I was on the San Luis Valley floor, about 6500 feet below Mt. Blanca’s crest. I shot two frames at F/11 and 1/250, and the moment vanished.
"Mt. Blanca, Colorado" © 2010 by Paul F. Moloney
Nature provides spectacular fleeting moments, and I am grateful to be alert and can capture such a moment on film. This happened a couple weekends ago.
I had been experimenting with Rollei 820 Infrared film and had switched to another camera with an 180 mm lens with a 25 red filter and Kodak T-max 100 film when …
Sierra Blanca at the east portal to Colorado’s San Luis Valley peeked its primary peak, Mt. Blanca, through a shroud of blustery clouds. The red filter intensified the contrast by darkening the sky to almost black and whitening the clouds and snow.
I was on the San Luis Valley floor, about 6500 feet below Mt. Blanca’s crest. I shot two frames at F/11 and 1/250, and the moment vanished.
The dramatic situation is indelible and brought my attention to a Branch Rickey quote when his Brooklyn Dodgers won the 1955 World Series over the New York Yankees: “Luck is the residue of preparation.”
Let’s continuously look out or search for opportunities, and of course, prepare for them.
Gorgeous shot! Photography has the unique ability to preserve such fleeting moments forever. Thanks for sharing this.
Paul (Clark),
We have the tales of two Pauls, and I am grateful you’ve corrected my William Henry Jackson picture location. Thanks ever so much.
What a wonderful man Ansel Adams was and his legacy will live for decades — perhaps forever.
(“Indeed! My considered opinion is that no one will ever surpass him in revealing the God of Creation or on his terms the something behind it all or the ineffable in art, particularly in landscape photographic art! I am regularly in touch with Anne Adams Helms — who has been and is quite helpful — also Anne Hammond, Divine Performance!” — Paul P. Clark)
I hope this is the beginning of an occasional correspondence.
(“Again, ‘Indeed!’ — PPC).
I met AA only the one time and still treasure it, he was so wonderfully personable.
(He was most gracious in correspondence with me — none of my letters or his responses appear in Ansel Adams: Letters & Images 1916-1984 –disappointing, but no surprise. I would have considered them to be of general audience interest.” — PPC)
Please check my site in the near future and throughout the spring and summer. I am resuming my work with infrared (Efke and Rollei) films. It is unfortunate Kodak HIE has been discontinued, but that is “progress.”
You might log onto the Greeley, Colo., Tribune site
http://greeleytribune.com/
then type in my name, “Paul F. Moloney,” in the “search” block to bring up my first tests with those two films. I made these test infrared pictures in the San Luis Valley where I grew up — which includes Mt. Blanca.
AA introduced me to the 25 red filter in my formative years, and this is fundamental in my landscape work. I’ll continue to photograph with the 25 red filter with my Ilford Delta 400 and 100 films and Kodak Tri-X and, perhaps, T-max 100 films — got to remain physically and mentally active. Being a photojournalist, the 400 ISO films are my basic ones.
My wife is Annette, a very patient woman with my photography ventures and adventures. We’ll celebrate our Golden Anniversary in June.
We, too, have four kids, and our son Kevin succeeded me in 1996 teaching PJ at the University of Colorado. He freelances photojournalism, his principal client being the New York Times.
Please log onto his sites:
Perfesser Kev http://blog.KevinMoloney.com/
Home page http://www.kevinmoloney.com
Take care, and again, thanks,
Paul F. Moloney
==============
On Feb 20, 2010, at 6:15 AM, Paul Clark wrote:
Photographer-Artist Moloney! I came across your site again as I was doing some more work on my Ansel Adams & Yosemite projects.
William Henry Jackson has become a major interest or tangent for me. Occasionally I run across this unique photograph of WHJ out on a precipice with the caption, “‘IN THE ROCKIES, DRAMATIC 1873 PORTRAIT OF COLORADO PIONEER PHOTOGRAPHER WILLIAM H. JACKSON.”
It is a portrait WHJ, but the caption is in error the twice!? “Rockies”? This is Yosemite! I have yet to trace the origin of the errors though I know of another dated photograph attributed to WHJ with the same erroneous 1873 date scribed on the back which can be found on the Internet.
You may well be familiar with this other photograph, as well, of a WHJ’s assistant holding back a mammoth-taking-camera packed mule. This one and the one on your site, “IN THE ROCKIES,” are both taken on one of his commercial photographic visits to Yosemite for his new company, The Detroit Publishing Company.
We just don’t know when he made it to Yosemite because he does not leave a record of his 1-3 visits (probably only 2).
