time for slow

I was reminded again today to slow down… not by a person, but by nature herself.  An “ice event” they call these storms, causing headaches for commuters who have to drive or walk to work.  I’m one of those walkers most every day with a mile long walk to work and then back home again; a slower mode of transportation that allows me valuable creative time.  I often think of photographic opportunities, or new subject matter during these walks. One of those musings reminded me to visit a site along the Crum Creek I photographed last year in February.  So I ventured out last Sunday into the first sun we’ve had in what seems like a month.  Lots of kids and their families were enjoying some sledding on the hill of the Holly Collection slope.  But I kept my distance taking the less traveled route along the shore of the creek, sharing some footsteps with cross-country skiers from earlier in the day.  Snow covered canes of invasive-exotic weeds that line the creek in the sunnier locations gave me less than sure footing as I plunged hip deep into the snow… the joyous cry of happily airborne sledders in the distance.  But this solitude and slow snowy walk allowed me time to watch, to watch the light, to watch the patterns, and to sense the beauty of the day.  Time didn’t matter and for a moment I was drawn back to the sand dunes of Death Valley.  Yes, sand dunes of one of the hottest places in North America on a snowy January day.  The mounds of snow along the creek and the play of light over them from the forest of beech, maple and hemlock reminded me of lessons learned from watching the light in the desert.

Water, water everywhere

As I’m checking in the greenhouses this morning I found the new fog system ran continually all night… so the houses are super saturated and dripping wet onto the floors.  So in the spirit of abundant water, I’m posting another image from this October’s trip to Promised Land State Park and the Little Falls we found mid-day to have lunch by.

Be open to mystery

Last weekend I was lucky to be given a trip to Virginia for my birthday.  The weather was not very cooperative for the shooting I was hoping to do of the falls in Great Falls National Park.  So we spent the remainder of the morning exploring along the Potomac River after disappointing morning light at the falls.  But we found Scott’s Run Nature Preserve later in the day and decided to take a walk in the middle of the afternoon.  Sometimes the best photographs are made when you don’t have preconceived concepts or images in your head and instead find them as I did here at the creek running through the preserve.  The rocks beckoned me from the path to explore them and after only 2 other images and visual exploration and examination of the geometry they played, I found this angle looking upstream into the beech forest.  I could sense a good photograph from the path along the creek; a sense pulling me more than normal.  I need to follow those instincts more often.  As Jay Maisel told me at the Photography at the Summit workshop last October, “If you’re not open to mystery, why should it find you?”