I'm trying out a new topic here. Explaining the story behind the picture. Sometimes that will be details about the technical aspects, others will be about how a certain picture came to be anecdotally, or emotionally. Please let me know, in the comments, what you think. Also, if you can come up with a better subject line than "Behind The Picture" I will be grateful.
I'm starting with a photo that I have had a lot of comments and questions about in the past.
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More than any other picture that I have shot, this one gets the most reaction. Many people think it is a scene of a submarine in the arctic ice. It is the weather observatory on the summit of Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, and was shot in the dead of winter, in a place with a reputation for the worst weather in the world. Check out this video, around the 3 1/2 minute mark is where it gets interesting. Only because it wasn't cold enough during the day, I got up before sunrise to shoot in the fabulous morning light. Over the week-end I was there, I braved -40 degree temperatures and 190kmh wind .
For me, this picture, as well as being visually interesting, has great emotional value. The guy walking on the snow, hunched over in the wind, is my friend Ian. It's not often that I get to have someone with me when I'm working, but this was one of those rare times that I did. Ian and I have been on many adventures together, and I knew he was the only person who I could bring on a trip like this and appreciate it, as well as not getting in the way. Working on a story, for me, is a mostly solitary thing. I always meet lots interesting people along the way, but usually travel alone. It's probably because I'm alone, that I meet so many of the characters that I have.
This picture was shot on a Nikon FM2 with a 17-35mm F2.8 lens, on Fuji Provia 100 film.
2 comments:
My first thought was..
How did your camera survive coming in from the cold?
As I mentioned, the camera was a Nikon FM2. Pretty much indestructible. FM2's only required battery power for the meter, not the shutter. They worked completely manually, even when the battery died. In a pinch you could also use them to hammer in a fence post.
The key to getting a camera to warm up without getting covered in condensation, is to let it warm up slowly. Put it inside a tightly sealed camera bag, or wrap it in a jacket before you come in from the cold.
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