Snowy Riverbank, Merced River, Yosemite National Park, Feb. 2004, Nikon F4, Ilford XP2

The sensation of being there is very hard to describe. The words: ephemeral, fragile, and fleeting, come to mind. It was late afternoon, and the sun was already beginning to disappear from the valley. The light was fading, but what light there was, was soft yet crisp. It was quiet and cold, and the only sensation of noise and motion came from the slow, gentle flow of the Merced River.

This is why we keep going back to Yosemite, especially in winter.

I've always wanted to make a picture like this one. Because it's black and white, I had to spend a lot of time experimenting with different settings in Photoshop (channel mixing, contrast, brightness, etc.) to make it look the way I wanted. But the process was fun, and I hope you like the result.

I'm on the fence about C-41 (color process) black & white film. Have any of you tried it yet? At first, I didn't care for it because I didn't like the way the film looked under high magnification. I thought it had ugly grain (actually no grain, just ugly). I'm encouraged by this picture, however. I think I'll try some more of this film before I make a final judgement. What has been your experience with it?

-- Warren