Ruth and I headed up to Glacier National Park and on our way, we passed Flathead Lake in Montana. The day was incredibly windy and as we passed the lake, the full force of the storm fell upon us. But the sunlight reflecting off the water was astonishing. Bracing myself against the wind, I wondered if there could be some way to photograph what I was seeing. I found a partially sheltered spot against the cliff, looking down on the lake which gave a little bit of relief from the onslaught of the wind.

I was able to use my Hasselblad at 1/2000" with my 250mm Superachromat lens (which is sharp is at wide apertures, with no chromatic aberrations). This was one of the few times when I didn't pre-release the mirror, since the wave patterns changed every fraction of a second. I shot 20 shots or so of this scene; each one noticeably unique. The one I choose to print had not only the best composition but it also shows the effects of the huge gusts that would even flatten out the big whitecaps on the lake.

The final image is difficult to print but rewarding. From a distance (and on the website) the image is identifiable as waves but close up it becomes astonishingly abstract. It looks like a black and white photograph originally shot on litho film. The scale is difficult to comprehend, although there are two whitecaps visible which give some idea. It stretches our concept of what a Cibachrome print looks like, or should look like. For me, it visually presents the abstract concept of nature's raw power and force.