也少一竖是什么字 粤语:Seeing The Light

SeeingThe Light

Sunriseat White Sands

By:Alain Briot

Alain Briot is one of the most successfullandscape photographers working in the American Southwest today. His work iswidely exhibited and collected. His monthly column for this web site, of whichthis is part, is called Briot‘s View.An extensive interview with Alain is included in Issue #1 of TheLuminous Landscape Video Journal.

Editor‘s Note: Though we shotsunrise at the same location at WhiteSands, as Alain points out we all spread apart when we got there to avoidputting footprints into each others shots. A couple of weeks later, when Alainsent several of his images to me, it was the first that I had seen of what he‘dbeen shooting. I immediately suggested that these would likely form the coreof a very informative article. 

Alain‘s passion for light is clear bothfrom his photographs as well as his prose.

Michael

White Sands National Monument, December2nd, 2001 

6:00 am

It is pitch black outside and we are waiting in our truck for the Park Rangerto open the gate to White Sands National Monument so we can hurry in andhopefully find a great location for photographing the white dunes at sunrise.The afternoon before we had paid $50 for the privilege of being here at thistime, since normally the gates are closed until 7 am.

6:01 am

It is still pitch-black but we are now driving towards an unknown location inthe dunes. The ranger, right on time, had opened the gate and let us in. Severalplaces look promising but we move on, not sure how far to go and at the sametime aware that time is precious. The sun will rise at 7:00 am no matter whether we areready or not.

6:20 am

We are now hiking in the dunes, headlamps still on as first-light approaches,hoping that our steps will take us to the ideal location. We had stopped impulsivelyon the road, partly because it looked promising and partly because we had tostop somewhere. The good news is that this area does look promising. There isvegetation — grasses and yuccas mostly — which is one of the elements I amlooking for. The other elements I don‘t have to worry too much about. I wantsand, and there‘s no shortage of it. I want mountains in the background and theyright there. I want warm sunrise light, and the sky is filled with stars indicating thatno clouds will obstruct the sun when it rises in about 40 minutes.

6:25 am

We have split our group — consisting of me, Michael Reichmann, ChrisSanderson and Steve Kossack — and are now hiking in differentdirections. We took this decision to avoid walking into each others potentialphotographs; that is, disturbing the sand with footprints only to realize laterthat this specific patch of sand would have made a great foreground.

6:35 am

After walking past several potential locations I have reached the top of adune on which grows a single young Yucca. The shape of this Yucca intrigues me.The sand patterns are very nice and behind it the dunes and the mountains areclearly visible. I could move on and gamble on finding something better but Idon‘t want to take the chance. I put down my LowePro backpack, setup my Linhoff Master Technica 4x5 and get to work.

6:45 am

I have just exposed my first sheet of Provia 4x5. The sun is still 15 minutesfrom rising butthe glow of dawn is upon the dunes suffusing the air with soft purple light.

6:50 am

The light intensity continues to increase as the sun gets closer and closerto breaking over the horizon. The sand is now pink while the western skyexhibits a gradual transition from pink to blue. In front of me I can see mauveand purples in areas facing away from where the sun will rise. 

7:01 am

The sun just appeared, clearing a distant mountain range. I am on a west-facing dune which will stay in theshade a few minutes longer. The light intensity increases as I am working, and Ihave to meter the scene constantly so as to not overexpose my film.

7:05 am

The sun rising in the eastern sky has reached the small Yucca in front of me.Behind it the dunes are still in the shade. I wait patiently until the Yucca isentirely lit and get back to work capturing on film this new natural event. Thesky is now a soft pink and the distant dunes are purple. The Yucca is bathed inwarm direct light while the dune around it, lit only by diffused light, is softblue. 

7:10 am

The sun just crested over the dunes sending rays of light upon the sandripples behind me and giving them a three dimensional quality. I consider movingmy camera to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by this change inlighting but realize that doing so would prevent me from capturing what ishappening right now. I leave my set up as it is — 75mm Super Angulon withmy tripod low to the ground — and continue to expose holder after holder.

7:15 am

The sun, following its upward motion, is now illuminating the sand ripplesright in front of the small Yucca, metaphorically creating a path of lightleading the eye toward the plant, the dunes behind it, and the mountains in thebackground. The dunes are now dark blue while the Yucca continues to glow intheir midst. 

7:20 am

The sand ripples, now almost completely illuminated by the sun, are creatinga dazzling effect. The background dunes are already almost pure white while thesky is now light blue. I continue to expose as direct sunlight fills more andmore of the scene in front of me. 

7:25 am

It now feels like noon here, there being so much more light than when Iarrived, and yet I have been here for less than an hour. The sun is illuminatingthe dunes almost entirely, and everywhere I look I can see sand ripplesstretching towards the horizon. I move my camera slightly so as to center theYucca in the middle of the frame and emphasize the waves of sand. The Yucca nowstarts to throw a shadow, completing the composition. 

7:40 am

After packing my gear I start hiking back towards the road, the truck, andbreakfast back in Alamogordo. I have exposed 40 double film holders in less thanone hour — all the 4x5 films I broughtwith me, and I never changed my composition, except slightly for the last image! 

As I walkback I realize that my photographs can be used to illustrate how a scene istransformed by light alone. It has been a beautiful morning.

Michael Reichmann‘sphotographs from White Sands,
taken that same morning, can be found here.

This is one of a regular series ofarticles titled Briot‘s View
written exclusively for The LuminousLandscape
by Alain Briot