I have had the opportunity to serve as artist-in-residence for the National Park Service four times. The last residence was for the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. In the spring of 2020, I got a call from one of the National Forest Service managers in Wyoming, wanting to know if I would be interested in coming to Wyoming and taking up residence in the Bighorn National Forest, which I was happy to do. So, in early September 2020, I loaded my gear into my Bronco and headed to Wyoming!
A great benefit of serving as artist in residence for any of these national park/forest units is that they provide housing inside the park where you are working. They are never luxurious and usually have ranger cabins that are not used, but they are dry and warm.
Every morning when I woke up, there were at least six doe mule deer in the front yard, which was pretty cool. I drank my coffee before going to work.
One of the first to greet me that first morning was Mrs. Bullwinkle. No joke, it snowed 8-12 inches overnight. When I first saw her, she was standing on a hill just outside a cabin where I was to conduct a safety meeting with National Forest employees. At first, she looked like a very long-legged horse in the shadow: very tall, very long-legged. As I walked around it, I realized it was a cow moose, and I was quite close. After going into my meeting, she went to the back of the cabin and lay down in the snow, I think, posing for me. Thankfully, I remembered to take a camera with a Canon 70-200mm L lens to that meeting!
Shell Creek is the centerpiece of the national forest, at least on the north side, with a canyon several hundred feet deep and very rugged.
One thing to always remember when creating landscape photographs is to always use a tripod. When I take photos, the first thing I do is set up my tripod, zero it out before even taking the camera out of the bag. In this case, the hill below was very, very steep. One wrong step and it will take a long time to climb back up. At the bottom the tripod legs were fully extended, and at the top, where I was standing, they were not extended at all. What was attractive to me about the photo was that the sun was low in the sky, and the west side of the trees and rocks was in full sunlight, while the opposite wall was in full shadow. I knew that by reducing the development time of my film, I could keep detail in the highlights, and by giving the film a longer exposure than usual, I would have deep, rich shadows. The strategy worked, as many years of experience had told me.
However, when I was there, there were serious obstacles to making landscape photographs in the national forest, primarily smoke. Hundreds of miles to the west, wildfires were burning in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, and the smoke from them literally filled the valley to such an extent that, at times, I couldn’t see from one edge to the other. Was. The strange thing is that even winds were not blowing to remove the smoke. Sometimes it would clear up somewhat at night, but for the most part, it was one of those things a landscape photographer has to deal with. Challenges, and figuring out how to solve them, will make your work more interesting.
Many times, what seems like an obstacle can turn out to be your advantage if viewed from the proper perspective.
In this case, the smoky forest worked very well for me. I was walking in the forest on the other side of the mountain, looked up and realized that something very cool was happening in the forest above the mountain; And, by the way, if you want to include a ridgeline or horizon line, you’ll be better off taking photos at the top of a hill. If you don’t want to include the ridgeline or horizon, find a way to aim the camera downwards. Standing in the right spot allowed the light to “bend” around the trees and create sunlight. It was then decided to present the image very light or high key rather than the full range. In black-and-white photography it is often a mistake to force an image to have completely black, or no detail, shadow areas. Sometimes your image will want to be very light—and it’s best to let that have its own voice.
When you’re working outside, especially when you’re alone, as I often am, and in a potentially dangerous situation, always be mindful of where you place your feet and what’s beneath them. I was walking down a very steep embankment to reach this small stream. I planted one foot on what seemed stable, but it was loose gravel, and I fell backwards, and then forwards, before rolling into some bushes. Thankfully, nothing was broken or seriously injured, although my chiropractor at home said my rear axle was twisted!
In total, I spent three full weeks there in the Bighorn National Forest. That national forest is huge, and it’s sad to say that I couldn’t begin to see it all. The last afternoon I was there, the sky was surprisingly clear. Around noon, I noticed that the clouds were moving in, and I decided that I would go back and empty the cabin to leave the next morning, knowing that I could easily drive to Cheyenne, spend the night. And then I can drive home – about 10 hours. As I was preparing to leave, it started raining lightly and then brought torrential mountain floods. When the skies started to clear, it was clear that something magical was about to happen, so I grabbed my bag and set foot to the spot I knew would be great. By that time the air was frightful and icy cold. I was able to park my truck in a way that kept it out of the wind halfway. This is one of those times when you take a chance and take the picture, even if the conditions are bad, thinking it might work out. So you know, this exposure was four minutes long because the light levels were so low, and when using film we deal with a thing called “mutual opportunity.” Some old timers call this “mutual departure” – the technical name – but I see it as an opportunity for something very good.
For anyone interested, there are several opportunities for artists in residence offered each year primarily by the National Park Service, but also by the Forest Service and BLM. Here is a link you may find useful: National Park Service Artist in Residence,
People often ask me where I can get film for my camera, they mistakenly think that film is no longer available. I get mine from B&H Photo. Here is a link to this company and the movie they offer: B&H Kodak T-Max 400Keep in mind that many brands of film are good; I use Kodak and have for over forty years.
