How I Did That - "Thanksgiving"

This is one of my older images, taken in 1997 on Thanksgiving and so titled "Thanksgiving". A couple of unique features to this that are uncommon in my work. First of it is a landscape, I usually am more interested in images of people. This is one of my most contrasty photographs but in the darkroom I used selectol soft for two minutes and Dektol for one minute along with on the enlarger I used a filter to reduce the amount of contrast. I knew there was detail in the dark areas. This scan doesn't show the real subtlety of the light areas and dark areas though. In art shows this is the image that gets the best response from people that don't normally go to art shows. They usually rip on the other artwork but say this is one of the best works in the show. In actuality I would think people that have a deep respect for black and white photography would love this with it's great tonal range. After the print was created I used selenium toner that really expanded the tonal range of the photograph. It is the most peaceful art I have ever made and really relaxes me when I look at it and it really seems to stick out like a sore thumb with the rest of my art.

I used a Fugi 35mm camera with tripod, about 30 second exposure, with Agfa 100 black and white film.

Cheers,
Mike