At this time when many of us are excited by the new camera
announcements, I thought it will be intriguing to do a write up
describing my first time shooting 35 mm black and white film. Last
summer, I found some time to swing by the Ancient Bristlecone Pine
Forest in White Mountains near Bishop, California. I knew that the
timing of my trip will not coincide with the best lighting for
photography, especially in color. So, I decided to photograph these
ancient trees in B/W. Why B/W film? Well, I have always wanted to enjoy
the aesthetics of it as well as I thought it will force me to think in
terms of highlights, shadows and texture. All in all, a good learning
experience.
A Bristlecone Pine in the rugged White Mountains, near Bishop, CA
Since
this was a side trip, I wanted to keep my equipment fairly simple and
light. I chose my trusted Nikon FE together with Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AI and
Nikon 75-150 f/3.5 E AI lenses. This trio can be acquired used in very
good condition for about $ 250! Both these lenses are very sharp when
stopped down to f/8 and hold reasonably well upto f/16 (they also make
an excellent backpacking combo with Nikon D610 or D750). Also, the
common 52 mm thread meant that I can share a polarizer and an orange
filter between them. Orange filter? Now why is that needed?
Texture of an ancient Bristlecone Pine
Details of an ancient Bristlecone Pine bark
An
orange filter as the name suggests allows orange-red wavelengths to
pass and blocks violet-blue light. This darkens the blues and helps the
clouds to stand out more in the sky. Moreover, the bristlecone pines
have orange barks. These will be rendered as white (or comparatively
brighter), which will increase contrast in the texture. It should be
noted that a red filter will do the same and even more so. I chose an
orange filter to play a little safe for it was the first time for me
shooting B/W film with filters.
Clouds frame the Bristlecone Pine, Discovery trail in White Mountains
Clouds, shadows and an ancient Bristlecone Pine
Since,
orange filters alter the luminosity selectively, which in turn may also
modify the response of b/w film, there is a consensus among
photographers that some exposure compensation is required. I spend some
time reading about this and found a variety of recommendations- from
+0.5 EV to +3 EV, which left me confused. In the end I decided to
bracket exposures and draw a conclusion of my own. I found that about
one-third to two-third of positive exposure compensation works well for
an SLR camera that uses TTL metering. This is easily accomplished by
setting the ISO (ASA) speed appropriately. For example, I was using
Ilford FP4+, which has a box ISO speed of 125. In my Nikon FE, I set the
ISO dial to 80, thus allowing +2/3 stop of exposure compensation. I
chose ILFORD FP4+ because of its pleasing tonality and almost endless
highlight headroom. This film takes overexposure with such an aplomb
that with careful scanning one can recover highlight details from a
scene overexposed by 2-3 stops (maybe more!).
Pine in the rugged rocky terrain of the White Mountains. Sierra Nevada range is seen at a distance.
Bristlecone Pine with Sierras in the background
At
the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest, I hiked the Discovery loop at the
Schulman Grove. It is a one mile trail that saves the best for the end
if hiked in a counter-clockwise fashion. I spent about two hours here,
stopping several times, looking for compositions and making photos. The
bristlecone pines are very photogenic and each tree has a character of
its own. I recall myself being enthralled and completely absorbed on the
trail. It is fascinating to imagine that several of these trees were
already thousand(s) of years old when Jesus Christ was born.
Tree waves and clouds, Schulman Grove, White Mountains, CA
Trees and texture, Schulman Grove, White Mountains, CA
Fl
The
film was developed at ILFORD LAB DIRECT and I scanned it using my Nikon
Coolscan 5000 (the b/w mode works quite well). Since the digital ICE
(scratch and dust removal) tool in the scanner is not suited for
traditional B/W film, dust spots and scratches need to be removed
manually, which adds to the scanning time and effort. I also used
contrast curves and minor dodging and burning in Photoshop to reach
these final selected images. I hope you enjoyed them it will be great to
hear comments/feedback. In the end, I will share a photo of Tuolumne
Meadows in Yosemite National Park that I clicked while driving to
Bishop.
Storm clouds over Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, CA
The post Walking Among the Bristlecone Pines appeared first on Photography Life.
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