Black River Water

The braided streams of the Black River form a large area of bottomland when the river reaches the plain of the Mississippi. The many different waterways slip in and out of thick stands of trees, areas of marsh, and grasses.

I found one of the branches that had stretches of open water. Unlike the day on the Trempealeau River the sky was mostly clear one afternoon. I walked about a mile to find a spot where I had a view toward the setting sun across a long pool of open water.

I set up the tripod in about a foot of snow. To keep the camera bag as dry as possible I swept aside a 4'x4' area to sit it down. I hung my smaller bag from the tripod. To keep everything warm, I keep the bags zipped up. I make an image and wait and watch the light.

I had worried about how the camera and shutter would react to the cold but my batteries in the DSLR fare worse than the 4x5. In fact the 4s5 hardly seems impacted at all by the cold. I keep trying to remain conscious about holding my breath around the glass, but otherwise it is a normal "user experience" with the view camera.

The light in the sky brings a nice reflection to the water. I make another image, take a few digital snaps, and then slowly begin the take down process. I work slow and methodical and after packing up begin the walk back to the car and supper.