Water Forms, Sulfur Creek, 1978. Mt. Baker National Forest, Washington

This composition was realized while actually looking through the ground glass of my 4x5 view camera. The confines of the rectangular shape and the two-dimensional aspect of the ground glass image made it actually easier to "discover" this flowing composition. This technique, as well as the similar use of  the popular "4x5 cut-out card" for examining compositions, helps to eliminate distractions caused by surrounding elements and often allows the photographer to more accurately define a successful composition. When printing this image, I dodge the volcanic boulders and follow up the base exposure with a shadow-contrast-increase mask (SCIM) to enhance the crisp black detail within the volcanic boulders. This preserves, if not increases, the silvery quality of the wet boulders.