Thomas Teich Photographic Arts

Here is a short narrative about an image made a few winters ago. Weather a lot like this! Maple tree, ice storm, 2011 was made after a big January snowfall - nearly 25 inches that ended late the night before as rain and ice. I took off in the morning with my new 8x10 view camera slogging through the crusty snow and working up a considerable sweat. The freezing rain and ice had coated everything in sight with a thick layer of silver that glistened like a million jewels and cra...cked in the morning breeze. I came upon this maple and knew instantly how I wanted it to look as a photograph. Most people see this image and assume it was made in moonlight. However, it was made at 10 AM in brilliant sunlight! My previsualization of this subject (seeing the final black and white image in your mind’s eye before taking the picture), helped me decide exactly what to do. A straight presentation of this scene in brilliant light set against a blue sky would have been nice but quite ordinary. I wanted something different and dramatic that also accentuated the amazing ice crystals that were now starting to drop off and melt. My solution involved a filter and some simple alteration of the film’s development. I set up the camera with a 210mm wide angle lens and added my heaviest #25A red filter, the same lens filter Ansel Adams used to make his famous dark sky image Monolith, The Face of Halfdome in 1927. In black and white, filters darken most heavily the color opposite their own. The opposite of red is cyan (the actual color of the skynot blue). So the final effect combined with a bit of underexposure and overdevelopment is a strangely beautiful rendition of a crystalline world that existed only for a few hours. I made this image and left to make another four. When I passed this tree an hour and a half later on my return, all the crystals had vanished, the sun and clouds had moved and the magic was gone. Of all the pictures I made of that storm, this was the most satisfying.

This image was made in the late autumn (about mid-November) at a high cliff in the Platte Clove. It was at dusk in a heavy fog and very, very quiet. Can't remember how I found my way back out! Available now as a 24x30 poster or a fine art giclee print. Call or email to inquire.

Yesterday we processed the very first 11x14" black and white negative shot with my new camera. It was made a week ago in the Kaaterskill Clove here in the northern Catskill Mountains and was a thrill to shoot and to see it developed. AJ had the honor of tray processing it in total darkness. We were both a bit nervous that there might be a problem such as an unforeseen light leak somewhere in the camera, but the negative was actually perfect. It is an amazing thing to look at. 154 square inches of film with extraordinary resolution. With a strong loupe you can see tiny branches and details of trees almost 3/4 mile from the camera. Next step is to finish a few more technical modifications to the enlarger. More to come!

Wow, what a day. I woke up to a new world. I voted yesterday for sanity and reason. But now it seems that the light of reason has been shut off. We are back in the dark ages struggling to save ourselves and this rapidly deteriorating world upon which we depend for everything. God save us.

http://thomasteich.com//a-short-story-about-the-making-of- Here is another (hopefully) interesting account of making an image of beauty in the Northern Catskills. Hope you enjoy this.

Made near Palenville Overlook on a cliff at the top of the northern wall of the Kaaterskill Clove in the Catskill Mountains of New York. At dusk.