Monday, December 03, 2007

What do these strikingly different black & white images have in common?

For starters, both of these images were taken by Cole Thompson -- a long-time black & white photographer based in Laport, Colorado. Although Cole was heavily influenced by the work of Ansel Adams and Cole Weston, he now works with digital RAW images -- frequently captured with his Singh-Ray Vari-ND Filter. As he explains, "These two images -- despite their completely different looks -- are closely associated in my mind because they were taken from the exact same spot, just a few minutes apart, and both involved long time exposures made possible by the Vari-ND filter.

"While traveling to Tokyo in 2006, I took a short day trip to the Village of Chuzenji-ko, home of Kegon Falls (the tall waterfall widely known as a traditional place for lovers with no prospect of marriage to commit suicide). When I got off of the bus, I walked up to the edge of Chuzenji-ko Lake and surveyed the scene. It was a very sunny day and somewhere in the distance a fire produced large amounts of smoke, creating a blinding haze.

"I wanted to take a 30-second exposure, transforming the vacationers moving on the water in paddle boats as mere blurs against the rigidity of the pilings. A 30-second exposure is very difficult to achieve in bright sunlight and I had to use my Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter as well as my two other fixed ND Filters to reduce the amount of light by 13 f-stops! (I see Singh-Ray now has the Mor-Slo 5-stop ND filter, that would have been nice!) The bright, almost white image with the contrast of the black pilings and the grey blur of the boaters turned out exactly as I had envisioned it.

"When I turned to my left, I saw floats on the lake just yards from the waterfalls. Here I envisioned a very dark image, again with a long exposure that betrayed the flow of the water. Using my Vari-ND to achieve an 8-second exposure, I found the 'string of pearls' look that I was seeking.

"Even though they convey two completely different moods, I captured both of these images while standing in the same spot, in the same light and only minutes apart, And both were made quickly and easily. I find the convenience of the Vari-ND invaluable."

We might add that Cole has step-up rings on all his lenses to allow him to conveniently add the Vari-ND at any time. You'll find more about Cole and his classic black-and-white images at ColeThompsonPhotography.com.