Large Format Landscape Photography in Zion, Fall 2022: Episode 3

[@sdkgodeacs]

I always like the scenes where you wait for the right light. Watching the cracked mud light up over time really shows what a difference the light makes. I'm also looking forward to you shooting black & white in the future.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Steven! It sure is fun to see how those small scenes change so much with the light. Working in those canyons is a bit like playing chess where you have to think several moves ahead. Sometimes it works out, other times it doesn't, but there's always something to learn from it. Thanks for watching!

[@thevalleywalker]

@@BenHorne A chess player then Ben.. several moves ahead, some player I am guessing. 😊

[@ihaveadarksoul6738]

Ben, watching your videos is similar to playing music on vinyls. Pure aesthetics, quality and pleasure.

[@BenHorne]

That's so cool to hear! Definite analog vibes. Thanks for watching!

[@TravisRhoads]

When the scenes is so much about light and the way it plays with textures, black and white is a great presentation for those images. That last one to me worked much better in black and white because the color wasn't important, so it wasn't part of the reason for making that image. As always, thanks for sharing.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Travis! That's very true about B&W vs color for the last photo. I also don't believe the color is necessary for that image since it's more about the form, light, and texture. I have a few tricks up my sleeve this year for B&W, so we'll see what happens. Thanks as always for watching and commenting!

[@BryanDorr]

There are times when black & white photos may be a better for presentation. It also presents a different emotion about the subject. Good video as always and thanks, Ben.

[@BenHorne]

Very true, and it also allows one to work in a greater variety of light. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for 2023, so we'll see how it all pans out. Thanks as always for watching and commenting Bryan!

[@BryanDorr]

@@BenHorne It'll be fascinating to see how it turns out!

[@PowerToolism]

I have waited for years to hear you consider black and white, I mainly shoot black and white and some of the scenes and landscapes you are in, man, there is so much potential there

[@BenHorne]

In many ways, I suspect I will move more in that direction as time goes on. It's great to know that Ilford is in it for the long run. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@PowerToolism]

@@BenHorne Yeah, I made the move to Ilford a couple of years ago and I am not looking back for a second. Thank you for years of solid content.

[@davidhuth5659]

Ooooo, yeah, the last image in black and white was really nice!

[@BenHorne]

Thanks David! It sure gives me some different ideas for future subjects.

[@joshuarhea1648]

Yay! Black and white!

[@BenHorne]

I'm definitely looking forward to taking it a bit more seriously. :-) Thanks as always Joshua!

[@dennisvanleent1]

I've finally got the time to catch up with the trip reports, but I strongly want to express my encouragement to shoot black and white. I've seen some experimental shots of you before which where pretty good in my opinion, and your subjects are perfectly suitable. I'm very curious how this will follow up in the future, I think this would give a very cool addition to your already impressive work. Must admit I am very fond of black and white photography (strong bias!), but I was always very curious of when and how you would make considerations to get into it. Now I'm going to catch up with the rest... Kind regards!

[@brianbeattyphotography]

Great work Ben. I really appreciated the video editing in this one. You show how big of a difference the reflected light can make multiple times in a really clear way. A lot of the time I’ll watch and think that it makes sense, but this illustrates how big of an impact timing makes. Great images!

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Brian, it sure is fun to show those changes with the light as the sun moves. I suppose in some ways photographing the washes in Zion is a bit like playing chess and thinking several moves ahead. Thanks as always for watching and commenting!

[@richardstollar4291]

I am surprised you don't do B&W and hope you do so in the future. Personally, I can't afford color sheets for 8x10 so it's B&W all the way for me but I occasionally do shoot color in 4x5. Great inspiring video as always.

[@BenHorne]

I definitely plan to work it into my lineup a bit more, especially with the prices increasing on color film. We'll see what the new year has in store. Thanks as always for watching and commenting Richard!

[@KurtLawson]

I really like that slot canyon shot Ben.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Kurt! It's definitely a new sort of light to work with, and something to keep an eye on for future visits!

[@yetanotherbassdude]

If every day were "productive" then I'd argue that what you're producing probably isn't all that worthwhile. Those shots are still really nice images, but if their greater purpose is to inspire you to try something different by shooting some more black & white and so advance your work and creativity in a way that feels fulfilling to you, then I'd say they're worth more than any single portfolio shot on a "productive" day. I'm still catching up on the videos from this trip so I'll need to get through them first, but I also can't wait to see the new work from your latest Death Valley trip next week, especially if this thought of some monochrome images has taken root and inspired new compositions and ideas.