One guess would be that as a johnny-come-lately to Yosemite after the others he did not consider it important to his own pioneering history — did he think if he didn’t leave a record of his time in Yosemite he would be taken to be one with the other greats, 1859-1884!!??
Apparently because the other great landscape photographers had already made Yosemite their greatness — he was there almost as just a tourist and making Photostint postcard images for DPC (virtually all 100 plus Yosemite DPC images are his).
Actually, Jackson would have visited Yosemite during the years 1899 -1902 to the best of our knowledge. I have made quite an investment and collection of WHJ in books and images — I actually have his magnificent Glacier Point Panorama, made from three mammoth glass plate images, in FULL mammoth-print size!!
There is no mistake in identifying this image on your site as that of WHJ set up out on Overhanging Rock, Glacier Point, Yosemite — you can purchase a reprint of it from Denver Public Library.
I don’t know if you think it important enough to make a corrective notation on your site or not, but a word about how I got there this time.
Yosemite with John Muir and Ansel Adams has always been my Bethel — I never thought I’d have a second. Then friends invited us to their N-X Ranch high on the Colorado Huerfano and I was into a mile of off-road fly-fishing under Mount Blanca and I found myself with a second Bethel — been back many times. Mt. Blanca, WHJ and Ansel brought me to your site
! That is a great image of Mount Blanca !!
And after reading YOUR *AA* story, here is my tale:
“As a researcher-collector-writer on Ansel Adams & Yosemite I have created quite a gallery and library today, a virtually complete AA Library — many signed 1st’s.
A late bloomer I did an MA, MDIV and ended up with my DMISS at 45 (1985) — came immediately to Japan with my wife Rickie and growing up four (Jennifer, Jocelyn, Jeremy & Jonathan) where I would follow my father as president of Osaka Bible Seminary in 1989.
I myself now am president emeritus, semi-retired missionary poor and drawing social security — AND trying to turn my masters thesis, “Adams’ Art,” 1983, into something more than just a write on Ansel — “Artists In the Pursuit of Light.”
I had met up with him a couple of times. I corresponded with him in regards to my thesis and he read and critiqued the draft, giving me good marks saying (for then,1981) it was the most information he had yet seen gathered in one place on himself.
However, he did not live to see his bound in AA-RED copy; that would end up but a gift to Virginia (his widow). An intended interview as such with him was preempted by the arrival of Beaumont Newhall & John Szarkowski and AA secretary-biographer Mary Alinder wouldn’t allow me to join; he had written me twice that when I got out to California that summer to come to Carmel … he had clued me Mary might be hard to get past.
When I called, Mary (finally) said (after my three tries), “I want you to know I am not putting you off, but he has Beaumont Newhall & John Szarkowski with him right now.”
What can you say, “Please!”
“Tell him I called!” ”
~~~MY BEST, Paul
Paul P. Clark, Osaka, Japan
http://www.jesus4greaterasia.com/
“Hi!” Paul! I MUST apologize! Time to time I have reached out for corroboration from someone of note — Internet DOES make so many accessible!
OTOH, I am most usually disappointed from a lack of any response! You gave me an IMMEDIATE response and one that encouraged a quick answer back.
“Thank You!” for your respectful answer; and I was encouraged, TOO, that you would in fact take the opportunity to make the corrections to the errors I pointed out.
Being especially busy on this end is NO adequate reason — more, I was/am intimidated by your being so on top of your art-form!
I have tried to navigate your site in several different ways and I cannot come up with the material you have prepared for your site.
Can you give me some navigational instruction/help?
(Folks, if you have trouble, send me a message
http://paul@paulmoloney.net/
and, I’ll troubleshoot. — PFM)
You might try duplicating the process to know it works (that’s only being scientific
) !!?? You could also just copy and post the material in an e-mail to me !? Of course I am glad to help!
Are you acquainted with how (William Henry) Jackson’s son Clarence worked hand in glove with his father– there is one very special story relating to the working out of the twentieth year anniversary of WHJ’s discovery of the Mount of the Holy Cross !!??
Anticipating your response
!! ~~Paul
I was down there a few years ago on my way to the sand dunes. It is a beautiful area. And I stood there wondering if I wanted to try to hike it sometime. I live in northern Colorado, so I am used to the mountains just going straight up here too. But that peak is one of the more intimidating peaks in Colorado in my opinion. And you got a great shot of it.
Where do you live in Northern Colorado? Paul
Congrats on your golden anniversary!– I almost didn’t recognize you though, with that uncommon serious pose of yours!
Amy O’C