Green Island Wetlands, one of my favorite wildlife spots as the avid reader of my blog already knows.

I wanted to come back with some black and white images that tell the story about the landscape of the Green Island Wildlife Management area and maybe an idea what the clouds can do to enhance it. To get already a good preview into my mind how the final picture would look, I set the camera to monochrome mode and with a red filter setting applied, simulating the same way I would have photographed this scene back in the days of film. As I shoot always in RAW mode all the color information is still embedded in the file and it still allows me to tweak a certain color in post process for the final outcome.

How much impact clouds can have to emphasize a certain landscape can be comprehended by studying the work of Ansel Adams or Clyde Butcher. I admire the photography of Ansel Adams since a long time but discovered Clyde Butcher only a couple years ago through the book ”Seeing the Light” by Tom Shroder and John Barry. What an amazing life story and mesmerizing photography! I follow the Instagram posts of this renowned black and white photographer, humanitarian, and environmentalist, but if you like to just have a look, go to his website clydebutcher.com . Highly recommended!

LONG TIME ON MY LIST

San Francisco de Asís Mission Church, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, 2021

Years ago, when I saw for the first time Ansel Adam’s photo Saint Francis Church, Ranchos de Taos, from circa 1929, in one of his books, I put this great architectural monument on my mental list of things I wanted to photograph sometime in the future.

Construction of this church began in 1772 and it is an example of a New Mexico Spanish Colonial Church. The San Francisco de Asís Mission Church is a large Adobe structure with a cruciform plan and it has attracted many painters and photographers in the past. It is the rear side of the church with its massive buttress and its adobe plaster surface that inspired many artists, like Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, or Paul Strand.

We visited the church on two different days and at different times and each provided its own challenges with lighting and keeping unwanted elements out of the frame. In fact I zoomed with my feet a lot and went relatively close to the structure and with the 16-35 mm lens on camera.

The photo above was made at our second visit during late afternoon. The side light gives the structure depth and the adobe plaster surface reveals its texture.

Ansel Adams describes the front aspects of the church in his book Examples: The Making of 40 photographs as being “moderately impressive” and points out that “the rear elevation defines the building as one of the great monuments of America”. I only can agree and also realized that the surrounding of the church on either side is probably a lot busier than it was more than 90 years ago when he created his famous photograph.

Photographed during late morning on our first visit. The only way to work from the rear side was to keep the powerful sun behind the building and use it as a backlight. I darkened the sky a bit and used the sun to outline the structure at the top. The Saint Francis Church is a wonderful subject to photograph, but as so often, back at home and in front of the computer I find out what I missed and want to go back again…

CERTAIN VALID MOMENT

Water tower, John Deere Works, Dubuque, Iowa

As I looked at the same scene today as already last Monday, a quote from Paul Strand (American photographer 1890-1976) came to mind, “There is a certain valid moment for every cloud”. Ansel Adams wrote in his book “Examples- The Making of 40 Photographs” that Strand said this to him during a meeting in 1930. I think it is a true and great quote and I was happy that I didn’t hesitate to go back to the Deere Marsh again when Joan asked me to go for a walk there this evening. I have been a believer since a long time that some improvement of photography skills can be achieved by shooting the same subject at different times with a critical analysis in between.

AGAINST THE RULES

Canada Geese, Green Isand Wetlands, Iowa

The Hooded Merganser wasn’t the only bird taking care for their offspring last weekend in the Green Island Wetlands. I saw several pairs of Canada Geese with little goslings, mostly between 2 - 4. The female goose incubates the eggs, but other than the mergansers both parents are involved in the care taking for the young ones. Canada Geese mate for life.

This family had just crossed the road in front of me, from one pond into the next lake. I know, butt shots are supposed to be rude but Ansel Adams said already, there are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs…

I saw the story in this photo when I made the click. One parent was leading the way, the other one kept an eye on me and made loud warning noises. Fill flash helped again to bring out the colors of the goslings and to overcome the gray of the overcast. There are only a few reflections of the sky on the water and the green of the algae infested water dominates the background. Many things came together in this image and that’s why I like it.