Yin Yang
Two steep hills meet along a strong diagonal line, dividing the landscape into opposing fields of light and color. One hillside lies in shadow beneath a dense stand of Bentham lupines approaching three feet in height while the adjoining slope is illuminated by full sun and covered with California poppies, coreopsis, goldfields, lacy phacelia and Adonis lupine. The contrast of blue and gold, sunlight and shadow creates the natural balance that gives the photograph its title, Yin Yang.
Coming across a landscape like this is only the beginning of making the photograph. Time is spent studying the hills, watching the light and deciding which elements of the scene are essential. The next challenge is finding the precise place for the camera where those elements come together within the panoramic frame.
Here, two very steep hills meet along a strong diagonal. One hillside was in deep shadow and dominated by Bentham lupines reaching nearly three feet tall while the adjoining hillside was illuminated by full sun and covered with California poppies, coreopsis, goldfields, lacy phacelia and Adonis lupine. Moving the camera position changed the relationship between the two hills, so the composition depended on finding the viewpoint where the division of flowers, light and shadow became most clearly expressed.
Once the composition was visualized and the camera positioned, there was still the technical process of preserving it on the 6×17 cm frame. At f/45, the exposure was 1/3 second, requiring careful camera stability while maintaining the depth of field needed across the landscape.
The resulting image became less about any one species of flower and more about the balance of opposites within the landscape—blue and gold, warm and cool, sunlight and deep shadow—forming a natural Yin Yang across the Gorman Hills.