We were in Terlingua, Texas, just outside Big Bend National Park. This is where a big chili cook off happens once per year. I’m not sure exactly when it is. My father went once and slept under the bus. Anyway, I was looking for an excuse to waste a sheet of Fomapan 100 4×5 sheet film, so here was something Ansel Adamsish enough to make me happy. It was my first shot with a large format camera in a couple of years or more, so after setting up the camera, which meant assembling it on the tripod, composing, focusing, guessing which part of the image I would place on Zone III, reading the settings off the spot meter, setting them on the lens, cocking the lens and closing the shutter, placing the holder under the ground glass, removing the slide, firing the shot, replacing the slide and then the holder, driving home 600 miles, processing in trays, copying with the D800, editing, here is what I got:

I tried to give it a tint that I would aim for if I were to make a palladium print of the image. I think the warm tone suits the subject. I have 4 more negatives to look at. However, I just may make myself wait to make the silver prints in the darkroom to see them!