Gears in the Rain - Fine Art Photography, Black and White Prints

2001 Bishop, CA. It had been raining all morning. I knew that this would help clear away some of the dust on everything and I hoped to find some good rusty bits that would be shining nicely in the rain. Alongside a shed I found this jumbled pile of wood and gears. The diffuse light from the overcast sky laid down a gentle light that contrasted nicely with the sharp hard edges of the gears and the broken ends of the wood. As in all my photos, the subjects were shot as found. Nothing was moved or prepped.

The upper left of the image requires some careful burning in. At the time I thought about developing it at N-1 to keep the values in that area down, but I didn't want to loose the highlights on the gears. I think that the upper left fell at about Zone VIII, I would have preferred it to be around Zone VI 1/2. This is the value I try to print it at. Also, in retrospect, the use of the #8 filter was probably of little value as the light was coming from an overcast (white) sky, not a blue sky.

Image List: Portfolio I: Gears in the Rain