It
was Ferdinand Hayden's 1871 expedition to Yellowstone which brought
William Henry Jackson to the forefront of American photography.
Jackson served as the expedition's photographer, and Hayden couldn't
have been more pleased with the results. Photography was no
easy task in the 1800s, and it was vastly more difficult when it was
done in a wilderness setting. The heavy camera, tripod, glass
plates, bottles of chemicals, development box, and assorted
photographic equipment had to be carried first by horse or mule and
then on men's back. Once the camera was set up, snapping the
picture was no easy task. This is how Jackson described taking
the above photo of Mammoth Hot Springs:
"The subject matter [Mammoth Hot Springs] close
at hand was so rich and abundant that it was necessary to move my dark box only
three or four times. My invariable
practice was to keep it in the shade, then, after carefully focusing my camera,
return to the box, sensitize a plate, hurry back to the camera while it was
still moist, slip the plate into position, and make the exposure. Next step was return to the dark box and
immediately develop the plate." --William Henry Jackson in Time Exposure
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