Raindrop Wonder
Oregon

13×33″ prints are $1,500

In 1985 Ruth and I were still living in Vernonia, Oregon which is a small town in the Coast Range. I stepped out of our home early one the morning; the sun was just coming up and it had rained during the night.

The raindrops were captured on a small spiderweb by our front steps. The sunrise light was making everything sparkle and glow. I’m very nearsighted, and without my glasses I can focus on things four inches away. So I took a close look at these raindrops and was amazed that each one was acting as a lens and there were also an astonishing number of micro-raindrops in addition to the larger ones.

I rushed back into the house and got my Hasselblad camera and tripod. To focus this close I added a 55mm extension tube to my 80mm lens. I had to position the camera carefully so that all of the raindrops would be in focus. I took one exposure on Fujichrome 50 film.

When I examined the transparency later I loved looking at the image with a strong magnifier but wasn’t sure if I should print it or not. Finally, 28 years later in 2013 I made Cibachrome prints where the raindrops appear on the print at a whopping 10X magnification of life size.

When I examine the beauty of this intimate glimpse of nature I am amazed at the resolution of the fine details and the perfection of each droplet. You can even see the iridescence in the spider web. This scene is seemingly impossible and a complete mystery. A reminder that we are surrounded on all sides by astonishing beauty and wonder, sometime right on our own doorstep.

This print is only available in the smaller size of 13×33.” At 10x the sharp details beckon you to come closer to discover more. A larger print, not so much.