[@BenHorne]

That's very well said about if every day were productive. Sometimes the best days are the ones where I simply wander without taking a single photograph. Speaking of which, I'm hoping to get back to Death Valley yet one more time this season, and I think I may leave the camera at home just to do some desert wandering. Thanks for watching!

[@FlosBlog]

I dont know many photographers on youtube with such a keen eye for reflected light. You photograph like others play billiard :D

[@BenHorne]

Reflected light sure is a wonderful thing. :-) Thanks for watching!

[@simonbaigrie2485]

Liked seeing the difference between the flat and reflected light at 3:57 and 9:07 in this video

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Simon! It sure is one of those things that makes a big difference.

[@oliverhummell]

Cheers mate. Productivity is pretty decent in my opinion🙂

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Oliver!

[@O.Persson]

As always great video. Always impressed by your patience and strive for excellence. Lucky me I still have a couple of Zion-videos to catch up on. Really just wanted to say keep up the good work!

[@BenHorne]

Thanks for watching! It sure was a wonderful trip, and I'm already looking forward to heading back there again. This time perhaps with some snow. :-)

[@suheylkarakaya4238]

Last shot is nice in color too!

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Süheyl! I'll have to sit on that one for a little while. It was fun to see how the film handled it though. Thanks for watching and commenting, and I hope you have a fantastic new year!

[@suheylkarakaya4238]

@@BenHorne Hope you'll have all the cloudless weather and beautiful reflecting lights Ben, happy new year!

[@seantomlinson3320]

How neat. Wish I could have gone on November like I was scheduled but weather scared me off. Someday I'll be there, in large part due to these videos.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Sean! The thing about the Zion is that there's always some wonderful subjects to be found regardless of the weather. And even when things do get wild, sometimes it's just nice to take it all in. That being said, when the storm rolled through, I'm glad I wasn't on the road. It sure wouldn't have been fun driving in that wind. Thanks for watching and commenting, and I think you'll love it when you visit the park.

[@MeasuredLight]

Another great video journal! I really appreciate when you set up abd wait for the light. I really think that slot canyon image is good in black and white. I've veen ahootinga little more black and white lately. It's great, but it can be hard to adjust. I think you can, for lack of better term, suffer from a bit of "FOMO" with black and white with regards to capturing colour. As always, thanks for such a great video!!

[@BenHorne]

Thanks! That scene was definitely an eye opener for a wider variety of subjects to photograph in an area I'm already so familiar with. It's also nice to photograph subjects where the wind isn't much of a concern and the shutter speeds are fast. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@christopherkeeling6235]

Thanks for showing you metering off the disk in this video. Enjoyable as always to watch.

[@BenHorne]

It sure is a handy to have that gray card available. In most cases, that meter reading is sufficient, but other times I have to use different methods to get the perfect meter reading. Thanks for watching and commenting Christopher!

[@VanMierl0]

Nice video to start the weekend with. I personally like the sand photo with the wave structure in it and the leaves. That's my personal opinion, Thank you and look forward to your next video.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Martijn! I may experiment with some crops on that one. It sure was a wonderful subject. Thanks as always for watching and commenting!

[@mitchellmysliwiecphotography]

Always a pleasure to watch and see how the magic happens. Looks like we saw the seed of a whole new area of growth! Thanks for sharing the adventures, Ben

[@BenHorne]

Thanks as always Mitch!!

[@just_eirik]

Whaaaaat? I love all three of those! Especially the last one of the canyon. And also, taking out the colors from that would have been a huge mistake imo. The colors added so much! (I don’t like black and white to be honest.) Anyway, fantastic shots and great video!

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Eirik! The thing about B&W is so much of it has to do with presentation. When properly printed, framed, and hung on a wall, B&W is a sight to behold, but many people's experience with B&W these days is on a phone screen or computer screen. It just doesn't translate very well in that environment. I think B&W is far more difficult than color, which is one of the reasons I need to take it more seriously. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@just_eirik]

@@BenHorne Hmm that is a new way of thinking of it for me. And just to be clear, I have seen amazing black and white photos. I just prefer color. Color is just so amazing if they are done well. But of course, it’s all subjective. No wrong opinions here! :)

[@mikej9564]

13:33 where in Zion is this scene? Beautiful video. You really capture the greatness of Zion.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Mike! Scenes like this are actually quite common throughout Zion, though the flowing water is something you won't see unless there has been recent rain. I'm not comfortable sharing specific locations, but I will say if you do a bit of exploring, you'll find scenes like this quite frequently in the park, and often times not far from the road at all. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@c.augustin]

I do like the last scene in color! It might need some finetuning, maybe giving it a more old-style vibe. But yes, it works quite well in B&W, and the color negative film gives you the advantage of using filters in B&W conversion! I find color negative film to be the most flexible (and easiest to process) film stock; I nearly always stay with the color, as I'm constantly struggling with B&W shots.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Christian. Although there are some definite advantages to working with color negative film and converting to B&W in post, I tend to favor the idea of working with B&W film from the very beginning since it tends to render the tones in a way I might not be able to achieve with a B&W conversion. Perhaps it also has to do with the vision required in the field before taking the photo versus the vision you have for a scene after it has been taken. Thanks for watching and commenting, and I hope you have a fantastic new year!

