Spring Burn

[ksmattfish]

I don't do a lot of film developing in the summer because the water in my darkroom won't drop below 80F. From Oct to May it runs within a degree or two of 68F. Last night I swiped all of my wife's cold drinking water from the 'fridge, and was able to mix up enough chems and wash water at 70F to develop 8 rolls of BW 120. I rarely mark my exposed rolls for subject matter, and I'm always a dozen or more rolls behind on the developing, so it's a grab bag as to what I'm going to get.

Spring Burn

camera: Pentax 67II w/ 90mm
film: Tmax 100

 

[JonK]

Hmmmm I like the contrast here btw FG and BG.

My only pick as that you're a bit heavy on the dense black FG. I think I'd crop off half of that darkest part at the bottom.

 

[terri]

The FG is a little dark, but I'm willing to bet it's a lighter print and the detail is there in the negative. I wouldn't crop it.

I love this composition. Nice and bleak, right up my alley. One of your more fantastic landscapes, Matt - I love it. :thumbup:

 

[JTHphoto]

you have a lot of patience, waiting that long to develop your photos, I was always like a photo junkie, the one-hour place was too long -- I need them now, NOW! :mrgreen: And then I went digital . But I have to admit a "grabbag" sounds like fun too, all kinds of pleasant surprises like this one...

I might try cropping it as JonK suggests, but i think you would lose emphasis of the light spot in the middle of the dark FG, which adds to the composition for me. :thumbup:

Is this after a wildfire? So desolate...

 

[ksmattfish]

Is this after a wildfire? So desolate...

Out here on the prairie we burn the dead grasses in the fields every spring. It makes room for new growth, and kills the tree seedlings, so the land remains grass. Both pasture land and natural prairie are tended to this way.

This photo was taken within an hour after this field was burned. There is no flame, but smoke still wisps from the ground. Even a day later it will look different as much of the black ash will be blown away by the wind. Within a week it will be covered with new, bright green grass, and you would have to look closely to find evidence of the burn.

For me the main interest of the photo is the detail and texture of the freshly burnt field. The brighter horizon line area is almost just an accent. Hopefully it will work better as a large print.

 

[photo gal]

This is unique! : )

 

[JTHphoto]

Out here on the prairie we burn the dead grasses in the fields every spring. It makes room for new growth, and kills the tree seedlings, so the land remains grass. Both pasture land and natural prairie are tended to this way.

We actually need to do this more here, but once a fire is started it takes weeks to put out! That's amazing that the new grass starts growing that quickly. I've always thought that that would make for a good photo too, the new life emerging from the devastation of a fire - even if it isn't that devastating where you live. i'm sure a large print would look fantastic.

 

[Jeff Canes]

Is FG that on the dark on the print. I like the image but i would crop it panoramic

I don't do a lot of film developing in the summer because the water in my darkroom won't drop below 80F. From Oct to May it runs within a degree or two of 68F.

Don’t they sell refrigerator and air conditioners in Kansas?

 

[John E.]

This is one of those pictures one has to look at a bit to appreaciate. Looks like you got just enough detail in the burnt grass and didn't overexpose the rest of the picture, really digging the three tones and composition.

 

[ShutteredEye]

KSMattfish, I'm sending you a PM, I want a print of that, it's FANTASTIC!!!

 

[ksmattfish]

Don’t they sell refrigerator and air conditioners in Kansas?

I got those, but they don't help. The ground temp that the water pipes travel through stays at 80F+. I need a water chiller (like the opposite of a water heater in the basement). Well, now the fridge is full of gallon jugs of cold water (which are displacing my beer). My wife already complains that I take up too much freezer room with my film.

Larry Schwarm is a Kansas photographer that has recently gotten some national recognition for his photographs of burning fields in the Flint Hills.

http://www.lib.duke.edu/exhibits/larryschwarm/

When I was a kid I lived out in the country and participated in field burnings. You try to pick calm days and evenings to do it, and the fire works it's way across the field in neat rows. A half dozen people with rakes can handle it. But sometimes the wind whips the fire up into something that starts moving faster than the people can run, and it's howling, and about 12' tall, and you just need professional help. Once I had to run about a mile to get to a phone to call the volunteer fire dept. I was so winded when I got there I couldn't catch my breath and tell them where the fire was. Fortunately the guy who answered was a friend of my parents and recognized the phone number (this was before caller ID ).

I didn't see the field in the photo when it was burning. I was driving along a gravel road, came around a corner, and it was freshly burnt, smoke still wisping, but no people. It looked like an easy burn by folks who knew what they were doing.