Finalist in 30th Annual Spring Photography Contest

I was shocked when I got the email that this image had made it into the Finalists category of the Photographer's Forum 30th Annual Spring Photography Contest because I had honestly forgot that I had entered. Great surprise! I was able to shoot this on the Kern River with the help of one of my best friends, Brenton Henderson (seen in photo). This was shot as a multiple exposure assignment while studying at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. Using a Calumet 4x5 view camera, I set up on a rock in the midst of the raging Kern. I shot my initial 3 sec. exposure with Brenton in the frame, then had him climb out and I exposed the film for an additional 3 sec., creating a ghost-like effect on Brenton and causing the water to take on a form which could never be observed by the human eye.

Later than evening as we were leaving the canyon, we stopped by the sign at the entrance that warned of how dangerous the Kern can be when it is not given due cation and respect. I parked such that the headlights were illuminating the signs and then composed my camera so that the signs would be exposed on the same part of the film that most of the rushing water occupied. The end result of all this was the triple exposure photograph that you now see. Often times in this digital era such an image would be captured digitally and layered together in post production, but I was proud to have captured all of this on a single piece of film. It is one of the most conceptual images I have ever captured on film and I'm stoked that it has been acknowledged by the judges of Photographer's Forum's 30th Annual Spring Photography Contest.