Cold weather and a renewed interest in the digital processing stage of photography have combined recently, sending me back to previous images that never received treatment the first time around. The above image is from a 2019 road trip from Denver to Yosemite by way of the Pacific Northwest. This was during a year in which I was exclusively processing images in black and white as a personal challenge. This may be the main reason I never gave it consideration until now.
I remember capturing the image took some careful timing just trying to access the location. The sun had set and conditions were getting darker as I setup on the side of a busy two-lane road in the park. I had noted the creek on previous passes and I was determined to attempt a photo. Given the dark conditions and wanting to record a level of detail from the front grasses back to the trees I used an aperture of f9 which required a 2.5 second exposure. This always means being as delicate as possible when pressing the shutter release. I usually would try to use a remote shutter release, however in the hurry to capture this I probably just used the 2 second delay on my camera and just pressed it as carefully as I could.
In review of the image on my computer, the image at first doesn’t have a real appeal due to the dark, muted appearance that is typical of capturing a photo in RAW. Until opening it up and bringing up the exposure and adding some contrast it really doesn’t look like anything with potential. It’s a good reminder for myself to see how much information is contained within the RAW file, because as soon as I corrected the exposure I could remember what I was seeing in person.
Looking at the edited image I’m really happy to have captured this scene. The trees with their bleached trunks offer an odd juxtaposition to the life-giving qualities of the creek and grasses. Within the boundaries of a park as vast as Yellowstone, I always love to be able to pull out small scenes like this.
