Ardennes 1977
This week’s theme of the weekly lens artists challenge (#134) is ‘from forgotten to favorite’. Are there images that I hoped would turn out right, but did not. And could you turn them by editing into ‘keepers’? If so, show an example.
This challenge sends me back to the days of film. Ample of good objects around, but did they come out on film the way I hoped? In those days you could not check the backside of your camera, and try a few settings and tweaks to find out what worked best. It was shoot and go. Film was expensive so most of the time it was a lucky shot based on intuition and experience. Most of them came out ok, some really were disappointing.
The photo above has a story behind it that comes close to this theme. At the end of the post is the scanned negative of the original photo. I am not sure the edited one above is a keeper, but it shows my line of thought and the original intention of framing this rock wall in a forest in the Ardennes. It did not strike me as a spot I would go for a pick nick. The road next to it, mud, rock, nothing to see but passing cars. But the details of the rock and the trees, with the strange object of the pick nick table triggered my shutter. This photo was kept on archive for a long time. It was in my secondary school notebook (the time we actually wrote with pens on paper). And recently when I was scanning my archive from negative it popped up again.
In a way I do like the object. It is kind of sinister and powerful. I wonder about your thoughts on it.
The B4 retouch series
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. All of them are not completely retouched yet. Scratches, dust and stains are not removed.
What's (in) the Picture? 
6 Responses to “Ardennes 1977”
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https://paperkutzs.com/2021/02/07/whatsin-the-picture-6/
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A good example of a photograph that stays in mind for a very long time Chris. I agree the image would call to me, and it is indeed rather haunting. The picnic table is an important piece of the equation and I liked both the original and your end result. I too remember the days of film and the oft-disappointing results. But of course I think that made us better appreciate the flexibility of today’s digital world. Thanks for sharing this one.
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hi Tina, indeed, one learns from trying and mistakes! I will dig some other ones up. Digital has a lot of tools. In the dark room days some photos were ‘unprintable’ compared to what I can do digital now. I count my blessings 🙂
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VERY nicely done. I like it.
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As always John: thank you for your kind words!!
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