Best of 2021

Again as the year ends I turn to trying to determine which of last year's photos I like the best. This past year was a mixed bag in what was supposed to be post-pandemic; one still finds travel and activities restricted. My pandemic project 'Three Wood Lands' had concluded and I had nothing else in mind. Still I continued to carry a camera and make photos and spent time in the darkroom. (I managed over 200 images.) 

As in the past this is an exercise of winnowing down from a larger list to increasingly shorter lists. Last year I opted for a longer list than years previous as I found it difficult to reduce the list further. I added the novation of separate color and black and white categories and restricted myself to 5 images to each. This shocking lack of discipline I will probably continue this year.

Black and White

The top of the list has to go to this image I took a few day after a snow storm. It was (as I described at the time) one of those image that when you see it you how you will capture and print it. Now I say this like this happens all the time with me but it does not in fact happen and this is probably the first time for me. In any case it was a singular experience and one that was executed completely in my vision. The version below is a final print I made from the negative of FB paper. The above referenced blog post details a number of different interpretations from the same negative. 

Mathematical Trees
(15x9" on 16x12" Ilford MGFB Classic)

Next I would say is a derivative image of the above subject. I returned on a subsequent day to the same location during heavy fog. I took a number of photos and summarized the results in a series of posts described here...

I settled on a lith print result from this series as part of my best of 2021. This version is printed on some Fotospeed Lith paper I bought on eBay years ago and of which I have fewer than a dozen 8x10 sheets left. The paper delivers a soft salmon pink color when lith developed. Lith specific papers are no longer made and with the restrictions on cadmium and other chemicals some of these papers will never be replicated again. 

This print is again significant not only because I find the image pleasing but also that I learned much in its creation. For the first time I felt like I had some control over the lith development process something I had understood is not actually possible. 

Mathematical Trees in Fog
(Lith Print on Fotospeed Lith paper 8x10")

Continuing on the fog theme and toned prints I chose the next one I call 'Ode to Wolfgang'. Wolfgang Moersch is the gentleman who runs Moersch Photochemie a photography chemistry company in Germany. He is active on Flickr where he exhibits the prints he makes using various processes in his darkroom. I have long been a fan and user of his products. This last year he produced some iron toned forest prints with a lovely blue tone. I have his MT7 iron toner kit and this inspired me to use it again. This image I took near Yachat on the Welsh English border during lockdown when England was opening up but Wales was still closed. The day had a light fog and I shot this handheld in the low winter light. Being shot with the lens wide open it lends an additional softness to the foggy image. I then made a print which I iron toned for the distinctive blue color. 

Ode to Wolfgang
(Ilford MGFB Classic 8x10" Iron Blue Toned)

Finally one last fog image. This one I took on another foggy morning this time in Aversley wood. This image is significant for me because I learned how to manipulate the print to bring about an entirely different mood than the day presented. The day was actually quite bright but the fog thick enough I could not find a good conventional print. Here I was able to dodge and burn my way to a more forboding and mysterious image that evokes a real mood. Getting to the point I describe here... 

Aversley Wood
(Ilford MGFB Classic 16"x10" 16:9 aspect ratio)

Finally one of my first large format images for the fall winter season. This was taken in Thetford forest a new area for my photography. My first visit I came upon this scene which did not photograph well due to wind. I returned a week later and made this image. I have made others in color at different times as well. It has the look at times like a garden of nude sculpture with smooth lithe bodies of the tree trunks in the early morning light. 

Beech Forest Thetford
(Ilford HP5+ 150mm lens Intrepid 4x5)

Color

My best color images were more numerous than the black and white so the selection was more difficult.

The first one was easy. I  tried to break the summer lull in photography by imagining intimate landscape with a panoramic camera, specifically my Fuji G617 camera. This camera creates a 6x17cm image with a 3:1 aspect ratio. Ideal for grand landscape vistas I was reimagining it in closer quarters. One image stood out in the ones I took and left me feeling encouraged by the idea. This image was taken in Holme Fen in an area of diverse vegetation. There is a patch of heather that was in bloom which helps to add interest around the ferns and other vegetation. 

Holme Fen Panorama
(Fuji Provia)

The next image I took this Fall under not promising conditions. Taken with my Intrepid 4x5 on some expired Astia I acquired in good shape, I was surprised by the color palette. I has an almost painterly quality to it. 

Holme Fen Two Birches
(Fuji Astia Intrepid 4x5 210mm lens)

This last one was a bit of a surprise. While on holiday in Idaho to visit my dad this summer we were walking on the road by the lake he lives near. I saw these cattails growing in the ditch along the side of the road. I wanted to capture some of the subtle color and simple structure. I opened the aperture to soften the background and shot this on Kodak Portra 400 with my simple Mat 124G TLR. 

Lake Pend Oreille Cattails
(Kodak Portra 400 Yashica Mat 124G)

The next two are late entries and eclipsed two earlier selections. (My legendary lack of discipline has been suspended for now…)

The first was an image taken one early fall morning in Holme Fen. The scene did not look promising but I setup on this unconventional composition. The first image was thwarted by poorly loaded film. The second worked but I was wise to wait for the light and was rewarded with this image. 

Grasses and Trees
(Fuji Velvia 50 Intrepid 4x5 150mm)

The soft warm patch of the grass is almost reflected in the cool blue of the clouds above and bracketed by the small trees with fall colors. The structure of the white silver birch trunks stand out in the shadows.

The next image is one I worked a little to get the added drama the image conveyed at the time. I wrote at the time that on this foggy day I encountered this broken fallen birch and felt a sense of foreboding. It was surprising as I was feeling buoyant with the atmosphere and promise of the morning. While scanning and getting the color corrected I could see a better vision of the final image and so present this one. 

Cradled Dead
(Fuji Velvia 50 Intrepid 4x5 210mm)