I don’t know about you, but I’ve REALLY been enjoying the dogwoods this year. It seems they’ve hung around longer than normal (or maybe since we’re all stuck in quarantine mode, I’m just taking the time to notice them more), which has been great for photographing them. If you caught last week’s Picture of the Week, I actually shared three different images, frankly so I didn’t just overwhelm you guys for a month with pictures of dogwoods! Well, this week’s image features a dogwood, but that’s not the prominent element of the photo, the gorgeous light is!
Funny story about this image. Since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been closed during the “world shutdown”, I’ve been scrounging around for things to take pictures of. Luckily the Foothills Parkway has remained open, and that has given me the opportunity to focus on the “new side” – something I’ve been wanting to do since it opened. Well, I’ve already decided on a few “favorite spots” along the road, and this view is one of them. On this particular morning, however, it was the second stop my friend Paul and I made. I initially wanted to go to the first pull-off, but the light didn’t pan out, so we went to this particular overlook. I was so mentally bummed that the first hadn’t worked out, that I was a little unenthused about the second. As it turned out, the light was amazing! I got my camera out and shot, but if I’m honest, I just wasn’t feeling it. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized we had witnessed something special! 1) It’s too bad I didn’t recognize that in the moment, BUT 2) I was lucky enough to have pointed my camera in the right direction! So thank goodness for that! Anyway, it was a good reminder for me to leave your expectations at home when you’re going photographing, and as my friend Bill likes to say, “just follow the light”.
Well, if you’re like me, you’re a little sick of feeling cooped up. Next week I’m starting a travel series so that we can all take some virtual trips together.
Till next week!
–Dan Thompson