19 October 2008

Path to a Delightful Nowhere



It was mid-October, and one day before a storm was to roll in. I decided that this might be my last good opportunity to capture Fall colors this season, so I made the trek up the local canyon to do some work in the early morning light. I made some satisfying captures at the intended place, and then drove back. I couldn’t help but stop periodically, as I saw scenes worthy of feeding to my camera.

At one stop, I walked around and found a trail that led into a grove of aspens. I hesitated for a moment; I was overly cognizant of the time, and my life is over-sheduled. Casting aside my other responsibilities, I walked down that path for a short while before I saw yet another path branch off to the left. I quickly glanced down that path while walking, and then had to stop and take the unplanned turn. A few feet further, my tripod legs stretched out to meet the ground (seemingly on their own). My lens pretty much aimed itself, too. Three aligned exposures and some software “developing” later, I ended up with this. I could hear no signs of humanity and, except for the little path before me (and some names carved in nearby aspen trunks), I felt delight at having found nowhere.

Needless Guilt

It has been exactly one month since I last wrote a blog entry. I’m feeling guilty because I really didn’t intend to let it go so long between entries, and because I used to write every week for me previous blogs.

In the spirit of looking for excuses, I could hand out the usual — not enough time, too many long hours with work, had a head cold, too busy taking pictures, nothing profound to say or share, etc. In the end, none of these quite explain it. Basically, I just didn’t make it an high enough priority. Since I actually never promised any update frequency, I shouldn’t feel any guilt here, but I had higher expectations than I published.