Making Yosemitegate

One of those happy accidents

You might look at this photo and wonder, is this guy a genius? Is it photoshopped? Is it one of those two-negative prints?

None of the above.

On my last day in Yosemite I decided to photograph the sunset from Merced River View. I had already exposed a couple of sheets of 4x5 FP4+ and decided to load a roll of Ektar 100 into my 6x9 film back to get some colour. I ended up shooting several frames before I lost the light and packed up my kit.

I was staying at a motel near a little town called Buck Meadows, just outside the national park. I felt pretty lazy in the morning and was in no rush as the drive to San Francisco is only 3 1/2 hours. I had breakfast at a cafe and spent some time looking around the town taking photos with the Mamiya C330. I stopped at a few spots along the way but didn't see anything that made me want to set up the large format kit so, I took a few more shots with the Mamiya and a few on the D800.

The first place I went to photograph when I arrived in San Francisco was the Golden Gate Bridge. Once again, I shot a couple of 4x5s then put the roll film back on the camera and finished the roll of Ektar.

I don't shoot a lot of colour film and I usually have to wait until I have enough exposed film to justify buying a C-41 developing kit. It was about a month or so after I got home that I picked up a kit and started developing the colour. Imagine my surprise when I saw this negative... I had no idea that I forgotten to wind the film on after making that last exposure at the Merced River. The shot of the Golden Gate Bridge just happened to be the first photo I made with the roll film back. An accidental double exposure that turned out to be a very happy accident.