The image that started it all

Eureka Valley sand dunes. The panorama that captured my imagination and started my passion for panoramic photographs. This was shot on my first visit to Eureka valley with a friend around 1983. Shot with my Nikon F2 on Ektachrome film that I developed at work after returning from the trip. Technically, it's not that great. I didn't know what I was doing but I liked the idea and I wanted to give it a try.

At this phase of my photographic career, I was just moving back to 35mm from my 4x5 view camera. With 4x5 film, I was making pin-registered masks for making Cibachrome prints. At work I was making pin-registered exposures for business slide shows. (This was how we did things before powerpoint was even dreamed of.) I thought I might be able to align multiple exposures onto either a print or combine images onto another piece of film. I never did figure out a process that worked. But I saved this first attempt and 40+ years later I scanned the exposures and aligned them on the computer much as I do today. Here's the result. Takes me back to the day I watched the sun rise across the valley and the dunes. Magic.