(my photo of Half Dome, taken from
across Tenaya Canyon)
Early one morning I followed
the Merced River in Yosemite from Happy Isles to the big medial moraine, turned
right, and headed up Tenaya Canyon. At the far end of Mirror Meadow I sat on a
log by Tenaya Creek. Half Dome began on the other side of the river and rose a
mile over my head. My intention was to sit by the quiet river, focus on the
triangular boulder in the middle of the river with its image reflecting off the
still surface of the water, let thoughts come and go, and calm into the
mindfulness of nature. When the light in the sky was in the right place, I
would take black and white photos of Half Dome backlit by the sun.
When I first began taking
black and whites, I quickly learned that the “form” of colors, what gives
colors their colors, does not translate to b/w film. Black and white picks up
contrasts. What gives colors their power is reduced to rather indiscriminate
shades of gray. I had to train my eyes to see the natural world
differently.
