Pier

We get blue hues from evening light after sundown and warm tones from the incandescent lights for a vivid contrast of color. The show didn't last long: maybe ten minutes. This image earned a First Place Award at the Santa Barbara County Fair and a First Place Award at the California Mid-State Fair.

This photograph was made on medium format film in 2002. Digital cameras at that time, for my purposes, were hopelessly inadequate. I expected to make optical prints of this scene in the darkroom, with no digital manipulation or assistance. It was important to balance light and dark (warm and cool tones, in this case) on the negative. Toward that end, I placed a blue filter in front of the lens. That reduced total light to the film, but warm light was especially reduced. What I got was a blue version of the scene.

In the darkroom, I adjusted the enlarger to produce predominantly blue light (which then appears yellow on print). The purpose was to reverse the effect of the blue filter on the camera. I like to think that all the fuss and bother helped preserve detail in hightlights and shadows. In any case, the result has been well-received, though recent prints are made from 100 megapixel digital scans of the negative. Much easier.