[@Nat.ImagesLarge.F.Photographer]

I really enjoy your videos,stunning work Ben!

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Nat!

[@DannyFyffe]

Ben, glad to see you are well. The lighter pack will become more important as you age. It's good you are not satisfied with everything. If you only live on the mountaintop, you never appreciate the valley. Hope your hand/wrist is back to healthy now.

[@BenHorne]

Thanks Danny! I really enjoyed working with the lightweight kit on this trip. So much so that the Chamonix 8x10 earned a spot as my primary camera. I love that I can transport it comfortably in the ultralight backpack, and I look forward to the many adventures I'll have with that setup. Thanks as always for watching and commenting!

[@downsouthphotoshow]

Beautiful as always Ben. 🎉😊

[@BenHorne]

Thanks so much! I hope you have a wonderful 2023!

[@jensemand]

I noticed that you're measuring the light off your grey card on the ground - you will get the same result with your Incident meter there.

[@BenHorne]

Hi Jens! The problem with an incident meter is that you have no way of confirming how bight or dark the subject is. It just gives you a meter reading and you can’t check it. My process is to start by metering the gray card, set that as an average, the push the meter button while looking through the meter to see exactly how bright or dark each subject is. In many cases, that meter reading will be sufficient, but if the numbers don’t look right (highlights too bright, not bright enough, etc), I’ll then average the brightest and darkest areas and go from there. It’s a rather quick process, but I learned early on not to use the incident meter because you have no way to evaluate the accuracy of a meter reading for a particular scene, especially for slide film where both highlights and shadows are critically important.

[@rickgonzalez6345]

I enjoyed your video, but wonder what time of the fall colors where you there , Early October , Early November? Just how late where the fall colors ? Thanks Rick

[@BenHorne]

It varies quite a bit depending on the elevation. Upper elevation areas show color at the beginning of October, and the main canyon often puts on a good show by the first week of November.

[@rickgonzalez6345]

@@BenHorne thanks Ben!

[@robertgrenader858]

Wouls you shoot with B&W film or do a conversion later in Lightroom/Photoshop?

[@BenHorne]

I'd much rather just shoot B&W film to begin with since it has a tendency to render the tones in a more natural way. There's an argument for shooting color neg and doing the B&W conversion in photoshop, but that just doesn't feel right to me. I'd rather use B&W film from the very beginning of the process and not feel like anything was compromised in the process.

[@ThorsteinBerg]

Since you mentioned black and white, is this something you'll go for along side with the colourwork or does it only mean that you'll drop some subjects because they would best render in black and white? I would say that it would be interesting to see if you would chose black and white for some subjects and hear your thoughts on how you approached that scene. Otherwise great video as always. Happy yuletime. 😀

[@BenHorne]

I suspect the best approach will be for me to abandon color altogether on a trip to force myself to work only with B&W. Perhaps on a non-video trip where there is otherwise no pressure, and it's just me out with the camera exploring. It would be difficult to juggle both since they are so very different. Thanks as always or watching!

[@ThorsteinBerg]

@@BenHorne That sounds like a sound plan Ben. I would have taken the same route my self in that situation. Anyway always a treat to your videos as they're mainly focused on the photography and the connection to the subject and NOT on pushing the latest fab, update to Lightroom or gear as so many other channels do. Keep up the good work. 👍

[@CraigNiesenPhotography]

Ben, lovely compositions. I’m just wondering if they work better as black and whites. Because there’s too much contrast as opposed to what you were expecting? I’m just wondering if they work better as black and whites is it because there’s too much contrast as opposed to what you were expecting?

[@BenHorne]

Hi Craig! With the first two photos, I suspect my disappointment may be linked to the effect of the expired film and the photos not appearing as anticipated. When you factor in the final scene where the color isn't essential to the final photo, it had me rethinking those first two photos. What I really need to do is go on a trip with only B&W film so there's no temptation to shoot color. Thanks as always for watching and commenting!