Do you have a secret spot in the wild? October 2020
23rd October 2020
Do you have a secret spot in the wild?
If so, don’t tell me where! Rather, I ask more to prompt a discussion about the process of photography, hiking, and enjoying the outdoors.
Herd mentality has taken over and taken its toll on our special places. Many hikers hike for lists all the other hikers are hiking and posting about. Many photographers shoot and post what everyone else shoots and posts. I have done both and still do, so I am not throwing stones. But if we can be honest with ourselves, it is obvious that both of these phenomena have taken away the specialness of special places. A lot of these places are now trashed, overcrowded, or even off limits as a result.
These photos are the result of my explorations of very under the radar areas near me to find unique gems that no one has presented to others before. One of the biggest realizations I have had about the process of landscape photography is that you need to return to places over and over again to get the best photos, the ones that become more than just a picture. I had just been to this spot a few days prior to taking these photos and knew that the fall colors were finally at peak. I was just waiting for the exact right atmosphere: light rain, fog on the mountain, and no wind. I got it all! What a joy to see what these hoped for conditions looked like in reality. And I saw no human beings the entire time I was hiking and photographing. Those are the rewards of having a secret spot that you, and only you, know well. Good luck finding yours! You may find the process changes how you think about the outdoors.
Here are a few more photos from this secret spot:
A few other forest gems I found along the way:
This next photo was from two years ago in similar foggy conditions when I went to this scene a little later in the foliage season and had most of the leaves fallen after a snow storm. I think I like the full foliage shots from this year better because there are less distracting bare branches noticeable.
And just to show how much of a difference light and atmosphere make, these next two shots were from 3 days prior to the main sequence of shots from this year. Same foliage but this was on a hazy sunny day. Big difference! It was worth coming right back to it for the better light!
