Picture Tales: Landscape - Image 01

This image was captured at about 0630 in the Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming, USA.  It was my third successive dawn visit to this particular location, and I had already photographed the scene as the sun appeared above the horizon at the beginnings of glorious days. On this occasion, it was raining when I awoke at 0400 and it was very tempting to climb back into bed. Fortunately, I did not do so.

The rain had stopped when I arrived at the location, but the sky was black and threatening. My camera was loaded with Fuji Velvia 50 ISO film, so at an aperture of f/16 the shutter speed was in the region of 2 seconds. I therefore locked the camera on a tripod and attached a remote release, a 105mm lens and a Lee filter holder in case I suddenly needed a neutral-density grad, a polarizer or a warm-up filter. Then I waited half-heartedly for about an hour. The light looked hopeless and there many moments when I not only questioned my own sanity but also considered heading for the nearest coffee shop. Then, without any warning whatsoever, a tiny gap opened in the cloud close to the eastern horizon. An unbelievable laser-like beam of light was projected straight onto the golden aspen trees. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as a two-minute light-show unfolded. I just kept pressing the shutter release and even found moments to make quick changes of settings. Then the cloud closed again, and it was all over as suddenly as it had started. The trees returned to dark grey, the scene flattened and I headed for the coffee shop, but I knew I had a shot in the can.