Huascaran and Stars
by Dave Diegelman
Title
Huascaran and Stars
Artist
Dave Diegelman
Medium
Photograph - Archival Photographs
Description
In 1982 I went to Peru on an alpine climbing expedition with several partners including Kurt Rieder. After several successful and unsuccessful climbs we decided to climb a peak out of the town of Yongay, which had been wiped out a mere ten years earlier when a massive earthquake triggered an avalanche of epic proportions. The only survivors, aside from the nearly 300 children of the town at a nearby circus, were 92 people who ran up to the statue of Christ in the Andies which was located in the cemetery on a hill in the town. Our taxi driver relayed the story to us and mentioned that he was the first one to drive to the scene from the nearby town of Huaraz. He also told us about the spectacular avalanches that pummeled lake Llanganuco and pointed out the very glacier that triggered such events. We kept that in mind when we hiked up to road to the lake and had lunch which was on the way to the peak we were planning to climb. As we sat there looking up at Huascaran and the glacier that he'd described, I noticed a knife-edged ridge to the right of it that might provide a fairly safe passage, although technical, to the upper rock face. We ditched our plans for our original climb and decided to venture up Huascaran.
Our camp that night enabled a spectacular view of Huascarán Norte and for some reason I brought a small lightweight tripod and shutter release cable which is never done on serious alpine climbs! That evening after a meal of top ramen and tuna I set up my Nikkromat camera for a time-lapse photo. There was almost a full moon rising behind us and I had done enough nighttime photography to know that its light would wash out the snow so I stopped it down to f/16 hoping that it would still give me some highlight detail without totally sacrificing the shadow detail. Photography back then was all about a calculated hunch that would either prove to be right or wrong upon having the film developed at a later time. There was no immediate gratification of viewing the exposure on a screen as in modern digital cameras. There’s no such thing as “bracketing” a time-lapse to insure a proper exposure; you either get it or don’t. I had done numerous nighttime photographs before and kept meticulous notes so I had a good idea about guessing the exposure with the lighting of the full moon. Camera light meters weren’t accurate enough to discern nighttime lighting unless you used a spot meter which I didn’t bring. I set my Casio watch to a four hour countdown alarm and drifted off to sleep. The resulting image, "Huascarán and Stars", became one of my favorites. The streaks of stars coming into Huascarán Norte were individually colored because of the small f/stop used. I had only seen time-lapse images with stars that were blown out white streaks void of color prior to this image. The mirror on the Nikkromat could be locked out which it reduced the probability of vibration of long exposures and it’s beefy construction was reputed to be the best for altitude photography where low temperatures would often freeze other model's shutters. I always used Kodachrome 64 as a climbing photographer. Slides don’t lie… they show you the naked truth of your image be it good or bad.
As for the remainder of the climb and the harrowing epic that ensued... that's a story for another time.
If you're interested in acquiring a mural-sized wall covering of this piece, feel free to inquire via email. It's a part of my Limited Edition series, with only 100 prints available. Please note that the price increases as it sells. Just like all my editions, you can obtain certificates of authenticity by providing proof of purchase and your mailing address. Please send the necessary information to ddiegelman@gmail.com.
Photo & Text All Rights Reserved © Dave Diegelman
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Uploaded
January 16th, 2024
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