Loch of Park, Aberdeenshire (Wild Duck Shooting)

Photograph of two men in a rowing boat on the Loch of Park in Aberdeenshire. On the left, a man is seated in right side profile whilst on the right, a man stands whilst firing a rifle, the smoke from which is captured in the photograph. The light from the sky is reflected on the water's surface.

Wilson had previously photographed at the Loch in 1859, using members of his family as models. By using a developer that yielded shadow details and waiting until sunset to take the picture, Wilson managed to successfully balance the exposure of both sky and foreground. These photographs won the admiration of reviewers and sealed his reputation as a professional photographer. Wilson returned to the Loch of Park in the autumn of 1860 to make 'instantaneous' photographs that allowed him to capture fleeting details using a wider aperture and shorter exposure times. In this case, smoke from the hunter's gun appears as though it has been suspended in mid air. This photograph is a copy made in carbon which is a process less susceptible to light damage. It is used in place of the original albumen photograph.