A day and a half to make one photograph...

Last week, the weather forecast at one of my favorite spots to hunt cypress trees was calling for some serious gloom, which is my absolute favorite to work in. Most photographers love bright, vibrant light. Not this guy.

Anyway, after a few hour drive to my zone, under complete sun (and lots of wind), I determined that I wasn’t going to be able to get done what I wanted to get done. Mother Nature had different plans. So, the [R/V] (Research Vessel) and I did a little scouting to see what we could find to focus on the following day, when it was still forecasted to rain. Fingers crossed.

Scene 2: I awoke to rain at about two in the morning. Music to my ears! The only thing that was unsettling was that with that rain, there was a lot of wind, which would crush my dreams of photographing this one particular tree I had scouted. BUT, this cool wind was out of the north, and my tree was on the north shore, hopefully sheltered from the wind.

After the morning routine (coffee), rain showers were passing through, but weren’t heavy enough to obscure the shore line on the opposite side of the lake in the background of my tree, so the waiting game began. It may sound ridiculous, but even if there were a faint strip of land in the backdrop of this photograph, the resulting image would have an entirely different feeling. Details, details…

Eventually, heavier rain started to fall, and so began my rain dance (where I’m quickly setting the exposure, loading the film, continually metering the scene, and doing my best to keep the lens dry). Aaaaaaand click…that’s it. A day and a half. One photograph.