On New Year’s Day, I woke up wondering how to bring in an auspicious year. Browsing the Washington Post online, there was a photo of Great Falls National Park illustrating a weather forecast. Since I’d never been to the falls and have lived in DC for almost five years, I thought it would be a great start to the year to go visit.

I’ve been playing with my Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 camera lately, a field view camera manufactured in the 1960’s, so I brought that along as I headed out to Virginia. I haven’t used it very much and practice makes perfect.

The first thing I’d thought I’d try is a basic view of the falls from one of the three observation points. I was surprised by the amount of people at the park as the morning was cold, gray and there was a light snow coming down that would soon turn to drizzle. I guess everyone saw the same weather forecast photo as me! Once I found a clear spot, I set up the camera.

The day being overcast, I brought along a yellow filter originally made for a Hasselblad medium format camera to handhold over the lens while I made an exposure. The yellow filter blocks out blue light, which increases contrast, making highlights brighter and shadows darker. The farther down the red spectrum you move in filtration, the greater the contrast increase.

As you can see, there is something to be said about using filters that are native to the lens. That big black thing in the corner of the frame is the filter I’m holding over the lens to increase contrast. Good thing it’s just practice!

 Feeling claustrophobic while out in nature is always discombobulating, so I decided to move down the trail to find somewhere more quiet. Moving just off trail, I found a spot that would provide solitude and a nice framing of the Potomac river. Just as I had finished setting up, a voice behind me said “Hey, can you take our picture?”

I immediately said “Of course!” I had been itching to make some portraits with the Graflex, and here one fell in my lap, and in a beautiful landscape to boot! They were a young couple and they made their way down between my camera and the river. The young man said to let him know when I was ready, and I told him to make sure and stay still when I make the picture because it’ll be about a one second exposure.

Thinking he had some kind of creative pose in mind, I cocked the shutter, removed the darkslide and said, “okay, ready.” He then reached into his pocket, got on one knee and opened a ring box. “Oh!” I said, stopping short of defiling the moment with the next word in my head. In happy shock, I made an exposure, said “one more!”, flipped the film cassette, made one more exposure and thought about how photography is really magic sometimes.

There is a phenomenon that happens sometimes when I’m out with my camera where I feel the universe is saying “yes.” Clouds part at just the right moment, surrounding a farmhouse in light against a stormy landscape. A person wearing just the right outfit walks around the corner, adding a narrative element I didn’t know was missing. Or someone spontaneously uses me to document their wedding proposal surrounded by nature. 

I gave them my deepest congratulations and thanked them for letting me be a part of this wonderful surprise. I walked out of the park feeling like this could be a really great year!