STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTOS BY NILS RIBI
Sun Valley photographer Nils Ribi has again sorted through the 43,000-plus photographs he took during the Year 2021 to share his absolute favorites with Eye on Sun Valley readers.
As with his Christmas photos, these show the beauty of nature that Nils trained his eye on while trying to keep his distance from crowds during the second year of the pandemic.
The pandemic, says Nils, allowed him to slow down. And that, in turn, has given him time to think about things in more detail.
“It also had the same effect on my photos of the (Sun Valley Music Festival) this year, which were probably among the best ones I’ve taken in the 11 years I’ve been seriously shooting it,” he added.
Part of that downtime was the chance to explore infrared photography, which typically involves using film or an image sensor that is sensitive to infrared light. In digital cameras, you remove the infrared blocking filter.
An infrared-passing filter, for instance, lets infrared light pass through to the camera but blocks most of the visible light spectrum so that the filter looks black or red. Often, you’ll see dark skies with striking clouds in this type of work.
Most of the infrared photography Nils has done so far have been in black and white. But he did try infrared photography using some interesting colors when he shot the photo of the Perrine Bridge during a trip to Twin Falls.
“I love taking pictures in black and white whenever I can,” he said.
Hopefully, these photos will get your New Year’s off to a beautiful start.